Pidgeon

ARIA Fleet Intelligence — Ship AI Bridge Interface for Space Engineers

Pidgeon is the Torch server plugin component of Project ARIA — a ship AI platform for Space Engineers. It provides the in-game interface that allows external AI nodes to inhabit ships, execute commands, read game state, and interact with players through faction chat.

Pidgeon is a dumb pipe. It has no AI, no personality, no decision-making. It reads the game, sends data to an AI node, and executes whatever commands come back. The intelligence lives in ARIANode — a separate Windows application you install on any machine with network access to your server.

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What Pidgeon Does

• Registers and manages external AI bridge connections via HTTP relay
• Reads ship state — blocks, power, speed, gravity, crew vitals
• Executes Gate1 commands — autopilot, dampeners, doors, lights, turrets, jump drive
• Writes to LCD panels — scan results, crew status, tagged objects, instructions
• Auto-installs PB sensor scripts on inhabited ships
• Manages grid ownership — prevents cross-node block name collisions
• Filters chat by faction — each AI only hears its own crew
• Scans surroundings — grids and asteroids within configurable range

What Pidgeon Does NOT Do

• No AI, no LLM, no language processing
• No personality, no responses, no conversation
• No data storage — all intelligence lives in the AI node
• No player data sent off-server — all communication is local network or outbound relay

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Requirements

Component	Version
Space Engineers	1.203+
Torch	0.8+
.NET Framework	4.8
ARIANode	0.6.0+ (separate install)

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Installation

1. Download ARIAPlugin.dll from Releases
2. Place in your Torch Plugins/ folder alongside ARIAPlugin_Config.xml
3. Restart Torch
4. Verify in Torch console: === ARIA System 0.6.0 | Plugin r1 ===

Required files (place in same folder as the DLL):

Plugins/
├── ARIAPlugin.dll
├── ARIAPlugin_Config.xml     ← configuration
├── ARIA_PB_Script.txt        ← auto-installed on ship inhabitation
├── ARIA_Emotion_PB.txt       ← optional: emotion display PB
├── ARIA_Instructions.txt     ← optional: LCD setup guide
└── AriaLogo.txt              ← optional: LCD logo sprite

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Network Configuration

Pidgeon listens on two ports. Forward both to your Torch server:

Port	Purpose
8099	Node registration and queries
8100	Shared relay — all AI nodes connect here

AI nodes connect outbound to your server. No inbound ports needed on the node machine. Remote nodes (e.g. players in other countries) work without any port forwarding on their end.

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Configuration

Edit ARIAPlugin_Config.xml in your Plugins folder:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ARIAConfig>
  <AutoRegister>true</AutoRegister>
  <RegistrationPort>8099</RegistrationPort>
  <SharedRelayPort>8100</SharedRelayPort>

  <!-- Static local bridges (optional — ARIANode registers automatically) -->
  <!--
  <Bridges>
    <Bridge>
      <n>aria</n>
      <Url>http://192.168.1.131:8004</Url>
      <ActivationName>Aria</ActivationName>
      <ListenMode>faction</ListenMode>
      <ListenChannel>faction</ListenChannel>
      <AllowedFactions>ARI</AllowedFactions>
      <AdapterContext></AdapterContext>
    </Bridge>
  </Bridges>
  -->
</ARIAConfig>

With AutoRegister>true, AI nodes register themselves automatically when they connect. Manual bridge entries are only needed for static local setups.

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In-Game Setup

Each AI needs these blocks on the ship it will inhabit. Replace {AI} with your AI's name (e.g. ARIA, NOVA):

Required:

Block	Name	Purpose
Remote Control	{AI} CORE	Autopilot, physics data
Programmable Block	{AI} PB	Sensor relay (script auto-installs)

Optional:

Block	Name	Purpose
LCD Panel	{AI} SCAN	Nearby contacts
LCD Panel	{AI} CREW	Crew vitals roster
LCD Panel	{AI} TAGGED	Bookmarked objects
LCD Panel	{AI} PRESENCE	Online/offline indicator
Programmable Block	{AI} EMOTION PB	Emotion display (eyes)
LCD Panel	{AI} Instructions	Setup guide

To activate: say "Aria, inhabit" in faction chat. The AI will scan for her Core block, claim the ship, and install her sensor script automatically.

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Security Model

• Each AI node has a unique NodeId (UUID) generated on first run
• Duplicate AI names (ActivationName) are rejected at registration — first registered wins
• Each inhabited grid is exclusively owned by one node — prevents cross-node block conflicts
• PB blocks are stamped with the owning NodeId in CustomData — scanners from other nodes skip them
• Ownership released on uninhabit — ship becomes available to other nodes
• All relay connections are outbound from node to server — no attack surface on node machines

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Command Reference

Players address the AI by name in faction chat. Full command reference is written to the {AI} Instructions LCD on inhabited ships, or see ARIA_Instructions.txt.

Quick reference:

Aria, inhabit               — claim ship
Aria, fly to [name]         — autopilot to named object
Aria, fly to X,Y,Z          — autopilot to GPS coordinates
Aria, scan                  — 15km scan
Aria, long range scan       — 25km scan
Aria, ship status           — full system report
Aria, dampeners on/off
Aria, jump to [name]        — jump drive targeted jump

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Version Compatibility

ARIA System	Plugin	Torch	SE
0.6.0	r1	0.8+	1.203+

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ARIANode

Pidgeon alone does nothing. You need ARIANode — the AI platform that runs on any Windows machine and provides the language model, personality, voice, and decision-making.

Download ARIANode: mesarim.uk/aria

ARIANode installs:

• Python runtime (bundled, no separate install)
• Ollama + your chosen language model
• Bridget (the AI bridge process)
• Voice input/output (Whisper STT + Kokoro TTS)
• Twitch chat integration (optional)

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Troubleshooting

Plugin not loading

• Check Torch console for .dll load errors
• Verify .NET Framework 4.8 is installed
• Check ARIAPlugin_Config.xml is valid XML

AI node not connecting

• Verify ports 8099 and 8100 are forwarded to your Torch server
• Check Torch console for ARIA: Node registered message
• Verify ARIANode is running and shows bridge as online

Ship not being inhabited

• Verify {AI} CORE (Remote Control) exists and is functional
• Verify {AI} PB (Programmable Block) exists
• Try "Aria, reinhabit" to force a rescan
• Check that another node doesn't already own the ship

Wrong AI responding

• Each AI is faction-filtered — players must be in the correct faction
• Check AllowedFactions in config matches your faction tag exactly

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Changelog

0.6.0 — May 2026

• Unified system version across all ARIA components
• Single shared relay port (8100) replaces per-node port range
• Grid ownership locking — cross-node inhabitation conflicts prevented
• PB NodeId stamping — PB blocks locked to owning node
• ActivationName collision rejection at registration
• Faction crew roster — full member list with online/offline status
• Degraded mode — graceful behaviour when bridge connection lost
• Version handshake on node registration

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Licence

Pidgeon (ARIAPlugin) is released under the MIT Licence. The ARIA platform (ARIANode, Bridget, ARIAServer) remains closed source.

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Links

• ARIANode Download
• Project ARIA
• Issue Tracker
• Torch Plugin Repository