Print

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

[Dramegno]

I want to make an automated item sorter that would allow me to have max control if the flow of materials thru my fort and to help with the number and distance of my dwarfs cross map treks to pick-up/drop-off an item. Is this even plausible? and would I need to know anything outside of the regular minecart/track basics that are on the wiki? or is the scope of what I am trying to do is a mega-project/stupid dwarf trick in of it self, minus the magma of course I will add that in later.

[TruePikachu]

The only mechanical means of sorting that minecarts offer is by mass (and, even then, it's not the best). If you want to sort different kinds of objects apart from each other, you'll need manual labor involved to do sorting. Sorting into carts is pretty simple to do with manual labor, even from a single unified stockpile; you can just set the filter from the stop's settings ([ENTER] key).

The biggest obstacle that I tend to face when getting carts set up is just getting the track all set up. In any practical setup, you need to have a route on track from point A to point B; this applies regardless of the guide/push/ride selection.

After knowing the basics of implementation, you have a decision to make: how everything will be powered. There are two main types of minecart networks (guided and pushed), while the latter has three additional classifications (roller, gravity, and impulse). If you are just getting started, I would suggest a guided setup; this means that the track only needs the actual path and (possibly) stops; it doesn't require rollers or means of controlling what way carts move. The downside is that you need a dwarf to push the cart along the entire path, and it is limited to the speed of the dwarf. However, there is almost no risk of danger to others around (the biggest issue that exists is job cancellation on a slope).

Pushed, or "powered", setups don't require constant attention from a single dwarf. However, a lot more care needs to be taken into their planning. The actual way carts move will be dictated not by the route set up in the [H]auling screen, but by the actual pieces of track on the ground. Additionally, carts might be moving very fast, and so pose a safety risk to anybody nearby.

Personally, I stick with guided routes whenever possible, going into pushed systems only when I need to collect fluids or restrict the passage of dwarves across a stretch (like a restricted, vampire-only strand extraction area; you don't want to mix the populations, and you don't want the hospital or craftdwarves taking the extracted but unsmelted strands of metal).

[Dramegno]

what I was planning was essentially to have a level that is nothing but tracks, and occasional holes to the floor below which to drop items in to sort them in an efficient compact manner. I didn't know without going in and doing lots of trial and error what floor styles could be used for this or is track stops could autopush a minecart for a few blocks on flat ground. I think I will try a few small scale tests to see if I can get a good idea what the best way to run it would be, mainly should I just have one track level or should I end up with three different systems in series with workshops in between pushing multi-step items deeper into the fort or what, but I have a feeling that if I did more research in stockpile optimizations I would find my answer.

[taptap]

Not really sure what exactly OP wants. You can set up a lot of sorting with stockpiles / stockpile links. Using minecarts / trackstops reduces the footprint of said stockpiles (quantum stockpiles) and, if required, allows to move those items where you have long distance and high volume traffic between feeder stockpile and storage. Personally I colour-sort wood and stone in quantum stockpiles, but I don't bother with a track system. Actual transport over distance is done otherwise since the whole fort is small partly thanks to working with quantum stockpiles.

Loading minecarts (with goods) will always remain manual dwarf labour even if your minecart system does not require guidance. This loading and corresponding hauling routes, stockpile settings etc. is where the sorting happens. There is little automation in it.

[Dramegno]

I understand that loading the feeder stockpile would be done by dwarven mitts even the loading of the minecart, but I am mainly trying to cut down on number of trips that my dwarfs would need to make by giving them a smaller footprint fort and by greatly increasing what I dwarf would be carrying if I go with the pushing of the cart. I will probably also have minecarts and impulse ramps to quickly bring stone from my lower levels to the upper stockpiles