Picker Frame (large-scale smart inserter)

[Tr1cKy]

I'm not certain how much this would be an improvement over the current facilities. Use it. Don't use it.

TL;DR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVMu6lQCkU0
In case the video link is broken in any way, the video is of an industrial "picker" machine that is above a belt in a factory. It is picking up differently-denominated poker chips and organising the chips into piles of the same denomination in pre-defined spaces next to the belt.

If this were to be implemented (mod or base-game), it would probably be simplest to implement as an expensive 3x3 "frame" with an overhead smart inserter. The logic required would be along the lines of multiple sources and destinations, along with item filters for those sources/destinations. I'm not sure if the game already supports the concept of building a second item "on top of" one or more an existing items.

I suspect the main place where this would be awesome is with moving of items where you can't (or don't want to) use bots, such as at train stations.

[Yinan]

I don't really understand the need for that.. can't you just use several smart inserters to get the exact same effect?
For example if you have Iron ore, copper ore, stone and coal coming mixed through one belt, you only need to add some smart inserters that take only one of them and put them on a different belt or maybe in a chest or so.

I don't really see what this picker does differently than that.

[Tr1cKy]

Can't you just use several smart inserters to get the exact same effect?

Probably - but it would use much more space to do it with several inserters.

It might also not even be necessary for a belt to be the source - it could go from and to multiple boxes.

The need is more with regards to flexibility. Whether or not it adds to the game in the big picture is a whole other story. I can see some people never bothering with it - and others who might use something like this and really miss it if it were subsequently taken away.

[Ghoulish]

If various resources mixed more, so patches of ore overlapped and intermingled, then there would be a need for this.

If patches of ore or stone were to mix a lot more, would it add a little more depth to the game? As you would then have the need to filter on a large scale, using a solution similar to the above, which adds another machine for us all to play with for one (yes please devs), and gives a reason to get creative with belt in end game too, which I miss a little really, logistic bots are too simple to set up with too much throughput compared to belts, with none of the complexity of setting up balanced belt design, but I digress.

[Tr1cKy]

I hope two weeks isn't considered long enough for this to be an "old" topic.

I realised that the easiest way to describe this would be that it'd be similar to a 3x3 logistics zone with a single bot that never needs recharging - but with smart-inserter-type rules instead of bots/boxes-type rules.