[MOC] 6 Feet Tall Ball Machine

[Purple Geek]

Back in 2013, I built and posted about my first NXT ball machine (you can view the original post at http://www.eurobrick...topic=87788&hl= if you are interested). While that machine worked, I learned a lot while building it, so I wanted to create an entirely new machine that incorporated what I learned. I also wanted to make it bigger.

Now, in 2015, I have completed my second NXT ball machine. This one is almost 6 feet tall, and over 7 feet wide. The longest span is over 4 feet. It uses simpler lift mechanisms that are more reliable (though they do still jam occasionally -- I have an idea about how to fix that which I am planning to incorporate if I ever build a third one). This machine is also much less sensitive to how level the surface is that it is sitting on. As a result, this machine is a lot nicer to set up and display at a show. It is also much more open, giving people a better view of the balls as they move through the machine. Here's a YouTube video showing the machine in action:

There are two possible paths through the machine. The path splits at the top of the left tower with some balls following the gray track that crosses the width of the machine several times. The other half of the balls follow the silver track that spirals down the left tower.

Let me know what you think!

Ben

[falderal]

This is totally fun! Great design!

[BusterHaus]

Wow, that's huge. Did you dedicate a whole room to it?

[Purple Geek]

Wow, that's huge. Did you dedicate a whole room to it?

My unfinished basement serves as my primary Lego building space, so it was down there all the way through construction. Right now it's sitting in the dining room from doing the video. My wife will tolerate it sitting there for a couple of weeks until the next show that I am taking it to. Then it will have to go back down stairs.

Ben

[goggel]

Wow, what a nice machine. I really like a annotations and the flexible spiral way. Do you have any kind of part estimate?

[Purple Geek]

Do you have any kind of part estimate?

I'd guess that it is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15,000 pieces.