#Physics Asset
I do exactly what you describe i this video!
As long as your mesh is not contiguous / the various pieces are not connected,
you can simply use your skeletal mesh physics asset!
just delete all the constraints
and you will get the effect you want when you run simulate in the Physics Editor!
#No Extra Work
No extra work is required!
All you have to do is delete the constraints and you are done!
You need a physics asset anyways, so dont do extra work!
You can just delete the constraints in the physics asset and turn physics simulation on whenever you want the robot to break to pieces!
#Videos!
Here are videos of my method!
#
Rama