[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Ankoku]

Looks lighter than previous versions. Will be interesting to see if he designs his own compressor.

[Innocity]

 

The timing setting is very touchy because this module is affected by many factors.
-Turntable rotation must be smooth without friction.
-The lever of the pneumatic valve should move smoothly without friction.
-The distance between the two technic connector (32039) that activates the lever should be correct.
-Gear lacks and Gears must be in the correct phase.

It's been a while since I pulled out this module and ran it.
When using the Pneumatic hand pump (74720) it was not bad. 
But when using the PF M motor, it was too slow, the rotation of 180 degrees was not complete, and the module stopped running due to incorrect movement. 
Perhaps I think that two pneumatic pumps (99798) supply a small amount of air.
Akiyuki said it works stably when a lot of air is supplied, but it doesn't work well when it is supplied little by little.
I tried to solve this problem using an air tank (75974) but nothing changed.
So I added two pneumatic pumps and used a total of four pneumatic pumps. And I used L motors instead of M motors to pump them quickly and smoothly.  
However, this is less than the amount of air supplied by the pneumatic hand pump and it is also not running smoothly.
If a large pneumatic pump can be operated using a PF motor, this problem can be solved. But it may be difficult to mount it inside the module.

[9v system]

@Ankoku what do think the module feeding the 6 axis robot is?

[Ankoku]

No way to know, since you never see it.

He most commonly uses this though:

 

@Innocity You may want something like this:

Air tanks are for smoothness. If the compressors aren't creating more air than is required over time, then it will do nothing.

There is also this, but it only uses 4 compressors, but has lots of nice ideas which can be expanded upon:

I believe both may post here. @HRU_Bricks certainly does.

From what I remember, someone mentioned that Akiyuki powered his ball cleaner off a commercial compressor whilst testing it.

[Innocity]

11 hours ago, Ankoku said:

The compressor, which uses two XL motors and eight pumps, will certainly show good performance.

Instead I have to give up mounting the compressor inside the module.

 

 

 

 

 

[9v system]

@Ankoku how well does your catch and spin work?

i noticed n some videos that it can drop a lot of balls and they end up in the gearing.

[Frequenzberater]

Maybe its not helpfull, but mine works great. 

[HRU_Bricks]

On 1/30/2020 at 2:23 PM, Innocity said:

 

It's been a while since I pulled out this module and ran it.
When using the Pneumatic hand pump (74720) it was not bad. 
But when using the PF M motor, it was too slow, the rotation of 180 degrees was not complete, and the module stopped running due to incorrect movement. 
Perhaps I think that two pneumatic pumps (99798) supply a small amount of air.
Akiyuki said it works stably when a lot of air is supplied, but it doesn't work well when it is supplied little by little.
I tried to solve this problem using an air tank (75974) but nothing changed.
So I added two pneumatic pumps and used a total of four pneumatic pumps. And I used L motors instead of M motors to pump them quickly and smoothly.  
However, this is less than the amount of air supplied by the pneumatic hand pump and it is also not running smoothly.
If a large pneumatic pump can be operated using a PF motor, this problem can be solved. But it may be difficult to mount it inside the module.

Thanks @Ankoku for the tag.

@Innocity Lego pneumatics can be a little fickle to get right as well as wear out really fast, that said they can also be a lot of fun to work with. 

I do like the build you have made and it is on my build list too (albeit it down the line a bit).

 

Looking at what is happening in your video and what you have mentioned, the Lego pumps cannot keep up with the air volume your require to run the machine smoothly. As Ankoku said air tanks will smooth out peaks and troughs of required air volume and you will also need more Lego pumps (8-12) as well as a on off pressure switch like I have in my build. 

The auto switch will control the pressure build up in the system and the tanks will smooth out the demand especially when the structure rotates (highest demand). The rams you are using require a lot of air and the 2 tanks would work.

There is a one big issue with GBC pneumatic builds and that is the pumps wear our really fast and I have found that the rams need to be pulled apart and re-greased after each show. I have worn out 2 Blue 6L pumps and then decided to not use them during Lego shows or for large builds ( like yours).  Instead I use small scuba cylinders regulated down to 1.6 to 1.9 bar. 

