[GBC] Starter module: Conveyor belt + building instructions

[Lasse D]

Update 2

New, more reliable, version of the module is up. The GBC layout now contains 20 modules. See my latest message below.

 

Update

The module has been updated with an anti-jamming mechanism. See the updated building instructions on http://c-mt.dk and Rebrickable (http://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-8843/LasseD/gcb-conveyor-starter-module/). See my latest post for the process of testing and improving the module.

 

It is about time I did my part for getting new members on board the Great Ball Contraption (GBC) train. Here is my starter module. It is a simple conveyor module with 194 parts where none of the parts should be hard to come by.

Here are the building instructions: http://c-mt.dk/instructions/models_gbc-GBCStarterConveyerBelt.htm

In the video I also show how the module works in a circuit.

This module should be easy to multiply where a single motor powers multiple modules. I will try to do that next.

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by Lasse D
Updated the module.

[BrickbyBrickTechnic]

Awesome! So simple yet functional.

[kieran]

Nice and simple, well done for sharing 

[TechnicRCRacer]

Great! I was thinking of getting into GBC sometime soon. Maybe this will start me off!

[mocbuild101]

Nice! It's kind of hard to find GBC starter modules - so thanks for sharing yours!

1 hour ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

Great! I was thinking of getting into GBC sometime soon. Maybe this will start me off!

Yeah, me too!

But my main problem is getting balls for it - they are quite expensive!

[aeh5040]

Awesome - a very nice piece of public service!

[Lasse D]

On 9/7/2017 at 6:54 AM, mocbuild101 said:

Nice! It's kind of hard to find GBC starter modules - so thanks for sharing yours!

Yeah, me too!

But my main problem is getting balls for it - they are quite expensive!

Thanks for the replies. As for getting started with GBC I always design my modules so that you can run with non-LEGO balls, such as beets with a diameter around 14mm. We had a topic discussing this, but my google-foo is failing me.

[doug72]

2 hours ago, Lasse D said:

Thanks for the replies. As for getting started with GBC I always design my modules so that you can run with non-LEGO balls, such as beets with a diameter around 14mm. We had a topic discussing this, but my google-foo is failing me.

Is this the topic you are looking for ?

When I first started building GBC's I used glass marbles with succes but they are heavy compared to Lego compatible balls, then got some 14 mm beads from Etsy on eBay, finally got balls from PV production.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Doug72

[Lasse D]

Indeed it is. Thanks @Doug72

[Lasse D]

As promised I have now made 10 of these modules and put them in a closed circuit.

This turned out to be a great test as seen in this video:

The building instructions have been updated as promised in the video. See the links in the first post. It turns out to be quite fun to test it like this, and having ten tightly coupled modules like this might even be fun to bring along to a big layout. By the way. What is the record number of modules running on a single motor? 15, 20, more?

[Frequenzberater]

I was looking for a nice starter module and I found this :) So I decided to build this little nice thing but to give it another color scheme. It turned out, that there is a little modder hidden in me. I was not aware of it :) Besides the color, I changed a few things and it was a lot of fun. This is the result so far:

As you can see, now it looks like some kind of a cute dragon :D In addition, I changed the output part. Before modification, the balls were spilled out in random directions and sometimes a few balls blocked the mechanism. I also changed the drive sections and added some gears in order to make it running slower. Now everything is working smooth! 

Thanks for sharing the Instructions of your design! 

Edited December 19, 2017 by Frequenzberater

[Lasse D]

That is very good. I have also modified the output in a new version because it jams easily when there are multiple balls trying to get through. I also saw that Maico had made a mod to prevent this. Hopefully I can present the new design tonight or tomorrow. Here is a sneak peak of the modified module:

Sneak peak curtesy of my social media administrator / partner in crime, Elena.

 

Update

 

The building instructions have been updated!

 

 

The latest update fixes the problems stated above.

 

 

The output is now adjusted and designed so that balls no longer jam below and cause explosions. The pins on the belt have been rearranged so that there are 2 empty belts between each set of pins. Throughput is improved by widening the rails and the anti-jamming mechanism is no longer needed.

 

But there is more. The machine hinted at above? It's a GBC layout made from 20 of these modules. You can even have a race!

 

 

A video will appear later.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by Lasse D
New version.

[Lasse D]

The videos are up!

In this video I present the changes and show how the module is connected with 19 other of its kind in order to construct a full layout:

 

There is also a short video where I have started a race through the modules. It has its own topic here:

 

[nzmike]

Hey Lasse, thanks for these free plans for starter GBCs - I have built this one and it works really well.  The only problem for that is that it's way too fast so I will have to try it with the largest grey cog (56 tooth?) to see if I can slow it down a bit. 

Next I want to build your stepper and pump modules and some funky return ramps (like I saw on one of your videos where you have 10 of the conveyor modules together and you can lift part of the ramp to empty the balls) - but first need to buy hundreds of normal bricks as I mostly have Technic pieces which are not great for things like collector boxes.

Anyway, thanks again - I've been looking for some free GBC modules just to get me started and to give me some ideas for my own ones and your ones fit the bill perfectly :-)

Edited August 5, 2018 by nzmike
Typos