Configuring inserters to pass a specific sequence of items

[MalcolmCooks]

Okay so: I noticed on one of my assembly machines, which I set up quickly to make a few advanced furnaces, that the inserter was inserting the ingredients in a bad order: it would fill the machine up to 20 bricks, then start inserting steel, resulting in inefficient operation of the assembly machine. If instead it was only filling up the machine to 10 bricks and then started inserting steel the machine would not have to wait for ingredients and could work constantly. Not a big problem but it occured to me, that with filter inserters and the new circuit network capabilities, it should be possible to have a filter inserter insert 8 steel, then 10 bricks in a repeating sequence - which could be very useful later on, so I want to work out how to do it, even if I don't need it to solve this specific problem. I can make counters that can count the number of an item which has passed through the inserter, and I can control the filter on the inserter with the circuit network, I just can't figure out how to put these together to get the result that I want. Any help?

[Deadly-Bagel]

I thought this too but it doesn't actually work that way. All it affects is the initial input of resources.

For example, your assembler is making furnaces from 8 steel and 10 bricks. First it inserts 20 bricks while the assembler is idle, then starts on steel. Once it gets to 8 steel the assembler starts. We'll assume inserters insert correct quantities for ease of calculation, it's basically the same result.

Once the assembler starts it now has 10 bricks and 0 steel, and the inserter continues to move steel (from memory, again it doesn't matter) until it has 16 steel, then starts on bricks. It only needs to insert 8 steel at this point for the machine to continue working, because it still has the 10 bricks. It will then insert another 16 steel and must move 10 bricks for continuous movement.

SO since the assembler started, the inserter needs to move 16 steel and 10 bricks to finish two products and be ready for the third, total of 16 components. To get it back to the state it was already in (indicating it is perpetual and not just running off a buffer) the inserter needs to move another 20 components, for a total of 36 which just happens to be 2x the recipe cost (obvious when you think about it).

Basically, as long as the inserter can move items at least as fast as the assembly machine can use them, it doesn't matter the order they are inserted in.

Let's say your inserter only managed to move 18 additional components, it's running still so it's all right isn't it? Well if your inserter is only moving 34 components every two products, which requires 36 components... You can see where that is going. The buffer will become 18, then 16, then 14, all the way down to 0. Then your assembler is constantly waiting on those two items. All it would change is instead of two seconds every two products, it would be waiting 1 second every product. It's exactly the same.