Add Reset Feature to Timer Sensor (as input)

[Hechicera]

You can do this "as god" manually now. What I would like to see is the reset controlled by an input. It would have to edge detect, so if signal was red, then changed to green -> reset. To prevent constant resetting as green. If you don't wire the input port, it would act just as it acts now. Just for clarity, the input does not change the set cycle length. The input just sets cycle start time to "now".

((Yes, I could build something with memory & buffer to edge detect, but I still can't reset timer inside the automation itself!))

This would be very useful and be more like real use cases. Even if dupes have no plant safety officers! 

I realize in game it would change the footprint of the "Timer Sensor" since it would need an input port, and space for that. So I thought an expansion would be a nice place to ask. (or ask again as it has probably been mentioned).  A change would be nice. But I could also see for save game compatibility, the feature having to be added a separate doodad.

[The Plum Gate]

Is this the sensor alternates continuously?

Couldn't you use a buffer instead and not worry with the state of this timer? 

As it is, the device has a way of becoming the center of the automation that it gets put in regardless of the other inputs.

If there's a hold down condition already such that a reset signal can be sent, then a memory toggle and a buffer might work to begin with.

You would sort of be flip flopping until a reset signal interferes. This would cause buffer reset until a good go signal is acquired in other words.

Do you have some theoretical example you could share?

[Hechicera]

Yes.

Yes, I could use a buffer, and am doing this now. The issue becomes when the timer cycle length desired is longer than the buffer gate supports. Then you can still do it, but you need cascading buffers. Then I could watch for falling edge on the last buffer signal to force it to cycle to get the functionality. What I have currently works with one buffer a long as the cycle I want is 200s or less and the batch processes in one "go". Making it flexible requires a lot of automation where one signal would do.

I have a clear "turn-on" edge to detect (liquid reservoir output in this case), and the ability to build a good edge detector if I need to clean up a signal with existing tools. 

The use case is anytime the arrival of a resource warrants an automation loop starting/restarting from the start not just continuing, and the process has a timer in it. Basically batch processing, automating a "run" not a continuous process. Which I was playing with in sandbox builds assuming there would be more of that in the DLC. I did plant automation as a paid job .. a very long time ago .. but my brain tends to think first in terms of "runs" or batch processing". /shrug ... and of safety off switches that the dupes clearly do not need! Personal problem, sorry.

Since the "Timer Sensor" is in use heavily and only one tile in size, that's why I mention maybe needing a new doodad, maybe "Resettable Timer Sensor"? I would not want to break anything existing, and there is the game footprint issue (needing an input port and only one tile now).  I just saw that the feature exists as "UI only" and thought "SO CLOSE"! .. and thought tp post it as a wish list item is all. I could clean up some automation loops.

 

[The Plum Gate]

I had posted a thought on bidirectional automation for buildings. Some of these could stand a ribbon cable or an extra auto port for their state and another to turn them on or off.

If the building accepted a ribbon cable then it could handle 4 signals in one tile.

 

If the timer sensor had bidirectional or ribbon capacity then any of the 4 channels could act as a reset - you could get it to send state based information on the output and reset on on some other channel.

It would also be nice to have smart automation - where duplicant operated machines could have their recipe ques altered numerically - to run one or two batches based on signal aggregation or a counter.

I use the gas pump, gas cutoff and gas tank signals in a local setup to create full sized batches of packets for filtering. Saves power. This is more like gas caching than automation buffering. But I understand the efficiency it creates.

That flip flop timer has limits, its understandable. If I had to cascade buffer, I would probably use the cycle timer to trip the buffer, you could essentially divide your buffer time across two cycles. But this would have the effect of limiting when the buffer reset happens rather than it being dynamically reset.