[MOC] Explorer v2

[m00se]

This is my second attempt of making a funfair ride like the Reverchon Explorer

For TC14 I already did an attempt to make a ride like the Explorer, but since then my collection as well as my skills have grown a bit so I decided to give it a new attempt:

 

It's pretty big, new tow crane for scale:

 

There are 16 of those seats, each capable of holding two passengers (original ride has 20, but this way it's already big enough):

 

The middle part lifts and tilts the wheel in a way that the seats on come very close without hitting it. This was by far the hardest part to get right:

 

 

The middle part rotates slowly in the opposite direction of the wheel. This way where the top and bottom of the wheel are is constantly changing, creating a "dancing movement":

 

The mechanism: the middle part rotates (slowly; 1 XL motor in the bottom), on top of that are two linear actuators (each powered by an L motor) that provide the lifting. Another XL motor at the top is responsible for the rotation of the wheel.

 

Another view of the middle part (wheel in lowest position):

 

This is by far the biggest (in number of parts) thing I've ever made and I'm pretty proud of it. Of course the only way to properly show how it looks in motion would be a video ... which I screwed up. I will make a new one and upload it, but that might be for next weekend.

Hope you like it, all comments, criticisms, and suggestions are highly appreciated!

 

 

 

 

[The01]

Very cool. Big and looks fun to ride (for the minifigs) though I wouldn't (I'd look like this:). Can it fit minifigs or is it too fast/small/big?

[howitzer]

Looks great, can't wait for the video!

[m00se]

1 hour ago, The01 said:

Very cool. Big and looks fun to ride (for the minifigs) though I wouldn't (I'd look like this:). Can it fit minifigs or is it too fast/small/big?

They would fit but fly out, which is not very comfortable (but might result in some nice video material). Will check if I find some way to fasten them.

 

 

 

 

[howitzer]

4 hours ago, m00se said:

They would fit but fly out, which is not very comfortable (but might result in some nice video material). Will check if I find some way to fasten them.

<snip>

I wonder if the seats could be made so that the minifigs sit lower? That might allow centrifugal force to tilt the carriages so that the minifigs would stay put better. Though they might not be heavy enough in any case, and would need a rubber band or something to keep them in place...

[Mr Jos]

Nice model, will be good to see a video of it working.

For the minifigs you could try to use the 2x1 rubber pieces with crossaxles, like I did to make 'tensioned braces' in my XL fairride.

Not on my computer right now so can only link to the page of the photo;

https://flic.kr/p/2mh6ehV

It allows for opening the braces by hand, and automatically closes again when released.

[m00se]

Finally a video (sorry, quality is not great. My phone has the better cam but I need that as a controller):

 

 

[Erik Leppen]

Ha, nice! I like it when people build things you don't see very often, and I think this one is quite well executed without being overdone.

The cleverest bit of this build seems to be the double motion of the red support arm in the center. There seems to be a clever linkage below the tilting arm to make the double motion to make sure the wheel is lifted exactly right so it doesn't touch the boarding platform. The only real ride of this type I know just uses a single arm but much longer, but I like your solution better :)

I do think though that if this were a real thing, the wheel wouldn't spin that fast ;)

[m00se]

On 12/4/2021 at 9:37 PM, Erik Leppen said:

The cleverest bit of this build seems to be the double motion of the red support arm in the center. There seems to be a clever linkage below the tilting arm to make the double motion to make sure the wheel is lifted exactly right so it doesn't touch the boarding platform. The only real ride of this type I know just uses a single arm but much longer, but I like your solution better :

Also by far the part that I had most trouble with getting it right (went through a dozen iterations). If you look at for example a Huss Enterprise, that has only one tilting arm, but then the arm obviously has to extend much further.

 

On 12/4/2021 at 9:37 PM, Erik Leppen said:

I do think though that if this were a real thing, the wheel wouldn't spin that fast ;)

Physics don't scale well ... The speed is controllable (see for example the starting phase), but if you go too slow then the benches don't go outward like you would expect them to do.  In real life the number of revolutions per minute is of course slower:

 

 

 

 

[Erik Leppen]

2 hours ago, m00se said:

Physics don't scale well ... [...] but if you go too slow then the benches don't go outward like you would expect them to do. 

Aha, that's a good point, I didn't think of that