Factorio Forums

How do you automate it so science packs are automatically put in the lab? I already make them using assemblers but the grabbers wont grab them and put them in? that can grab them, but they just don't put them in the lab if I place it down. Any help?

Press T to pick a new tech.
Open the lab and remove all the science packs in it. Then the inserters will refill it.

DaveMcW wrote:Press T to pick a new tech.
Open the lab and remove all the science packs in it. Then the inserters will refill it.

Thanks!

To clarify exactly what's going on:

There are limits to the number of items that an inserter will put into a building that is not a simple container; these limits are much lower (almost always single digits) than the amount the particular input slot can contain, and usually relative to what that building is currently trying to do. Inserters will not pick up items to put them into a building's input so long as it contains more than this threshold(1).

For labs, the limit is twice the potions required for one cycle of the current tech. For example, if the current tech takes 2 red pots and 1 green pot, inserters will keep labs stocked with 4 red pots and 2 green pots. The tech doesn't use blue or purple pots, making the inserter threshold zero; therefore, they will ignore blue and purple pots entirely.

1: If an inserter is already holding an item as the threshold is reached, it will still complete its cycle, putting the item into the building which will (usually) increase the amount in that slot past the threshold. (Arrays of fast inserters are prone to this.) However, it will wait to pick up another item until the slot falls below the threshold again.

Hi,

Maybe the small change described here will also work for science labs ?