BusterHaus

The B model is a trophy truck called Sun Stinger. Key features: - Independent front suspension - Dragged axle rear suspension - Fake engine with differential - Ackerman steering Here are some pictures: I'll make a video later this week.

If you can, try to cool down the model below the freezing point before bringing it outside. This will prevent the model from melting the snow and water getting on the parts. It will also make the model less likely to have snow stuck to it.

Very good video, I really like your style.

I figured my suggestion would likely be impossible without some sort of file reader. I'm not sure about the structure of bitmaps and PNGs, but GIFs compress rows of same coloured pixels. It's far from being readable by human eyes. Your approach is very clever, thanks for sharing it. It's basically an uncompressed monochrome file. Have you thought of using numbers beyond 0 and 1 to convey extra information? Since it's a felt tip pen, you could use duration or pressure to make dots bigger or darker.

Nice job on the programming and execution. I really like the simplicity of it. Do you think it's possible to load a PNG or bitmap and have the EV3 brick read it line by line and execute a print loop every time it encountered a dark pixel? It would save some offline conversion time.

Good Lord, you have really outdone yourself. The tank has incredible performance and looks great. The video is fantastic,from matching the music rhythm to the cuts to having the animated mechanisms. Kudos.

The tracked version looks great, and it was a good idea to skip differentials (I started skipping them for outdoor models too). The ground clearance could be a little bit better, but it would affect the looks. Very nice job!

I think the "make it as official as possible" rule is rather vague. It can imply any number of things: avoiding certain themes that TLG doesn't produce, such as military vehicles, minimizing piece count, doing quality control (and destructive testing), doing market studies and making sure the proposed set doesn't cannibalize market share from other products, or even including a blue seat, regardless of the set colour. None of these things are specified in the contest rules. The volume limit, part restrictions (no PF, Mindstorms) and having an A and B model are the main objectives to attain. Inventing additional rules that could be covered by "make it as official as possible" isn't a good way to approach this contest. You can diaqualify every entry with a plausible requirement that TLG probably has. The problem is that we don't know the limits of these requirements. More importantly, these requirements are not in the contest rules. You are free to take any approach you want to judging the entries, but I'll be focusing on aesthetics and the use of parts between the A and B models. I look at this contest as a designer's initial build - before marketing, quality control and finances come into the picture and alter the model.

If it is, I haven't noticed it. I know that it is naturally "compressed" by a degree or two because of the weight of the car. This is why I lifted and reset the front at the beginning of the video - it shows the natural state of the suspension. Running the test made me feel the same way. I don't like stressing bricks this much, but I was hoping to put to bed the "controversy" this suspension generated. The good news is that nothing got damaged or deformed.

Tonight I decided to test the front suspension to its limits by applying as much force to it as possible (you can see my fingers shaking from strain in the video). So far, I had only tested it on a table, with the travel being limited by the chassis. I told myself that if the suspension busted apart, if parts broke, popped out or separated, if the axles got twisted and the suspension wasn't returning to its original position, it would need a redesign. If it held, it would stay, as it passed Appie's Kid Test. Here are the results:

Seeing as neither of us have done a finite element analysis to find the breaking point of this model, your argument is completely moot. Even of we did have this information, you are speculating as to what TLG considers as acceptable limits. Since you are basing your whole argument on information that is unavailable to either of us, this discussion should stop here. You made your points, I made mine, let's keep the contest fun.

Appie, what do you think happens when you use an axle to transfer power? It has torsion stress applied to it, and the resistance to the torsion is what transfers the power. The only thing that changes is by how much an axle twists - hand operated models are more likely to have less torque being applied to an axle than axles hooked up to PF motors. Almost every official Technic set has a function that transfers torque through an axle. There is nothing illegal about using axles to transfer torque, it is what axles are made for. What Lego avoids is applying too much torque to axles, which is perfectly normal. The axles are also designed to accept a certain amount of torsion without deforming or snapping. Lego expects them to twist a bit.

