[0.12] Combinator Use & Abuse
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:51 pm
With the release of 0.12.0, we're finally getting our hands on combinators, and while some of the most coveted practical applications have to wait until we get additional sensors and circuit-network-enabled devices in 0.13, there's a lot of things, but practical and impractical, that can be done with these new toys. I thought a thread where people could share their inventions and discoveries using these new features would be appropriate!
To start it off, a technical note, a single Decider Combinator set to "=0" is a nor gate. If you know your circuit logic, you'll realise that means deciders, all by themselves, are logically complete. Now, you could make logic gates before, using smart inserters, but such systems tended to be slow and clunky; no more!
Friday Facts #88 showed us a simple timer using combinators, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
With a Decider being a nor gate, just 2 of them can make a compact and reliable S-R latch...
Those make a basis for any number of other practical systems.
On a whim, I decided to set up a 7-segment decoder, that displays the number of items in a chest. I used... quite a few combinators (93, to be exact, though I'm sure it could be optimized considerably) but it was just a proof-of-concept. It refreshes almost instantly to any change in the quantity in the chest. I only gave it 3 digits, but it's scalable, and you could expand it to as many digits as you liked easily.
(forgive the ugliness, it's not a polished installation in a real build, just a proof-of-concept in a test world)
To start it off, a technical note, a single Decider Combinator set to "=0" is a nor gate. If you know your circuit logic, you'll realise that means deciders, all by themselves, are logically complete. Now, you could make logic gates before, using smart inserters, but such systems tended to be slow and clunky; no more!
Friday Facts #88 showed us a simple timer using combinators, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
With a Decider being a nor gate, just 2 of them can make a compact and reliable S-R latch...
Those make a basis for any number of other practical systems.
On a whim, I decided to set up a 7-segment decoder, that displays the number of items in a chest. I used... quite a few combinators (93, to be exact, though I'm sure it could be optimized considerably) but it was just a proof-of-concept. It refreshes almost instantly to any change in the quantity in the chest. I only gave it 3 digits, but it's scalable, and you could expand it to as many digits as you liked easily.
(forgive the ugliness, it's not a polished installation in a real build, just a proof-of-concept in a test world)
abridged yet lengthy rough explanation
I can't possibly be the only one playing with the new toys, so what kinds of contraptions are other people working on? Big or small, practical or absurd, share it here!