[TC6] Wall-E

[Appie]

Here's my work in progress for the Sbrick contest. The plan to build this was actually before the contest was announced, but I didn't actually start building until januari, just had a rough draft in my head until then. I usuallly don't post WIP stuff, but since I solved the problems I had with this build (and there were many, but more on that later), I feel confident enough to post a little about it. It has the following functions:

2x L motor for drive (and steering obviously )

2x M motor for the arms

The M motors will also fulfill another role, but I am keeping that as a surprise for now.

I tried to "hide" the 2 IR recievers in Wall-E's front. He has a display there too where the black tops of the recievers pop, though it isn't as wide as this and the battery meter suffered a little because of it. Of course with an Sbrick you can make a proper display, but I think this works pretty well for a purist

As you can see I still need to make a neck and a head, but the groundwork inside is ready to build that so I don't expect much problems with it (yes, I totally jinxed myself).

Also, the white wheels in the tracks are temporary. I ordered grey ones from BL, which already shipped and I hope to recieve them some time next week.

A little glimpse of the insides:

You can also see Jeroen Ottens' awesome little microphones. Why did I used those? The regular ball pins or balls with axle would touch and block each other if both M motors run, these do not.

Besides cramming in 1 batterybox, 2 IR recievers, 2 L motors and 2 M Motors I also used a gearbox based on this principle:

I found this type of gearbox while looking around on the web trying to figure out what would be cool (and compact) to use in my model. No need for me to come up with my own gearbox when there are so many good ones online after all I chose this one because it meant I could always control 5-6 functions without knowing which gear was selected in the gearbox, which adds to the playability imo.

I am aware there alot of Lego Wall-E's out there, ALOT. I know, I saw most of them when looking around

And of course the Lego Ideas Wall-E that is incoming. Though that guy needs to explain to me how 5L tracks fit in a 10L wide body when Wall-E wants to transform into a box. I do think however I made a Wall-E that's different than most, for the simple reason it is build 90-95% from studless Technic. All others either have Technic bricks combined with Sytem bricks or are build from System bricks. It wasn't a goal to design a studless Wall-E though, it just came to be during the build and I tried to solve stuff as much as possible with studless Technic since then while still looking clean. Though I am unsure if this studless approach works for the hands, perhaps I should make them from System bricks. The hands do function like Wall-E's real hands though and can be set in fixed positions thanks to friction pins and 3L axles with stop. For the top cover I didn't want to add another layer of liftarms since it felt "too high" for the scale of the model, but I couldn't used thin liftarms either unless I wanted a swiss cheese look for the top, so I went with Syetem tiles to provide a clean smooth top.

I actually wanted to make a transforming Wall-E but still have drive and moveable arms and whatnot, but I simply can't build that at this scale (*looks at all that PF blocking the places where the tracks and head would need to go in to be a Wall-E box*). Speaking of scale, I took a little bit of liberty with that. Simple example: 5L tracks, 13L wide body. Which makes technical sense to me when looking at his transformation in the movie (I watched it again for "research" before I actually started this build ). 13L wide body means 1L for the sides and 1L for inbetween the 5L tracks, those spaces are there in the movie so they are there in my model. I also wanted the rear wheels in the tracks to be a little bigger. I even considered Unimog rims, but those don't play nice with tracks. I am open for suggestions for bigger rims that play nice with tracks, though I do consider these to be ok (hence why I ordered them in grey ).

Fun fact: every (and I mean EVERY!) part has been at least rebuild two times. I think I even took the rear cover apart about 8 times, the centre 3 times, arm mechanisms 4 times, tracks have been rebuild 4 times. Though the last track revision was simply to scale it up with bigger rear rims, since I had smaller ones in there first which looked too small with the rest of the model. All other revisions were basically reinforcing the structure to prevent any gear slips. I solved the last of those gear slips today and the model is very rigid now and works perfectly.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, it's dark outside

Hope you guys like it so far. More to come.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Appie

[Rishab N]

This looks really compact. There are a lot of Wall E's but yours looks like it'll be one of the best

[Appie]

Thanks.

It's pretty compact yeah. Between the reinforcements of the structure and the gears there's pretty much no room left inside. Luckily I could hide a bit of the wires in the 5x11 panels and in the space around the batterybox or they'd take up valuable mechnism/structure space

[rollermonkey]

There's a BATTERY BOX in there somewhere?

[Omikron]

Are those black things wires or ropes? They seem too thick for usual ropes and too thin for lego led wires.

[Appie]

The battery box is below the IR receivers. Changing batteries is somewhat 'easy', you can pull of the front to do it. It's a standard Technic battery box, not the smaller one they use for trains and whatnot.

