Logistic Automated Assembly Questions

[Confused]

So i'm about to start changing all my assembly from conveyor belts to logistic robots (Requester, Assembler, Provider) and i'm wondering how much stuff do you request into each assembler? I know inserters put double the amount needed into it, is that the same amount you request? And also generally how many assemblers do you need for things like iron gear wheels, copper cables, elecric circuits or advanced circuits?

[Warlord]

You need as much as you think you will need. A logistic robot-based setup is purely based on chests, most likely requester and (passive) providers.

For instance, if you want to make gears automatically, you'd likely want 100-200 iron plates in teh requester chest for it. The reason being that to make a gear takes 2 plates, is done in half a second, and will then take more plates. If your iron is coming to it from a long distance via robots, the chest might run empty before a robot can deliver the plate, which can still your gear production.

Depending on the product being made, and the time it takes to make it, is what you want to set the requesters to. It varies too much to just say "do twice what the recipe states". And if you got too much material hanging around in the chest, who cares? Robots will only bring more materials to replace the ones consumed (to top off the tank, so to speak), so you aren't losing materials, really.

As for how many of X do you need? Again, varies. I don't use much gears, so I can get away with 2 tech 3 assemblers making gears constant. Unless I burn up the supply all at once such as with new belts, I never hurt for gears. Wires, on the other hand, are pretty much the ONLY use for copper, so you are going to make a TON. Adv circuits needs 2circuits, and CPUs need another 20 circuits plus 2 adv circuits, so you are going to make a LOT of circuits.

[Confused]

Ok thanks, I will use this

[Lothos]

From my limited experience so far as I am scaling up in size. Any items that you need lots of per cycle, you're better off using a belt for. Gears, copper wire, steel for example. And in my case what I have done is used more than 1 inserer to grab from the belt in these cases. Be it 2 blue, 6 red, whatever you need to simply grab more into the machine as fast as you can. Even if you manage to request enough to keep in the chest and thus ignore the robots afterwards you still won't be fast/efficient enough I have found.

[R1B$]

I would recommend a smaller number, like 50 or so.

If you get lots of assemblers the bots won't necessarily spread the resources evenly, so you might end up with one box with 200+ materials and another box with 10.

Large numbers are actually discouraged, because requester chests don't act as providers and go ''off the grid''.

I do highly recommend limiting your box sizes from the production line, try not to make more than you need otherwise you will strain your resources and damage production in other areas...I remember leaving my solar panel factory running and I ended up with way too many panels and not nearly enough materials to manage other types of production, so use that red X in the inventory.

[rollo dicks]

If you're requesting stuff for assemblers, my advice is to request 1 of the item in the chest. The robot(s) will have to make a few more trips, but it means you haven't got half your iron going towards solar panels or something like that.

[AlexMBrennan]

Well, as long as you are clear on the fact that you are building the least efficient logistics network possible in order to throttle production. Note that limiting output storage would probably be an easier way of controlling production

[Qlimax]

passive chests allow materials to be given 'on demand' when needed, storage chests are like an overflow 'vault' type thing, I also use these to store my 'junk' and then the system uses items as needed and active prov chests will always get taken from untill empty and put into storage or requester chests where needed