Help with a clock circuit.

[Bizz Keryear]

What I want to do is:
If a signal is present a clock runs at an interval and then restarts.
If the signal is no longer present (and doesn't come back) the clock runs till end and stops.
Each time the clock (re)starts it sends a pulse to a inserter which then moves one item.

I have experimented a lot, and at some point (though using wrong kind of clock, and some other issues) I had the reset signal as well as the inserter working.

Now, not so much. I think it is because of the pulse being too short but drawing a blank here (even with viewtopic.php?f=193&t=14556 as help) how to fix it.
Also I need it to be as compact as possible since I need 18 of these circuits working close together in a limited area.
This is my current testing circuit:

Blueprint

Code: Select all

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

Expected behavior: Every 5 seconds one item is put from one chest into the other as long as the signal is on the input (currently subsidized by a constant combinator)

Questions:

1. What am I doing wrong?
2. How can I put the circuit part (inserter will be somewhere else) as compact as possible for 18 clocks in one place*?

________________________________
Footnotes:

• *=there will be an input signal ranging from 0 to 18, while 0 means no clock should restart, 6 means 6 of the clocks should run /restart, and similar for the other numbers

[The Eriksonn]

To start with the top right combinator is listening for S=300 but the bottom left only sends the signal when LESS than 300 so it only goes up to 299 and dont work.

Secondly you dont need the bottom right combinator but you can just put S=2 in the inserter instead.

Thirdly, i made an even more compact version with 1 decider and 1 arithmetic combinator.
It works by having the arithmetic do modulus(the reminder when dividing) with 300 so that it resets to 0 after 300 ticks, and the decider only sending signal when either the clock is running or when the constant is active.

Code: Select all

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

Note: the constant has s=2 in it, that is only needed the first time it starts, then it will remember one s and can start with s=1 after that

[Bizz Keryear]

[...]

Thanks for the compacting,but it still doesn't work when I put in the decider at the end between the insterter and the clock.
I need to do that because I have one place with 18 of those clocks (which will run depending on incoming signal) then (because of the limitation of the game) two wires at max (don't think it will make a difference so I use one) which are going to 18 inserters.

TL;DR: So 18 clocks have to go to 18 insterters where I don't have any space to build anything.

The only solution I can come up with out off the top of my head is putting another arithmetic in line and tell it to divide the clock signal by 2.
But I have the feeling there has to be a better way...*

*= Edit: Sleepyhead me did forget to set the inserter to the correct signal ... it was still listening to S=2 instead of O=1

[The Eriksonn]

Also, you said that you wanted 18 inserters to run depending on the value of the input signal.

If i understand correctly you want a constant with a number from 0-18 telling each of the 18 Clocks if it should go or not, and send a pulse to the corresponding inserter.

You can get away with having a single Clock transmitting the 0-18 number as a pulse to the inserters.

Code: Select all

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

[Bizz Keryear]

I now ended up with this:

Blueprint

Code: Select all

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

And it works ... kinda ... just the inserters do not start doing their thing ... Do I need a pulse extender? The latch I have trown in for testing purposes does lock ... so there is a signal coming through, but in this distance it seems to short for the inserter to kick in. (which is IMHO a bug)

[The Eriksonn]

The problem is that the inserters are trying to grab from a belt, they cant do that when given 0ne tick pulses, becauce they need to move a bit to reach the item and by that time the pulse is already over.

It looks like you are trying to enable a different amount of inserters depending on the amount of steam in the tanks?

You dont need all of the combinarots, you can have an "alphabet" instead with a constand holding all of the letters and use a single combinator next to each inserter so it can pick from the belt.

By using the "each" parameter in the clock instead of "S" you can have all the letter in the same clock:

Code: Select all

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[Bizz Keryear]

Really neat design (which I actually can't wrap my head around), but I literally can't place anything near the inserters.
The inserter is supposed to take one fuel cell and put it into a reactor, and only insert the next one once it used up (200 seconds) if the steam* goes down more and more reactors go online.



