Technic Builder
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Posts posted by Technic Builder
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The only thing that got me excited about the new hubs and the powered up app was the possibility of connecting 4 hubs to the app at once and creating my own custom controls for a creation with up to 16 functions. It seems that the powered up app can still only be connected to ONE technic hub at once (or at least run programming on one hub at once). If you want to use multiple hubs you have to use a powered up remote control, but the remote control only has 4 buttons, so if I have 4 motors per hub and each motor can go forwards or backwards I only have half as many controls as I need without some very fancy programming.
Am I missing anything? Most google searches only return threads from 2 years ago when this stuff was released. I'll admit, once I found out I couldn't connect / program more than one hub at a time in the powered up app I kinda gave up on this for a while so I have not played around with it a ton (I don't own a powered up remote either). The complete lack of documentation within the app is also pathetic.
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If you remove both stages of gear reduction from PF XL motors I think you increase the shaft speed by either 25x or 36x. If you were to build a very long car with a series of XL motors directly driving larger wheels (like maybe the smoother motorcycle wheels / tires) it may be possible. Basically the vehicle needs to produce enough power to overcome the aerodynamic drag forces at 50 MPH. Because the power / weight ratio of the motors is quite low you'll have to have a lot of motors and battery packs in a very long slender vehicle. The vehicle would also probably need at least 1/4 mile to accelerate, maybe more.
Now, taking out gear reduction from the XL motors is already cheating, but if you're willing to do that, you could also connect two battery packs each with NiMH batteries in them together to get 14.4 volts and run the motors on that. I believe lego motors are 12v motors that are run on 9v for safety and longevity. Increasing the motor voltage greatly increases their power output.
But I would still say with 100% stock legos it's not possible, but with over-volted motors without the internal planetary gear reduction it might work. The vehicle will basically be a missile though. Good luck not destroying it in testing.
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I got the liebherr set and took one of the technic hubs out of that set and swapped it for the hub that was requiring a firmware update every time in the 4x4.
The new hub from the liebherr updated once and worked flawlessly since.
I put the old 4x4 hub back in and now it works as well without asking for a firmware update every time.
I didn't change anything about the method I would use to turn the hub on, I just swapped hubs and swapped back.
ALSO, the way the hub from the liebherr updated was slightly different. On my 4x4 hub once the update finished the hub would turn all the way off and I'd have to turn it back on manually for the app to recognise it again. The liebherr hub did not turn off after updating. It stayed on and the control+ app automatically connected to it after the update.
I do appreciate everyone's help and hopefully this thread could help somebody else in the future.
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I searched this forum, the rest of the internet, and reddit and I still haven't found an answer.
Got the 4x4 today, installed Control+ on a Pixel 2 XL and an old iPad Air 2. Both are current on updates.
On the android I connected about 8 different times and it wanted to update firmware every time.
Tried the iPad, same thing
Checked the batteries and made sure they were freshly charged, no difference.
Uninstalled the app on both the iPad and Android - no change.
Tried updating firmware through the Powered Up app. No change.
BUT the model does work with zero issues once the firmware updates. Basically the hub restarts after the firmware update and right after that restart it will work, but if it's powered off and back on the app wants to update firmware again.
Do I have a technic hub with bad memory? How did you fix this issue? Haven't talked to lego yet since they were closed before I got into this diagnosis.
I have the Liebherr on the way and hope to get this sorted out with the crawler so I don't have to deal with it with the Liebherr.
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Why make you with this answer a (Help) topic on ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't understand what you said.
A mod added the [Help] tag. All I wanted to know was about how much money people were making from selling instructions. That's the only unanswered question in the thread.
The original thread title was "how much money are you making selling instructions?"
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This is going to sound like a sensitive comment.... but I assure you, it is not meant to discourage or hurt. But I do think it needs to be mentioned.
