Effective Router usage

[ThemsAllTook]

Hi everyone! I'm looking for some tips and tricks from some of our more experienced members on ways to use routers better in my world. I love what they do, but I've run into a couple of problems I haven't been able to solve:

• I have a system for sorting bee products into barrels, with an overflow chest for anything that can't fit into full barrels, or new items I forget to add barrels for. Right now this is being done with a single RedPower relay going to a long pneumatic tube. It works OK, but I'd like to see if it's possible to use a router instead. Even with the thoroughness upgrade (which apparently is broken as of the version of Factorization included in Ultimate 1.1.2?), items which should have gone into barrels end up in my overflow chest. Is there any elegant solution to this, or do routers simply not do that job (at least until thoroughness is fixed)?
  
• I have another pneumatic tube network for moving frames into frame housings in my alvearies. It takes quite a long time for a frame to get from my fabricator all the way to the farthest frame housings from it, and by the time that happens, the timer on my transposer has already sent several more frames out to the same destination. A router seems like a natural choice here, but the issue is getting all of the frame housings into its machine network...what's the standard practice for connecting two machines that can't directly touch each other? I could do something janky with, say, a row of barrels with one cobblestone each in them, but maybe there's a better way? Is there an equivalent to router "pipes"?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Siro]

I have a system for sorting bee products into barrels, with an overflow chest for anything that can't fit into full barrels, or new items I forget to add barrels for. Right now this is being done with a single RedPower relay going to a long pneumatic tube. It works OK, but I'd like to see if it's possible to use a router instead. Even with the thoroughness upgrade (which apparently is broken as of the version of Factorization included in Ultimate 1.1.2?), items which should have gone into barrels end up in my overflow chest. Is there any elegant solution to this, or do routers simply not do that job (at least until thoroughness is fixed)?

Routers increment through their list in sequence. They'll stop working when powered with redstone. You can use BC logic gates to monitor the status of the barrel system and shut down the router when the system gets full. Thus your overflow chest won't be connected to the router network at all, it'll simply be on the end of a BC pipe that only pulls out of the router when the system is full. Ultimately what doesn't do the job is the storage system itself. AE pretty much blows it out of the water.

I have another pneumatic tube network for moving frames into frame housings in my alvearies. It takes quite a long time for a frame to get from my fabricator all the way to the farthest frame housings from it, and by the time that happens, the timer on my transposer has already sent several more frames out to the same destination. A router seems like a natural choice here, but the issue is getting all of the frame housings into its machine network...what's the standard practice for connecting two machines that can't directly touch each other? I could do something janky with, say, a row of barrels with one cobblestone each in them, but maybe there's a better way? Is there an equivalent to router "pipes"?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

A router is a wonderful choice for this. I used the machine filter upgrade and connect the inventories of alvearies via furnaces placed inbetween them when I had a large array of alvearies. But you could really use anything when using the machine filter and you don't need to stock the inventory with a junk item as it'll just skip it. Barrel leftover from a dismantled storage network are also a good choice.

Also, a caution with routers. They increment through the list of connected inventories in order. This is a bit more obvious when one is feeding a large array of the same machine with the same item. The larger the list of inventories it has to cycle through, the longer it will take to cycle through. The bandwidth upgrade can go a long way toward eliminating this as a problem, but it is something one should be aware of when planning out how many inventories one should connect to ensure that one is stocking the entire array in a timely manner.

 

[ThemsAllTook]

Cool, thanks for the tips. Guess I have to find a block that has an inventory, is cheap to craft in large quantities, and doesn't ruin my aesthetics too much...tricky! I suppose I could use something like furnaces and just hide them in a wall somewhere.

 

[Deleted member 38496]

Also, a caution with routers. They increment through the list of connected inventories in order. This is a bit more obvious when one is feeding a large array of the same machine with the same item. The larger the list of inventories it has to cycle through, the longer it will take to cycle through. The bandwidth upgrade can go a long way toward eliminating this as a problem, but it is something one should be aware of when planning out how many inventories one should connect to ensure that one is stocking the entire array in a timely manner.

Bandwith is mostly applicable when transporting stacks of items. In your alveary example, a speed upgrade sounds far more useful, as it's designed specifically for situations like that with large numbers of machines.

 

[Siro]

Cool, thanks for the tips. Guess I have to find a block that has an inventory, is cheap to craft in large quantities, and doesn't ruin my aesthetics too much...tricky! I suppose I could use something like furnaces and just hide them in a wall somewhere.

Alvearies can connect through the floor too (but not the ceiling). Also, of note, you can apply a metal plate to cover any ic2/gregtech machine to achieve a particular look (although this is a bit more expensive than simply using a chest or furnace or something equally cheap).