This was posted on Technicbricks on Tuesday: http://www.technicbricks.com/2016/01/wedo-20-future-of-pf.html It's news from the CES show, where Lego showed the new WeDo system. Highlights: - not tethered to a computer anymore - connects to the computer via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) - WeDo 2.0 is not compatible with the old WeDo. - connectors look to be similar to the Mindstorms connectors - price will be around €160 Most interesting point: All future PF will be compatible with the new platform introduced with WeDo 2.0.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have some ideas, but I'm not too worried about the suspension/steering parts. It will most likely be a truck of some kind. It's from the Star Wars Commander Cody set (it's also in the SW Poe Dameron set). Part name: Shoulder Shell W.3.20 Connector I understand that this type of suspension has not been used in an official set, but Lego seems to have no problem with stressing parts in official sets. I have a couple of other thoughts on this topic, kindly see my reply to Appie below. Thanks. The name is quite coincidental - I wasn't aware of that set and my wife suggested Sun Speeder. I ran with it without checking if anything like that existed. For the smaller cogs, they will probably work but may limit the amount of travel available before the gears become disengaged. Maybe changing the pivot points would help. The axles in this design are being twisted, not bent. The twist is over a long length, so the deformation is small and the axles come back to their initial form. There is no damage being done. You could keep pushing on one of the front suspension arms until the weakest point in the system failed. It may be an axle, or one of the connectors, it really doesn't matter. But by the same token, you can take most pieces and apply enough force to damage them. Just look at the number of broken Lego u-joints out there. I don't think it's realistic to expect Lego parts to last forever, and for pieces not to wear or get damaged. The set designers make sure that the sets are as resistant to damage as possible, but they can't prevent kids bending an axle into a bow, driving a set down cement stairs, or anything in between. This being said, I respect the builders that avoid illegal connections, as it's a severe restriction. To me, it just shows that each of us gets satisfaction from overcoming different challenges in different ways. Some like to cut or glue pieces, some like to use illegal connections, and some want to build like Lego designers. This is good thing, as long as we're all having fun. A few more pictures today. One of the big goals for this model was to have enough body cladding to give the car a shape while showing off a lot of the mechanical features. For this reason, the front and rear suspensions are very visible, the the gull-wing doors open to give access to the cabin and engine, and the engine is visible through an opening behind the doors.

The rear wheels seem a bit skinny, but otherwise the shape is very nice. I really like the engine.

FRONT SUSPENSION The front suspension uses a torsion bar instead of springs. It works surprisingly well and keeps the profile of the car low. The axles end far away from the suspension arms to give the suspension enough flexibility. The lack of springs results in a front suspension that's only 3 studs tall. CHASSIS The chassis incorporates a 4 cylinder flat engine and a seat. The steering wheel turns with the wheels, and there is HOG steering just behind the seat. STEERING The steering has Ackerman geometry - the outside wheel turns less than the inside one. Here is a short video of the suspension and steering: MORE TO COME

C'est très impressionnant! How reliable is the whole mechanism? I'm guessing it's a little bit limited by the length of string available on the spool. By the way, your WIP video explained the braiding mechanism very well. You may want to show it here.

I'm far along with the A model for this contest to start showing its features. The A model is an open-wheel race car called the Sun Speeder. REAR SUSPENSION The independent suspension in the back is driven by a differential and is only 13 studs wide. I had no idea how challenging it was to make it narrow and independent until I started building. There are some narrow suspensions out there that place the differential outside the axle, but size is a big consideration for this contest, so I developed my own (although I wouldn't be surprised if someone had already built something similar). The suspension travel is limited for two reasons: I didn't want the differential to bottom out on the ground, and the gears powering the wheels have floating centers, so too much travel would cause them to separate and/or grind. The result works really well without grinding any teeth. Here is a short video, it shows the functionality much better than I can describe: Edit: more tomorrow.

Happy New Year dr_spock! What's happening with the 365 deaths of Jar Jar Binks? I was hoping someone in the media would pick up on it and give it the exposure it deserves.

Thanks Grum. All the best to you and yours in the New Year, and to everyone here.

Thank you nerdsforprez. I build a lot of little things that don't deserve their own thread, so I figured I would put them here. I played around with LDCad today ( :thumbup: ) and made instructions for a mini V8 engine I made recently. You can get the instructions here.

This. It's got a great shape and the right proportions. Very nice!

Very nice looking car! The small details really make this stand apart - the hand brake, filling caps, wipers etc really add charm.

It's invite-only, and I'm not a member... but I've heard rumors of its existence. It's a very selective club! Technivor: I should also comment on the MOC to stay on subject. I like the number of functions it has and the build looks very solid, but after reading M_longer's critique, the bucket does seem a bit small. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but maybe this should simply be called "Mine Loader" and then you wouldn't have to make a perfectly-scaled replica of the Sandvik.

Maybe his version is part of the exclusive mine loader modding community. After market bumpers, grills, slammed suspension, 60" chrome wheels... It's the hottest ride in the mine.