Editing User:Celaeris/Guides/Mining (section)

==Early Remote Mining Blueprints==

* Miner bot: {{IL|Twinbot}} + 2x{{IL|Miner}} + {{IL|Signal Reader}}
** Set Signal Reader register to the Foreman Bot.
** Link output of Signal Register to GoTo register.
** Set Miner registers to the resource.
** Set Home register to the Foreman bot.
* Foreman bot: {{IL|Twinbot}} + {{IL|Small Storage}} + {{IL|Solar Cell}} + {{IL|Portable Radar}} + {{IL|Portable Power Field}}
** Set GoTo register to one of the Miner bots.  This keeps the foreman from standing next to an ore node.
** Set the Radar registers to: (1) Resource, and (2) (Optional) Mineable.
** Link output of Radar to Signal register.
* Power bot: {{IL|Twinbot}} + {{IL|Solar Cell}} + {{IL|Small Battery}}
** Set GoTo/Home to the Foreman bot

You'll also need a Hauler to bring the materials back, but it won't be covered in this guide.  The no-behavior hauler is just a {{IL|Dashbot}} (or {{IL|Scout}}) set as a Transport Route.

===Explanation===

To automate remote mining we need to solve the following problems:

* Being able to mine and find new patches (Radar on Foreman bot)
* Being able to bring the resource back home (Hauler transport route)
* Have enough power (Power bots)
* (Optional) Possibly avoid being attacked by bugs in Hostile mode (Would require behaviors)

The Miner bots work the same, but we will use the Signal reader to read where the newest resource is.  You can link the resource to the Miner component, but it will cause all Miners to work on the same node, which may not be desired because of traffic jams.  But if you manually set the resource, they will just mine whatever is in its visible range.

The Foreman bot's job is to find the nearest ore node.  The radar allows us to find the closest one.  The Optional filter looks for only Mineable, but generally it's also good to pick up dropped and loose resource while mining as well.  The Radar has a radius of 30, so it can "see" pretty far.

The Power bot's job is to provide power to the swarm.  The number you need depends on the size of the swarm.  It's also possible to customize the number of Batteries/Solar Cells depending on size.

Here are the power costs:
* Miner bots costs 40 Power (10 for the bot, and 15 each per miner)
* Foreman bot costs 10 Power (10 for the bot, but radar occasionally uses 5).
* Power bots cost 10 Power (10 for the bot).

For Solar, you generate 50 per cell during the day, but generate 0 at night.  For normal Day/Night lengths, it averages out to about 40 per day.  But only if you have a battery to store the extra power.  Generally, you'd want about one battery for two solar cells.

Power is difficult to solve early on, since you'll need a number of bots to provide enough power.  If you run the 2x Miner bots + Foreman bot with 2x Solar cells, it can work at about 80% efficiency (100% during the day, and 0% at night). Adding a power bot (total of 3x Power + Battery, skipping the storage), you can probably bump that up to 90% efficiency.  The battery won't make it through the night.

But really, what we need is a {{IL|Power Transmitter}}.  Either unlock the second tier tech tree, or find it in an explorable, and we can move onto the Mid Game.