[MOD 0.14.x] Left-Right Load Balancer

[Rhamphoryncus]

Only seems to mix the lanes when one lane is blocked. If both lanes are drawn from (even with just an inserter on each side activating at the same time) it reverts long streams of unmixed items.

Technically that's fine for my uses, but I expected it to be more robust.

[Wyrframe]

That's because it alternates input lanes and output lanes separately, and does so completely ignorant of the types of items passing through. What behaviour are you expecting?

[Qon]

That's because it alternates input lanes and output lanes separately, and does so completely ignorant of the types of items passing through. What behaviour are you expecting?

Probably the same behaviour as a input balancer made with vanilla splitters. Splitters are not ignorant of the items types they send through.

[Razorin]

Lol, yeah. Obviously my testing was baaad. I didn't even test the thing I asked for properly. I was tired, ok? Well thank you for fixing it before I noticed the errors in the mod and my testing!

does a bug exist when nobody notices it ? ^^

Probably the same behaviour as a input balancer made with vanilla splitters. Splitters are not ignorant of the items types they send through.

isnt this paradox for a balancer ? i mean if i understand you correctly the balancer should keep the side items are stored on ? so it should block when e.g. the left side is blocked but this item should be on the left ?

[Qon]

Lol, yeah. Obviously my testing was baaad. I didn't even test the thing I asked for properly. I was tired, ok? Well thank you for fixing it before I noticed the errors in the mod and my testing!

does a bug exist when nobody notices it ? ^^

Probably the same behaviour as a input balancer made with vanilla splitters. Splitters are not ignorant of the items types they send through.

isnt this paradox for a balancer ? i mean if i understand you correctly the balancer should keep the side items are stored on ? so it should block when e.g. the left side is blocked but this item should be on the left ?

I would have noticed after some sleep q:

I don't really understand what you are saying here. But splitters work per item https://wiki.factorio.com/index.php?tit ... #Splitters
A regular splitter can NEVER move an item from left lane to the right or vice versa, even if it is blocked and the other is free. But that doesn't really apply to your splitter since it handles lanes more like a regular splitter handles belts and move items between lanes all the time.

But if you are wondering how it should behave in some special case, look at the the splitter balancer for correct behaviour. That is what people are trying to replace. So if it handles multiple items or single, full belts, sparse belts, one side only, both sides, free flowing, backed up and stopped, extraction from one or both sides, input on both sides or one and so on in any combination: try it on that thing and see what it does q:

[Razorin]

ok i finally had the time to think about what you mean.

if i take your vanilla balancer build, the items are always getting mixed up no matter from which side (left, right, both) the items are getting taken from.
My splitter only mixes items when only from one side items are taken. When on both sides items are taken the side will be held or switched (depending on last blocked side)


so is this your expected behavior ?
Assumed there are two items on the input belt, A on the left and B on the right.

Code: Select all

Case           | item input behavior             | item output behavior
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
full A, no B   | A is taken all the time         |  alternating A goes left and right
no A, full B   | B is taken all the time         |  alternating B goes left and right
full A, full B | Alternating A and B are taken   |  alternating A goes left and right and alternating B goes left and right (mixed up)

[silverkitty23]

Dunno what Qon wants, but mixed up like that is exactly what I would want. I keep getting issues where only half my smelters absorb demand (when demand < full) - so instead of each, say, being down 50 plates, half are down 100, half are down 0 - so I have 100 smelts to sit through instead of 50 before the smelters are done. If I could just get items mixed up, problem solved

Another of thinking of it is: imagine you had a lane compressor: 2 lanes in, 1 lane out. Wouldn't you want it to be A&B mixed instead of all A? I believe you would. I know I would.
A lane balancer is like two lane compressors next to each other, feeding opposite lanes from the same input

[Qon]

I found another problem:
If one output lane is completely stopped and the other one flows freely and both input lanes are saturated then the LRB will only output at half speed, so your free flowing lane isn't saturated after it goes through.

[Razorin]

but I expected it to be more robust.

but mixed up like that is exactly what I would want.

no one actually asked kindly for it but i made it anyway

ok version 0.0.6 is released
-Fix: speed is cut in half when one input lane is empy
-Added: mixing of output when both input lanes are full:


special thanks to Xterminator for his YT Video ^^
Video

[silverkitty23]

but mixed up like that is exactly what I would want.

no one actually asked kindly

I didn't ask for it at all. In context:

so is this your expected behavior?

but mixed up like that is exactly what I would want.

I hadn't been in the thread before, but saw a question and thought I could answer it helpfully. I wasn't asking for anything, I was answering a question. Didn't realize it was rude to answer questions

[Jiyuueno]

So aside from all of the that up there, Does no one know how to get rid of the electricity thing?

[Wyrframe]

The base object Razorin has used for the basis of the balancer is an inserter, which requires some kind of energy-usage spec. He can't use a box because those aren't rotateable. If you set the energy requirement zero or negative, it doesn't charge its inherited internal capacitor and flashes red ("underpowered" error) instead of yellow ("not grid connected" error).

No current workaround I'm aware of.

[Razorin]

Thanks for explanation Wyrframe. Its true there is a gap in the API in my opnion that there isnt an enity type which can be rotated without using electricy beside transport belts(just 2 directions the other 2 are mirrored).
I can imagine only one workaround which would be an invisible solarpanel+accumulator+electrity pole build over the splitter but this is so bad that i wont do this.

[TheSAguy]

I was wondering how this mod's performance compares to the one Peppe wrote here.
Initially requested by me here.

[silverkitty23]

hrm. burner inserters don't flash a "no fuel" icon even when they're empty. I don't know anything about modding, though, there might be some other reason they are unacceptable.

[Razorin]

hrm. burner inserters don't flash a "no fuel" icon even when they're empty. I don't know anything about modding, though, there might be some other reason they are unacceptable.

Unfortunately not. Burner inserters are kind of special for not having that flashing no fuel icon. When i make my splitter like a burner inserter with zero fuel inventory size i get something like this:

[BULIGO]

Many thanks for the mod. Using it extensively, helps a lot with belt throughput.
Have a nice day.

[Razorin]

Thanks BULIGO i am glad that you like my mod.

[7h3w1z4rd]

Bugs: It does not work directly after a underground belt or splitter, nor direct input from inserter.
Still is an awesome mod, but i would like these bugs to be fixed

[steinio]

Confirmed, but changed my builds so that it works.

Don't know if it's really neccessary to fix this.