[MMM] Plane Flyer

[Lasse D]

This is an NXT-powered Moving Minifig Machine Module. Here is a short (30 second presentation video):
 

The module is modelled after the ride in the classic game Theme Park (just as my previous threads with Bouncy Castle and Theme Park Fountain).

 

The NXT uses 3 motors:

- One for the track, where a switch ensures the outer track always runs forward

- One to lift the planes (this also rotates the sun)

- One to rotate the tower

The airplanes and tower have gone through many iterations before I could find a balance that was both functional and didn't look too bad. This is an early version of he tower using linear actuators:

Unfortunately I had to remove the inner wings of the airplanes for this version, so I changed the design to this:

Unfortunately that design was both too tall and unreliable. I ended up with the final design without using linear actuators:

And a close-up of the mechanism:

A sensor is used to detect when a plane is ready to be loaded or unloaded, and a light sensor is able to detect minifigs:

The doors of the airplanes open and close using the gray bars hitting a vertical bar next to the entrance:

Adding it all up, and this has become my most complicated MMM module thus far

 

In this long video (almost 10 minutes!) I go into details of how the module works, how it self-calibrates, and how to access all of the mechanical components quickly in case it is being used at an event:

I hope you enjoy this kind of creations, and that MMM can become a success at events.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Lasse D
Fixed name of the module.

[Jim]

Wow, this is so cool. I love the MMM concept. Is that something you came up with yourself?

[Lasse D]

Thanks! I will not take full credits. A friend of mine was displaying Star Wars figures back in 2015, and I wanted to make the presentation more interesting by having the figures walk around in a huge Star Wars layout. For this I wanted to take some of the magic from GBC and get it into the universe of minifigs. Hopefully it will become a hit at events - especially if guests will enjoy the interactive features.

He has several hundreds of figures, so back in 2016 I was working on mechanisms for storing and retrieving these figures within the layout:

I never got it to work reliably...

[Mr Jos]

Very nice and refreshing idea!

It would be awesome to see a bunch of these modules with different rides in a row connected.

[Lasse D]

Thanks. That is exactly the idea. I want to get so many modules working together that it becomes "organised chaos".