Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[flameaway]

Okay, so I've got a fluid generator that works... after a fashion.

It uses thirteen carts (the optimum number for this application due to how fluids load into quantum mine cart stacks), and the latest version cycles in about 200 clicks. Each cycle produces approximately 13 units of fluid.  This means that fluid generation is fairly rapid.

The beta version consists of these components:

1)  A reservoir.

2) An impulse elevator of a certain length. Timed to restore the carts to their initial quantum stack location and configuration. 

3) A quantum mine cart stack. This stack rests upon an retracting bridge.

Action:

When the bridge opens the fluid laden carts fall onto an impulse ramp, and begin their journey to the dump station directly above the initial mine cart stack.

The stack initially exists in one level of 7/7 fluid with a 6/7 level above. (well water in my case). All of the carts contain 2 units of fluid.  When the bridge opens the fluid follows the carts.  Along the path of the carts is a grate leading down into the reservoir.  Using this configuration, I capture almost all the fluid being generated, losing only two units during the first iteration.  This setup also allows me to do away with the complicated pump setup that I was using to recover water in the alpha version. Plus, you know, this setup actually works...

Once the cart reaches the drop shaft that returns them to their initial position on the bridge, they dump their load in the same hole they are falling into.  Thus, they unload their fluid and reload it as a quantum mine cart stack, effectively doubling the quantity of fluid originally carried.  The carts reload and the extra 13 units of water surround the carts waiting to flow into the reservoir.

That's it.  No power, thirteen carts, a few bits of track and a bridge.

So what's the catch?

How do I automatically open and close the bridge at the right time?

I'm currently building a new version of this thing and I'm trying to keep the design as simple as possible.  Something that one could build as easily as, say, a four pump mister. For the device to be really useful, it needs to be fairly easy to setup.  Right now I have a very simple design, but I have to babysit each cycle.

 

Code: [Select]

NE NE # E... NW
Z0

NE = Track Ramp
# = grate
E = track
... = several more E track sections
NW = track ramp leading to the next level

The bridge covers the leftmost NE

Code: [Select]

X TS ...
z3

X = drop shaft
TS = track stop, for dumping. (this may not be necessary, I think if I increase the drop the carts would unload automatically.  I just don't want to use the extra z's.
... = is a winding path timed to allow all the carts to clear the quantum stack.  Once the last cart is clear, the bridge may close.  Once the last cart drops back onto the quantum stack the bridge may reopen.

The rest of the setup is trivial -- just legs of an impulse elevator.

NOTE: Of course I'm testing with water.  Haven't even tried magma yet.

So...

How do I get that bridge to open and close on the fly? 

EDIT: punctuation.

[flameaway]

reserved

Edit:

"Single Lever Airlock

Raising bridges and retracting bridges controlled by a single lever will be in opposite states of being open or closed. When one is closed (raised) the other is open (retracted) and vice versa. This fact can be used to construct airlocks that are not vulnerable to building destroyers or mistimed lever pulls e.g. "

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Bridge

EDIT:  I tried this; but the bridges stay in phase when hooked to a single lever.  What am I doing wrong?

This seems promising.  If I add a couple of z-levels to the device, I could put another bridge just above the mine cart stack.  Once the bottom bridge opens the top bridge closes and catches the carts and dumped water; this would also reload the carts as they sort themselves out into second quantum stack two z's up.  Then when the carts have all stacked up, the top bridge releases the stack to the bottom bridge.   Another lever pull restarts the cycle.

I'm going to build this tonight; hopefully it will work.

It still doesn't solve the automation problem.  It would be nice to control the whole thing with pressure plates in the path of the carts.  But maybe I just need a separate repeater.

{shrugs}

[Merendel]

I'm asumeing what you need the bridge to do is extend just before the minecarts arive at the top of the shaft and then retract after all the carts have arived?  You might be able to rig up a minecart repeater with an off switch(hatch) tied to a pressure plate on your main track.   Setup a minecart loop that cycles the cart around faster than 1 per 100 ticks.  On that loop there is a pressure plate.  This plate is linked to your bridge.   As long as the cart is cyceling its sending open signals and never sends a close signal to the bridge.  When your 13 carts reach the plate in their track have it open a hatch(or whatever) that diverts the repeater cart onto a secondary loop.  As the repeater cart is no longer hiting the plate a close signal is sent to the bridge extending it.  Once all the generator carts are past the plate and into the shaft that plate sends a close signal alowing the repeater cart back into its primary loop causeing the bridge to open agian.

You might need several plates on the repeater track so an off signal comes through very rapidly once your lead cart hits the plate that lets the repeater out.  This is because you need that release plate to be enough ticks ahead of the drop that there is time for the bridge to react before the cart gets to the drop but still close enough that theres time for the last cart to reach the drop before the repeater opens the bridge agian.   Either that or just have the holding loop of the repeater cart be timed long enough that it cant get back into the repeater loop before all the carts are in place.