[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[doug72]

35 minutes ago, Berthil said:

This thread started out with Blakbird going into GBCs with reverse engineering the Akiyuki modules (with others) which we all appreciate very much! Meanwhile he has moved away from GBCs and Akiyuki publishes his own building instructions these days. @Doug72, please go ahead and open up a [GBC] Akiyuki Train mods and improvements thread :)

I can do that but would existing posts need moving into the new thread or just links to them or can a moderator sort that out ?
Suggest also add posts about new modules that are compatible with the Akiyuki Train System such as the Jonas Turntable.

[Ankoku]

A mod should be able to move posts over.

[doug72]

9 hours ago, Ankoku said:

A mod should be able to move posts over.

I will start the "balls" rolling and move my rotary dumper post with video over to the new topic: [GBC] Akiyuki Train System: mods and improvements.

[Frequenzberater]

I finished "Lift triggered by a stuck ball" and "Tilted rotors" during this week.

First one runs reliable as long there are not to much balls. Distribution of the balls to the four arms is also not perfect. The inner ones are nearly constantly in use while the right one gets a ball approx 1 out of 50.

In addition, there are a lot of spots where the balls can get stuck. I will try to improve that.

 

Tilted rotors I finished yesterday evening. It works, but ball spilling ratio is inacceptable. Changing the operation speed unfortunately does not help. Movement is not smooth enough. I need to do some fine tuning over the weekend.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[RohanBeckett]

It took me a fair bit of tweaking to get my Tilted Rotors working reliably.. I started with ensuring that the turntables were silky smooth - swapping out old, with new ones, when I got them

at it's first show, it dropped a lot of balls, but at home, it worked a lot better. It's very sensitive to how flat the table is, and if any of the arms are even slightly twisted out of alignment

And even when you get it running 99% perfect (1 ball dropped every 100-200), that one that drops, will randomly bounce off the pickup scoop!

I redid a bit of the bottom - flipping some of the gears over, so I could put some clear panels over the gear/box section, below the pickup.. so balls would never fall in.

 

As nice as Akiyuki's standard box frame is... it's a nightmare to retrieve balls from, especially during a busy show!

[Frequenzberater]

Thanks for sharing your expirience! 

Yesterday I tried adjusting all scoops, but was not succesfull. Approx every 6-8 Ball dropped. Main problem is the transfer from first to second scoop. Not only that a lot of balls are falling, even the scoops are touching itself in one position. That sometimes results in a blocking of the whole Rotor structure. 

I lost my patience yesterday but I will continue trying. Next attempt is to remove and disassemble the turntables. Im going to shave or grind those little "domes" inside what blakbird has mentioned. Maybe I can use some kind of lubrication in addition. 

[RohanBeckett]

Yes.. I did that before starting my build... 

Double check the arm build - especially as the rotors are not perfectly symmetrical in their construction... and it's easy to mis-build one arm, as you are naturally wanting to do the same as the opposite arm :)

I definitely have most drops off the pickup

[Frequenzberater]

Thats a good advice. I will doublecheck it. Thx! 

[Berthil]

I've made my design of the vertical exit of the Invisible Lift transparant, goes well with the transparant antennas I think. In the previous design with axles on rare occasion a ball would get stuck, the design with transparant panels is much smoother on the inside.

[Frequenzberater]

In the meantime I checked the arm build of my tilted rotors module. Everything is build according to instructions.

After that, I ground the inner surfaces of the turntables. Every one of the four turns very smooth now. In addition I reinforced the structure of the indexer and the rotor basement a bit. But the movement of the whole rotor is still not smooth as I want it to be.

2/20 Balls dropped during the last test run. Its a bit frustrating. I am thinking about adding some kind of a flywheel to the the driveshaft, in order to homogenize the rotor movement. What do you think?

Edited June 26, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[9v system]

1 hour ago, Frequenzberater said:

In the meantime I checked the arm build of my tilted rotors module. Everything is build according to instructions.