For my Ball Cleaning Machine (Mechanical version of Akiuki's) during Bricktober 2019 Lego show I used a 200 Bar 2L a scuba tank to run the machine. Each 1x 2 Liter tank lasted 8 hrs.  

Another alternative I am looking into is a small 3-4 Bar air brush compressor. They are about $100AUD on ebay, have a small air tank and are quite (apparently). 

Hopefully that helps

 

 

2 hours ago, 9v system said:

@Ankoku how well does your catch and spin work?

i noticed n some videos that it can drop a lot of balls and they end up in the gearing.

@9v systemAs an FYI the one I built didn't drop a ball that I can recall during Bricktober. It did stop once but other than that it was the most reliable module

Edited January 31, 2020 by HRU_Bricks

[BucketWheelExcavator]

On 1/29/2020 at 9:02 PM, tismabrick said:

According to Akiyuki it’s just for demo purposes and not to be used in a GBC setup currently.

Here’s the link to the video: 

 

 

I’d pay good money for instructions on this Robotic Arm. 

Any chance anyone would over time or unlikely? 

[HRU_Bricks]

2 hours ago, BucketWheelExcavator said:

I’d pay good money for instructions on this Robotic Arm. 

Any chance anyone would over time or unlikely? 

I am building one that is loosely based on Akiuki's robotic arm that ran on a track. the build is 95% done with the programming to do. It is a 4 axis robot arm that only uses 1 Ev3 brick. I do plan to at least upload the design files when it is done, we will see if I do instructions or not, not sure yet.

After that I plan to do another 4 axis robot arm along these lines

 

[Innocity]

3 hours ago, HRU_Bricks said:

Thanks @Ankoku for the tag.

@Innocity Lego pneumatics can be a little fickle to get right as well as wear out really fast, that said they can also be a lot of fun to work with. 

I do like the build you have made and it is on my build list too (albeit it down the line a bit).

 

Looking at what is happening in your video and what you have mentioned, the Lego pumps cannot keep up with the air volume your require to run the machine smoothly. As Ankoku said air tanks will smooth out peaks and troughs of required air volume and you will also need more Lego pumps (8-12) as well as a on off pressure switch like I have in my build. 

The auto switch will control the pressure build up in the system and the tanks will smooth out the demand especially when the structure rotates (highest demand). The rams you are using require a lot of air and the 2 tanks would work.

There is a one big issue with GBC pneumatic builds and that is the pumps wear our really fast and I have found that the rams need to be pulled apart and re-greased after each show. I have worn out 2 Blue 6L pumps and then decided to not use them during Lego shows or for large builds ( like yours).  Instead I use small scuba cylinders regulated down to 1.6 to 1.9 bar. 

For my Ball Cleaning Machine (Mechanical version of Akiuki's) during Bricktober 2019 Lego show I used a 200 Bar 2L a scuba tank to run the machine. Each 1x 2 Liter tank lasted 8 hrs.  

Another alternative I am looking into is a small 3-4 Bar air brush compressor. They are about $100AUD on ebay, have a small air tank and are quite (apparently). 

Hopefully that helps

 

 

@9v systemAs an FYI the one I built didn't drop a ball that I can recall during Bricktober. It did stop once but other than that it was the most reliable module

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I planned to buy eight Lego pneumatic pumps to build a compressor, but I think it would be cheaper and more useful to buy a small air brush compressor.

[Ankoku]

@9v system Mine works fine. I think it has only ever dropped a ball when I was fiddling with it. I always want to try and get the two bots to behave the same when idling, but one always jerks more than the other, which is annoying.

I am guessing that Akiyuki may feel he wouldn't get enough sales for it to be worth doing instructions for the robot? e.g. you need EV3, 3rd cables and all sorts and less people are likely to be up for it.

It will be interesting to see what he does with it, he seems to have a love for robot arms.

At least his photos are getting slightly larger in size!