Even the greats have provided information that instructions don't provide much bucks. Sariel is one of most popular builders out there.... not to mentioned he often does reviews, etc. for TLG and probably has more insight into the Lego community than most out there, and even he has said numerous times he doesn't make much money off instructions. You bring up Lucio..... another great builder..... but I see the conversation going in the direction of perhaps placing the cart before the horse.
The builder you speak of, that potentially could bring in some dough for instructions have already established themselves and their builds. They have proven that they can build something that is high demand. Perhaps the thing to do is first create something that is widely popular, with some form of fan base, and then inquire to those fans about any interest in instructions and what people would be willing to pay. Not the other way around.........asking for interest or information from others before creating something that has the potential interest.
Again, not meant to be overly critical. My apologies if you have created something of such interest.... if so then tie it to this post. If not.... then perhaps start from the build and then go from there.....
That doesn't really bother me. I'm well aware I haven't had much to show here on Eurobricks. I'm also aware it seems silly to ask about selling instructions when honestly I don't even know how to create them yet (well, I know what software is used and one can learn anything on the internet, I just haven't done it yet).
My building philosophy is I want to build things that are large, have good playability, do not consider the economy of parts (meaning putting expensive parts in it is fine), and the model is in the style of current generation technic models. Studded beams are fine and I like the simplicity of studs, but a well built studless model is much more appealing to me. Nothing I build will be a replica of a real-world vehicle / IP. In fact, the crane I plan to build doesn't even exist in real life (in the same way that the recent Bucket Wheel Excavator doesn't really look like the ones in real life. It has the features, but it looks very different - like a toy version). My crane will have an extending boom, but the boom will not tilt. It will be lifted, but then only extend vertically. I'm not sure of many real world cranes that do this. I'm doing this because the strength to weight ratio of lego does NOT do well in cantilever applications. It does just fine in pure compression and tension though.
Anyway, I learned years ago that anybody can post a list of what features they want to include in a MOC. Actually building that MOC with those features is a completely different thing. I probably won't post anything about what I'm building until they're done. If I had to sum up my ultimate goal it would be "build a mobile crane larger than anybody else has that embodies the spirit of the Liebherr cranes, while simultaneously using the LEGO technic pieces in a way that most complements their properties. The model should be faster and capable of lifting more than any other crane created of comparable size". Aesthetics are not as important (and that's not my strength anyway. I'm better at physics than being an artist).
Here's my Youtube channel that I haven't updated in 1.5 years because I've been busy working and sorting lego for some guy in exchange for more lego. My legos have been in the closet for the last 3 months (and untouched since March), but they're going to come back out in October and I plan to get back to building.
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Thanks for all the replies so far. There are certainly a lot of cautionary tales of "if takes a lot of time and you won't make much money from it unless you're one of the best in the world". I know. I get it. This is just supposed to be a fun thing to do on the side. Since college I've turned three different hobbies into paid gigs - photography (started as a hobby, then it became my full-time job (I've since retired from photography, I got bored)), triathlon (raced at a high level, now I coach full time), and legos (I worked at an after school program that does Mindstorms programming and FLL competitions).
All I'm really trying to find out is the size of the market. Some have said "It's smaller than you think", but I don't really have any tangible numbers. For instance, take Lucio's Airport Crash Tender: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/Lucioswitch81/airport-crash-tender Few people will ever build this entire model due to the part requirements. I have almost all the parts and only lack the bottles and the S bricks (or one, I can't remember how many it takes). I bought the instructions just to see how it was made. I'm not sure if I'll ever build it.
So, if Lucio has sold 10 copies of the instructions at 12 euros each, well, that's not so good. 100 copies is better, but still nowhere worth the time to make the instructions. 1000 copies on the other hand is not a bad time investment to make instructions - especially if you're good at doing it.
So my question has more to do with market research than "should I do this or not?". Of course I know most people aren't going to want to just post "ohhh yeah, I've made $4500 from selling instructions from everything I've made before expenses", but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.
