Description
A set of two blueprints to produce T3 modules without relying on advanced production facilities. It employs direct-insertion of T1 to T2, and T2 to T3. Belt-fed for all the required circuits, but planet-specific ingredients are requested from the logistics network.
How to build:
- Build one instance of the "Start" blueprint
- Blueprint is parameterized - this sets the initial T3 module recipe and the logistics storage chest filter
- Recipe type and/or quantity can be changed on the fly using the appropriate constant combinator
- Caveats: after switching the module type, it is necessary to clear the trash slots of the assembling machines (ctrl-click them), and then alter the filter on the logistics storage chest (can't be set via circuit network)
- Changing only the quantity does not require manual intervention
- Connect the right-hand belts to the required resources:
- Top: Electronic Circuits (green)
- Middle: Advanced Circuits (red)
- Processing Units (blue)
- Consumption per minute of each is listed in the blueprint description
- Ensure that a roboport is in-range of the logistic requester and storage chests, and that the logistics network has access to something that provides the relevant planet-specific resource(s) for the module type(s) you intend to craft
- Ensure that the blueprint is entirely isolated from other circuit network(s)
- That's it, you will have one complete T3 module factory
How to Expand
- Use the Continuation blueprint
- Not parameterized
- Uses a passive provider chest instead of a storage chest - change it to an active provider if you want your bots to shift all the modules to the filtered storage chest from the Start blueprint
- Automagically sets machine recipes by connecting to the circuit networks from the Start blueprint
- Attach this blueprint to the left-hand side of the Start blueprint (or a previously-constructed copy of the Continuation blueprint)
- Overlay the right-hand power poles over the matching ones on the left-hand side of the Start blueprint (or a previously constructed Continuation blueprint)
- Super-force-build so that the underground belt entrance replaces the plain belt at the end of the previous blueprint
- Connect 2 green wire networks so that the machine set-recipe signals are passed down the chain:
- Connect the top-right assembling machine of this blueprint to the adjacent assembling machine from the previously-constructed blueprint (the top-left of that blueprint)
- Connect the bottom-right assembling machine of this blueprint to the adjacent assembling machine from the previously-constructed blueprint (the bottom-left of that blueprint)
- All other circuit network connections are handled by the overlaid power poles
- Now you have two (or more) T3 module assembling subfactories connected and managed by one control combinator block
- Up to 11 total instances of these blueprints can be connected to one another (i.e. 11 machines producing T3 modules) - connecting more results in a shortage of advanced circuits (red)
- Upgrading all belts to the fast (red) variant doubles the amount of instances that can be chained to 22
How it works:
- The chunky block of combinators on the Start blueprint reads the T3 module signal from a constant combinator
- This signal is then used to automagically set the recipes on all assembling machines and also set the requester chest(s) to import the needed planet-specific resource
- The T3 assembling machine (top-center) has its recipe set using the configured T3 module signal
- The T3 recipe ingredients are read back from the machine and used to determine the dependent planetary ingredient and T2 module
- T1 modules are selected by then examining the T2 recipe
- Selector combinators are used (by index) to select the needed ingredient signals for all tiers of related modules
- Efficiency modules are a special case, given that the index order of their planetary and T2 module ingredients are flipped compared to the other T3 modules - this is handled for you by the control block
- There are many notes in the descriptions of most combinators to explain what they are doing and why
- Generally speaking, the F and I signals shouldn't need to be altered
- The F signal is the scaling factor for how many of the planetary resource should be requested by each requester chest (default 5)
- The I signal is the base index used by the selector combinators to correctly identify the resource signals from the T3 module recipes - if your green network has more signals on it for some reason, you might need to adjust this number
- The main red circuit network contains a virtual signal "3" which is based on the T3 module demand compared to the count of T3 modules in the attached storage and provider chest(s)
- Negative values indicate how many modules remain to be assembled before the configured amount is ready
- Positive values indicates a surplus - maybe you disassembled something recently and the bots stored some modules here
- All red-network-connected assembling machines and inserters have an enable condition based on the "3" signal, meaning that they turn off once the target amount of modules have been produced
- This "generified" virtual signal is used so that the module types are not hard-coded in the conditions (this is a big part of the magic that allows switching the T3 module recipe and having things "just work")