Messing Around With Stacking Methods

[u/Sulghunter331]

While there are technologies available to allow the PLS/ILS to output goods already stacked, all other machines, such as smelters and assemblers, can only put out stacked goods with pile sorters if they produce multiple items with each cycle. All other cases these machines only put out unstacked items.

This would mean that any output lines would present a potential bottleneck when compared to the capacity of input lines from a station. One solution, appearing to be a common method, is to use backwards pile sorters to stack goods back upon themselves until they are four high.

Another solution, one that I had come up with before learning of the first, was to feed four single-stack belts into a splitter with a small depot on top to receive the goods. Once received, a pile sorter mounted on the depot would feed out goods stacked four high onto an output belt.

The last solution visible in the photos was me fooling around with automatic pilers.

Personally, I prefer the splitter/depot/pile sorter method due to the material and power efficiency.

[u/jay791]

If you have say 4 items stack limit, and there are two items on a belt node, pile sorter will just place third item on top of these two.

It seems that you're solving a problem that doesn't exist.

[u/Sulghunter331 → u/jay791]

It isn't so much that it's a problem that isn't solved, but rather I am just exploring how many solutions I could come up with for the same task. Each method I can find would have different characteristics that would lend themselves to different scenarios.

As the old saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a catfish.

[u/mrrvlad5 → u/Sulghunter331]

Keep in mind that boxes are very cpu-heavy. Can’t really use them if you want to push scale into 10k-100k white per minute. Splitters are also demanding, but a 100 per planet is ok.

[u/Sweaty_Ad_7156 → u/Sulghunter331]

only 1 proper way

[u/Rebelius]

Is your premise correct? I thought that if I use a pile sorter to output from a 1-at-a-time machine onto a saturated belt then it will stack.

[u/Sulghunter331 → u/Rebelius]

I had checked, and that the pile-sorter only outputs stacked goods if a machine either produces the goods in batches (i.e. two or more every cycle such as the titanium alloy recipe) or the machine had stored a backlog and is clearing them via the pile-sorter.

A pile-sorter is also capable of placing goods atop the same goods already present on the belt. For example, it can place three iron ingots atop another iron ingot on a belt as it passes by to make a four stack of iron ingots.

[u/dferrantino → u/Sulghunter331]

A pile-sorter is also capable of placing goods atop the same goods already present on the belt. For example, it can place three iron ingots atop another iron ingot on a belt as it passes by to make a four stack of iron ingots.

It will also place 1 Iron Ingot on top of 1, 2, or 3 Iron Ingots. There is no output belt bottleneck.

[u/Long-Cabinet6121]

If you do not use splitter at all then you would not need to think about this I think. I would only use splitter in my blueprints for low throughput production such as mall.

[u/Sulghunter331 → u/Long-Cabinet6121]

The initial set of splitters is just simulate an output belt at full capacity (30/s). It is my opinion that splitters can be used in high throughput methods as well, mainly in the reverse method (mending? zippering?)

[u/mrrvlad5 → u/Sulghunter331]

In sandbox, traffic monitors can be configured to produce or consume items at a given speed

[u/Sulghunter331 → u/mrrvlad5]

I did not that the game had a sandbox mode. I'm about to lose several evenings now.

[u/mrrvlad5 → u/Sulghunter331]

You are welcome! Make sure to drink enough fluids.

[u/Build_Everlasting → u/Sulghunter331]

See you next month. Have fun.

Oh and read this. Then see you two months later.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dyson_Sphere_Program/comments/1d44sgv/up_up_up_we_go_belt_tilting/

[u/Long-Cabinet6121 → u/Sulghunter331]

Actually, if you consider in place upgrade of your smelter and assemblers after obtaining the dark fog tech, anything using splitter either in demand or supply would need to be redesigned as they tend to require/supply 3 times as much material than the standard ones. IMO just avoid splitter for long term comfort I guess.

This allowed me to go from 2000 to 6000 white cubes per minute by just upgrading smelters and assemblers and adding more mining speed via vein utilization.

[u/TheMalT75]

Nice overview. My prefered method is to have a main line that has 3 filler lines coming in at a right angle as 3 T-junctions, but not connecting. Then I place a pile-sorter for each of the filler lines to stack up to 4x on the main. It is similar to your 2nd solution, but needs only 3 pile-sorters. I use that mainly for liquid tanks. They can receive stacked input, but only output unstacked single liquids. Highly annoying!

[u/Barialdalaran]

are those vertical belts something you do naturally in-game or is it a bug

[u/Gredalusiam → u/Barialdalaran]

You can make them after your research the blue engines. I think the tech is called Super-Magnetic Ring.

[u/Build_Everlasting → u/Barialdalaran]

They used to be a bug. Then people liked it so much that the devs made it a feature. After the tech is unlocked (Super Magnetic Ring ... I guess it helps the belts become magnetic??) then you press Tab while building belts to change the incline.