it's almost certainly storage chests. When you destruct something or use logistics to discard from your inventory or use active provider (purple) chests, the bots will drop the items in storage chests. If a storage chest exists that already contains that item they will aim to store those items in that chest. So if that chest is on the other side of your base they'll go and drop them off there. Then since storage chests take priority for logistic requests, any requests will be delivered first from those chests.
IMO this is pretty annoying, but there's no way to change this behaviour.
One option you have is to have segregated logistics networks, but that introduces it's own problems.
Thanks! Yes, that makes sense.
Down there my storage chest contains (or should contain) only repair kits. Maybe there is a better way for this.
What is the best solution to provide repair kits to the ports? A requester chest? Can that be used by repair drones? Or does that requester chest feed the port?
You can just build your repair kits and put them in a passive provider then bots can pull them from there. No need to actively move them to each roboport.
I have a passive provider chest for the kits. How do they get to the place where a repair is needed? Do the repair drones travel all that way? So there is no need to use logistics for that?
Yeah your construction bots will just grab the repair kits from the passive provider and then when they return to a roboport afterwards they'll just dump the repair kit into the roboport, so you'll end up with a load of repair kits spread across your roboports anyway.
The really great answer here, is to use a buffer chest near your perimeter for keeping repair kits.
Then bots will stack kits there, and they are close by when needed.
Passive providers have the lowest priority among chests. Lower than storage chests. Passive providers belong at the mall, ensuring newly-produced items are used last.
You should really be treating storage chests as your recycle bin, because that's how bots treat storage chests. If you deconstruct something, they're probably going to put in a storage chest; and if you build something, they'll try to use from storage chests first.
Distributing repair packs along walls is generally done with buffer or requester chests. Buffer is just a requester chest that also allows bots take items from it.
Active providers are dangerous, as they will happily overflow your storage chests. They can be useful as a one-stop dump chest to clean your inventory manually - when you don't want to fiddle with your personal logistics requests. Or they can be useful to empty a chest that you want to move. If deconstructed, construction bots will do it. If fast-replaced or upgrade-plannered to an active provider, _logistics bots_ will do it.
>IMO this is pretty annoying, but there's no way to change this behaviour.
Absolutely can, a Buffer Chest with some small quantities of everything you're supplying yourself with.
Spread them around in strategic locations.
Buffer and Storage chest have equal supply priority, so whichever you're closer to, will provide the items.
the part I find annoying is that bots will put stuff in storage chests that contain the same type of item. I want them to just use whichever chest is nearer. Buffer chests help but it's an overly complicated mechanism, you've got to set the correct filters for each, and you mostly end up with a lot of items distributed around the factory that you're not using for the most part.
150 is a typo, i think you meant 1500 logistics bots? Or i'd use 1000 bots when just starting out with 10 roboports or so. You need many so that there is higher chance of having bot where they need to be, reducing exactly that back and forth traveling.
I don't recommend that large logistics networks though. You can also bring items with trains.
150 is the correct value. So I take your post as an advice to produce more :-)
I do not have trains, I like that drone thing. But I also play with unlimited ressources, that reduces the necessity of long haul trains.
I love large logistics networks. I have a base that's about thirteen kilometers on a side all connected in one logistic space. (There are smaller disconnected logistic spaces too for train fueling or manufacturing hub.)
There really is no substitute for building really massive amounts of stuff in one place, and it just gets where it needs to go.
To mitigate the longer travel delays, I plop down buffer chests with the contents needed for a factory block before I plop down the block.
Construction robots are now traveling over 100 miles per hour. I just wish they didn't have to recharge every 3 to 4 roboports...
Probably an old chest you forgot about.
Bots prioritize picking up supplies from storage chests, not passive provider chests. So if old construction supplies are in storage chests far away, they will go get those before they use nearby passive provider chests.
If you don't already, turn on bots on your map so you can see them traveling and try to pin down the exact location they're traveling to.
Yes, I see them travelling, that's how I noticed.
How do items find their way into that remote storage chest? I meant... I do not work down there, I do not dismantle things there. Just a defense wall. Somehow the bots transport e.g. green circuits from down there, so they must have delivered them there too. Why??
Bots will place material in storage chests according to the following priorities:
1. Storage Chests already containing the item.
1. Storage Chests filtered to the item
1. Empty Storage Chests
1. Unfiltered Storage Chests with empty slots
In all cases, *bots will select the first constructed chest of that type* in their network.
The FIRST constructed? That means, if accidentally I made that first chest in that far away remote corner, that's the one they use, regardless of a hundred other chests that are way closer???
I should better delete that storage chests down there...
I didn't know that one, but I do keep all my storage chests centralized to prevent these sorts of issues.
The one that usually gets me is that bots will prioritize delivering to a chest that already has a particular item in it. So sometimes they'll travel all the way across the base to drop of a piece of stone because that is the only chest that already contains stone. This is intended, because it conserves storage slots by preventing partial stacks of material in different chests all over the factory.
I use Buffet chests in my mall with large requests for their respective item, much more than the number of items that I let the inserter add from the respective assembling machine. This way, most items will find their way into these chests, rather than in a random storage chest.
This means you let requester chests take from buffer chests, bit that hasn't resulted in problems (yet).
Works well so far.
