Working around multiple redpower retrievers

[Abdiel]

Well for what you're asking, I'm afraid the only sane solution would be some type of a computer. Both a Sortron and turtles (with or without MiscPeripherals) could do this quite easily. I don't think there is any remotely compact or simple way to do this with just tubestuff.

You could potentially design a compact unit with a retriever and some frames, as I suggested earlier. In the "off" state the frames would disconnect the tubes, in the "on" state they would connect them. Requesting something would mean turning the device on, pulsing the retriever, then turning it off again. As long as only one device is ever connected at the same time, there would be no confusion. But as with any non-computerized system, you would obviously have to have one such setup for every crafting recipe.

 

[fyj]

K, I've mocked it up in my creative world and I've solved my problem. Each machine takes 1 retriever, 1 regulator and 2 transposers and then I can guarantee the output of the final regulator will always be balanced. Screenshots are attached


This shows the barrels for the system. You'll see a pipe below and above. These are a bit better hidden in my real world, but essentially it's just a network connected to top/bottom of every barrel.

This shows the side of a system supporting 3 separate machines. Each one has it's retriever, to a pipe, to a transposer, to a pipe, to a regulator, to the final output. The retriever and regulator are both set to pull the same items & both on default configs. The transposer is only there so that it can be blocked off by redstone (More on that w/ image 3). The pipe going up has a restriction pipe on it and essentially ensures that if an incorrect mixture gets pulled by the retrievers it'll get sent back - the transposers here are just to make sure the items only go 1-way here.. You'll also see another transposer on the front-left of the screenshot above a restriction pipe. This was because I found sometimes when I turn off a retriever (more on that) items in transit get stuck in the pipe network cause they can't go to their regulator and they can't get back in their barrel. This lets the overflow get back to storage.

Next you see the redstone. Basically I have a timer at the bottom (You can kinda see it), a redstone wire going up into an AND gate, which is past a NOT gate. The basic result here is that the switch on the block above the transposer both powers the transposer and also cuts power to the AND gate, turning off the retriever so it'll stop pulling items when it's transposer closes.



The regulator will still claim the next item it likes to come by after it is turned off before it gets blocked up by not having a way out (the transposer) which introduces the bad ratios of items getting through. The regulator though will ensure that once that machine is turned back on any excess items which were clogging it's pipes will be released back up it's overflow pipe and the final diamond chest (representing a more complex processing machine) always gets the right ratio of items into it.

For the real thing I'll probably lay out the redstone a bit different & use wireless redstone so I don't have to go down into the machine-room to switch machines, but yeah the concept is what I was after Only downside I've found to this system is that I still can't have two machines both switched on for the same item at once, but I can at least have multiple machines so long as I choose between them.

Thanks for all the ideas helping me towards this

 

[Evil Hamster]

I think you're WAY overthinking things.

RTCTR
.T.T.
.TTT.
..T..
..S..

R= retriever
T= tube
C= buffer chest
S= to your storage sysatem

When either retriever requests tin, it will get pulled from the chest on the side of the retriever that requested it, making it the closest target.

When it requests copper or another item, the request will go off to your storage system.

Simple.

And though it's possible to put more on one chest, I presonally wouldn't go more than 2 assembly lines per buffer chest just for the sake of neatness. multiple buffers would be FAR easier to keep straight than 6 pipes cconnecting to one chest.

 

[fyj]

But then I can only have 2 machines per buffer chest. Given the scale I want to go to that'll mean I need multiple buffer chests. Now I have the problem of pulling items to the buffer chest not working properly because the retrievers interfere and oh god we've gone full circle back to the original problem Maybe I need a tree of buffer chests every 2 chests, but then that's going to mean dismantling the piping and rewiring it to make sure I have an extra buffer in there & that all the pipe lengths stay accurate every time I want to build a new machine... and all of this to avoid... 1 regulator & 2 transposers? I'm sorry, but I think the other solution is more elegant given it's just a single repeatable pattern on the entrance to each machine & doesn't require any re-piping of the rest of the system when a new machine is added.

"Simple" sure, but it doesn't do what I'm trying to do. You're thinking on a much smaller scale than my end goal - I'd agree if I'm aiming for 3 or 4 machines your approach would work fine

 

[Milaha]

It is going to mean some overhead in materials in buffers, but you could set up the retreivers to feed into regulators that connect to buffer inventories.

So top to bottom

Retriever
Regulator
Chest
Processing.

One regulator/chest combo could be used to keep all of the resources of one "run" of whatever process you are using. You would first empty the chest, starting the processing, and then use the retriever to refil it. Your chest would stay "full" at most times (overhead I talked about) and as a result the regulator would indicate it is not a valid path for any other resources that come down the line.

 

[Antice]

I just did some testing with retrievers, they seem to always want to take from the closest inventory on the tube network, they are also capable of stuffing stuff back into barrels trough the bottom. something that came as a surprise to me since you can't ever do that with pipes.

This is the setup type i tested:
[storage rack with barrels chest with pipes underneath]
T
TTT
RRR
TTT
B
c
pe
r
T
[output sent to wherever you want it]

where T = Tube
R = Retriever
B= buffer
c = autocrafting table
p = wooden pipe
e=redstone engine or possibly autharctic gate if prefered
r= relay
O = empty space.

It should not matter what steps lies between the retriever and it's buffer since that is not part of the overall transport network. by keeping that part separate the system becomes rather modular and should be easy to deal with. this should indeed not be a difficult build at all.

An interesting bug occurred tho. when an item was attempted fetched by a retriever further away than another that would fetch the same item, the item went trough the closest one instead of the further along one on the network. I am certain that this is indeed a bug, or an oversight on Eloraams part. this behaviour makes retrievers practically useless for this task. the only alternative then is to use a LOT of buffers and managers to keep all the assembly lines stocked with the correct ratio of inputs for whatever is made in each line instead. thus creating a system where one has a significant overhead as far as manufacturing is concerned. not a big deal for low value items, but not so fun with the high value ones like Iridium and diamonds. you already have a pretty big item overhead by having to put actual items into the managers in order for them to do their job, this makes it twice as bad. This system is not for high value items imho. it's only ever going to be good for bulk manufacture of relatively cheap stuff.

 

[fyj]

It's not a bug - it's actually in redpower's FAQ that this is how it's meant to work & that "bug" is the key thing that I was trying to work around with the above setup. I agree it's a bit of an odd design decision & really limits retrievers, but it's hard to argue with it when the mod maker's saying it's working as intended

 

[nethervvoid]

I tried this in season 2 of my lets play series, but the retriever does not actually tell the items to pass through it, so the items will go to the closest inventory. If 2 inventories are equidistant, it will take turns.

I solved this by using redpower managers in the 'supplier' mode. They will keep an inventory filled with whatever you specify in the manager. This video on my season 3 lets play shows exactly how it works. youtube.com/watch?v=7bFmmL9STZk Go to 14:15 to start the tutorial on how managers work.