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I've never found pneumatic parts cheaper anywhere other than bricklink and lego either doesn't sell them directly, or they're always OOS (out of stock) as soon as they're in stock on Bricks and Pieces. I always suspected there are hardcore bricklink sellers who check Lego Bricks and Pieces multiple times a day every day who buy as many of high $$$ parts as soon as they're available on bricks and pieces.
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http://www.tanglesnknots.com/collections/chinese-knotting-cord
Chinese knotting cord is like mini-paracord and makes excellent lego string. It's not mono-filament like the old lego string. It's like the string that comes in the newer sets like 42009. It's braided, but it's a very tight braid. It doesn't twist and it's very strong.
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In American culture it's a faux pas to ask somebody how much they make, but this is EURObricks, so I figure it's fair game.
For those of you selling PDF instructions of Technic models (and only Technic models because I don't build with any other systems) about how much money are you making from it? Is preventing piracy difficult? Have you all considered selling the instructions as a "book" through an online retailer (to help prevent piracy) or is it cheaper to just sell them yourself, keep all the profits and take the hit on piracy when it happens?
For the record I've only spent about $35 on online instructions and I haven't even built the models of the instructions I purchased (despite having the parts). I will eventually. I was more interested in the content of the instructions than actually building the model though. I'm also wondering how big the market is. Have any of you sold the instructions AND all the parts to build the model as a "kit"?
The reason I ask this is because I might pursue this as a side gig in the winters. I coach triathletes for a living and summers are extremely busy, but winters are extremely slow. I'm also about to have a kid (in November) and I'm looking for more work that I can do from home to fill in the slow season. Even if I did nothing, I still have enough money, so don't worry. I've been building with lego my whole life and I know I have enough talent to make things that most people can't, and I have the ability to master lego CAD software (I used to be amazing at building stuff in AutoCAD). A few years ago I made a thread about a big crane I was planning to build. I STILL PLAN TO BUILD IT, but the past 2.5 years have been spent acquiring even more legos (I sorted legos in exchange for legos) and working on my coaching business.
So what I'm most curious to know is what was your most profitable instructions ever sold, and which instructions have sold the MOST (even if they were cheaper and didn't result in the most profit).
Lastly, let's say you build something really awesome and you throw it up on your popular youtube channel. Let's say you have ~ 30 people asking you "wow, that's cool, can you build me one? How much?" Have you ever followed up with those people? Once you tell them the actual price it would cost to procure all the parts, assemble it, ship it, and make a margin on it, are they never heard from again, or have you followed through with a sale?
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It's impressive that this is done with a grabber, but Philo's solution for fast sorting (see video below) seems better suited for long-term displays. It has less moving parts, the mechanical elements travel a shorter distance, motors turn less and it doesn't use elements that have a limited lifespan (rubber bands).
I'm still in awe that Akiyuki achieved such performance with this module, I'm just not certain why he would pick such a complex solution.
GBC modules are supposed to be inefficient on purpose - that's the ethos behind the models. It would be far more efficient to just build a large circular track around a table with a simple lift to move balls around the table. GBC modules are supposed to move them in an interesting / needlessly complex fashion.
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There you go. By the way, I thought you got a new account?
Thanks for the link.
I just haven't been as active with my lego stuff recently. I did make some videos about modifying battery packs and XL motors, and then I spent some time selling off legos I knew I would never use and streamlining my collection.
The giant mobile crane WILL still get built. . . eventually heh. It's just finding the 4 hour stretches of uninterrupted time to sit and work on it that's hard. I coach triathletes and it's busy season right now.
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I promise I've already spent about 2 hours googling this on these forums, youtube, the BrickTechnic French forums, and Brickshelf - still can't find it which is surprising because I usually save links for creations that I think are really cool.
I think it was made by some French people (I think).
It's maybe 4 or so meters tall. It has a fixed horizontal jib.
Pretty sure it uses Hailfire rings for the tuntable.
It's yellow and I THINK it was mostly studeless but I can't remember.
