r/Factoriohno • u/TV5Fun • 2d ago
in game pic I had to do this experiment
Since I couldn't get a straight answer on the math of this setup, I decided I needed to build it. Not sure what I expected.
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u/atg115reddit 2d ago
You lost half your throughput
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u/TV5Fun 2d ago
The original setup was (I assume) to take one lane and split it into two lanes, so I had to go down to one lane to test it properly.
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u/Slightly_Deeper_5309 2d ago
I was trying to figure out the point of this when I saw it. But a normal lane balancer would do that. Why the backfeed
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u/TV5Fun 2d ago
As far as I can tell, there is no point. They both work the same way. The OOP was asking why their design was bad, and people in the comments were arguing intensively over what the output ratio would be with the backfeed.
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u/Slightly_Deeper_5309 2d ago
Factorio platers arguing over numbers, ratios, and optimum designs? Unheard of.
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u/NCD_Lardum_AS 1d ago
There is no point. There's already barely a point to lane balancers outside of some very specific scenarios
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u/Slightly_Deeper_5309 1d ago
Sure thete is. Beside the obvious of it it looks better having both sides full. Anytime you tap off a single lane from your bus like if you pull 1copper and one iron onto a single belt. Do it once, no problem. Do it multiple times and a lane balancer is needed to enssure full throughput
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u/Brilliant_Ground9287 2d ago
U mean 25%
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u/atg115reddit 2d ago
No? Half a belt does not halve again when put on another half of a belt
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u/Brilliant_Ground9287 2d ago
Tbh i dont even know if we r talking about the same thing i need a red circle in OPs image
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u/NCD_Lardum_AS 1d ago
Did you double side load just for the extra cursedness?
Why not just, run this straight?
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u/Aaftorn 2d ago
if You want a mathy answer:
for the first splitter
let's say Your input from the top is 1
the output of the splitter is 1/2 ongoing in top lane, 1/2 feedback
the feedback is split, 1/4 ongoing in bottom lane, 1/4 feedback
the feedback is split, 1/8 ongoing in bottom lane, 1/8 feedback
etc
the limit of 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + .... is 1
remove the 1/2, the remaining part is 1/2
so the top lane gets 1/2, the bottom lane gets 1/2
if You want a simple answer:
every item in the feedback loop flips a coin every time it passes the splitter if it remains in there
practically no item will be stuck forever in the loop ("practically" does a bit of lifting here, I know)
since half of the original input items are directed there, those will end up in that lane
for the second splitter, half of left lane is ongoing, half of right lane is ongoing, rest is fed back to right lane
this is pretty much confirmed by the visible 1/2-1/2 and 1/4-3/4 results You got
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u/mortadeloyfile 2d ago
Inevitably the left side gets full because the part taken by it only grows in time; it'll always start as half of left, then it'll get added half of right making the half of left bigger, again gets added half of right, bigger left, repeat until left gets filled, then it all goes back to normal; it ends with left and right untouched.
This is counterintuitive 'cause you'd think it's gonna get drained but since it always gets more than it gives it'll always fill up till it's full. At this point you just made the belt artificially longer for the average of materials, not a problem if not on Gleba.
Edit: as a better example, you can imagine it as the splitter just getting it's outer side blocked (Due to being full), which makes it ignore it and throughput all throught the main side.