The black things is a rope from my 9396, uncut, full length original Lego rope. I guess it looks thick, because I tied the rope in the middle, so you see two strings coming out. It was something I originally dropped, because I couldn't find a way to make the rope work in that spot, but I came with a solution for it later that was rather easy that I hated myself for not seeing it back then, because now I had to open the model again.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Appie

[Sylvian]

That is awesome.. and wall-e is awesome!

[Appie]

Thanks.

Here's a belly shot to show where I put all the PF

I tried to keep the bottom as clean as possible from stuff sticking out besides the obvious attachments for the tracks, which I tried to keep in the middle as much as possible, just like the real Wall-E. In the centre between the tracks I actually wanted more open space to mimic that real Wall-E look, but this thing is quite heavy (not very surprising with all this PF ). So to prevent sagging I had to reinforce the middle, so the gap between the tracks is now "only" 1 stud high.

From the head on point of view only the top of the 2 wire connectors to the battery pack can be seen below the main body (easily fixed with a Sbrick since it only needs one connector). I personally like how the M motors fit perfectly behind the curved panels at the rear. Of course you do still see a little bit of the wires, but that can't be helped.

[Freekysch]

Very nice Wall-E and i especially like how you managed to get those motors into such a tight space. Can not wait to see it work.

[Teo LEGO Technic]

Amazing Wall-e! Can't wait to find out more about the 'surprise' feature

[Coola1]

Wow, really tight in there! Interesting to see all motors placed vertically.

[Omikron]

Looks very good, very compact with random function select!

[TheNextLegoDesinger]

nice

[Zerobricks]

Nice switch mechanism. Cant wait to see the finished model.

[Paul Boratko]

This is very impressive even at it's early stage...!

[Appie]

Thanks everybody, glad you guys like it.

Very nice Wall-E and i especially like how you managed to get those motors into such a tight space. Can not wait to see it work.

Yeah, I guess it is sort of becoming "my thing" to get alot of stuff in tight spaces While I certainly have ideas to build big, I am not using them so far. The main reason I wanted to keep this model small is due to the track size and that I wanted a "fast" Wall-E with L motors, which usually means you have to build as small as possible to keep the weight down. Though the model is heavy with all the PF it does move pretty swift.

Amazing Wall-e! Can't wait to find out more about the 'surprise' feature

I don't want to be a tease, but the surprise feature is what I like most about this model. Not just from a function standpoint but also what it means for the structure inside the model.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Appie

[TimH]

Nice work so far, looking forward to seeing the finished Wall-E.

[Appie]

While I finish up the pictures of my entry. Enjoy the video I made. Mind you, this is the first time I made a video, so it isn't as fancy as some of the videos I have seen

Edited February 15, 2015 by Appie

[Omikron]

I've seen lost of technic wall-e's but this one is the cutest. And probably the best His eyes look so sad, just like the real thing!

Edited February 15, 2015 by Omikron

[Jeroen Ottens]

Wow!! :thumbup:

This is amazing. Supercompact, even using a big batterybox!

That wobbly head is just great, it adds to the cuteness factor.

And then all the mechanisms inside as well...

The arm movements are a bit jerky, but with an Sbrick you can probably solve that

[Appie]

Thanks both, much appreciated :)

Wall-E's trademark "sad eyes" and cuteness were 2 things I was really aiming for with this model. Glad to see it didn't go unnoticed

I like the wobbly head as well for the same reason. Though that "feature" was more a byproduct of not trying to stress the M motors (same reason the rope isn't hidden in the neck) since this is pretty much the limit the M motors can pull I think, so the head is only kept straight by a 2L rubber band.

And yeah, the arms can be very smooth with a train remote or Sbrick, it is just the person controlling it with the default Technic remotes that is messing it up

[jorgeopesi]

My favorite movie, I don´t know for tracks or for Walle , very cute MOC :thumbup: .

[Appie]

I love the movie too, before I started this build I actually watched the movie again for "research", that was such a pain

Well here are some images of Wall-E:

Designing the rear between the curved panels took quite some time. Not because I couldn't get the look right, but I had to get the look right and make sure all the gears behind it couldn't move to prevent grinding gears. It has been taken apart the most, just to prevent gear grinding. It wasn't until last friday that I made a final adjustment which prevented the last gear grind. This final adjustment included switching to 2 V2 recievers. I am still unsure if it really mattered for this motor setup, but since I don't need them for anything else at the moment I am just going to leave it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I didn't weigh the model, but with all that PF and between 800-1000 parts (just a guess, maybe when I put it in LDD I will know for sure how much went in) it has to weigh at least over 1KG. With the 1:25 gear reduction the M motors handle it fine though. Which I was very pleased with, because I really wouldn't know how to fit a bigger gear reduction in the space available

