Hi,
It's difficult to make this easier than as you describe it, it's totally fine. It's tricky sometimes to assess if a pattern can be optimized or not, and at some point the work has to be done somehow, so getting the position, modify it and setting it back is as close as you can get to a minimal pattern.
then, as other replies suggested, you can use translate for a constant movement, it depends on your time interval and how you want the movement of the object to be.
Bye,
Jean
