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I am curious as to what he will be using the ball pins for, if anything.

Could be appearing here because he isn't going to do anything with it. Just a curious concept.

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I think it is one of those where it is a cool idea, but not good enough to justify a module. Also, I am guessing it isn't going to achieve 1 ball a second or whatever the standard is.

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At around the 3-minute mark, he mentions in the subtitles that while it will be difficult to make it into a GBC module, he does plan to. It could be an issue with translation though. I think having 2 balls go at once and instead of 1 would help with the 1 ball/second requirement. I'm more worried about the clicking sound that occurs as the gear rotates and supports the rack after it is elevated. It seems like a lot of friction that will wear out the gears but shouldn't be too big of an issue to solve. But, if anyone is gonna make this into a great GBC module, it's Akiyuki.

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Nice!

This is what I am currently building for it:
800x600.jpg

I think I have figured out the mystery of the single clutch gear. I suspect he may be using the stronger one from 1997, which has the light grey centre. I have one, so I will be testing.

Also added a counter weight to the stepper lift to make it more even in movement. It sits beneath the hopper ramp.

I actually use the LEGO Space rubber balloon tyres for weight :P

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interesting, i dont see a need for two motors, or a counterweight as the stepper has no weight on anyway

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One stepper is heavier than the other, so the motor works harder raising the 2nd one of the two. If you run it freely with your hand, it is very noticeable.

The 2 motors is mainly for me. I am not interested in killing motors off powering it. Does it work fine on 1? Sure. But it works the motor hard. Even Akiyuki was using 2 motors at an event.

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Here are a few renders of some of the changes I have made.

Just got the off ramp to build now. Shouldn't be an issue.

Once done, I will create a web page for it with the various IO files, renders etc.

He is what the additional motor housing ended up looking like:

800x600.jpg

Not the sexiest looking thing, but I was mainly aiming to add it with as few changes to what was already there as possible.

I have made the structure holding the gears more solid.

No a clear image as to what is going on and what you see in Studio is different to what gets rendered. Here you have the structure which holds the axles for the steppers. It wasn't the more rigid of structures and there is evidence in the videos that Akiyuki's one may be different. So I have added some bracing via a couple of Technic, Liftarm 1 x 5 Thin with Axle Holes on Ends and a couple of Technic, Pin 3/4.

800x600.jpg

And I have posted this before, but I have added the adjustment made for the centre ones. They got through more Technic liftarms, so they benefit from a slightly different approach if they are sticking.

To the left are the front and back for top and bottom. To the right is the adjusted centre ones for front and back.

800x600.jpg

There is still a bunch of stuff I need to model. e.g. the changes to the stepper off ramp. The reworked ball box loader (having that being able to rotates just seemed insane).

Oh and the change to using the 1997 clutch variant worked a treat.

If you have a perfectly working Invisible Lift, you don't need to do any of this stuff.

I haven't fixed the front ramp. Have yet to get a reply from Akiyuki. I might need to use his other email address.

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So I have been working on the off ramp, which as far as I can tell, seems to be in the wrong place even on the original. Either that, or there is something I am missing. Anyway, that will be for another post.

Below, you can see that Akiyuki introduced his usual ratchet system later on. I was wondering why he had offset the gears, but I am guessing it was to make the ratchet possible.
In the video, you can see it bouncing along.

Ratchet.jpg

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The Invisible Lift is completed, but am currently fighting with the antenna. Works perfect with 1 or 2 balls at the same time, but 3 makes it fail as not all of the antenna are the same distance out. Also need to do a mod or two to stop gears from travelling along their axles. This may be down to the gear or axle itself. e.g. The Rebricker mod isn't needed for me, I actually need it on the gear on the other side.

The next module will be Step Module v2. I have the MPD file for it and it has a lot of differences with the original. So I am getting some work done on fixing/changing it before I order the parts (Had to go with a simple module since Bricks & Pieces is down due to Covid-19).

I am going to covert the spiral lift to what I did with the spiral lift on Cup-to-Cup Type 1. The version of the spiral lift in the MPD is very different to the Akiyuki original.

Akiyuki has an interesting approach in his original:

800x529.jpg

It is nice to see him using Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Toggle Joint Smooth, which is the solution I ended up going with to fix the Ball Factory and something I have continued with on Cup-to-Cup.

Interesting use of the Technic Hub / Handle 1 x 1. I am hoping this can be avoided, but it depends on the height of the spiral.

