[TIP] [Automation] Using NOT gates as future proofing designs

[Saturnus]

In some instances where you're building a design that is either impossible or very difficult to change later on. Usually because it involves high pressure liquids or extremely high temperatures it's often a good idea to spend a tiny amount of refined metal, typically under 50kg extra, on making sure that you actually can automate a building later in the game should you need it by building an unconnected NOT gate into the walls to put the machine inside permanently ON.

That way it's easy to just peel away the insulation and connect the desired automation later on. Either by leaving the NOT gate in place or just connecting the desired automation before it. When built into a wall like this it also has no heat transfer impact.

In other cases you might have temp sensor or a pipe element sensor that outputs OFF if subjected to a vacuum or an empty pipe. This often is the cause of much frustration if the vacuum or empty pipe state is intermittent in nature. In these cases using a NOT gate will ensure an ON output in those cases and then you just reverse the trigger condition of the sensor.

[Angpaur]

3 minutes ago, Saturnus said:

In some instances where you're building a design that is either impossible or very difficult to change later on. Usually because it involves high pressure liquids or extremely high temperatures

True. I'm also prebuilding some simple automation and put some sensor that is always on. But NOT gate seems like better way.

Thanks.

[Oozinator]

Mhh why is it better to place a not gate there, then only placing automation "wire" and adding a not gate outside later, when i need it @Saturnus?

[Saturnus]

25 minutes ago, Oozinator said:

Mhh why is it better to place a not gate there, then only placing automation "wire" and adding a not gate outside later, when i need it @Saturnus?

The wire would turn it off permanently. That's often not desired.

[mircomars]

I use liquid or atmo sensors instead of switches. I set them to 0 and switch them by selecting above/below. works way better than normal switches since they need no dupe to operate them (instant action) and thus can be placed out of reach.

20 minutes ago, Oozinator said:

Mhh why is it better to place a not gate there, then only placing automation "wire" and adding a not gate outside later, when i need it @Saturnus?

a unconnected signal wire will always give "0". so you need the NOT-gate to turn it around to a permanent "1".

[Skrivener]

I constantly use thermo sensors as on/off switches because they don't need dupe intervention and are suitable for manually turning a system on for a short time only.. For example liquid pumps for priming water reclamation or CO2 systems, manually controlling doors as liquid gates, controlling gas pumps when priming an electrolyzer system. TBH I don't know why the manual dupe switch exists, it's a PITA for any time-sensitive need. I would much rather we could operate it directly instead of exploiting the thermo. Yes, we mostly act indirectly through the dupes, but for automation systems our little peeps are not smart, fast, and reliable enough to count on. (And yes, having the wire running out means I can hook into it later for fully automated control when I have time to spend on it.)

[Saturnus]

Just a comment here. If you use a sensor for this purpose instead of the  NOT gate. Just remember a sensor takes up room, and you'd still need to run wires into the wall to access them later. A NOT gate does not take up room. And when using a sensor you have to be absolutely sure the condition can never change to an illegal state such as vacuum for a thermo sensor, or you'd still need the NOT gate as described above.

In any case, the NOT gate as used in my first example is an unconditional ON.