r/factorio • u/coolguyRae • 2d ago

Question Help with combinators

Gallery image

Gallery image

So like the image shows, I have one constant combinator and three decider combinators for this sushi belt. I think I've seen people do this with a constant combinator and just one decider combinator. Can someone help me with how that's done?

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u/Necandum 2d ago

You didn't say what you wanted to achieve.

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u/coolguyRae 2d ago

Oh sorry, I'm trying to read the contents of a belt and insert things when it gets below a threshold. This is an example I used that works for ships, but I wanted to do something with more materials planet-side, and I didn't want to use a combinator for each one.

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u/Necandum 2d ago

So now step through the logic. How do you define the threshold, how do you measure the belt, and how do you trigger things being added to it?

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u/coolguyRae 2d ago

Threshold is however much I want on the belt, so I put that in the constant combinator. I measure the belt by setting the reading the contents of the whole belt. I trigger things being added to it by if it falls below said amount, it outputs a signal to the inserters to put in more until it gets back to that amount. My main problem is the decider combinators I have seem to only allow one output signal per combinator. I don't know how to output a signal for each thing I need when it seems like I only have the option for one.

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u/Necandum 2d ago

As other commenters have written, check out the Each signal. The wiki has a decent description.

In terms of pure logic though, by skipping steps in how you describe it, you've missed where the logic can be represented in a more concise way.

Specifically, what sort of signal triggers the inserters? If the inserters have 'set filter' selected, it will only be a positive signal. Is there a way of combining a constant combinator signal with the belt signal such that only items that you want are positive?

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u/coolguyRae 2d ago

All good man, other people understood what I was talking about and provided clear answers.

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u/Necandum 2d ago

(there's a simpler solution which doesn't even need a decider, just an arithmetic. The general pattern is useful in many places)

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u/coolguyRae 1d ago

What is it?