*=from the heat exchangers which are furthest from the reactor ... and therefore coolest

[The Eriksonn]

I modified it to use a pulse extender instead:

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

[Bizz Keryear]

Thanks it worked like a treat ... after I worked out the last kinks.
Which you probably couldn't know, but you put me on the right track.
What I did:

1. The order was wrong. More inserter should come online as the steam goes down, so I reversed the order,adjusted the number of the constants (e.g. A is now 23,B is 22 and so on) and changed the smaller than for constants to bigger or equal to.
   Though it might be that I have to tweak that again, so that A is always on. Currently it is oscillating too much... Again that is fine tuning to usage.
2. And since my instertes were already set to Signal=1 it was easier to set them to >= 1 instead of >0 ... and of course I did forget to change one of them

TL;DR: Thanks, works fine now, wouldn't have managed to do this alone ... And I am even thinking I am getting how it works ... probably

[mrvn]

Tip1: Remove the spend fuel cell only when there isn't enough steam by connecting the inserter to the steam tank.
Tip2: Don't use a clock. Use the spend fuel cell as trigger. Connect the spend fuel inserter to the fresh fuel cell inserter.
Tip3: always fuel all reactors at the same time to get the full neighbour bonus.
Tip4: you can wait for all reactors to have a fuel cell by connecting buffer chests or belts to an arithmetic combinator (fuel cell * -1M = steam) and then feed that to the inserter removing fuel cells and adjust the steam limit for it (activate when steam < -3950000 for 4 reactors and 50k steam limit).

[disentius]

Ok. Now I get it

Knipsel.PNG (632.28 KiB) Viewed 10584 times

Tip #1 gave me another "i am too old for this shit" moment...

[Bizz Keryear]

Tip1: Remove the spend fuel cell only when there isn't enough steam by connecting the inserter to the steam tank.
Tip2: Don't use a clock. Use the spend fuel cell as trigger. Connect the spend fuel inserter to the fresh fuel cell inserter.
Tip3: always fuel all reactors at the same time to get the full neighbour bonus.
Tip4: you can wait for all reactors to have a fuel cell by connecting buffer chests or belts to an arithmetic combinator (fuel cell * -1M = steam) and then feed that to the inserter removing fuel cells and adjust the steam limit for it (activate when steam < -3950000 for 4 reactors and 50k steam limit).

If I wanted to do that I would have used the design in the wiki... also not sure that is possible, since I want to use a belt* and not chests and robots.
*= which doubles to bring in fuel and to remove spend ones
Also it uses 18 reactors the problem is not what YOU think anyway.
it is just that there is oscillating because at first there is enough heat and steam, then the heat runs out, but the steam doesn't for a while, and then when the circuit kicks in, it needs time till the steam is starting to produced again, in which more and more reactors go online, and obviously then overshoot.
I am redoing some parts of my factory ... so it runs at minimal right now ... and 2-3 reactors are more than keeping the factory afloat ... but up to 8 are kicking in, till steam goes back up again.

[Zavian]

You always want to load all reactors at the same time, so you take advantage of the neighbour bonus.

You should set things up to load all reactors with exactly one fuel cell each, all at the same time, with the trigger condition being steam in your storage going below a certain level. (Trigger the removal of fuel cells based on steam levels, and trigger the insertion of fuel cells based on removal of a fuel cell). By the time the reactor has used the fuel, and the spent cell is ready to be removed steam in storage should have risen slightly. If it hasn't then you maybe you don't have enough heat pipes for efficient heat transfer. Alternatively your power demand might just be close to reactor output. If it's the first case you can try adding more heat pipes and/or more storage, and accepting that at times you will endup storing additional steam. If it's the second, well you need to keep feeding the reactors one fuel cell each until the steam level rises over your trigger level.

You might need to adjust the trigger level until you find one where you don't run out of steam before the reactors are back up to temperature. Alternatively just add plenty of steam storage, and trigger as half full.

If using a belt you can connect the belt to the circuit network so you can test that there is fuel on the belt for each reactor, or you can run a belt, then use an inserter to place one fuel cell in a chest for each reactor, and wire the chests.

[bobucles]

it is just that there is oscillating because at first there is enough heat and steam, then the heat runs out, but the steam doesn't for a while, and then when the circuit kicks in, it needs time till the steam is starting to produced again, in which more and more reactors go online, and obviously then overshoot.

You don't need to be THAT precise with a smart reactor. I learned along the way that when a typical reactor goes cold and starts to slow down, all the temperatures are around 550-650C. That is an enormous spare capacity for heat! At this point you can fuel around 1/3 - 1/2 of the reactors and unplug the grid entirely. The spare heat capacity is enough to absorb all of it without waste.

