Matter movers

[Trien]

Are higher tier matter movers more energy efficent? Or just move more faster?

[Nedrith]

faster, depending on how you use them they could actually be less energy efficient. more space efficient though.

multi-mover for example consumes the same power per item as the basic one. However it moves 8 times as many items, 1/8th the distance. So if you were using the basic matter mover at max range it would take 8x as much power to transport the same number of items using the basic matter mover. However this could be done in the same blocks space compared to needed 8 seperate lines for the basic.

[Ouroborus]

That somehow seems like faulty math. To cover the same distance you need 8 times the modules. So while you can transfer 8x as many items, the tradeoff is that it takes 8 times the modules to cover the distance. Net results is you get the same item/distance ratio, power/item being equal. This makes them essentially the same.

Though it's probably easier to power the 8x version than an array of 8 of the 1x version.

[Nedrith]

nope.

8 basic matter movers cost 64 power to beam one item. they can beam one item 64 meters. all 8 will take 8x1x64 or 512 power to move 8 items 64 meters.

a multi-matter move atleast from my testing still costs 64 power to move one item 8 meters, granted my testing was limited so I could be wrong and it's 64 power per a use but I was testing it with a solid stream and a solid power source that should of been able to keep up with 64 per a use.

so 64 power per an item per 8 meters is 512 power to go 8 meters. to go the full 64 that the basic can go it's 512 * 8 matter movers or 4096 power.

I suppose if I load up my old world I could easily test it though I'm not in the mood to fire up that world at the moment.

[Ouroborus]

Originally posted by Nedrith:

nope.

8 basic matter movers cost 64 power to beam one item. they can beam one item 64 meters. all 8 will take 8x1x64 or 512 power to move 8 items 64 meters.

a multi-matter move atleast from my testing still costs 64 power to move one item 8 meters, granted my testing was limited so I could be wrong and it's 64 power per a use but I was testing it with a solid stream and a solid power source that should of been able to keep up with 64 per a use.

so 64 power per an item per 8 meters is 512 power to go 8 meters. to go the full 64 that the basic can go it's 512 * 8 matter movers or 4096 power.

Alright, that makes sense. So, under what conditions would you use the multi-matter mover over the basic matter mover?

[bendezium2003]

The main advantage I can think of for Matter Movers is that you trade off lots of power to completely skip spending on tubes, minecarts, and conveyors to get items across a distance. The basic Movers are also only reliant on T1 metal bars, so you can save precious T2 metals on them.

[Trien]

bendezium, we're not addressing why they are used, we are addressing when to use each type, and if each type is more energy efficent.

[bendezium2003]

Oh, I see.

I guess matter movers are good for when it's inconvenient to build over to an awkward position and you want to quickly transfer ores. Multis are better for throughput at the cost of range.

Minecarts use practically no energy but have to be spiral-staircase'd to climb vertically and take inclines uphill extremely slowly. They have super slow loading/unloading compared to other systems. Best used in long-distance horizontal planes, like those tunnels you get after leaving a BFL mining laser to blast out long corridors.

Cargo Lifts have best pure vertical throughput, best used as the spine of a mineshaft. You can run power down with LETs adjacent to the shaft. They require power too, and lots of iron bars for railings.

Tubes are simply completely superior to conveyors, only they require T2 resources and crystal ore.

FALCOR drones are great for long-distance conveyor-free gathering, like wasp drops. Their Beacons require power though, and beacon'd hoppers require Logistics FALCOR drones. They're also great for automatically transporting massproduced drillbit heads to extractors because the Beacon is planted at an output aboveground while the height-ignoring drones simply noclip up to them.

Matter Movers are best used in power-dense environments where you simply have no room to put other kinds of transportation for materials. The tradeoff of throughput versus range/power reqs between the basic models and the double/quad versions is dependant on how fast you need your goods to travel.

[Ouroborus]

The main use for matter movers, afaik, is transporting mining heads, primarily to keep the in-transit volume down.

[Trien]

I have heard of a rotating set of matter movers for mining heads, I just can't see how it is feasible

[The Ultimate Illusion of Wind]

to the OP, the higher tier matter movers are worse then the basic in the sense of power. on the other hand they have twice the speed as the last tier(expect for the last tier of matter movers)

all the numbers for matter movers are wrong(at least in bleeding edge), tier one matter movers are 300/min T2 is 600/min T3 is 1200/min and quad is the only one that i think has the right text which is 4800/min

also

Originally posted by Nedrith:

nope.

8 basic matter movers cost 64 power to beam one item. they can beam one item 64 meters. all 8 will take 8x1x64 or 512 power to move 8 items 64 meters.

a multi-matter move atleast from my testing still costs 64 power to move one item 8 meters, granted my testing was limited so I could be wrong and it's 64 power per a use but I was testing it with a solid stream and a solid power source that should of been able to keep up with 64 per a use.

so 64 power per an item per 8 meters is 512 power to go 8 meters. to go the full 64 that the basic can go it's 512 * 8 matter movers or 4096 power.

I suppose if I load up my old world I could easily test it though I'm not in the mood to fire up that world at the moment.

its 64 power per item times the number of matter movers in the line. in this case its 8( 64m / the max range of the matter mover which is 8 = 8) in the line for multi matter movers. 64 * 8 = 512 power per item to go 64m to get the max speed out of that matter mover you need 5120 power per sec PER matter mover in the line. >>>>>best used to push stuff away from cargo lifts (the bulk ones) in that case you don't need 5120 power per sec, you just need enough power to push enough stuff out fast enough so the cargo lift can move as soon as possbile

Originally posted by Trien:

I have heard of a rotating set of matter movers for mining heads, I just can't see how it is feasible

what about rotating? just have them beam down plasma cutter heads into hoppers set to remove only next to your ore extractors =s

[Tenzek]

You don't need the entire chain of transit for the drill heads to be matter movers. You can traverse long spaces down to match the depth of your first mine, but use movers when you get near the extractors. This way you can split them up to the various places they need to go without having a large surplus backing up in your lines rather than going to where it is more needed.

[Nedrith]

An entire chain is better. for splits place a logistics hopper and then place matter movers in the direction you want to go.

Currently I have matter movers on the surface powered by solar directing plasma heads to my mineshaft. at the mine shaft that connects crystals and all T2 ore it goes down about 64 meters from the last matter mover at which point I place a matter mover, next to the matter mover is a PSB right in line with my power line for the shaft with the next LPT below the PSB to continue the power line. when I hit the cold caverns the matter move puts the head into a logistics hopper which has two matter movers attached to it, one going to my crystal extractor and the other heads down to my T2 ore area. the T2 ore area splits the matter mover line in 3 ways. Works like a charm and I probably only have 20 or so plasma heads doing nothing.

There are a few tubes transporting it, near the ore extractors where I was too lazy or it would of been too annoying or pointless to get matter movers to move plasma heads the last 3 or 4 meters.

[Tenzek]

I use turntables to split them into logistics hoppers when I need to switch, and then movers take them from there. A tube conveyor system takes them down to the CC level, where I have my first split. This way I don't take as big of a power hit to my lines. I make the main line transmit extra power so that I can expand, but I try not to split off too much more power than necessary to run the extractors.

This way, they might back up at the top of the line, but they can't back up more than 2 at a time below the first split.

I don't bother using them for t1 ores, though. All my t1 ores are more spread out near the surface, where my t2 and t3 stuff is all down one quarry shaft.