How is the Dyson Sphere matrix research planner worked out?

Dyson Sphere

Matrix Research Planner

In Dyson Sphere Program, research can only go as fast as your matrix production, and matrix production only goes as fast as whatever input you built too little of.

Matrix Lab Planner

Matrix Type

Matrices wanted per minute

Proliferator

Lab mode

Active Labs Needed

Each lab makes 20 per minute

Inputs per minute

Magnetic coil60
Circuit board60

How the numbers are worked out

Every matrix has its own recipe time in a Matrix Lab, from 3 seconds for electromagnetic to 24 for gravity, and gravity matrices come out two at a time. Tell the calculator how many of one matrix you want per minute and it works out the labs that takes and the inputs those labs consume, with or without proliferator.

The formula

per lab per minute = 60 ÷ craft time × matrices per craft × (1 + bonus)
labs = ceil(target per minute ÷ per lab per minute)
proliferator Mk.I / II / III: +12.5% / +20% / +25% extra products, or +25% / +50% / +100% speed

Common mistakes

A technology only consumes the matrices its recipe asks for, but later technologies ask for several at once, so the type you make least of sets the pace. Adding research labs without raising that supply only raises your power bill.

A worked example

Sixty electromagnetic matrices a minute takes three Matrix Labs, each making 20 a minute, fed 60 magnetic coils and 60 circuit boards a minute. Spray the inputs with Mk.III proliferator in extra-products mode and each lab makes 25 a minute: you still need three labs, but they eat only 48 of each input. Switch the same labs to production speedup and each makes 40 a minute, so two labs do the job on the full 60 inputs.

Extra products or speedup

The choice is a trade between raw materials and buildings. Extra products stretch your inputs, which matters most for matrices made from expensive parts such as processors and quantum chips. Speedup saves labs and floor space but uses the same inputs. Either way the bonus only applies when every input carries the proliferator; one unsprayed input drops the whole craft to the lowest level present.

Why gravity matrices need so many labs

A gravity matrix takes 24 seconds but yields two, so a lab makes five a minute. Sixty a minute needs twelve labs, four times as many as the same rate of electromagnetic matrices, which is why gravity is the usual bottleneck in late research.

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