Technology · Item
Item detector
Powered, it tells on a signal cable how full a store is, or when a chosen item goes by on a conveyor.
In the game
How to get it
At the grid: a lens on top, copper wire on each side of a coil, 3 iron sheets at the bottom. Put it against a chest, silo, grid or machine (probe), or in-line on a conveyor with a filter item; bring it power and a signal cable.
What it is for
Stop a machine when its silo is full, count a farm's loot, or detect one item to drive a diverter.
Why it exists
A factory that can see what it holds can run itself; the detector is its eye.
The same text the game shows in its progress tree and on the item's sheet (I).
How to make it
At the grid: a lens top middle, copper wire, a coil and copper wire across the middle, 3 iron sheets across the bottom.
Its two modes (its sheet)
- Probe: against a silo, chest, grid or machine, it gives the fill level or the count on its signal cable (an unloaded chest reads 0).
- In-line: set on a conveyor with a filter item, it gives a full signal (255) while that item passes.
It needs power. A signal goes from 0 to 255; "on" is 128 and more.
Ideas
- In-line detector + Diverter = a sorter.
- Probe on a silo + a Electric relay = a machine that stops when its silo is full.
On the progress path
LO1TransportSide quest
One of the items of the step Item logistics.
- This stepLO1 · Item logistics
- NextLO2 · Piping