There was a long-ish video on youtube of 3-4 people mounting the jib at a convention.
I wanted to see it again because I wanted to see how they did their Trusses. I've already looked at the truss designs at TexBrick, and I'm looking for even larger designs.
Thanks.
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I have a big box of random bionicles parts. I've already sorted out all of the "standard" bionicle pieces like balls and cups. Basically anything I think could be useful in its current configuration. What's left over is of course a bunch of proprietary pieces. About 25% of those pieces seem like they could be useful if some of the decorative parts of plastic were cut off.
I looked at small band saws and scroll saws last night on Amazon, but I'm not sure if these tools would be the best. I'd of course want a guide / rail and set up a jig so I can make exact cuts along the edges of the pieces. My main concern is finding a blade designed to cut plastic where the teeth are all in a row and not "jagged" from left to right. My other concern is melting plastic.
I'll also note I have a dremel tool, but those would be freehand cuts and I think it's best to avoid doing those when possible.
So I'm looking for recommendations for guided cutting tools for legos, preferably from those who have experience making clean cuts.
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I know I'm bumping an old thread, but I've been analyzing the steering system in this model for a long time.
The main thing that has me perplexed is if it's true Ackerman steering geometry or not. Upon first inspection one might say "look at the pivot point at the wheel and the pivot point where the gear rack is connected", but upon further analysis those do not appear to be the correct pivot points. Since the 13L gear rack makes a rectangle (a rhombus when steered), I feel that the two beams leading to the 7L gear rack also make a rectangle / rhombus, not a trapezoid as is required for Ackerman steering geometry.
Am I wrong?
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The above example is very compact, but when in 2WD high mode wouldn't the front axle be locked? In other words, the front wheels still roll on the ground, they still turn the front diff which in turn turns that axle which would be not able to move due to the driving ring bing slid to the left.
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In the above example don't the two toelinks on top give a floating pivot point that is further out than the lower pivot point thereby giving a steering axis inclination that is not favorable?
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I should have made my question clearer.
Does anybody know what settings most mobile cranes use for kingpin axis inclination, castor angles, and camber? Some of these possible alignments seem less necessary in such a large vehicle that is designed for slower speeds (sub 50 MPH).
The only one that seems particularly useful in a Lego model is a little kingpin axis inclination. It will reduce the scrub radius and help the wheels return to center. A reasonable castor angle MIGHT help wheels clear objects but in a vehicle with 18 to 20 wheels if one wheel is going over an object there's 17 or 19 other wheels still tracking straight and thus making the vehicle drive straight.
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Hey everybody, I'm back from the dead (not like anybody really knows me).
I made this thread months ago:
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=88838
Then I had to put my legos in storage for a few months while my wife and I sorted out a move (and I sorted out a new job)
Legos are back out now and I'm working on my crane again.
I'm completely overhauling the steering setup I had before - it was just a bad design. I realized just how much space is necessary in the main body of a crane and the suspension arms were taking up way too much room. The new wheel hub I'm working on (ditching portal axles) should free up 2-3 studs on either side of the center line giving me far more room to put features in. I was about to give up on the idea of multiple speeds, but that would just be lame heh.
My question to the lego community is if anybody has any resources on the steering / suspension geometry of real multi-wheel cranes (let's say 10 wheels and up). I know that I CAN include features such as kingpin axis inclination, appropriate castor, akerman geometry etc, but I'm not really sure how necessary those features are on a lifesize crane, much less a lego version.
So even though I've looked at tons of .pdfs from Liebherr and Manitowoc mobile cranes, I have not yet found a resource that really breaks down the exact wheel alignments. Does anybody happen to know how these companies set up the wheels on their cranes? I know most of them use pendicular axles, but I don't want to do this on my lego version (for a number of reasons).
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Looks really outstanding. Great simple solution to the two steering modes. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of something like that. Any more pictures or a simple video of the control setup would be awesome. Love the studless technic look.
