Can I use a single drone port to both deliver and pick up resources?

[pugdogg55]

I'm new to using drones. Can I use a drone port as a delivery for one product and then have that same drone (or a different one I suppose) to then pick up a resource in the port and deliver it back to it's home port? Or are drone ports like train stations that can only pick up or receive?

[RadioIesbian Fluid]

No, you can make them deliver and pick up, just make sure that the outputs dont fill up or the drone will get stuck waiting to unload.

Putting a smart splitter on the output with an overflow to a sink solves it.

[Nibbie]

You can have them deliver both ways, but that caused more trouble and waste than you save in fuel in my experience. If you don't mind that, then as above a splitter set to overflow to a sink at each port output is important.

[nfgman]

You can, for example. deliver packaged nitrogen or fuel, unpackage on site, and then return empty cannisters in a loop.
Or, when you have a 1:1. such as heavy frames/fused frames, drones work great two-way.

[pugdogg55]

My exact thought is heavy and fused frame funnily enough. I'm producing my heavy frames and my aluminum at 2 different places so I planned to drone aluminum casings to the heavy frames, make fused frames, then ship the fused frames back on the same drone to my aluminum factory that is also making radio control units to create pressure conversion cubes. I could do it with 2 different drone ports easily but I thought it would be fun to try to do it with one loading and unloading if it was possible.

[EchoMGM]

You can do it. Currently, I ship sulfuric and nitric acid in bottles along with batteries and that same drone at the destination collects the empty bottles from the previous shipment and the battery overflow.

[Ryzilynt]

I've already rounded up all the uranium on the map to one factory with drones. I'm about to finish up using them to gather 15,000 ish coal. If i just had a couple drones I might try to have some of them carry back and forth, but it's all exclusively one directional for me.

[mikemonger]

Originally posted by nfgman:

You can, for example. deliver packaged nitrogen or fuel, unpackage on site, and then return empty cannisters in a loop.
Or, when you have a 1:1. such as heavy frames/fused frames, drones work great two-way.

This. I've got packaged nitrogen flying all over the map on drones and the empties coming back for refilling.

Remember that a drone port can only link outwards to one port, but any number of drone ports can link back to a single port. In my setup I have a drone port being supplied with packaged nitrogen. There are no drones assigned to that port and that port isn't linked to any other port.. I have 4 other drone ports linked back to that port. They fly in, pick up nitrogen, drop off their empties, and fly back.

But generally my drone ports are unidirectional.