Recipe (Automation Science Pack)
Iron gear
Copper plate
Automation scienceThe recipe takes 1 second to craft in an assembling machine 1. That single fact drives every ratio below.
The Gear Ratio Most Players Get Wrong
Iron gears take 0.5 seconds to craft. Red science takes 1 second. So one gear assembler can theoretically feed two science assemblers - but only if belts never stall.
| SPM Target | Gear Assemblers | Science Assemblers | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 SPM | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 10 SPM | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| 20 SPM | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| 30 SPM | 15 | 30 | 45 |
Always round gear assemblers up. A stalled gear line is the single most common reason red science output drops.
| Setup | Gear Assemblers | Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Exact math (2:1) | 5 for 10 SPM | Stalls whenever a belt backs up |
| Safe (1.5:1) | 7 for 10 SPM | Runs continuously |
| Overkill | 10 for 10 SPM | Wastes power, never stalls |
Material Cost Per Science Pack
| Item | Per Pack | For 10 SPM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Iron plate
Iron plate | 1 (+2 for gear) | 30/sec | Feeds the gear assemblers |
Copper plate
Copper plate | 1 | 10/sec | Direct into science assembler |
Iron gear
Iron gear | 1 | 10/sec | Crafted from iron plate |
Iron is the bottleneck. Red science eats roughly 3 iron plates per pack once gear crafting is included.
Belt Layout That Never Stalls
The cleanest early setup puts gears and science on one row with a shared iron feed.
- Run one iron belt down the back of the assembler row
- Inserters pull iron into the gear assemblers first
- Gears go onto a short belt feeding the science assemblers
- Copper arrives on its own belt from the other side
- Inserters output science to a belt heading to your labs
| Common Layout Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Gear assembler starved | Move it closer to the iron feed |
| Science backs up into assembler | Add a buffer chest or route to more labs |
| Copper and iron belts cross | Run copper underneath with a tunnel |
| Labs idle | Check lab has an inserter AND power |
How to Automate
- Belt iron plates into the gear assemblers
- Belt copper plates directly into the science assemblers
- Move gears from gear assemblers to science assemblers on a short belt
- Pull science packs out with an inserter into a chest or straight to labs
Research Priority After Red Science
Red science unlocks the automation tree. Push these in order:
| Priority | Technology | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automation 2 | Electric mining drills - stops manual mining |
| 2 | Logistics | Unlocks green science |
| 3 | Steel processing | Steel plates for mid-game |
| 4 | Engine | Engine units, required for blue science |
Red science is cheap, so do not overthink the build. Ten assemblers is more than enough to reach green science.
When to Expand Red Science
Red science stays cheap forever, but your SPM target should grow with your base.
| Base Stage | Red SPM Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First hour | 5 | Enough to unlock automation 2 |
| Early base | 10 | Feeds all six labs without waiting |
| Mid game | 20-30 | Keeps research moving while you build out |
| Megabase | 45+ | Scales with the rest of your science |
You do not need to rebuild when you expand. Just add assemblers to the end of the row and extend the iron belt. The layout above scales linearly up to about 45 SPM before belt throughput becomes the limit.
| Sign You Need More | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Labs sitting idle with science in stock | Other science tiers are the bottleneck |
| Research queue empty, red science full | You are over-producing red, redirect iron |
| Gears constantly short | Gear assemblers are under-built |
Related Guides
- https://factorioguides.com/getting-started/green-science-guide/ - the second science tier
- https://factorioguides.com/base-design/main-bus-guide/ - where red science sits on your bus
- https://factorioguides.com/production-ratios/smelting-ratios/ - how many furnaces feed this line
Community Verification and Resources
- Factorio Wiki: Automation science pack - official recipe and crafting time
- Factorio Cheat Sheet - community ratio tables for all science packs
Last updated: 2026-09-26 | Verified against Factorio 2.0.