Using a constant combinator to set requests and loader filters - how do I load more than 4?

drekly@lemmy.world to Factorio@lemmy.world – 9 points –
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Use an arithmetic combinator to multiply the contents of the chest by -1 and wire the output to the inserter. When the contents of the chest meet the desired amount, it will cancel out the constant combinator and allow the next filter to be set.

I got excited to go try...I can't read the contents and set requests at the same time :(

Right now I'm reading the rocket it's being fed into, and that gives a countdown of items. but if the box fills with a ton of resources, and it's waiting on four slow items, it just sits there waiting. then if the box fills up while its waiting for those first four, it jams the system.

I did this once with several constant combinators and a timer. You can then switch through the different combinations. It's not awesome or fast though

That's the limit of one inserter, unfortunately. Are you able to use a regular one given that the requester chest already filters?

It's for loading a rocket in SE - There's a delay in when the rocket takes off and when it starts filling the storage at the other side, where the signal says it needs all the resources it's just sent out. The bots start arriving with all the items it needs, then the items that were launched land on the other side, get fed into the signal, and now it doesn't need them, so I want a blacklist filter to unload what it doesn't need.

Unfortunately it means right now that I'm unloading EVERYTHING except the first four items in the signal

Oh, I see! In my SE, I use a timer to stop the request for two minutes after launching. I am thinking to replace it with a state machine, like HAVE_REQUESTS (request active), when requests are loaded it goes to LAUNCH_READY (requests inactive), and when receiving pad signals it has cleared the pad and low bot activity it resets to first state.

Ooo that sounds good! I'll look into making a timer!

I came to this community late, but a timer is basically the common solution. It takes about 23 seconds between a rocket starting to launch and the items appearing in the landing pad.

I've been too busy to work on this yet, so you're not too late for me! That's super useful information thank you!

You could also just fill plain old normal chests with your requests and then just use a -1 to regulate requests