Mobile [Project] Motorized Airlock System

Lucky Lucky Horseshoe

Lucky Lucky Horseshoe

Skeletron
Recently I've been toying with the idea of building an underwater base with a showy wired airlock system built in (more than just a ghost wall or vertical airlock). I'm still working on a prototype, but once I get it going I'll put it on here.

My goal is to have a statue engine (possibly crab) do the following in sequence:
• Open the first actuator door in 3 stages (like the door is raising up)
• Close the door in 3 stages
• Pump out the water
• Open the second door in 3 stages
• Close the door in 3 stages

I have an idea of how to do it, I just need to do some testing. Any ideas or tips are appreciated though!


Update: I have a working prototype now, I'm just gonna clean it up a bit before getting screenshots and/or videos.


Update 2: I've got it cleaned up and in the actual ocean, but now the pumps don't want to cooperate. Any ideas why this might be?
 
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One tip is to consider using Tall Gates for doors, rather than actuated blocks. If you've never used them before, they're different from all other doors, larger, and retract vertically rather than swinging open.

Of course, if you're attached to the idea of actuated blocks "raising up," that's up to you. You could incorporate some Gates and some actuated doors as well.
 
I was disappointed when I first saw one after reading that cause I though it'd look like they opened vertically...but in game it may as well be a pocket door going into the z axis(at least thats how it looks to me, more than going up like a gate certainly)
Blaine said:
One tip is to consider using Tall Gates for doors, rather than actuated blocks. If you've never used them before, they're different from all other doors, larger, and retract vertically rather than swinging open.
Click to expand...
 
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Bahamut2001 said:
The title said 'Mobile', do they have those yet?
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I don't think we do. It's either in 1.2.3, 1.2.4, or 1.3, none of which we have.
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inomanoms said:
You know, pumps have received very little attention, even here on the T-MEC forum. This could become interesting.
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I found that with 4 inlet and 4 outlet pumps hooked up to a string of pressure plates, the chamber empties in under a second. I plan on making the chamber a little bigger, but it'll still empty pretty quick.
 
I liked your idea and tried to see if I could pull it off and came up with this
OFrRmte.png
X11aXxr.png

It looks complicated, but its actually a step down from a previous failed attempt lol.

The switches start the sequence that opens the doors they are next to. The right switch drains the water for 3 secs then closes the drain and activates the bird statue that staggers the actuators on the door. Opening, waiting 3 secs for you to enter, and closing automatically. The left switch floods the chamber by actuating the blocks below the outlet pump and using the bird timer up top to work the pumps for 3 secs before activating the door sequence. The reservoir at the bottom holds the water for the pumps and catches the water from the drain. The overflow from water crated during the pumping process is channeled to a hellivator of to the right. Doing it this way allows the level of the body of water your base is in to remain unchanged.

....and yes, that is an antlion sitting on top of the stack of cactus blocks (how the bleep did he get he there o_O)
 
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Bahamut2001 said:
I liked your idea and tried to see if I could pull it off and came up with this
OFrRmte.png
X11aXxr.png

It looks complicated, but its actually a step down from a previous failed attempt lol.

The switches start the sequence that opens the doors they are next to. The right switch drains the water for 3 secs the activates then closes the drain and activates the bird statue the staggers the actuators on the door. Opening, waiting 3 secs for you to enter, and closing automatically. The left switch floods the chamber by actuating the blocks below the outlet pump and using the bird timer up top to work the pumps for 3 secs before activating the door sequence. The reservoir at the bottom holds the water for the pumps and catches the water from the drain. The overflow from water crated during the pumping process is channeled to a hellivator of to the right. Doing it this way allows the level of the body of water your base is in to remain unchanged
Click to expand...
Actually that's a lot more complicated than what I had in mind. The one I've built so far is simpler and more compact. It's just one continuous bird track. The actuator pressure plates are spaced out to stagger them, and there is a short upward delay before pressure plates to close it. From there the bird hits a series of consecutive pressure plates to pump out the water (though they aren't working properly all of a sudden), then more actuator plates with another short delay, then a dart trap to kill the bird. The whole thing looks kinda like a sideways S.
 
