doug72

Lighting for taking Videos & Photos Normally I wait for a bright sunny day and open the blinds to get good lighting for taking videos, but with the advent of winter the sun is very weak. Most of the light bulbs in my house are low energy mini fluorescent which give a poor light for taking videos - picture are very yellow orange even with using a white background. I now have a 60W LED daylight dimmable light bulb which gives excellent lighting at any time day or night, also prevents eye strain when building. See comparison photos.

Swing Loader GBC Train module:- Progress Stalled. The concept of a Swing Loader has been proven but implementation and progress has stalled due to a number of issues as the next stage of the build is reached. So back to the drawing board, strip down and start again !!!!!!!! Video show partial success - excuse the poor lighting. Problems:- Timing has proved extremely difficult to set up, as a dwell period is required at each end of the transfer cycle to get the ball carrier to sit correctly back down onto the train and push down the trip rod that engages the interrupter gear for the train reverser and for the train to depart. At loading end to give time for balls to enter the carrier. I have yet to reach building the ball input hopper. Train reverser:- Tried using different rotors i.e with four, three & two lobes. Four lobe work the best but still sometimes released the train to early. Train reverser uses the standard 24T /worm gear, possible 20T or 36T gear with new worm might work. Any jams causes the 20T gear engaging with the curved gear rack to skip upsetting the timing. The curved gear racks have too much flex as I only used a half circle, meaning the drive gear can skip when it nears the end of the rack. Only one side is driven, both sides should be better . Full circle with better bracing to the the turntables would be better but will have to cannibalise an old MOC to get enough curved gear rack parts. It has proved impossible to synchronise the train reverser with the swing arms drive. Sometimes the train will depart before the ball carrier is lifted off the train, and when it returns sometimes fails the enter the lifting frame correctly. Improvements:- Swing arms to improve and make stronger to stop the flexing and find an alternative way to reverse the swing, possible using trip pins to activate the reverser driving ring. The snap over system has worked OK so can be used again. I have learnt a lot during this build and the Mark 2 version WILL work. Comments, Ideas & possible solutions would be welcome. Doug

Yes that will work OK with two trains and with one train without passing module. The passing module takes up a lot of length.

The track parts are normal Lego parts except the double crossover which is a TrixBrix 3D printed item. Re your previous queries:- Most of the answers can be found in later posts. Origianal instructions can be found in the Akiyuki link on page 1 I believe parts list can be generated from LDD files. Train units require PF switch which has the small black pole c/o switch. Train mod can be found on Page 8 Aug 20th & 22nd. to replace 3 part axle with a single 9L axle.

See the first post (on page 1) in this tread which has a full list MODs and improvements including links to instructions etc. PDF instructions for the rotary dumper by @Courbet LDD instructions by @dunes

Interrupter gear for train release. Operating linkage now installed and tested, works well releasing the train car once ball carrier is back in place during the dwell time before the arms swing back again to loading dock. Devising and installing was much easier than I thought it was going to be. At the moment the train reverser rotor has four lobes and needs changing to two lobes to ensure no premature reversal as train re-enters again. The interrupter clutch gear is not driven until the swing arm pushes down a rod to move the red driving ring into engagement with the grey 16T clutch gear that drives the train reverser. A blue rubber band is used to return it to the normal non driven position. Some fine tuning required for the interrupter and for the the ball carrying frame to ensure the train enters & exists OK. Once done and tested I will post a video.

Swing Loader GBC Train module:- Interrupter gear for train release. The swing loader requires that the train drives it for the full cycle and then release the train once ball carrier is back on the train. To do this has proved impossible to achieve using gearing alone. The interrupter gear system will only power the train trigger when the loading cycle is complete. I have tried to make this as compact as possible, operating linkage still to sort out. Swing loader now removed from the studded baseplate and stud-less framing used. Biggest problem was lining up the train reverser module with the swing loader base frames using the standard Akiyuki connection. To install the interrupter gear the train trigger unit will need moving out by 2L to allow room for the two separate drives to reverser & train trigger. Now managed to install interrupter without shifting the train trigger unit. To accommodate the full range for the swinging arms the gear racks have to be mounted asymmetrically.

Argos UK £139.99 https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8366306

I wish you success with a pneumatic crank system. Main problem I had trying to get a mechanical crank system to work was getting the full range of swing of approx. 100º from a crank arm connected to a rotating gear that turns constantly in one direction only. Tried step up gearing & also the new gear rack with housing but both not successful. Was also hard to get the timing & dwell time correct. The load on the swing arms varies especially as it passes over the top centre position and if there is any slack in the system it causes arms to drop and take up the slack. Now started to build a better support structure for the two swing arm turntable pivots . At the moment only the gear rack on one side is driven by the reverser. Both would be better, if I can install a drive through centre of the two T/Ts.

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/lego-new-arrivals/lego-42082-technic-rough-terrain-crane-construction-vehicle-toy/p/166932 its been that price for several days , out of stock for home delivery today but plenty in most store. Hopefully mine has been ordered for Xmas, after a lot of hints !

