6.9 KiB
HYDRO BUILDER — THE 10-POINT BUILDER-FIRST PLAN
Scratch the game stuff. This is a precision building tool. Every point below makes designing a real system faster, more accurate, or more buildable in real life.
1. Pipe-Run Tool (Draw the Path, Get the Plumbing)
Stop placing pipes one at a time. Click a start port, click waypoints through space, double-click the end port — the app generates the entire run: correct pipe lengths, elbows auto-inserted at every turn, everything mated and snapped. Edit any waypoint later and the run regenerates.
2. Auto-Route
Even faster: click pump outlet, click tower inlet, and the app routes the pipe for you — around obstacles, minimal bends, respecting clearances. Offer 2-3 route options (shortest / fewest fittings / cleanest lines) and let you pick.
3. Assemblies & Prefabs
Select any group of parts → "Save as Assembly." Your dialed-in tower-with-drain-and-valve becomes one stampable unit. Build one perfect row, then stamp four more. Ships with starter prefabs: NFT channel rack, Dutch bucket line, ebb-and-flow table, ZipTower wall.
4. Array & Distribute Tools
"Repeat this tower 6× along X at 18-inch spacing." Linear arrays, grid arrays, radial arrays around a reservoir. Auto-manifold option: the app tees the supply line into every copy. Change the count later and the manifold re-plumbs.
5. Precision Everything
- Type exact dimensions while dragging (drag a pipe, type
3.5, it's 3.5 ft) - Always-on dimension labels between nearby parts (toggleable)
- Alignment guides that appear when parts line up (like Figma/CAD)
- Angle snapping (15°/45°/90°) on rotations and bends
- Work planes: lock building to a wall plane or table height
6. Real-World Catalog
Parts match what the hardware store sells: nominal PVC sizes (½", ¾", 1", 1½", 2"), schedule 40 wall thickness, real fitting geometry, standard tote/barrel reservoir sizes, actual pump models with real GPH/head curves. Design in the app = buildable at Home Depot.
7. Bill of Materials + Cut List
One click: every fitting counted, every pipe length summed into a cut list ("buy 3× 10-ft sticks of 1-inch PVC, cut at: 46.5", 24", 18"..."), pump spec, estimated cost. Export CSV/print. The design is the shopping list.
8. Design Check (One-Click Validation)
A "Check Build" button that audits everything at once: drain slopes sufficient? pump head margin >20%? dead legs? unsupported pipe spans too long? siphon risk? mismatched diameters? Each issue links to the part, with a suggested fix ("upsize drain to 1.5 inch").
9. Organization for Big Builds
Named groups and layers (Supply / Return / Structure / Lighting), isolate and hide, color-by-layer mode, a searchable outliner panel listing every part, and per-zone flow stats (Row A gets 40 GPH, Row B gets 38 GPH).
10. Iterations & Compare
Snapshot versions of your design ("v3 — bigger drain"). Diff two versions side by side with their flow numbers. Annotate parts with notes ("replace with ball valve"). Roll back anytime. Design is iteration — the tool should treat it that way.
Order of attack
Now: 5 (precision) → 1 (pipe-run tool) → 7 (BOM/cut list) Next: 3 (assemblies) → 4 (arrays) → 8 (design check) Then: 6 (real catalog) → 9 (organization) → 2 (auto-route) → 10 (iterations)
All additive. The sim graph, snapping system, and JSON format already support every one of these.
10 MORE — SPEED & REALITY
Builder only. Everything real, everything measurable, everything fast.
11. Clone-Drag (Alt+Drag to Copy)
The fastest copy that exists in CAD: hold Alt and drag any part or selection — you're now dragging a live copy, original stays put. Drop it, Alt+drag again, chain a whole row in seconds. Works with multi-select and whole assemblies. Pairs with Ctrl+C/V for cross-area copying.
12. Stretch Handles (Grab a Pipe End, Pull)
Grab the end of any pipe and pull — the pipe lengthens in real inches with a live readout, and everything connected to that end moves with it, staying mated. No inspector, no typing, no detach-reattach. The #1 speed-building move.
13. The Tool Belt (1–9 Hotbar)
Number keys hold your parts: 1 = 1" pipe, 2 = elbow, 3 = tee... fully remappable by
dragging from the library onto a slot. Press the key, you're holding the part, click to
stamp, click again to stamp another. Q re-arms whatever you placed last. Build a
manifold without touching the sidebar once.
14. "What Fits This?" (Context Part Picker)
Click any open port and a compact radial/popup shows ONLY parts that genuinely mate with it — right diameter, right connection style. One click attaches it (oriented correctly). No scrolling a library for the wrong-size elbow. This is drag-and-drop speed with hardware-store correctness.
15. Real Connection Types
Slip vs threaded (NPT) vs barb — ports carry a real connection style, and mismatches need a real adapter (which the app suggests and one-click inserts). Your design can't contain a joint that doesn't exist at the store. The BOM picks up the cement, teflon tape, and clamps automatically.
16. Fit, Footprint & Weight (Will It Actually Work In My Room?)
Define your real space (closet, tent, basement corner) with exact dimensions — the app shows total footprint, height clearance, and door-fit. Plus the number everyone forgets: filled weight — every reservoir/tray/pipe full of water, summed in lbs ("this rack weighs 410 lbs wet — check your shelf rating").
17. Slope & Level Tools
Drain lines need fall. Set any run's slope by percent or inches-per-foot, with a spirit-level readout on every selected pipe (dead-level, 1%, 2%...). The design check flags flat or backward drain runs. Gravity is real; the builder should treat it that way.
18. Water Budget (Real Gallons)
Live total system volume: every pipe's internal volume, every vessel at its fill level — "this system holds 31.4 gal; fill with 26 gal to run safely." Reservoir sizing recommendations against your pump's flow, plus weekly top-off estimate from surface area. Numbers you use the day you build it.
19. Blueprint Sheets (Dimensioned Drawings Out)
One click: top/front/side orthographic drawings with real dimension lines, each part labeled and keyed to the BOM, exported as printable PDF sheets. Take the printout to the garage and build from it like a real plan set.
20. Assembly Steps Generator
The app already knows the connection graph — so it can output the build ORDER: "1) Cut stick A at 46.5in. 2) Dry-fit elbow to riser. 3) Cement tee at manifold... 8) Fill reservoir 26 gal. 9) Prime pump." A checklist you follow with glue in hand, generated from the exact design on screen.
Order of attack (speed first)
Instant speed: 11 (clone-drag) → 12 (stretch handles) → 13 (tool belt) Correctness: 14 (what-fits) → 15 (connection types) → 17 (slope) Real-world: 16 (fit & weight) → 18 (water budget) → 19 (blueprints) → 20 (assembly steps)