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Robot Miner

ModBuildCraft
TypeMachine

The Robot Miner is a Robot added by BuildCraft. It is able to use Pickaxes to mine ores. The Robot Miner will only mine ore blocks; it will leave Stone and other blocks alone.

Recipe[]

Usage[]

The robot will automatically mine ore blocks. To automatically collect the ores from the ground the player will need a Robot Picker.

Since the Miner is very strongly specialized for mining ores, it is a Robot used without a working area (e.g., typically in a Ravine, though a work zone can be defined for it if chosen. The setups described will set up a Robot Miner using two examples shown in Fig. 1 and 2.

The following items are needed for the setup:

Step 1: Demarcating a work zone[]

Optional: skip this step and continue with #Step 2: Control Station if no work zone is needed.

The player can demarcate the work zone of a Robot Miner if it should only work in a certain area (e.g., hills). This is achieved with Land Marks.

Place three Land Marks in a 90° angle which defines the base of the hill. Right-click on one of the Marks to display the red borders (shown in Fig. 3) which show the ground area of the work zone. The two marks on the left and right in the figure may not be more than 64 blocks away from the center mark.

Place the fourth Land Mark above the central basal Land Mark up to the hill's summit; Dirt may be needed to reach that height.

Right-click on any Land Mark and red borders will appear framing a 3-dimensional work zone (shown in Fig. 4). If no red border appears, the Land Marks are not at a 90° angle to each other.

If the player uses the 2-dimensional zone defined by the three basal Land Marks, the robot only mines the ores on the ground level. Ores outside the work zone are not mined.

Step 2: Control Station[]

BuildCraft Miner Usage Control Station

Fig. 5: Control station

The player must build the control station for the Robot. It can be placed anywhere but it is recommended to place it close to where the Miner should work for easier access. The following described control station is the simplest and can be extended.

The station includes a Chest with a connected Wooden Transport Pipe, a Docking Station, and an Emerald AND Gate which can be placed anywhere on the Pipe (without disconnecting the Chest).

Place the Lever in front of the Emerald Gate and Pickaxes in the Chest. The station should look like the example in Fig. 5.

Step 3: Configuration[]

BuildCraft Miner Usage Programmed Gate

Fig. 6: Programmed Emerald AND Gate

BuildCraft Miner Usage Coordinates

Fig. 7: Receive coordinates from a Land Mark by right-clicking with a Map Location

The Emerald Gate needs to be configured to control the robot. The example given is one of many possible variations.

Right-click the Emerald Gate to open its GUI which shows two 4x4 slotted fields (one left, one right).

Replicate the slots as shown in Fig. 6. In the first and third row on the right side is are
signalling that an item should be added to them.

The important configurations to control the robot shown in Fig. 6 are explained in the following:

Left slot Right slot
Row Icon Explanation do following Icon Icon Explanation
1
If a redstone signal is provided to the gate >>>

Work in the work zone => work zone undefined

Work in the work zone => coordinates of the zone
2
If a redstone signal is provided to the gate >>>
Provide Items => item not defined

Provide Items => Diamond Pickaxe
3
If no redstone signal is provided to the gate >>>

Go to station => station undefined

Go to station => coordinates of the station

A full explanation of all possible functions can be found in the article of the Emerald Gate.

The sequence of rows does not matter.

Slots requiring coordinates can be added by the Map Location.

  1. (Optional; skip to next step if work zone is not needed) Take the Map Location and right-click on one of the Land Marks to receive the coordinates of the work zone (shown in Fig. 7). The Map Location will have a rectangle on its icon. Place the Map Location in the
    in the first row ("Working area" option). The Map Location should remain stored, and can be reused for the second coordinates.
  2. Take the Map Location and right-click on the Docking Station to receive its coordinates. Note: It is important which side is indicated at the coordinates for the Docking Station. This is displayed in the player inventory if the cursor is hovered over the Map Location. Please check if the specified side is the same where the Docking Station is, for example "UP" if the Docking Station is on top of the pipe. Place the Map Location in the
    in the third row of the Emerald Gate's GUI ("Go to station" option).
  3. Put any desired Pickaxe in one of the empty slots in the second row on the right side

The configuration should resemble the one in Fig. 5 and the control station is fully configured. The Land Marks and their respective frame are no longer needed for this example and can be removed. If the player wants to use the frame for other Robots (for example for the Robot Picker, make sure to have the coordinates stored in a Map Location.

Step 4: Starting and stopping[]

BuildCraft Miner Usage Setup

Fig. 8: Finished control station with robot.

Place the Robot Miner on top of the Docking Station (shown in Fig. 8). Initially the robot will do nothing because the logic statement in the third row instructs the Robot to remain docked when no redstone signal is provided.

If the Lever in front of the gate is switched on and a redstone signal is provided to the gate, the first and the second logic statements become true and activate.

After a short time (the update time of the robot), the Robot will take a Pickaxe out of the Chest (second logic statement in the Emerald Gate) and start the work in the defined work zone (first logic statement in the Emerald Gate) or in active chunks (shown in Fig. 8) until there are no more ore blocks to mine.

When the Pickaxe breaks the Robot will return to the Docking Station to acquire a new one before resuming work.

When all ores are mined, the robot returns automatically to the control station but will remain active. It will resume work when a new ore block appears. The work of the robot can be stopped anytime by switching the lever (in front of the gate) off.

Recharging[]

If the Robot is low on energy, it will seek out a kinesis pipe with a Docking Station to charge itself. If none are available, it will continue doing its job until its battery dies. The player can also stop the Robot with attacks to prematurely drain its battery, causing the to robot drop as an item on the ground. Stronger attacks will drain its battery faster. The player can pick up the Robot and place it in the Charging Table to recharge it. After that, the Robot can be placed again on the Docking Station to resume work.

Notes[]

  • After programming the frame created with the Land Marks isn't needed anymore. The coordinates of the working area are saved in the Emerald Gate.
  • The Miner will not pick up dropped items. The player must collect the items themselves or use a Robot Picker.
  • The Miner cannot be used to mine stone or other materials.


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