Lucky Lucky Horseshoe said:
though they aren't working properly all of a sudden
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Did you cut a wire accidentally when cleaning it up (been there, done that >_<) Where are you pumping the water? To the surface?

Lucky Lucky Horseshoe said:
The one I've built so far is simpler and more compact
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Simpler can be better sometimes, and I have a tendency to over complicate things.
Like so:
basfO6h.png

A previous failed iteration. I tried to it all with a single bird timer. It worked great going out, but don't ask it to let you back in.... -_-

Edit: If mine was more complicated than your looking for, I guess you wouldn't want to hear about the idea I had to lock one door while the other was working...don't mind me, just over complicating things again lol.
 
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Bahamut2001 said:
Did you cut a wire accidentally when cleaning it up (been there, done that >_<) Where are you pumping the water? To the surface?
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No, I'm just pumping it like 5 tiles directly above. But now that you mention the surface, I probably need to do that. I looked at the wiki page for pumps and apparently outlet pumps stop pumping when they're completely submerged. That explains why it worked in the prototype (on land) but not in the final product.

Also, my version only goes one way too. I'm still brainstorming a way to make it reversible, but no luck yet.
 
Another idea is to pump the water far down so that it evaporates in hell... you may need to add more water to the ocean every so often tho.
 
Rather than pump water to the surface (or to hell), you could destroy it by pouring it onto lava with a chest or minecart track in front of it (to prevent obsidian). You might think this would eventually cause the water level to fall, but if this will be at the bottom of the ocean liquid duping should prevent that. In fact the method of pumping it to the surface would very likely cause the ocean to rise given enough iterations. For looks, you could put the "water destroyer" out of sight (e.g. underground) and pump the water to it.
 
ManaUser said:
Rather than pump water to the surface (or to hell), you could destroy it by pouring it onto lava with a chest or minecart track in front of it (to prevent obsidian). You might think this would eventually cause the water level to fall, but if this will be at the bottom of the ocean liquid duping should prevent that. In fact the method of pumping it to the surface would very likely cause the ocean to rise given enough iterations. For looks, you could put the "water destroyer" out of sight (e.g. underground) and pump the water to it.
Click to expand...

Thats why I suggested pumping it into hell... it evaporates and will disappear... if you must stop any obsidian forming you can create a 1 block bridge over the lava.
 
Pumping it to hell would work equally well, I just thought this trick might be more convenient.

To expand on the point in case I wasn't clear, when water sits on top of lava, and something is in the way so obsidian can't form, the water is destroyed while the lava remains.
 
ManaUser said:
destroy it by pouring it onto lava with a chest or minecart track in front of it
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Ar, minecart track too, eh, not thought of that. I 've tended to use actuated blocks, but I think a chest is probably the easiest in a playthrough (you can even pick all the lava back up off of a 2 tile wide pit in one bucket after all the water's gone). Anyway, just pump the liquid back to the ocean but have an overflow on the ocean, like a bath does.

Also, I really want to see a good slime (statue) based water level sensor. I.e. position it in the airlock drainage pit so it can only hit a plate on the floor once the water's all out, or low enough. Or something like that. :)
 
Just quickly made first 2 versions for water level sensor (have a lot of things to improve), not for the situation mentioned above but maybe could be useful somewhere.
d5d7351367344a158cf96d1057a326f3.png
32144dbf9ef3432b9c25965940962660.png
 
Brain Goo said:
Just quickly made first 2 versions for water level sensor
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Cool! But don't the slimes bob up and down at different levels at water surface? Would it be possible to teleport the slime to the bottom and use the way it floats upwards to the surface somehow?
 
ManaUser said:
Rather than pump water to the surface (or to hell), you could destroy it by pouring it onto lava with a chest or minecart track in front of it (to prevent obsidian). You might think this would eventually cause the water level to fall, but if this will be at the bottom of the ocean liquid duping should prevent that. In fact the method of pumping it to the surface would very likely cause the ocean to rise given enough iterations. For looks, you could put the "water destroyer" out of sight (e.g. underground) and pump the water to it.
Click to expand...
Would putting the lava and water on actuated blocks work too?
 
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