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I was out of town for Thanksgiving for 5 days and I also had some work to do, so it doesn't look like I've actually built that much, but I've had a lot of time to think about the project.
In a nutshell:
Gotta re-do some of the gearing for the steering, but I expected this.
I can do 3 steering modes for sure
I think I can also do the 4 speed transmission but I definitely won't be doing a clutch or 3 + R, just 4 speeds
Pneumatic functions will be:
Suspension lifting (I won't include return lines to lower the suspension - gravity will do this. If the wheels get off the ground when the crane is lifted with the outriggers the mini cylinders are not strong enough to compress the two weak springs plus lift the weight of the wheels, so I won't include the return lines)
Pneumatically shifted steering mode (between crab steer and minimum turning radius mode. The 3rd mode will probably be shifted via a motor
Maybe Pneumatic widening of the outriggers. I'd probably need two cylinders per arm. The biggest problem is that as air leaks over time you'd be able to push them in by hand - unless they're constantly topped off. 2nd issue is I don't want them to swing out too fast. I think LA's would probably work better for this function.
The next hard thing is going ot be implementing the XL motors for drive connected to a 4 speed transmission. I have space (an area of ~ 11x11x25 studs), but it's more of an issue of figuring out the best way to do things.
Ohhh yeah, and I don't have to run any wires through the main body of the crane. Each area where I have motors will have space for battery packs and receivers.
Lastly, I'm going to cheat and make my own 8 AA NiHM battery packs. I have a lot of the regular lego battery packs and I'm going to steal the connectors off them and solder them on to the other packs. This gets me 9.6 volts rechargeable, and I bypass current limiting.
I made a video. 10 minutes flies by. I know if I edited I could get the duration down, but that takes too long for now. Brickfair Alabama is coming up, and I'm out of town again for ~ 2 weeks around Christmas. I'd like to have at least the chassis completed by then so I can display a work in progress.
Tell me what you want to see more or less of in these videos.
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Also, I'm building a nine axle crane with crab steer, so you might want to follow along with how I'm making that work.
Thanks a lot for the link. I was completely unfamiliar with that crane. The support guide wires was something I thought about for my model. Looks like they are in fact used in real life.
Do you have a direct link to a thread (or website) on your 9 axle crane?
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Yeb his name is Philo, he is a member here.
I just call him "the made french man" don't ask me why.
Yeah 750ma per battery pack - I'll either be shunting existing battery packs, or cannibalizing existing battery pack output connectors and making 7 or 8 cell NiMH packs of my own. I have a bunch of V2 receivers so I don't want to be dealing with current limitations at the battery pack.
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That's awesome!
I don't want to sound negative, but which features will you sacrifice if not everything can be fitted in that crane? How long would you go in modding Lego parts?
The only other part I might modify is to drill out some wedge belts (pulley wheels? Whatever they're called) so they can spin freely on the same axle.
I'm using non-lego string, and I have non-lego pneumatic tubing (but I also have lots of lego pneumatic tubing, so I might not need it).
For the battery packs I'm REALLY thinking about making my own custom 8 cell rechargeable packs. I'm not a fan of the performance of the motors on 7.4 volts, but I'm not going to feed this crane endless AA non-rechargeable batteries. The other big reason for using non-lego battery packs is I think each lego pack has some kind of current limiting functionality either by a thermistor or some other mechanism. I'd be annoyed if my batteries are capable of putting out 4 amps (just a guess) but the Thermistor limits the pack to 2 amps. There's a guy who's figured all this stuff out and his site is in my favorites somewhere.
As far as features I might cut they're the ones listed with *** by them. All the others with no *** I will find a way to include.
16 motors / functions using the powered up app not easily possible?
in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Posted · Edited by Technic Builder
Will you be controlling your moc with a custom control layout you made in the powered up app, or via powered up controllers or some other means?
Or maybe the more relevant question would be have you already controlled more than 1 hub at a time via a custom control layout made in the powered up app?