Accumulation allows more entities than physical length?

[Martin Madaj]

Hello,

I'm encountering another (for me) unexpected behavior when using EntityConveyor with Accumulating = TRUE.

1. When entities accumulate at the end of a conveyor, the first accumulated entity is positioned physically outside the conveyor, even though it is still logically assigned to that conveyor.
2. Because this first entity sits outside the physical conveyor length, additional free space appears at the beginning, allowing one extra entity to enter the conveyor.
3. As a result, the reported value NumberInProgress = 7 on a 6-meter conveyor with 1-meter entities, although only six entities should physically fit.

• Is this the intended behavior of EntityConveyor accumulation or am I misunderstanding how entity positioning is calculated during accumulation?

• Would a potential solution be a new keyword defining the exact stop position of the first accumulated entity at the conveyor end?

• Thanks, Martin.

[Harry King]

Hi Martin,

Yes, it does look odd for a conveyor to hold 7 entities when its length is only that of 6 entities. However, this also the case for non-accumulating conveyors -- only half of the first and last entities are on the conveyor.

I don't know how other simulation software handles conveyor length. It seems reasonable that the first entity should occupy its total length when added to a conveyor. If the last entity falls off the conveyor when half of its is off the end, then the total distance travelled by the entity is one-half of the entity length less that the length of the conveyor. Somehow that does seem right either.

Your suggestion of a new keyword to define the stop position for the first accumulated entity is reasonable. The only problem is that when the conveyor starts again, the entity must travel an additional distance before it leaves the conveyor, which makes the computer code quite a bit more complicated.

Harry

[Martin Madaj]

Thanks for the answer! I think I understand what you mean. I was confused when I tried to figure out how different conveyor parameters affect the position of entities, but your explanation sounds logical.

M.

Dne pátek 6. února 2026 v 2:28:40 UTC+1 uživatel d.harr...@gmail.com napsal: