Grabbing Items from a belt

[Mctittles]

Before the latest patch I had a system with fast inserters that would grab things off a moving belt when they needed them. Now it seems to just keep attempting to grab something as it moves by and the belt seems too fast for it to pick anything up.

Is this intended behavior?

[DaveKap]

Before the latest patch I had a system with fast inserters that would grab things off a moving belt when they needed them. Now it seems to just keep attempting to grab something as it moves by and the belt seems too fast for it to pick anything up.

Is this intended behavior?

This may occur if your electric power system is at its limit. Things begin to slow down and the first obvious sign of "not enough power" is your inserters being unable to grab things off belts.

[Mctittles]

Thanks for the tip! I'll add another power plant and see if it works again. Glad it isn't a bug.

[elkar]

Also if it is express belt and normal inserter, the inserter is simply too slow to grab it.

[Zourin]

Also if it is express belt and normal inserter, the inserter is simply too slow to grab it.

I ran into this when I blue-belted my smelting array. Every position that had an inserter pulling off the belt, I had to replace it with a fast-belt instead (luckily, these all lined up).

This can also be taken advantage of by making inserters that are 'upstream' of other factories less effective at pulling items off the belts, where otherwise they would resource-starve factories farther down the lane.

[ssilk]

@Zourin: this is no good option, because every missed grep costs energy!

The behavior of this changed a lot in v0.8. The interaction between underground belt and inserter or splitter and inserter changed here in many ways. Fast inserters always had a much better chance to grep the items, than basic. It depends even on, how the items on the belts are coming in. If they are somehow staggered, it happens more often, that they miss to grep.

And I just cannot say, if this or that behavior is really wanted.

I think this is one of the things, which should have very deep integration tests, because this may lead in future more often to the question: is it a bug or a feature?