Helicopter Toy

[clarkdef]

Today I wanted to build a toy for my son, something that would keep him happy.

Model team quality right there

When you pull it by it's wire the rotors spin, has a nice solid feel to it, I plan to improve on this build considerably, both in strength and looks. Below is a demonstration, my boy loves it and it was nice to see him at 2yo put it back together when it broke, it was fun watching him observe the gears in action!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKHbLwKkews&feature=youtu.be

I'm going to have a go at utilizing one of my pullback motors in a helicopter. Most likely update tomorrow, I have started and it's going well.

[Omikron]

A very nice MOC to introduce your child in the LEGO universe!

[Doc_Brown]

Nawww! That's awesome, very clever design.

looking forward to seeing the pullback motor.

[schermvlieger]

I love to see this; I keep designing things my almost-2-year old son can play with as well.

One suggestion is to use axles with stop to lock the axles inside the frame. That way the differential will always stay in one piece and he can only pull the wheels/steering wheel/cranks etc. off the axles, which are reasonably easy to reattach for a 2 year old.

[clarkdef]

I love to see this; I keep designing things my almost-2-year old son can play with as well.

One suggestion is to use axles with stop to lock the axles inside the frame. That way the differential will always stay in one piece and he can only pull the wheels/steering wheel/cranks etc. off the axles, which are reasonably easy to reattach for a 2 year old.

Yes good idea will incoperate that in on the 3rd build, it's very fun doing this and I really think I could make some cool things down the line. Feel free to post any pics of your creations here I'd love to see em!

Nawww! That's awesome, very clever design.

looking forward to seeing the pullback motor.

YES! The pullback on is done, and while it isn't as charming as the first it works well, will post pics later hehe

A very nice MOC to introduce your child in the LEGO universe!

Yes, it's actually a nice challenge coming up with a design this is appealing and fun, also a nice challenge making it strong as toddlers are rough.

[Rishab N]

Nice MOC!

[clarkdef]

Ok here is my pullback motorized version of a slightly more grow up model, my son did like this heli although he didn't use the windup function and ya slightly less charming. It may not look it, but it is fairly tough, I had concerns that maybe the pullback motor didn't have the power to move both rotors and move itself but it does! I thing a piston engine can easily be added. The pullback motor used is one of the newer ones out of the off road pullback car, these are better than the older pullback motors which have a lot of friction.

And again here is a video of it working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cV069I6AjY&feature=youtu.be

I like this helicopter and will evolve it for myself, in that venture, copter experts may want to chime in on what I could do to build a better one, as I know little about them and built this completely from within the walls of my mind.

[Lipko]

The new pull-back motor is surprisingly capable even with complex gear-trains, but only for a short "burst", so it sucks at weight lifting. The trick is that you have to use it as an accelerating device, and then let the model work from the inertia. I haven't tried it myself, but I would guess the best setup can be a pull-back motor spinning-up a flywheel (like your helicopter rotor) that moves the model along after the pull-back goes off.

I'm struggling with this at the moment, since I'm building a walker and it's very hard to make the leg movement in a way that it doesn't lift the model at all (so a near perfect leg mechanism and 3-4 feet always on the ground). Maybe I'll try to add a flywheel. It would even make it look more steam-punkish.

Edited October 30, 2013 by Lipko

[clarkdef]

The new pull-back motor is surprisingly capable even with complex gear-trains, but only for a short "burst", so it sucks at weight lifting. The trick is that you have to use it as an accelerating device, and then let the model work from the inertia. I haven't tried it myself, but I would guess the best setup can be a pull-back motor spinning-up a flywheel (like your helicopter rotor) that moves the model along after the pull-back goes off.

I'm struggling with this at the moment, since I'm building a walker and it's very hard to make the leg movement in a way that it doesn't lift the model at all (so a near perfect leg mechanism and 3-4 feet always on the ground). Maybe I'll try to add a flywheel. It would even make it look more steam-punkish.

Yeah you're correct the the rotor acts as a flywheel, it helps to draw the speed out making it very constant through the pull back motor cycles

The fly wheel doesn't add any acceleration though, It will only take away from acceleration, it can provide a constant in the movement, I think flywheels are a fantastic idea in power function cars as they seem to look more like robots disguised as cars (very jerky and no roll, even drive train bounce because of the lack of constant ), in a robot it would work pretty good, will help to rid that sticking point in the stroke where it must lift the weight.

Have an experiment and let us know

[skriblez]

Nice work on the second chopper :)

[Lakop]

what a nice way to entertain a two year old. That copter is nice and colourful. I too use lego to entertain the smallest/youngest members of our family. great work.

H