The heat capacity of a reactor is one of the primary reasons you don't need THAT much steam storage. The only real use for steam is to be the sensor for the smart reactor. All the remaining heat buffer is safely absorbed in the heat pipes, exchangers and reactor core.

So I use that as starting point for the reactor. When the storage starts going down I can safely turn half of the reactors online. If the system continues to catastrophically lose steam I add fuel to all of them.

[Bizz Keryear]

You always want to load all reactors at the same time, so you take advantage of the neighbour bonus.

You should set things up to load all reactors with exactly one fuel cell each, all at the same time, with the trigger condition being steam in your storage going below a certain level. (Trigger the removal of fuel cells based on steam levels, and trigger the insertion of fuel cells based on removal of a fuel cell). By the time the reactor has used the fuel, and the spent cell is ready to be removed steam in storage should have risen slightly. If it hasn't then you maybe you don't have enough heat pipes for efficient heat transfer. Alternatively your power demand might just be close to reactor output. If it's the first case you can try adding more heat pipes and/or more storage, and accepting that at times you will endup storing additional steam. If it's the second, well you need to keep feeding the reactors one fuel cell each until the steam level rises over your trigger level.

You might need to adjust the trigger level until you find one where you don't run out of steam before the reactors are back up to temperature. Alternatively just add plenty of steam storage, and trigger as half full.

If using a belt you can connect the belt to the circuit network so you can test that there is fuel on the belt for each reactor, or you can run a belt, then use an inserter to place one fuel cell in a chest for each reactor, and wire the chests.

Erm nope ... totally not, currently 2 or 18 reactors keep the temperature (even at the furthest part) above ~520°C and produce enough steam. loading even half of them would be a horrible waste of fuel

it is just that there is oscillating because at first there is enough heat and steam, then the heat runs out, but the steam doesn't for a while, and then when the circuit kicks in, it needs time till the steam is starting to produced again, in which more and more reactors go online, and obviously then overshoot.

You don't need to be THAT precise with a smart reactor. I learned along the way that when a typical reactor goes cold and starts to slow down, all the temperatures are around 550-650C. That is an enormous spare capacity for heat! At this point you can fuel around 1/3 - 1/2 of the reactors and unplug the grid entirely. The spare heat capacity is enough to absorb all of it without waste.

The heat capacity of a reactor is one of the primary reasons you don't need THAT much steam storage. The only real use for steam is to be the sensor for the smart reactor. All the remaining heat buffer is safely absorbed in the heat pipes, exchangers and reactor core.

So I use that as starting point for the reactor. When the storage starts going down I can safely turn half of the reactors online. If the system continues to catastrophically lose steam I add fuel to all of them.

Also nope, I don't think one tank is too much ... can't think how I could do less.
Well, I can keep the factory afloat (at the moment) with about 2-3 reactors* of the total of 18 ...

*= know that because I did had 2 of them turned on before on the not smart version / half smart version ... which was a box with stuff in it that controlled which inserters were online ... and from time to time I had to feed the 3rd... by hand

[mrvn]

You are totally missing the point.

2 reactors produce 400% steam, 4 reactors produce 1200% steam, 6 reactors produce 2000% steam, ...

So instead of running 2 reactor 100% of the time you should be running 6 reactors 20% of the time. Instead of using 2 fuel cells every 200 seconds (10 fuel cells in 1000 seconds) use 6 fuel cells every 1000 seconds. Saves you 4 fuel cells every 1000 seconds.

And yes, you need to turn on reactors pretty quickly when the steam starts to drop. Reactors and heat pipes have quite a high heat capacity and heat exchanges will produce steam till they drop below 500°C. So even with the reactors off more steam will be produced for quite a while. On the other side once that stops your steam tank starts to drop and it takes a while for the reactor to heat up and for that heat to reach all heat exchangers. You start producing steam quickly but ramping up to full steam production takes time. That's what the steam tanks are supposed to buffer.

The trick is to start up all reactors as quickly as possible so the steam tank doesn't run dry. But also late enough that the reactors don't reach 1000° (because the steam tank is all full). I think you can balance this with as little as 1 tank per reactor. Having more steam tanks gives you a wider window to operate in and makes it much simpler though. I recommend 4 tanks per reactor.