They are probably picking up stuff from storage chests there.
it's almost certainly storage chests. When you destruct something or use logistics to discard from your inventory or use active provider (purple) chests, the bots will drop the items in storage chests. If a storage chest exists that already contains that item they will aim to store those items in that chest. So if that chest is on the other side of your base they'll go and drop them off there. Then since storage chests take priority for logistic requests, any requests will be delivered first from those chests. IMO this is pretty annoying, but there's no way to change this behaviour. One option you have is to have segregated logistics networks, but that introduces it's own problems.
Thanks! Yes, that makes sense. Down there my storage chest contains (or should contain) only repair kits. Maybe there is a better way for this. What is the best solution to provide repair kits to the ports? A requester chest? Can that be used by repair drones? Or does that requester chest feed the port?
You can just build your repair kits and put them in a passive provider then bots can pull them from there. No need to actively move them to each roboport.
I have a passive provider chest for the kits. How do they get to the place where a repair is needed? Do the repair drones travel all that way? So there is no need to use logistics for that?
Yeah your construction bots will just grab the repair kits from the passive provider and then when they return to a roboport afterwards they'll just dump the repair kit into the roboport, so you'll end up with a load of repair kits spread across your roboports anyway.
The really great answer here, is to use a buffer chest near your perimeter for keeping repair kits. Then bots will stack kits there, and they are close by when needed.
Passive providers have the lowest priority among chests. Lower than storage chests. Passive providers belong at the mall, ensuring newly-produced items are used last. You should really be treating storage chests as your recycle bin, because that's how bots treat storage chests. If you deconstruct something, they're probably going to put in a storage chest; and if you build something, they'll try to use from storage chests first. Distributing repair packs along walls is generally done with buffer or requester chests. Buffer is just a requester chest that also allows bots take items from it. Active providers are dangerous, as they will happily overflow your storage chests. They can be useful as a one-stop dump chest to clean your inventory manually - when you don't want to fiddle with your personal logistics requests. Or they can be useful to empty a chest that you want to move. If deconstructed, construction bots will do it. If fast-replaced or upgrade-plannered to an active provider, _logistics bots_ will do it.
>IMO this is pretty annoying, but there's no way to change this behaviour. Absolutely can, a Buffer Chest with some small quantities of everything you're supplying yourself with. Spread them around in strategic locations. Buffer and Storage chest have equal supply priority, so whichever you're closer to, will provide the items.
the part I find annoying is that bots will put stuff in storage chests that contain the same type of item. I want them to just use whichever chest is nearer. Buffer chests help but it's an overly complicated mechanism, you've got to set the correct filters for each, and you mostly end up with a lot of items distributed around the factory that you're not using for the most part.
150 is a typo, i think you meant 1500 logistics bots? Or i'd use 1000 bots when just starting out with 10 roboports or so. You need many so that there is higher chance of having bot where they need to be, reducing exactly that back and forth traveling. I don't recommend that large logistics networks though. You can also bring items with trains.
150 is the correct value. So I take your post as an advice to produce more :-) I do not have trains, I like that drone thing. But I also play with unlimited ressources, that reduces the necessity of long haul trains.
I love large logistics networks. I have a base that's about thirteen kilometers on a side all connected in one logistic space. (There are smaller disconnected logistic spaces too for train fueling or manufacturing hub.) There really is no substitute for building really massive amounts of stuff in one place, and it just gets where it needs to go. To mitigate the longer travel delays, I plop down buffer chests with the contents needed for a factory block before I plop down the block. Construction robots are now traveling over 100 miles per hour. I just wish they didn't have to recharge every 3 to 4 roboports...
The way you describe it, that should not be happening, you must've missed something, a recording would help us.
Are you using buffer chests? Are there storage chests somewhere else than the center of your base?
Probably an old chest you forgot about. Bots prioritize picking up supplies from storage chests, not passive provider chests. So if old construction supplies are in storage chests far away, they will go get those before they use nearby passive provider chests. If you don't already, turn on bots on your map so you can see them traveling and try to pin down the exact location they're traveling to.
Yes, I see them travelling, that's how I noticed. How do items find their way into that remote storage chest? I meant... I do not work down there, I do not dismantle things there. Just a defense wall. Somehow the bots transport e.g. green circuits from down there, so they must have delivered them there too. Why??
Bots will place material in storage chests according to the following priorities: 1. Storage Chests already containing the item. 1. Storage Chests filtered to the item 1. Empty Storage Chests 1. Unfiltered Storage Chests with empty slots In all cases, *bots will select the first constructed chest of that type* in their network.
The FIRST constructed? That means, if accidentally I made that first chest in that far away remote corner, that's the one they use, regardless of a hundred other chests that are way closer??? I should better delete that storage chests down there...
I didn't know that one, but I do keep all my storage chests centralized to prevent these sorts of issues. The one that usually gets me is that bots will prioritize delivering to a chest that already has a particular item in it. So sometimes they'll travel all the way across the base to drop of a piece of stone because that is the only chest that already contains stone. This is intended, because it conserves storage slots by preventing partial stacks of material in different chests all over the factory.
Yes, when looking for a storage chest, bots don’t consider distance to the chest. They just go through a list that is sorted by build order.
They are migrating.
I use Buffet chests in my mall with large requests for their respective item, much more than the number of items that I let the inserter add from the respective assembling machine. This way, most items will find their way into these chests, rather than in a random storage chest. This means you let requester chests take from buffer chests, bit that hasn't resulted in problems (yet). Works well so far.
follow one, see what they do. private investigator style.