[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Ankoku]

Starting to add my changes now:

These are a mix of "reverting back to the original" and an addition of my own.

On the left, is my own addition. One of the main issues I had, was how far out the hoses were from the rotating cylinder. This meant the balls sank lower between the two and added friction. It just didn't feel right.

The main offender seemed to be the top hose, so to make it hug closer, I changed the way it connects to the wall bracket.

The gap made me suspect the height of the tower as a whole is also wrong. So the bracket on the right is raised by 1 plate. This helped fix the hose hugging issue, the guider catching on the rotating cylinder and also helped with making sure the ball makes it into the cup every time. Since it drops from a slightly higher position in relation to the cup, it gives a bit more slack on syncing and just makes it work better. So I think this is the actual high in the original Akiyuki version.

I also made the guide the same as that seen in the Akiyuki videos. It removes the ugly Light Bluish Grey Plate, Modified 2 x 2 x 2/3 with 2 Studs on Side. It all seems to work really well.

Oh and I have made the tiles go all the way across. I have never understood why the axle pokes through. Doesn't seem to be any need for it to do so.

Once I have finished off all the versions, I will sort out the instructions for them.

Next version modifies the hopper so it doesn't collect balls, which never get cleared, any more.

[Ankoku]

Here is the changed hopper, which should hopefully stop balls collecting there.

[HRU_Bricks]

7 hours ago, Ankoku said:

Here is the changed hopper, which should hopefully stop balls collecting there.

Do you think the vertical conveyor could be adapted easily into other builds? I need one for a couple of builds and the height of this one would work well. Are you planning on sharing the Stud.io files?

[Ankoku]

I will be doing instructions for it.

If you look at the already existing instructions on this thread, it shows you all you need to know and Akiyuki has used it in a number of modules.

The changes I have made actually makes the construction simpler as you have less LEGO going horizontal.

Haven't done enough testing to confirm that it won't jam, but I will be doing that before long. Kinda hoping to do it post doing the revised power mechanism.

This, in every Cup-to-Cup video I have ever seen, really bugs me!

They don't annoy me as much as ball pumps, but still, they are just bored balls, waiting for something to happen.

I am sending the IO files to Akiyuki, so if he sticks them up somewhere, they will be out there.

[HRU_Bricks]

Thanks for the info @Ankoku

[Ankoku]

Just noticed that he has completely changed the way the gears are supported.

The liftarms no longer go vertically up, but actually perpendicular to the slope.

The entire back support is now wider as well, as the cross bracing liftarms at the back are 1 width further out. A lot less cross bracing too.

Should hopefully make things easier to model digitally and it gives it a cleaner look. Will also get rid of the collision issue I was having due to bent LEGO.

[9v system]

58 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

Just noticed that he has completely changed the way the gears are supported.

The liftarms no longer go vertically up, but actually perpendicular to the slope.

The entire back support is now wider as well, as the cross bracing liftarms at the back are 1 width further out. A lot less cross bracing too.

Should hopefully make things easier to model digitally and it gives it a cleaner look. Will also get rid of the collision issue I was having due to bent LEGO.

@Ankoku do you use facebook by any chance? if so you are welcome to post updates for this module in my gbc group

 

[Ankoku]

Everything seems a bit fragmented GBC community wise. Some is here, some is on a Discord, others on Facebook etc. etc.

I kinda like leaving things here, since that is where people will often end up if they are looking for Akiyuki GBC instructions.

[9v system]

5 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

Everything seems a bit fragmented GBC community wise. Some is here, some is on a Discord, others on Facebook etc. etc.

I kinda like leaving things here, since that is where people will often end up if they are looking for Akiyuki GBC instructions.

understandable, but still feel free to join, i will post your instructions there when you have finished them

[Ankoku]

Trying to work out how the other liftarm is attached. Sadly there aren't 4L pins :P

Managed to attach the left one by using a 3L liftarm. That side has a lot more room since it is using a smaller gear.

Sadly, what glimpses you get in videos aren't much help:

As you can see, the space between the two liftarms, at the bottom, is pretty clear.

[Ankoku]

This could be a potential solution:

[Ankoku]

Sometimes, you just have to build it to make sure.

Here is the most recent version of the Cup-to-Cup Type 1 cup support frame:

It uses less LEGO than the previous version, less visual clutter and is surprisingly rigid, which is one of the things I was unsure about.

The only thing stopping the horizontal liftarms from rotating, is the 4 cross section. There is nothing else stopping it.

Both this version and the previous one gives me reasons to admire Akiyuki's work. It always impressed me that the vertical lift arms remained vertical to the ground in the previous version. Even though this did cause a whole host of issues.

This new version has an efficiency to it which impresses me.

The yellow 3L liftarms at the bottom are only yellow because I ran out of black ones! I will also most likely change the light bluish grey Technic, Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Centre Pin Hole with black ones.

[9v system]

@Ankokuim building the wheel and stair module and im already noticing differences between the instructions and akiyukis version, like the cup to cup , they seem to be reliability improvements.

[Ankoku]

Sometimes the differences come from Akiyuki improving the module post that point where someone reverse engineered it. That said, loads of differences are just where the reverse engineering is wrong and correcting it to be the same as the Akiyuki version makes it run better.