Train GBC Swing Up & Over Loader Update: Progress has been very slow & frustrating with many failed ideas using a crank system. Almost gave up but today success at last !! Finally settled on the arrangement shown in the video using the curved gear quadrants with a reversing gear box to swing the loader arms between the ball loader point and the train car and back again. (approx 100º of swing) Now tested using a L motor at slow speed and able to carry 20 balls OK, but needs some strengthening and proper support framing built instead of as built on a studded base plate. Next step is to devise the drive from the train to the reverser unit to get best operating speed and synchronise train depart once ball carrier back in place. The reversing gearbox unit is based on an GBC by Akiyuki module but adapted into a flat arrangement. Took a long time to get the timing correct to allow for a short dwell at both positions to give time for balls to load and for train to depart. The reverser uses a plain 3L red connector with a snap over action using a small shock absorber to achieve this otherwise the drive to the curved gear racks could disengage. Drive from the reverser using two 8T gears meshing with two white 24T clutch gears also used to protect the gear system if anything jams.

Cheapest I can find is Symthes Toys @ £149.99 BWE now shown on Lego Shop as Retiring Soon.

Which 2L connector are you using inside the red driving ring. A ribbed or a plain 2L connector ? A ribbed one requires a lot of force to move.

Hi @Blakbird The Type 2 tain motor car is much better : See the seperate GBC Train thread for further improvements & modification to the Akiyuki train system, which is now much more reliable now especicially for the elevator / rotary dumper modules.

An epic & complex build, your post might be better placed in the GBC Train thread. I am currently trying to come up with an alternative version that is less complex and uses less parts but with same input & ouput layout.

Fantastic success - the video of the show is good. I see you did use my counterweight set up with only one weight per side. The passing module can be tempremental at times. re entering at lower level, I found it best to make the access ramp shallower to make sure it gets over the hump. I see the event was in Norrkopping, I used to berth there when discharging oil cargos when I worked at sea on tankers. Doug.

Interesting, I have this book which contains many of them, its useful source for ideas etc. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Curious-Mechanical-Movements-G-Hiscox/dp/0917914406

Agree, my work area is a mess at the moment with discarded parts and needs a good tidy up. The crank system he uses has about the same angular movement that I require, so I will build a test rig to see if it would work for my project.

I like it, it has possibilities for a train GBC. Not having much progress with my current attempt to build a version of the Akiyuki Crane Train module for use with Type 2 trains and would use a crank lever system to lift ball hopper of the train, swing it over to load and back again onto the train.

Thanks for the feedback, I to had issues with getting the rotating dumper from hitting the discharge ramp, my builddiffers a it discharges to the front not the side. Re using Loom band to replace the Lego Rubber Band a good idea.

I also use Brickowl & get most of my parts for beams gears, panel packs etc. https://www.brickowl.com/ Also Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/bagsobricks

Search Lego technic, loads on eBay.

Welcome to the Forum. Looks good , have a succesful show and post some images of your set up at the show. The weight system was not by me and was developed by @MajklSpajkl and @Berthil

LEGO Great Ball Contraption GBC / Rube Goldberg at LEGO World 2018 in de Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, NL Train GBC Elevator / Rotary Dumper can be seen on the video by Macio Arts from 24 min 20secs

Progress update:- Train GBC MOC - Up & over transfer module:- The Akiyuki GBC Train Crane concept of lifting the Ball hopper off the train, transferring it to the loading point & then returning it back onto the train is very complex and designed to use the Type 1 train. As per earlier post I managed to devise a control module using the Type 2 Train, but I don’t have enough parts to build the rest of the Akiyuki crane module. I set out to simplify this or come up with an alternative solution. After many failed ideas eventually come up with an up & over swing arrangement as seen in the video. This idea is based on Russian Boat canal lift. To test this idea I used an M motor & PF switch to power the module in order to ensure ball hopper could be lifted off the train, transferred & replaced once balls loaded back onto the train. Initial thoughts was to use parallelogram linkages to keep the lifting frame & ball hopper horizontal during the transfer but this did not work and hopper kept sliding off. Hardest task was to get the train to enter the lifting frame correctly without jamming or tipping the frame. The lifting frame now hangs on a single axle and lands on two horizontal beams at the train dock ensuring the train with hopper enters correctly. Next step is to devise a control system powered by the train to carry out the following sequence which will require a reverser unit for the lifting arms & a trigger for train release. 1/. Train arrives with empty ball hopper into docking station and powers the operating mechanism. 2/. Lifting arms pick up the empty ball hopper and swings it up & over to the ball loading station. 3/. Balls loaded into hopper. 4/. Lifting arm transfers the hopper with balls back to the docking station and lowers it back onto the train. 5/. Drive now transfers to the system to actuate the train reversing trip. 6/. Train with loaded ball hopper departs. 7/. Lifting frame remains in position ready for next train arrival to start the next loading cycle.