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[Shadowics]

This is a two part question. I'm trying to set up some rather complex mechanical logic to drive an automatic defense system. Here's the sequence I'm trying to achieve:

1) Pressure plate 1 On
 - (At least two steps elapse)
2) Pressure plate 1 Off
3) Pressure plate 2 On
 - (At least two steps elapse)
4) Pressure plate 2 Off
5) Wait ~50 or so Steps (I'm not sure exactly how much 'space' between cycles is a good amount, this will probably require some testing.)
6) Repeat

It could be done in more steps, but I'm struggling with the complexity to manage this. It could be two separate repeater cycles: 1,2,6 - 3,4,5,6 (It's okay if 1 goes back on during 2's wait) The question there though would be, how do you keep them synchronized?

My attempt looked like this: (Top view)

Code: [Select]

_%%2
%..%
%..%
1%%_The pumps would pump a single block of water around in a circle (inspired by another thread I saw here on the forums). Pressure plates 1 and 2 (actually on the level below) would be hooked up both to the devices I wanted them to trigger, and the gear assembly powering the pumps. When the water triggered pressure plate 1, it would be suck away by the running pump in the same frame, appearing in the lower right corner. The pumps then read as 'disconnected; Power = 0' and were not visibly animating. I expected the water to sit in the empty hole until the plate reset, 'noticed' that there wasn't any water on it, and turned the pump back on. Unfortunately, this set up failed because, despite being disconnected and not animating, the pumps would continue to pump the water, as I watched, pressing '.' one step at a time, trigging plate 2 and sometimes going more than all the way around the loop before the pumps 'realized' that they were no longer connected, and stopped pumping, at which point the water sat in one of the empty corners until a pressure plate reset, as I was expecting it to do.


So, can anyone explain why disconnected screw pumps keep pumping for a little while? Or better yet, any ideas for a setup that might work for what I'm looking for?

[Albedo]

It's late, and I'm tired, so forgive if I don't read - yes, my bad. 

Adjacent screw pumps automatically transfer power.

If that's not an answer, nm.

[Shadowics]

It's late, and I'm tired, so forgive if I don't read - yes, my bad. 

Adjacent screw pumps automatically transfer power.

If that's not an answer, nm.

No problem, but, no, that's not related to the issue I'm having.

[Firnagzen]

Interesting, it seems pumps have a latency time, then.

You could go with the system proposed in the same thread (Uber mist generator (Now with 4x the mist!), as I recall) which is: instead of having the plates switch the pumps off, have them switch the pumps on. When there's water on the plates, the plate will trigger the pumps ahead of it on, pumping the water off the plates and resetting the pumps to off.

http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1370-pump-basedautorepeater
Movie, and link to thread.

[Malicus]

I haven't really thought through how this would fit into what you want to do, but if you want to be sure that the pumps stop immediately, instead of shutting them off, you could trigger a floor hatch to close over the space they're pumping from when you want them to stop pumping.

Or you could use a door in the space that is being pumped from, but this is probably less desirable because 1) you'd have to get down there to put it in, and 2) it'd atom smash the water that is in that space when it closes.

[Shadowics]

http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1370-pump-basedautorepeater
Movie, and link to thread.

Thanks for pointing that out, I had overlooked that when I first read that thread.

I reworked my setup to be like that person made in the video, and noticed something. When I first started it up, the water zipped around the whole loop almost instantly, because the previous pressure plate hadn't been pressed to disable the adjacent pump. It went full circle before the pumps 'realized' they were switched off, and stopped pumping. After that, it worked, since the pumps were stopped before the water got there.

Interesting, it seems pumps have a latency time, then.

Looks that way, yeah, I'm not quite sure how else to explain it.

[eerr]

It's probably something to do with the speed water falls.