[GBC] Turntable Cup to Cup 2.0

[Berthil]

Version 2 of my cup to cup GBC but actually third rebuild. I thought it already had a separate topic but apparently not, hope you don't mind I create this one.

After running it at several events, where it was one of the favorites of the public, I updated the drive system to a more direct drive and better force distribution by driving the crank through a 36 teeth gear instead of directly on a single axle. Also added more steppers for better ball entry and exit with basket.

Direct drive from the XL motor. According to the gear calculator from Sariel this setup has 46Nm compared to 16Nm for the previous one!
This makes the whole GBC run smoother and more reliable resulting in no dropped balls during the half hour I tested. 

The turntables are mounted with neck brackets in the frame to get the correct gear distance.

For reference, version 1 video here

Edited July 2, 2019 by Berthil

[Lakop]

Very nice. Great job, it looks very slick.

H

[dunes]

Love it. Nice work.

[MxWinters]

Very nicely done, very cool idea, love it.

[RohanBeckett]

I have quietly been hoarding the new large turntables, in prep for building this one day! ;)

Very nice.. the piston action looks awesome!

[MajklSpajkl]

I prefer this cup to cup more than Akiyuki's so.....yes, I am working on it  

And now it is me being lazy: @Berthil Is there a secret super dooper formula to get the turntables sinchronised?  Since you cannot just unhook the black part of the turntable with ease, it is not so trivial to change teeth alignment once assembled...

Oh, and since I don't have enough of those thin L-shaped-minifugure-over-neck-backpack-connectors, I simply connected the turntables to the upper and lower technic-brick beams by using hole+pin connectors with half-pins. The only difference is that it must be stacked with two plates above and below and the distance between the technic bricks is again 7 studs... I do predict some trouble with meshing the 24t gear with the first turntable though, because my turntable is directly in the middle of the two technic brick beams and yours is slightly off centre...

[MajklSpajkl]

Actually, don't tell me just yet, I turned my brain on and might be able to make it on my own :-)

Edited November 29, 2018 by MajklSpajkl

[MajklSpajkl]

Hmm, I thought I was finished, but still a long way from it. I got the timing all set and it works for a couple of balls. 

Problem no.1: Friction in the turn tables:

When solo, all the turntables are rotating easily and smooth. It seems 6 of them together generate a lot of resistance. @Berthil, did you lubricate your turntables - yours seem to run so smoothly with no shaking at all. In my case (without lubricant) the whole turntable assembly starts shaking quite bad and it gets loose at the points of attachament.

Problem no.2: 24t gear skipping:

I didn't use neck brackets to build the turntable assembly, like Berthill did, and therefore the lower line of holes in technic bricks cannot be linked with the 24t axle that drives the turntables which are wobbly because of friction and the 24t skips. Neck brackets are already on the way and I tend to rebuild the whole turntable assembly by using them. Even if I succeeded minimizing the friction, I think not bracing turntables against the 24t axle will result in skipping of the gears.

Some photos below. This module looks fantastic IRL so I hope I get it to work as smooth as Berthil's original.

[Berthil]

@MajklSpajkl nice build, I like the Red :)

I lubricated the turntables with PTFE but there is still quite some force needed to turn all six. May be take 5 in the rebuild? 
I think the neck braces are needed for the right gear distance, otherwise they indeed skip or are too tight depending on position.
I hope you get yours running smoothy!

[MajklSpajkl]

Thanks @Berthil. I shall apply lubrication as well as soon as I rebuild the turntables part with those neck brackets. I will post more photos when finished. Best regards.

[Berthil]

I've made a building instruction of the Cup to Cup and it is available for free:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-26113/Berthil/turntable-cup-to-cup/

[dunes]

finished

Found only 1 mistake in the instructions.

Step 4: 2x T-shape beams needed and no 3L

[Berthil]

That was quick, excellent! :)

Thanks for the feedback on the instructions, BI and parts list adjusted on Rebrickable.