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Since it doesn't slot into a hole, I don't think it makes any odds, so I won't be using it. If they were the other way round, then it would make a depth difference.

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@Blakbird im not sure if you still have them, but is it possible you could please add the mpd files for all the modules?

Thanks

Edited by 9v system

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Straight up, if you want GBC event reliable, go with whatever @Berthil is doing. Generally, that is never my aim. Apart from that 3rd set of tyres, the 3rd set makes no sense.

I could never really get the off-ramp to work. The ReBricker instructions looked to be identical to the original Akiyuki one. That said, it seems Akiyuki had issue too, as he had modded it at an event and it looked like a hack job. My change is subtle, but seems obvious and places it right where it should have been in the first place. I also swapped a couple of pieces as they weren't available when Akiyuki designed the module, but he would have used them if they had been.

Sorted out the tyre issue.

Reverted the spring mechanisms back to the original designs.

Also reverted it back to the single clutch gear, but that won't be possible for most.

Change the ball box loader design. I have no idea how Akiyuki did it as you can see it in the videos. That said, if the instructions are what he did, it is kinda disappointing. I have made it lighter, reduced the distance it protrudes from the axle runners and fixed the position of the box. It can no longer rotate freely.

Fixed the off ramp for the stepper section. That was just wrong. Not sure how anyone made that work.

Added a counter weight for the stepper and added some extra bracing for the axle runners. Probably unneeded, but it made me happy.

I changed the mod that ReBricker added. Interesting, I never had an issue with that gear coming off, it was in fact the other one. So I created a bracket which does both and is easy to remove if you need to adjust timings.

Had to do the same for the clutch axle.

Still haven't managed to revert the main ramp back to the original design. This annoys me, but I think it would require too much deconstruction to fix it.

Added a second motor. Is it needed to run it? No. Will it provide less strain across the motors? Hopefully. I actually really like how it looks with the extra motor, but that is just me.

As a module, it is a think of engineering beauty. Simple, yet complex at the same. That said, listening to the motors pains me. So I prefer some of his other modules for that reason. If you have your ball factory setup properly, you can hand crank it all with ease. With the invisible lift, you can hand crank it, but is is in a different league.

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Noticed this difference:

Runner_Rotater.jpg

It is there in both the original video and the event one.

No idea why the instructions didn't do it like this, especially considering it is more rigid.

The instructions use 2x Technic, Liftarm 2 x 4 L-Shape Thick which aren't really connected properly. e.g. they can move around.

Above, it is either using a Technic, Liftarm 1 x 4 Thin or more likely a Technic, Liftarm 1 x 4 Thin with Stud Connector. This locks things nicely in place and actually provide a tighter guiding channel.

I ended up going with something similar, before discovering this, using a Technic, Liftarm 1 x 5 Thin with Axle Holes on Ends. I needed the extra length as the position the tubes connect is one stud further out.

So I will be removing the Technic, Liftarm 2 x 4 L-Shape Thick.

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Okay, so this is how it should be and makes a lot more sense.

800x600.jpg

The main difference? It uses two Technic, Brick 1 x 2 with Axle Hole. This makes the whole setup rigid, rather than loose.

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Am playing around with less springs.

Less_Springs.jpg

The left hand side with 12 springs is far stiffer than the right side with 6, yet they don't seem to be offering much in needed functionality.

So I removed 3 to see what happens. Works just fine.

Might be a disastrous idea and the current execution is certainly clunky, but I am curious to see how it pans out.

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Issue with Catch & Spin Robots

Finally finished this module but I‘m facing a speed issue when operating it with the train controller.

 It works fine at speed 3 of 5. At 4 of 5 one of the robots tends to drop balls. At speed 5 of 5 both robots drop all the balls.

Any hint?

 

P.S. During the build I managed to build a robot in a way that one of the axle wasn‘t able to turn at all. To make it even worse I made the mistake at both robots. And then I was wondering why the gears slipped...

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16 hours ago, tismabrick said:

Issue with Catch & Spin Robots

Finally finished this module but I‘m facing a speed issue when operating it with the train controller.

 It works fine at speed 3 of 5. At 4 of 5 one of the robots tends to drop balls. At speed 5 of 5 both robots drop all the balls.

Any hint?

 

P.S. During the build I managed to build a robot in a way that one of the axle wasn‘t able to turn at all. To make it even worse I made the mistake at both robots. And then I was wondering why the gears slipped...

If you see original video of akiyuki, It also has same problam of high speed.

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