Robots going no-where

[ccomley]

I've started to see quite a few robots just hanging in space. The map shows a "not enough storage in network" icon but there's plenty. Robots are carrying something, but have just stopped. Any way I can find out what a robot's task is/was? Any clues?

[Fel]

It can be caused by robots belonging to a different network that doesn't have enough space to accept those items.
For example, construction robots belonging to your personal roboport but your inventory being full can do this.

The quickest "fix" is to mine them and put them back in a roboport, it only fixes the robots and not the root cause but at least they won't just stay there.
To try to figure it out, your best bet is to look at what items they have in hand, preferably where they picked it (usually it happens with construction robots that have been told to deconstruct a part of your factory or a forest so it is fairly easy to pinpoint where they took the item and what network that zone belongs to).
It isn't unusual to not have available space for random items, so you will probably be able to figure it out if you have centralized your storage for it in that network.

Sadly figuring out the root cause with robots is one of the big issues with the mass-robot approach, because unlike belts they are not telling you where they came from and where they are going.

[ccomley]

Thanks. I did see some "freeze" as they appeared to eb about to deliver to me. But I didn't have a full pack! They stopped dead just when sometimes they suddenly divert to re-charge. But there are plenty of r-ports nearby if they do want to charge.

I have been mining them up. I wish you could colour-code them or something for each network so you know which mothership they got lost from

[ccomley]

Hmm. I have one BIG logi-net, and then I have a coupel of smaller ones for outposts.

If I'm in the main base area but I instead of waiting for my re-load bots to refill my inventory, I hop on a train and head to an outpost, will the bots that were heading towards me wait for me to reutrn, or try to follow, and, if they follow, will they stop at the edge of the network they're starting in or cross into the outpost network, to reach me? (And, if the latter, will they then return to the original network or now be part of the outpost network? )

[Fel]

If you go out of range of the network before they reach you, they will try to deposit the items back into the storage of the network before going back to a roboport to recharge and either go in or be assigned a different task.

[Warlord]

Originally posted by Fel:

If you go out of range of the network before they reach you, they will try to deposit the items back into the storage of the network before going back to a roboport to recharge and either go in or be assigned a different task.

Which requires the yellow "Storage" chest. You should use one or two of these as a catch-all for misc items that a bot fails to deliver (for various reasons).

In your case, They tried to bring you an item, but you ran out of range before they could drop it off. Bots cannot put an item into an active or passive (purple or red) chest, even if it is to put an item they JUST picked up back into it.

Beware of using Storage chests while also using purple Active Provider chests.

[ccomley]

Oh I have plenty of yellow chests. I wondered if the problem was that they try to follow me to the other zone, run out of charge, but can't go to the nearest roboport to recharge as it's not in the same logi-net, or some such.

[Warlord]

Naw, they will only go until YOU leave the zone. Even if you make a big horse-shoe shaped line of roboports, they will fly over un-provided land to get to you in the zone on the other side. They remember the network they are a part of and ignore the rest. This doesn't usually end well, as large gaps cannot be jumped without needing a charge. Robots eventually decide to forge onwards, slowing to a crawl but still flying until they reach the other side.

The only reason for a robot to just stop working is if they are holding something and have nowhere to put it. If there is even a single yellow chest within the ORANGE spot of a roboport network that they are a part of, they will drop an item there.

Did you check the yellow chests aren't full? Purple providers basically have an "EMPTY ME!" command, which leads robots to take them and store it in yellow chests. If you aren't careful on managing what goes into purple chests, you can easily clog up your network with items.