Good news is it is only using 6 of those expensive cups instead of 11 in the 40t gear version :) 

Edited July 2, 2019 by Berthil

[bmerrill]

Thank you for sharing the instructions, @Berthil I just completed my version:

The biggest change I made was to the output ramp:

The recommendation of applying PTFE to the turntables was helpful as that allowed my module to go from jamming and gears stripping to running smoothly.  

I’m looking forward to running this at a show next weekend! 

[sawyer klegr]

Good way to use the net pieces, have never thought of using them like that before.

[Berthil]

16 hours ago, bmerrill said:

Thank you for sharing the instructions, @Berthil I just completed my version:
I’m looking forward to running this at a show next weekend! 

Also looks good it red! :)

Please share you experiences after the event. I did not run it full time on an event yet.

After building the Akiyuki Peanuts (with 5 turntables) I learned some turntables need sanding down a very little bit on the LBG base to run as smooth as possible. Haven't done that for this module but might help a lot here also. just not too much otherwise the turntables get too loose.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Berthil

[bmerrill]

On 8/11/2019 at 4:08 PM, Berthil said:

Please share you experiences after the event. I did not run it full time on an event yet.

Overall it ran well today. Less-than-level tables meant that it missed a few more shots on the basket than I would have liked, and I had to do a little fine tuning of the connectors holding the cups on axles at one point, but I won’t hesitate to take it to our next show.

The only incident with it “breaking” was when the turntables were suddenly out of position while being watched by an enthusiastic fan. I’m expecting he forgot to watch with his eyes and not his hands. 

[9v system]

4 hours ago, bmerrill said:

Overall it ran well today. Less-than-level tables meant that it missed a few more shots on the basket than I would have liked, and I had to do a little fine tuning of the connectors holding the cups on axles at one point, but I won’t hesitate to take it to our next show.

The only incident with it “breaking” was when the turntables were suddenly out of position while being watched by an enthusiastic fan. I’m expecting he forgot to watch with his eyes and not his hands. 

nice to see it is mostly layout worthy, do you have a video of the layout?

[Berthil]

6 hours ago, bmerrill said:

Overall it ran well today.

Thanks for the update and good to hear it worked well!
May be I'll make the basket position adjustable before my event.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Berthil

[bmerrill]

On 8/18/2019 at 3:41 AM, 9v system said:

nice to see it is mostly layout worthy, do you have a video of the layout?

The video is now posted

 

[dunes]

Had a GBC loop at Steinhanse 2019 in Germany 2 weeks ago and couldnt get it reliable to run. tables where leveled. Took it out of the loop after 3 hours.

Before at home I had no problems with it.

Mostly dropped balls at 5th and 6th cup. the basket mount fell of after 10-15 mins . and sometimes the ball pickup was a problem.

Today I sat down and fixed the problems.

1. Ball pickup: Added 2 cheese corners

2. Arm mount: Replaced 4L axle wth stop to 5L with stop and added a 13L beam. Its now stronger and less wiggle.

3. New Basket mount: 

Ran now for over 2 hours without dropping any ball. And looking forward to run it at the next event.

 

Edited October 31, 2019 by dunes
video added

[Berthil]

@dunes Nice work!

I ran it for 7 days at LEGO World and only on one occasion a tooth on the 24t gear skipped, probably because a ball dropped.
Other than that it didn't drop a ball for 7 days and ran without problems.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Berthil

[OneMoreRobot]

My version - changed colours & added some of Dunes mods

GBC TT C2C by OneMoreRobot_NZ, on Flickr

 

GBC TT C2C 3 by OneMoreRobot_NZ, on Flickr

[Berthil]

@OneMoreRobot Excellent!

[Berthil]

I have updated the design after multiple events without any problems. Ball catchers removed and  fine adjustment for the steppers timing through a differential has been added. More info and free updated instructions on Rebrickable:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-26113/Berthil/turntable-cup-to-cup-updated/

Edited April 14, 2022 by Berthil