Cup-to-Cup is mainly an issue where it got reverse engineered before the final version. Ball Factory is no different. He made changes to that post reverse engineering.

That said with the Ball Factory, so much of that was just fundamentally wrong. It is a miracle it worked at all. You enter into that weird world where people build it, but never run it. Or it isn't reliable, so it never get used. People didn't seem to ask why it didn't work like in the video.

I tried my own modification to the Cup-to-Cup in regards to the cup drive mechanism, but it was a bit of a disaster. I learnt the gearing needs to be near where the final motion is. Which wasn't ideal since everything was at a funny angle. Which is why I decided to try and work out his new version. It seems he himself had the same issue. Which is why the whole thing is so different. To allow for the gearing to be properly clamped to the support, close to the area of motion.

I am part way through building the Ball Triggered module. I am praying that doesn't need fixing. Everyone module leaves me dreading how many hours I will need to dedicate to it.

One which amazed me was that the wheel drive mechanism on Fork-to-Fork wasn't clamped to the wall properly in the instructions, even though it was in his original version. In the instructions, it is just held in place by 1 pin and the rotating axle O_o; Hardly ideal in regards to smoothness of motion. Watch out for that, if it is the same with Wheel and Step.

[Ankoku]

Got to work out how this is connected to the yellow slope.

I need to remove this:

From the support, as it doesn't actually appear in any version of Cup-to-Cup - Type 1 and now is getting in the way.

You can just see it here, middle right, hiding behind the black Technic brick:

Photo provided by Akiyuki.

[Ankoku]

Also noticed the whole thing is actually now longer than it used to be.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Ankoku

[Courbet]

19 hours ago, 9v system said:

@Ankokuim building the wheel and stair module and im already noticing differences between the instructions and akiyukis version, like the cup to cup , they seem to be reliability improvements.

 

19 hours ago, Ankoku said:

Sometimes the differences come from Akiyuki improving the module post that point where someone reverse engineered it. That said, loads of differences are just where the reverse engineering is wrong and correcting it to be the same as the Akiyuki version makes it run better.

 

When I did the reverse-engineering and modelization to the Wheel and Step module, I could not work on a proper presentation video. I had only about twenty seconds of video footage (Japan Brickfest 2015) to work with, and no one even knew the name of the module at that time. So obviously approximation and guesses were a big part of the process and I don't claim I reached a 100% true copy of Akiyuki's work.

But I did run the modules I provided modelization for. You can see them on my Youtube channel.

BTW The drive of the wheel of the Wheel and Step module is different from  the one on the Fork to Fork module, even if the wheel is by all accounts the same.   

[Ankoku]

I am currently facing the same issue with Cup-to-Cup Type 1, taking screenshots from the same 2015 video. The 2015 video is the only one where you see the back side of it and even then, only at a distance. Both with the ball factory and cup-to-cup, I am spending time in photoshop, trying to make certain aspects of fuzzy video frames stand out more clearly. I am currently still scouring YouTube for other people's video footage of Japan Brick Fest 2015, 2016 and 2017, which are the few places where it appears.

My general approach is: Does it move as well, as smoothly as it does in the video? If not, something is amiss. It took forever to finally work out what was wrong with the ball dropper in the Ball Factory, but I finally got there in the end, removing a notable amount of resistance in the process. Sadly, that fix broken the feedback loop as there was no longer room for it :P

The amount of work left to do on Cup-to-Cup is rather daunting. Got to sit down and redo chunks of the hopper and support structure. I am not looking forward to it.

[Courbet]

@Ankoku, did you see the work of Yoann (yoyo08190) ?

He posted it on this thread two years ago, but it did not get much notice.

I believe it was at that time the closest replication of Akiyuki's module (and it might still be today).

[Ankoku]

I did not. I can see a few things in his version that stand true to the most recent version of Akiyuki's model. I might give him a poke, see if he is still around.

Thanks, that is an awesome fine.

I have just started to make the drive mechanism in real life and have decided on a personal mod, which isn't in the original. You can see it here. The top version being the original.

The reason for the change, is because it stops there being any rotation and that rotation could cause friction and thus resistance.

This clamps them down nicely and although less elegant, I think it is worth it. Also gets rid of the ugly blue :P (You can use a black piece there, but they are really expensive.)

Thankfully, it doesn't jump outside of the normal bounds of the module.

[Berthil]

Meanwhile I'm done with creating a free building instruction for my Turntable Cup to Cup:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-26113/Berthil/turntable-cup-to-cup/

[Ankoku]

@yoyo08190 Are you still around?

Do you have any photographs of your Cup-to-Cup v2? From the front, behind, underneath etc.?

I like how you too have changed the hopper to stop balls collecting there!

[9v system]

5 minutes ago, Berthil said:

Meanwhile I'm done with creating a free building instruction for my Turntable Cup to Cup:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-26113/Berthil/turntable-cup-to-cup/

nice work i like it

[Ankoku]

@Berthil Nice one! I always loved the novel use of that element.

You get to climb a lot of height with it!

[9v system]

@Courbet in other news i have received detailed photos from akiyuki about the container transporter

 

and @Ankoku about the stuck ball lifter, i have just rebuilt mine with brand new parts and i have had no issues with the instructions.

Edited June 26, 2019 by 9v system