Projectred Fabrication

Projectred Fabrication allows you to create complex redstone automation in a single IC. The IC can be placed into the world and connected to various redstone transport options, using all 4 sides. Supported options are:

Classic redstone, including support for distinct power levels (0-15)
Redstone conduits
Projectred red alloy cables and insulated wires
Direct connection to Projectred bundled cables, with possibility to read/write individual coloured wire states in the bundle

Each side of the IC can support only one of these options, but the individual sides can have different wiring options if desired. The IC can be designed with a graphical user interface and supports many of the projectred integration single-block logic blocks and follow the same logic and visual representation as these blocks. For help on the individual components you can refer to the projectred integration site.

The IC is not just useful for highly complex automations. The fact that is is just a single block in size also allows for space saving solutions, like an entire RS-latch solution in a single block. The crafting of an IC is relatively inexpensive and allows it to be used in many deployments. Projectred Fabrication is gated to HV in GTNH.

Components

There are 4 major components in the fabrication mod:

The IC workbench, used to create and save the design on a Blueprint
The IC blueprint, that holds and stores the designs you make on the workbench
The IC printer, that can turn the design into the final IC chip, based on the blueprint
The empty IC, that the design is printed on with the IC printer

The blueprints can be infinitely re-used and edited if needed. Apart from the blueprint, standard projectred building components like circuit plates, anodes, cathodes, pointers, redstone, red alloy wire and gold nuggets are used to make the IC in the printer. The needed amount of these extra components is determined by the design and the components used therein.

Process

Creating an IC uses the following process:

craft an empty blueprint
Place the empty blueprint on the IC workbench
In the workbench select the required sizing for the IC (max 64x64) and make sure to give it a name! (if you forget hit the "redraw" button to start over)
Design the circuit (some basic testing and debugging options are available while inside the designer)
Remove the blueprint from the workbench (sneak-rclick with empty hand) and place into the IC printer
Add an empty IC in the slot beneath the blueprint slot and place the indicated cost of components in the bottom drawer
Turn the printed IC into a world-placeable IC gate, by putting it into the middle slot of a crafting grid and surround it with 8 circuit plates
Place the gate into the world at your desired location. The side with the name is the bottom side in your design. It can be turned with a screwdriver

Creating your blueprint

When opening the workbench view on the default size you are presented with a 16x16 frame grid surrounded by a yellow border. The yellow bordered area is used to place the various inputs and outputs for the IC (limited to one type per side). The blue area is used to place your actual components and connecting wires that make up your design. You can use the scrollwheel on your mouse to zoom in and out, or use the "scale" buttons.

Select the component you want to place from the menu bar in the bottom of the workbench screen. You can remove unwanted components with the eraser (shortcut 'E') as well.

I/O options

There are 3 types of I/O that can be used in the design:

Simple I/O; This provides on/off state only (corresponding with classic redstone power 0/15)
Analog I/O; This provides "classic" redstone interaction and allows you to react to / set specific redstone power levels
Bundled I/O; This allows direct interaction with Projectred bundled cables, by selecting the cable colour you want to interact with

For the analog and bundled I/O connectors, multiple I/O's of the same type can be placed on the same edge, each representing a specific power level or colour you want to interact with. This allows interaction with all 16 power levels or colours available.

Each I/O can be set to input, output or inout to specify or restrict the interaction with the outside world. I/O options can be changed by rclicking on them. For analog I/O, the power level is referred to as "frequency" and represented in HEX values (0xa = 10, 0xb = 11, etc.).

Each edge can only be a single I/O type and is represented graphically distinct on the final IC. Unused edges have no connectivity on the final IC.

Examples

RS latch

The RS latch is a common usage in power automation. It can be made into a single block with PrF IC very easily:

Put 3 analog I/O's on the left and set them to input and freq 0x0, 0x1 and 0x2 respectively. Representing a redstone input signal with strength 0,1,2
Put 3 analog I/O's on the right and set them to input and freq 0xd, 0xe and 0xf respectively. Representing a redstone input signal with strength 13,14,15
put an RS latch in the middle with the torch pointing up.
a simple I/O set to output on the top
Wire it all up. By connecting the 3 left I/O's and the right I/O's it acts like an OR statement. 0 OR 1 OR 2 will trigger the left side. 13,14,15 will trigger right side

When placed in the world it will only start working when the right-hand side condition has been met at least once. This usually corresponds with a full energy buffer if used with the LSC, for example. It can be forced by putting a lever on the input side and switching it on. Next time the buffer is drained to redstone power level 2 (or lower) the signal will turn on. It will keep the on state until redstone power level 13 or higher is reached.

NB1: when combined with an LSC or other buffer, power level 0 and 15 are never reached in practice (it's never perfectly full or empty). It is useful to include them anyway so the state can be triggered with a lever and/or act as a digital RS latch when connected to a "digital" (simple) redstone signal.

NB2: Technically there is no need to include the value 0x1 and 0xe in this design (or even 0x0 and 0xf , but see NB1). I mainly include them here to show the concept