After that, I ground the inner surfaces of the turntables. Every one of the four turns very smooth now. In addition I reinforced the structure of the indexer and the rotor basement a bit. But the movement of the whole rotor is still not smooth as I want it to be.

2/20 Balls dropped during the last test run. Its a bit frustrating. I am thinking about adding some kind of a flywheel to the the driveshaft, in order to homogenize the rotor movement. What do you think?

in my vesion of this module the only thing i did was slightly lift the dbg 2x4 slopes on the bottom arms a bit so that its only half attached to the studs.

[Frequenzberater]

So you lifted the whole part a bit? Or did you slightly changed the mounting angle of it?

I will have that in mind, but my module mainly fails by transferring the ball from rotor 2 to rotor 3.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[RohanBeckett]

A couple of videos of mine:

When I first finished it (and yes... it does drop the first ball!)

 

and a bit later, at a small lego club meeting:

I also modified the area around the pickup, to prevent balls falling in

I had to alter the gearing, so it was lower, and didn't get in the way of the clear panels (which easily lift out)

[Frequenzberater]

Clear panels above gearings looking great! By next opportunity I will post a video of my unreliable one. Perhaps someone can figure out what the problem is. Sometimes a view from an outer perspective is helpful.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[Ankoku]

Akiyuki video of the GBC at Brickfest 2018 in Japan.

 

 

Although not very smooth, I do like the design of the Flywheel launcher (The orange and yellow thing. Doesn't look much like a Flywheel Launcher, but there you go).

I also prefer the idea of the train running the balls back, rather than the door frame approach you see at most events. It takes ages for the balls to rise up that high.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Ankoku

[RohanBeckett]

11 hours ago, Frequenzberater said:

 By next opportunity I will post a video of my unreliable one. Perhaps someone can figure out what the problem is. Sometimes a view from an outer perspective is helpful.

If you have access to a phone/camera that does slo-mo video.. try recording it in that (might need good sunlight, or brighter lights)

I've solved a few GBC issues before, by watching playback in slomo, and realising where certain things catch, or where balls are hitting...

[9v system]

if anyone is interested in joining i have a facebook group for akiyuki gbc and other designs from around the world.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1200921286708176/

[Frequenzberater]

@RohanBeckett:

Good Idea, I will definetly try it! 

@9v system:

I have send a request right now (Jan) :) 

[Frequenzberater]

BTW, yesterday evening I applied a flywheel to the driveshaft of the module. It was late, so I couldnt test it extensively, but rotation seems to be a bit smoother now.

What I also noticed is, that the sometimes jerky movement of the rotor is caused by slight collisions in the rotor structure itself. For example the DBG hinge (1) slightly touches the black connector plate (2) in one specific position of the rotor. This always results in a sligthly stuttering movement. Is it normal or did I something wrong?

Also the scoops of rotor 2 and 3 are touching in a specific position.

[RohanBeckett]

hmm.. I remember something like that happening with mine.. but then fixing it..  not sure if I swapped a part, or had just built it incorrectly

unfortunately, I can't help out, as mine is currently on loan, in another state...500+ km's away! :D  and I won't be seeing it again until August!

(unless @Captainowie wants to unbox it and test it out! ;)

[doug72]

Does anyone have more information on the Rotary car Dumper by Takanori Hashimoto (yattaran) as shown in the Brickfest 2018 video at 4 mins 50 secs to 5 mins 30secs.

Trying to get more details of the train car release system using rubber bands instead of a shock absorber.

Edited June 29, 2018 by Doug72

[Frequenzberater]

http://youtu.be/uTWUVwgQLIc

You are welcome :) 

[doug72]

11 hours ago, Frequenzberater said:

http://youtu.be/uTWUVwgQLIc

You are welcome :) 

Thanks I have embedded the video onto the Akiyuki Train System thread.

[Frequenzberater]

Managed to get it working acceptable:

http://youtu.be/fcOUgIiq4eY

Approx 1 ball out of 30 drops during Transfer from scoop one to scoop two. I have no clue how to improve that. 

[Ankoku]

Nice to see them interviewing Akiyuki