[Juroen]

@Ankoku @Innocity @HRU_Bricks I’m running the ball cleaner on an airbrush compressor set at approx. 2,8 bar. It is impossible to run the ball cleaner on a lego compressor. If you require a large quantity of air and you decide to use an airbrush compressor be sure to use a moisture trap. Eventually the compressor will get hot, therefor I think it’s not suitable to run for 8 hours straight.

[waslos]

Hello, can someone tell me what this thing is. Does anyone have a part number for it.

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by waslos

[Berthil]

10 minutes ago, waslos said:

Hello, can someone tell me what this thing is. Does anyone have a part number for it.

424 Technic Hub / Handle 1 x 1

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

@waslos I have some of them and they offer no difference to a normal bush in this case. As far as I can tell, Akiyuki just likes using them because they are rare and unusual. I like how he used them with the Ball Factory for aesthetics, but I wouldn't advise going out of your way to get them.

[Courbet]

Actually it provides a spacing which is bigger than a half-bush and a bit smaller than a regular bush.

Akiyuki always use this part to materialize an offset between 0.5L and 1L.

[9v system]

@Ankoku  i watched the axis robot video again and the sounds in the background from the module that feeds the robot, sounds like the peanuts module but i dont think it is

[BucketWheelExcavator]

20 hours ago, HRU_Bricks said:

I am building one that is loosely based on Akiuki's robotic arm that ran on a track. the build is 95% done with the programming to do. It is a 4 axis robot arm that only uses 1 Ev3 brick. I do plan to at least upload the design files when it is done, we will see if I do instructions or not, not sure yet.

After that I plan to do another 4 axis robot arm along these lines

 

Awesome, i’ll keep an eye on your progress. 

[Ankoku]

Quickly hacked this together, so apologise for it looking a bit meh.

So yes, it is a different height to a bush, but to be honest, not by much. Less than a milometer.

Have I ever seen Akiyuki use in a manner where the size difference made any odds? No. It certainly doesn't with the Ball Factory and it doesn't with the Invisible Lift. If it does with that robot, it would be a first for me seeing it. Looking at it though, I doubt it. It is way more about aesthetics than anything else.

So as I said before, if you have them, go for it, use them. If you don't, I wouldn't go out of your way to get them, as it makes no odds. And this is from someone who goes out of his way to use black 3L pin, black 2L axles, black bushes and black axle pins. I use them for aesthetics and that is why I use the hubs, no actual practical reason.

[Courbet]

1 hour ago, Ankoku said:

So yes, it is a different height to a bush, but to be honest, not by much. Less than a milometer.

Have I ever seen Akiyuki use in a manner where the size difference made any odds? No. It certainly doesn't with the Ball Factory and it doesn't with the Invisible Lift. If it does with that robot, it would be a first for me seeing it. Looking at it though, I doubt it. It is way more about aesthetics than anything else.

It can be more than a millimeter if you put the thinnest part against the hole of a Technic brick, as he does in the above picture. See the example below:

[Ankoku]

May be, but I still don't think it makes any odds at all. I am not entirely sure what the bush is doing on the robot arm base.

[Courbet]

I've done this quick and dirty:

When you zoom in in MLCad, on the right the wheels touch the cylinder.

On the left, there is a small amount of play. It may makes a significant difference in the end.

[Ankoku]

Will be cool if that is the base.

Good work!

[Innocity]

 

There are two versions of Akiyuki's Catch and Spin Robots. 

One is a red robot and yellow robot in the outer frame of DBG(Dark Bluish Gray) color, and the other is a black robot and LBG(Light Bluish Gray) robot in the outer frame of yellow color. 

In addition to the different colors of the Outer Frame and Robots, the size and design of the inbox is different.

Akiyuki didn't release the yellow version of the instruction, but it shouldn't be that hard because it's just a change to the inbox design. 

Rather, it is quite difficult to get some kind of yellow bricks. So Akiyuki may not have released a yellow version of the instruction. 

To build it, you also need some Technic connector (32291), Technic connector (32557), Technic connector (41678), and yellow Technic axles (including 6553).

It requires fine tuning and I think it's a reliable module if it's done well.