Fixed time round robin dispatcher (so you can mix belts without mixing items)

This board is to show, discuss and archive useful combinator- and logic-creations.
Smart triggering, counters and sensors, useful circuitry, switching as an art :), computers.
Please provide if possible always a blueprint of your creation.
Post Reply
Copy link
TBC_x
Burner Inserter
Burner Inserter
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:20 am
Contact:
Contact TBC_x

Fixed time round robin dispatcher (so you can mix belts without mixing items)

Post by TBC_x »

I have created a round robin dispatcher that I plan to use in my SE playthrough to split items off the bus and load them on the cargo rocket. It uses a mix of combinators and belts + inserters to implement the logic. As setting up signals for filters in constant combinator GUI is making my blood boil I've come to a simpler way to set up the filters - chests, you just need two items of each type you want to use.

With clever use of Any signal on a key decider combinator I managed to make the filters infinitely tilable. That means you can easily set it up with 64-belt wide monstrosity and it will work fine. If you're a fan of putting two separate products on a single belt just put two of those bad boys down (you'll have to pre-split) one for each side of the belt.

I built this as a component of a larger system, therefore it is missing any circuitry to limit amounts of incoming items, I suggest post-processing the output signal. On the other hand, it will skip any items that are not being requested. It will still wait until the end of the cycle if the request disappeared for some reason.

Screenshot
Screenshot - no alt mode
Input: It must be a signal of value 1 on both R&G wires of requested items delivered to the constant combinator in center right. What happens with larger values was not tested. I suggest using output of a decider combinator with output 1. It expects continuous signal for the entire length of the request. Reaction to short pulses was not tested. You can connect multiple dispatchers in parallel sharing input and even output wire. It leaks some signals on the input so I recommend using the wire only across the dispatchers.

Output: Top right constant combinator, you can use both R&G wires. It outputs continuous signal for fixed time (determined by belt length, the signal will last longer the further away the last "filter chest" is). The output signal is as clean as it gets.

Advantages:
- It is pretty simple to set up and add more filters to one line.

Disadvantages:
- It is quite large
- Cycle length configurability is limited
- Cycle length depends on the position of the item on the line
- Needs manual setup and you need to have the items on you (you could use requester chests but then you have to modify the combinator values to work with 3 items instead of 2 and the delivered items might differ depending on how resource starved base you have and robot cargo capacity upgrades)
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Combinator Creations”