[WIP] Volvo EC350E (Cancelled)

[JLiu15]

Hey guys, here's a new project I started recently. It is a model of the Volvo EC350E excavator, featuring pneumatics and SBrick control. 

As of right now I have the superstructure completed. All electronics for the model are contained within here. At the center of the superstructure is a 8043-style gearbox that switches the 3 L motors between left track, right track, and superstructure rotation, respectively, and boom valve, jib valve, and bucket valve, respectively. A M motor powers the gearbox shifting and the pneumatic pump simultaneously. This is possible thanks to a clutch gear on the gearbox shifting mechanism, allowing the motor to drive the pump even when shifting is complete.

This will be my last MOC before I go off to college. I move in next Thursday, so I'll try to get at least most of it done before I leave. I won't be building as much anymore with college starting - maybe a MOC or two over breaks. However, if I don't get this MOC done before I leave I'll try to finish it in small increments in the weekends I come home.

Photos:

Edited December 11, 2019 by JLiu15

[Kio Liex]

Fantastic, I am really looking forward to seeing this. Mostly because I really like the Volvo machines but also because I am also planning on doing either a 250, 300 or 350.

[Hurri]

Looking good!  What scale you are building and have u been think what year model u make (Volvo add orange details to their machines in 2016, if I remember right)? I really like volvo machines too 

[JLiu15]

6 hours ago, Kio Liex said:

Fantastic, I am really looking forward to seeing this. Mostly because I really like the Volvo machines but also because I am also planning on doing either a 250, 300 or 350.

Thanks! I chose to do a Volvo because it has a black boom, rather than a boring all-yellow color scheme.

2 hours ago, Hurri said:

Looking good!  What scale you are building and have u been think what year model u make (Volvo add orange details to their machines in 2016, if I remember right)? I really like volvo machines too 

In terms of scale, I’m just using the regular sprockets from sets such as 42006 and 8043. The large ones from the 42095 are only available in yellow right now, which does not fit the color scheme for this model.

As for the year, this model is not specific to any year. I don’t think the EC350E has any orange details, at least from what I’ve seen.

[Hurri]

There is a one picture what I found in google, there is orange handrails. 

Have you been think what pneumatic tools you are going to make? 

https://st.mascus.com/image/product/large/sandhillsapi/volvo-ec350e,12683180-1.jpg

[1gor]

7 hours ago, JLiu15 said:

Thanks! I chose to do a Volvo because it has a black boom, rather than a boring all-yellow color scheme.

In terms of scale, I’m just using the regular sprockets from sets such as 42006 and 8043. The large ones from the 42095 are only available in yellow right now, which does not fit the color scheme for this model.

 

But IMHO the one from liebherr (dark bluish gray) could do the job 

BTW nice start 

[JLiu15]

7 hours ago, Hurri said:

There is a one picture what I found in google, there is orange handrails. 

Have you been think what pneumatic tools you are going to make? 

https://st.mascus.com/image/product/large/sandhillsapi/volvo-ec350e,12683180-1.jpg

It looks like a very deep orange, almost red. I might use red instead of orange, as I don’t have that many orange connectors.

Pneumatic functions are boom, jib, and bucket. An update on that should come by the end of the week, if everything goes well.

5 hours ago, I_Igor said:

But IMHO the one from liebherr (dark bluish gray) could do the job 

BTW nice start 

I’m not waiting until October to finish the MOC lol

But I think they’d look pretty good too

Edited August 22, 2019 by JLiu15

[JLiu15]

UPDATE 8/23/19

The arm is now fully finished and installed, with all pneumatic connections set. However, there were a number of shortcomings in this section.

I wanted to make use of the pneumatics from the 8436 set I got from the BrickFair yard sale, so I used one on the jib and another on the bucket. But since the actuators on the real EC350E are much longer (and thinner), they ended up being very much out of proportion with the real machine. I did not feel like making more Bricklink orders after making so many of them for my Winnebago project, and since I got some pneumatics from BrickFair I wanted to make use of them, so I compromised and kept them. They might not be the most fitting, but they do the job. 

One serious issue I noticed with the pneumatic system after attaching the arm to the superstructure is that the tiny 6L pump had almost no capacity to raise the arm at a reasonable speed. It raises it, but it does it so slowly you could barely see it moving. I was not expecting this, as I noticed similar setups with 2 11L cylinders (such as the 42080) work just fine. I added a manual pump (yes, I got it from the 8436) to it to work in conjunction with the motorized compressor, to be used when there is a shortage of pressure as it has much greater capacity. I've had 2 6L pumps at one point (one from the 42008, another from the 42043), but I think I may have lost the one from the 42008. I have used two of them in a MOC before, but I didn't notice much improvement in speed.

My primary guess for the root of this issue is too much weight on the cylinders. The boom isn't super heavy, but it isn't light either. It might also be because they are attached at a bad angle, requiring them to work harder than if they had been attached at a more efficient angle (the angle I attached them at seem pretty close to the real machine). Another possible cause is the valves being in the back, as there's a lot of hoses routed through the superstructure just to connect the valves to the arm. That was the easiest place to put them though, as the front of the superstructure has mechanisms for rotating the turntable/transferring drive through it taking up a lot of space.

Using the manual pump allow the pneumatics to perform at their full potential, but also means the playability of this model will be significantly hindered. It also allows me to control the pneumatics without turning the battery on, as the valves can be switched easily by hand when the gearbox is in drive mode. I placed the manual pump as low as I can as to not expose too much of it, but still it is a bit of an eyesore having it there.

I'm not planning on getting more 6L pumps from Bricklink as I mentioned earlier, but if any of you know see any issues with the arm design (such as the angle of the cylinders) that could be a significant contributor to the issue, please let me know.

Photos:

[1gor]

Boom looks very nice. 

[JLiu15]

5 hours ago, I_Igor said:

Boom looks very nice. 

Thank you!

[mpj]

The arm looks very nice and solid. Yes, the pneumatic cylinders are too short, but you made your choice. 

I especially like how compact is the main gearbox with motors!

[JLiu15]

On 8/25/2019 at 3:20 PM, mpj said:

The arm looks very nice and solid. Yes, the pneumatic cylinders are too short, but you made your choice. 

I especially like how compact is the main gearbox with motors!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to finishing this one.

[JLiu15]

UPDATE 12/10/19

Hey guys, unfortunately I've decided to cancel this project. I was originally planning on finishing it before college, but I didn't and my interest in finishing this model quickly declined. It doesn't look like it will work well in the end either - the single pneumatic compressor is far too weak to effectively operate the pneumatics, especially the arm elevation. I don't like the idea of using a manual pump to help the compressor either, as this is a model that's meant to be fully remote controlled via SBrick. Not to mention it's a real pain to close the valves precisely.

I could replace the pneumatics with LAs, but that would mean rebuilding the entire model from scratch. It would also defeat my initial purpose in building this MOC - which was to use pneumatics, so that would make this MOC a pointless build.

I'm going to focus on smaller, simpler projects over winter break.