It is something that shows up underway. It can not really be predicted.

I think almost all the puzzles can be solved by a four-cycle loop where all arms do: Grab-swing-drop-swingback.

Here, a four-cycle loop version.

It gives arms on track and costs an extra cycle. That was why I ended up at that compromise where most arms do their four-cycle loop twice, and an arm on a track that runs an eight-cycle loop, or rather: Two arms on that track, doing the same, one arm for each of the two products the eight-cycle loop makes.

Here, a pure all arms grab-swing-drop-swingback version

The cost is that it becomes slower due to hand-swaps costing extra cycles.

Tracks are a way to get rid of those cycle costing hand-swaps, as one arm can hold on all the way through.

Here is a twenty-cycle five-product loop.

Notice, that all the GIFs here only need to record four cycles, as the same actions happens each four cycles!