Is there a way to change how many items an inserter puts into labs?

[Jackal]

I have a chain of labs fed from eachother, but my research slows down as they cant insert fast enough before the labs run out, is there a way to make them stock up a little more so they dont run out before the next science packs are passed down the line? or a mod that can?

this is my current lab setup: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530557263

[Fel]

There is a research that increases the hand size of inserters up to 3 and stack inserters up to 12.
What this means is that inserters will try to get that many items before inserting if possible.

If you don't have access to stack inserters yet, fast inserters also allow you to insert items at a faster rate, if you are not using them yet.

This is what you are looking for but you might also want to lower the amount of labs you chain and have more labs that take from the belts (each feeding a smaller chain).

Of course, all of that is based on the asumption that you are producing enough to feed all of the labs.

[Jackal]

Originally posted by Fel:

There is a research that increases the hand size of inserters up to 3 and stack inserters up to 12.
What this means is that inserters will try to get that many items before inserting if possible.

If you don't have access to stack inserters yet, fast inserters also allow you to insert items at a faster rate, if you are not using them yet.

This is what you are looking for but you might also want to lower the amount of labs you chain and have more labs that take from the belts (each feeding a smaller chain).

Of course, all of that is based on the asumption that you are producing enough to feed all of the labs.

the belts are full so I think its just limited by the inserters themselves, as they only load 6 at a time and there are 9 labs in each chain. thanks for response

[impetus_maximus]

Originally posted by Unholy:

the belts are full so I think its just limited by the inserters themselves, as they only load 6 at a time and there are 9 labs in each chain. thanks for response

i'm not a fan of using chains of inserters. too much handling that could be done by belts.

also, when posting screenshots post the page's URL instead of the images URL. (share button)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530557263

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530557263

[Nonotorious]

Best way to feed science to reduce the lag from chaining is to bot feed it and use a stack inserter, of you have inserters maxed then it will put 12 into a bay when a particular science gets to 1. As you add beacons you run into that microsecond lag as the inserters move science down the line more and more. You can look at the production screen and click on consumption of red/green/etc to see how its running.
Currently just changed this on our new base since we are getting to endgame, switched from a line of 20 labs to a requester chest fed and it made the science go from 47 to 50 per/minute.

[impetus_maximus]

instead of cramming speed beacons and overclocking labs to the point of inserters being an issue, why not build more labs? [edit] please see later post for better example
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530581659

[Nonotorious]

Originally posted by impetus_maximus:

instead of cramming speed beacons and overclocking labs to the point of inserters being an issue, why not build more labs?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530581659

That just looks overly complicated and troublesome, more of a novelty than anything else.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530592045
This is running with just fast inserters and doesn't have any noticeable slowdown at 1195% research speed.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530591902

[impetus_maximus]

the point was that belts, inserters, long-handed inserters can get the job done. the programming part was just a 'because i can' project.

bots are usable. i just wouldn't use the power for something i can get for free. to each their own. :)

[Nonotorious]

Oh sure i think its cool and all but i would never do it myself because i prefer more practical designs. The problem with belt feeding science is that it can take quite a bit of space with 3/4 half belts per science type? You run into problems the higher the speed of the science consumption especially when chaining bays.
I'll trade some power for space and speed especially towards endgame when power is basically infinite.

[jagholin]

Originally posted by impetus_maximus:

instead of cramming speed beacons and overclocking labs to the point of inserters being an issue, why not build more labs?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530581659

looks too complicated

If I understand what this does, than there is a simpler way to achieve the same thing (in german but the setup is so simple that you don't really need to listen, there is also blueprint link in description) https://youtu.be/EqG7izMEd-w?t=449

[impetus_maximus]

i apologize for my horrible example.
here is a simple belt solution that allows for beacons.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530674402

[Nonotorious]

Originally posted by impetus_maximus:

i apologize for my horrible example.
here is a simple belt solution that allows for beacons.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2530674402

That's pretty good, i often forget about the red/blue belt trick.

[impetus_maximus]

Originally posted by Nonotorious:

That's pretty good, i often forget about the red/blue belt trick.

thanks :)

then there is this. :p
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1126874030

[Jackal]

Originally posted by Nonotorious:

Best way to feed science to reduce the lag from chaining is to bot feed it and use a stack inserter, of you have inserters maxed then it will put 12 into a bay when a particular science gets to 1. As you add beacons you run into that microsecond lag as the inserters move science down the line more and more. You can look at the production screen and click on consumption of red/green/etc to see how its running.
Currently just changed this on our new base since we are getting to endgame, switched from a line of 20 labs to a requester chest fed and it made the science go from 47 to 50 per/minute.

how to bot feed?

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Unholy:

how to bot feed?

You have to research and produce logistic robots and then you have to research requester chests.

After that its just a matter of setting up the labs, roboports, chests and inserters. Nonotorious' example is a good one for that. If you don't have logisitic robots yet impetus_maximus' layered under ground belt example is the easiest one to set up.

[Nonotorious]

Originally posted by Unholy:

Originally posted by Nonotorious:

Best way to feed science to reduce the lag from chaining is to bot feed it and use a stack inserter, of you have inserters maxed then it will put 12 into a bay when a particular science gets to 1. As you add beacons you run into that microsecond lag as the inserters move science down the line more and more. You can look at the production screen and click on consumption of red/green/etc to see how its running.
Currently just changed this on our new base since we are getting to endgame, switched from a line of 20 labs to a requester chest fed and it made the science go from 47 to 50 per/minute.

how to bot feed?

Logistics bots, you seem to have blue belts and beacons so you should already have them or you should be able to work on it easy enough.
Set an inserter at the end of your science lines into a passive provider chest, then at the science bay use a requester chest and set a stack of each science type to the logistics request.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2531158888
Get some logistics bots into the network, you can even seperate this part from the rest of the network if you know exactly how many bots you need to feed.
Robot speed 7/8 is a pretty good lvl to get to so they don't feel too slow.