I used rims found in the 42026 (hurray for buying that the last contest) and 3x3 trans-clear radar dishes for the eyes. I wanted depth in the eyes and have that glassy Wall-E look which a combination of the two could provide. The radar dish is locked in the rim with an antenna which is locked into a pinhole behind the rim with a half pin. I actually stumbled upon the dark bluish gray 11L soft axles while ordering other stuff on Bricklink and figured I might have use for those around the eyes. Also you might see some hints of old light grey (the 3x3 quarter round half liftarms at the rear, 14T gears on the tracks and the pulleys on the neck for example) and light bluish grey. I could have ordered those in light bluish grey, but decided not too since the real Wall-E is a little dirty and therefore has slight variations in colours.

Notice the Lego Technic 6.5L Spring hidden at the inside of the tracks. It gets pushed in ever so slightly when Wall-E rises. Helps to keep tension on the tracks.

Besides Wall-E simply moving up and down, I wanted it to be more animated like the real Wall-E so I made the tracks look like they are folding like they would on the real Wall-E when he rises up. Also I wanted the folding tracks to be a hint for his transformation into a box. A feature I originally wanted on this Wall-E but was soon dropped, because I can't fit the tracks, arms and head inside with all this PF and keep the functions I have now in this scale (a scale I already took a little bit of freedom with I might add). The rope to tilt the head was a feature I originally planned, dropped halfway into the build because I couldn't find a spot to route the rope and then had to take apart half the model again because I found a spot

Speaking of the rope, it's a 1M rope (really only needed about 50CM), but rest assured Lego purists. I didn't cut it to size, the remainder is hidden beneath the head and between the pneumatic hoses, which I did cut to size I am afraid, but rest assured, it's an existing size from one set and readily available on Bricklink.

In this spot the real Wall-E has a little round plate as well. I decided to use it to hide the rear diff locks, them still being slightly visible is something I personally actually like, since it is basically the only spot from outside the model where you can see something working inside. Here's a picture from the inside of that mechanism

More on the inside of the model (same picture as used in the video). Some of the bracing of parts has actually changed since this picture (of course at the rear wall ), but the rest is still the same.

Here you can also see those microphones, any other part would end up touching the other when both motors run.

Getting tight in there

But still some free space to support the system tiles from the bottom with a couple of plates

While I liked the reinforcement for the mid section of the rear, it would not fit with the gears I had to put around it. Silly mistake, but this did give me an idea for a solution which was 1 stud wide and even stronger, which is in the model now. The amount of bracing I had to do on this model is not something I hope to do again soon though This entire model is basically made of 3 parts: PF, gears and bracing

The front can come off rather easily, provided you remove the system top first of course. Rest assured while the wires look crammed together nothing is forced into place. The side panels and room in front of the batterybox provide plenty of room. And yes I am using 2 pulleys at the arms to keep the axle from dropping under the weight of the arms. It was the only thing I could think of that was 3 studs tall, at the most 3 studs wide, half a liftarm thick and had a round hole at the top. the axles below the 8T gears help keep it in place as well. They work perfectly but if anybody has a better suggestion I am all ears, this is just the first thing I thought of which I had in my collection. The quarter elipses function as guidance for the 4 stud high L motors when they move down, the same goes for the back but with different types of half liftarms. Those half liftarms are locked between the batterybox and the M motors at the rear so the L's have no other option but to move straight down.

Why didn't I use the smaller batterybox for much needed space? I was set on 13 studs wide, which would fit the big battery box, so I just ran with that. If I felt I needed that space I probably would have switched, but I got in everything I wanted so it just stayed there. Not to mention it helped to keep the L motors in place. Perhaps when I actually use the Sbrick in this model I might switch it to the smaller batterybox, since that combination could result in basically the entire front above the current batterybox being free to use. Though I still wouldn't know what to do with the space. I don't want to add another motor nor give up the diff gearbox.

Finally a shot of the controller I used:

Rather simple, moving the middle 2 sticks down controls the arms. Due to only using one direction of rotation they always have to make the full motion. Something I personally didn't mind, since it gave me the option for another function in this model. As pointed out the Sbrick app (or train remote) would be better for the arms.

That's it for pictures, so Wall-E says goodbye:

Edited February 15, 2015 by Appie

[Milan]

So sad, and so "life like" if that sounds appropriate :)

Edited February 15, 2015 by Milan

[N-4K0]

Yeah, it looks just like Wall-E. It looks so sad and so cute