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[GavJ]

What if instead of pressure plates, you have a vampire in a 1x6 or so hallway with a window looking into the killing area, who runs away from enemies onto a pressure plate?

Or something else outside the box for triggering?

[MrLobster]

It is neither necessary nor desirable to have your pressure plates inside the area to be sealed off.  Put the triggered plates just *outside* the sealed-off area.

I've tried that.  The problem is, when the pressure plate is triggering an automated sequence, retriggering it will create a situation whereby creatures outside the sealed area will keep the trap in a state of perpetual "on/start" and it will never reset/empty. (they keep stepping on it)  I've tried them outside, and it didn't work for me.  But if I could, I would.
I've tried isolating the pressure plate outside the hallway, but eventually, just one creature gets sealed in there with it, and keeps retriggering it.  Annoying, those pesky enemies.

Could you wash that area out with water, in a separate system from the lava? Wash away the goblins from the trigger area (which is outside the lava kill zone) so they can't retrigger the trap until the whole thing resets?

[GavJ]

also why cant you do this:
[] = bridge
[_] = pressure plate
% = pumps, pumping lava from each pressure plate individually out an exit tube

[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []
[] [_] []

Next level up:

[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % %    | []
[]  [] % % _ | []
    ^separate bridge that is not part of the lava dumping system, but just provides access for the pumps to suck from

Procedure:
To fill, retract all lava-bearing bridges on the top floor.  Lava will flow around and fill in the spots underneath the pumps just fine.
Close bridges from above.
Then WITH THE SAME MECHANISM, drop all the lava on the main floor down to your drain, and turn on all 9 pumps simultaneously (by opening the special pump bridge).  They should suck out all the lava, since there wont have been a chance yet for 6/7 to flow away from any one pressure plate, and no lava should flow in from the main area, because it is all currently falling as of right now
Then close the lower bridges and get ready for the next wave

[Sadrice]

you could set it up with a pressure plate outside the room, and a bit of water logic such that signals from the plate are ignored until the magma chamber has cleared.  i'll post a design later when i've thought it through a bit more.  i also like the vampire idea, though you could use an animal just as easily, and replace it whenever it dies of old age.

[GavJ]

you could set it up with a pressure plate outside the room, and a bit of water logic such that signals from the plate are ignored until the magma chamber has cleared.  i'll post a design later when i've thought it through a bit more.  i also like the vampire idea, though you could use an animal just as easily, and replace it whenever it dies of old age.

will animals leave a pasture if frightened?  If so, then the pasture could be everything but the pressure plate, and youd never have to worry about them just wandering aimlessly onto the plate and wasting trap cycles.

[Sadrice]

yes they will.   i made a thread about this specific kind of invader sensor a while ago, but no one seemed particularly interested.

[GavJ]

Sweet.

To make it even more foolproof, you could put ANOTHER pressure plate underneath the pasture, and open the system (restricted traffic) to the fort.  Make a logic circuit that checks to make sure at least one of the plates is active at any given time.  If neither is, the trap locks down and closes all doors.

That way, if the animal dies and you don't notice it, a dwarf will remove the corpse to the refuse pile, and neither plate will be activated, so it will safely shut down the entrance to your fort until you get around to noticing and replacing the animal.

[Sadrice]

i think if you use a pasture a dwarf will have to come return the animal to the pasture, which you could do with a tightly closed door, but it might cause the system to misfire unless the animal is heavier than a dwarf with the weight limit set accordingly.  you could use a meeting area instead, but i think animals might sometimes randomly leave the meeting area to go wandering, firing the system.

[GavJ]

yeah just a trained lion or something that doesnt graze.