Re: [kovarex] [16.0] Inserting on underground belt behaves different
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:03 pm
From the perspective of someone who has actually designed and built manufacturing conveyor equipment for all sorts of products from canned goods to oil drain pans to circuit boards and microchips.
Frankly the idea that a splitter can compress the throughput on a conveyor belt is ludicrous. From my experience being involved in the design of over 75 conveyor based production lines, there are only a couple of methods used condense the output of any machine or series of machines onto a single transport belt. 1) individual machines deliver their product onto secondary belt or ramp which side loads onto the main belt, or 2) the output belt is wider than the transport belt to allow product to be placed on the belt with more freedom, and then a diverter will compress the output into a single continuous stream. In either case where product flow is a result of belt mechanics micro gaps in the product flow are unavoidable unless the flow is backed up. Keep in mind these methods are not based on using robotics to insert the product onto the transport belt. Using robotics changes things considerably.
When robotic inserters are used they absolutely must be precisely calibrated to deliver product to a specific point on the belt, and because of this precision placement other methods of condensing product flow become unnecessary.
How this might apply to Factorio? Yes, inserters should be capable of producing a fully compressed belt without the need for fiddling. Frankly, it's actually somewhat counter intuitive that we start with robotic loading devices rather than loading ramps or a similar device. Side loading also should be capable of improving belt compression but not necessarily to the point of full saturation. The current mechanics where side loading only works if the gap is larger than the item being placed on the belt is extremely frustrating to be blunt. I don't actually think that underground belts should be able to assist with belt compression, so I don't miss that being fixed. What I would love to see more than most anything with regards to belt compression however would be a diverter, aka a part that would squeeze the product on a full belt onto only one side of the belt. Since this is the method most often used to produce a fully compressed conveyor belt in real factories it's a glaring oversight to not have such a device in Factorio.
Frankly the idea that a splitter can compress the throughput on a conveyor belt is ludicrous. From my experience being involved in the design of over 75 conveyor based production lines, there are only a couple of methods used condense the output of any machine or series of machines onto a single transport belt. 1) individual machines deliver their product onto secondary belt or ramp which side loads onto the main belt, or 2) the output belt is wider than the transport belt to allow product to be placed on the belt with more freedom, and then a diverter will compress the output into a single continuous stream. In either case where product flow is a result of belt mechanics micro gaps in the product flow are unavoidable unless the flow is backed up. Keep in mind these methods are not based on using robotics to insert the product onto the transport belt. Using robotics changes things considerably.
When robotic inserters are used they absolutely must be precisely calibrated to deliver product to a specific point on the belt, and because of this precision placement other methods of condensing product flow become unnecessary.
How this might apply to Factorio? Yes, inserters should be capable of producing a fully compressed belt without the need for fiddling. Frankly, it's actually somewhat counter intuitive that we start with robotic loading devices rather than loading ramps or a similar device. Side loading also should be capable of improving belt compression but not necessarily to the point of full saturation. The current mechanics where side loading only works if the gap is larger than the item being placed on the belt is extremely frustrating to be blunt. I don't actually think that underground belts should be able to assist with belt compression, so I don't miss that being fixed. What I would love to see more than most anything with regards to belt compression however would be a diverter, aka a part that would squeeze the product on a full belt onto only one side of the belt. Since this is the method most often used to produce a fully compressed conveyor belt in real factories it's a glaring oversight to not have such a device in Factorio.