[TC21] Container Truck (unfinished)

[schraubedrin]

... This contest is going to be even harder than i thought.
Here's what two days got me so far:

It's a chassis with 3 axles, the first steered and the last driven.
The feature currently: reducing the trackwidth by one stud on either side:

Top:

Bottom:

Currently every function is manual.

Edited January 31, 2022 by schraubedrin
Changed Title

[schraubedrin]

I finally got another chance to work on the truck.
The trackwidth change is simplified and coupled front to back:

Drive and steering are electrified.
The position of the servo and drive motor is nice, looks like the fuel tanks of the truck:

And i figured out the positions for the rear top transformation mechanics:

There is a lot more work to do:

• rebuild the entire chassis to get robust mounting points for the transformation mechanics
• figure out a way to switch between the two transformation steps
• design the front end
• implement front end transformation.

I'm enjoying this project and its challenges, but i fear it will be hard to finish on time with work sucking most of my time and energy.

[whitepen]

That looks awesome so far! Don't give up!

[schraubedrin]

Thanks for the encuragement @whitepen

 

This is the fourth (but definetly not final) rebuild of the chassis, now with the secondary transformation feature implemented:

There is a lot to do for the cabin area: The drivetrain PTO (red) will be used to switch between the transformation stages (green and blue):

I'm really surprised the drivetrain PTO works without any scraping, those are a lot of gears in a very tight area:

Fortunately i got an extra vacation day tomorrow, so i will be able to do a little more work before the deadline.
I don't see me finishing the full front, but if i manage to implement the transformation switching i'll  be happy.
@Jim, which timezone is the deadline?

[Jundis]

6 hours ago, schraubedrin said:

I'm really surprised the drivetrain PTO works without any scraping, those are a lot of gears in a very tight area

Such compact gearboxes are beautiful, props that it worked out! :-)

As I didn't read it out of the text: What is this truck transformating to?

[schraubedrin]

As expected, i won't be able to finish this project for the competition.

I was really looking forward to making a cheeky reveal video, with another truck delivering the container which then transforms (more or less unexpectedly).
But alas, "perfect" got in the way of "good".
The question remains: should i enter the contest with unfinished business (feels wrong) or abandon the project (feels wasted) ?



i guess i'll be able to actually finish the mechanisms tonight, but the whole front is missing.

13 hours ago, Jundis said:

As I didn't read it out of the text: What is this truck transformating to?

My idea is a container, that transforms to a container truck. The same width+height as the 42078 Mack Anthem container, with 150% length.
Doesn't sound very exciting, but the excecution needs a lot of detail solutions

Edited January 31, 2022 by schraubedrin

[GerritvdG]

Finish the project regardless of the competition deadline. It’s a fun project and I’m really curious!

[Void_S]

33 minutes ago, schraubedrin said:

My idea is a container, that transforms to a container truck. The same width+height as the 42078 Mack Anthem container, with 150% length.
Doesn't sound very exciting, but the excecution needs a lot of detail solutions

Wow, it reminds me old French sci-fi movies, the idea when truck unloads the payload contailer, which transforms to another truck, still having the same contailer as a cargo compartment.

I have an idea, if you need it, for sure for the cabin - American post trucks, which are already boxes on the wheels, with only engine compartment is a rectangular block shifted outside a bit. 

[schraubedrin]

39 minutes ago, GerritvdG said:

Finish the project regardless of the competition deadline. It’s a fun project and I’m really curious!

Thanks for the encouragement

 

3 minutes ago, Void_S said:

for the cabin

This is more or less how i envision it:

[schraubedrin]

I will regret this tomorrow (today) morning, but i "finished" it enough to be happy to run in the competition:

There is one bad connection making the transformation only possible with manual help: in a pinch i had to couple a "flat" 20 tooth bevel gear to the 16 tooth side of a differential.
The normal 20 tooth gear doesn't fit there

[whitepen]

@schraubedrin Will you be finishing this moc at all, even if not for the contest?

[Nazgarot]

Hope to see this finished. It's a very nice project and has come along nicely, would be sad to see it abandoned.

_ED_

 

[schraubedrin]

You're speaking what my heart desires
I really appreciate the encouragement. Although i won't be as productive the previous weeks, i'll keep at it.

There are already several changes to the concept which will make it much more reliable while reusing existing solutions.
Just switching out the skipping 16-20-16 gearing for the lift mechanism helped so much that the new weak spot is the motor.
No idea why i didn't construct it this way from the beginning. Late night engineering really is something

Just replacing the 5L levers for the rear container with gear racks should reduce the torque requirements by >300%

By the way, here is another nice gearing solution used at the front:
Parallel input/output axis with a gear ratio of 13.3 : 1

[whitepen]

Looking good!

[Mikdun]

At the beginning it look to me like totally sill idea to make the truck narrow, but adding the container to hide it is brilliant. Good work. 

[schraubedrin]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:47 PM, whitepen said:

Looking good!

 

On 2/9/2022 at 8:03 AM, Mikdun said:

Good work. 

Thank you for the encouragement

 

I found the time for some little bug fixes, here is the video that should have been in the competition:

 

 

For the next version, i have to find a LEGO CAD with the current parts and learn it. Any recommendations?
Developing efficient bracing for such a complex drivetrain will be much easier when it just stays in place, without needing to hold it with five hands
 

[BrickBuildingFox]

Hi,

nice transformation

6 hours ago, schraubedrin said:

For the next version, i have to find a LEGO CAD with the current parts and learn it. Any recommendations?

I'm a big fan of http://www.melkert.net/LDCad

Although it is admittedly slightly more difficult to learn, as compared to https://ldraw.org/, for example. However, you are rewarded with a much better functionality.

[whitepen]

7 hours ago, schraubedrin said:

 

For the next version, i have to find a LEGO CAD with the current parts and learn it. Any recommendations?
Developing efficient bracing for such a complex drivetrain will be much easier when it just stays in place, without needing to hold it with five hands
 

I would definitely recommend Bricklink's Studio software, I have been using it for a while now and it was really easy to learn to use and it has the ability to import Ldd files.