aeh5040

Wow - that is an amazing machine - I'd like to see that in action!

It does fine on low carpets (in fact it is a little smoother), but gets bogged down on thick ones...

Elegant simplicity! Very nice indeed!

Now this is a model! Absolutely amazing!

Thanks for the renewed interest in this little model! This has prompted me to finish making the instructions: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/aeh/Lobster/LDraw/lobster.mpd http://toad.net84.net/lobster/

Here is a mechanism that does what you ask. I'm not sure how practical it would be for a real application, but it does work...

Brilliant, as always, Mahj. Great originality, and I'm also impressed with the way you fitted everything into such a tight space.

USA, Seattle area. (Doesn't that make 3 of us already?). Haven't made it to any events/meetings yet, but maybe next Brickcon...

What could be more obvious? This is awesome! I so wish TLG would make official sets like this (technic animals) - 4958 was unfortunately a rare exception.

Wow, what an amazing story. Reading this just made my day! You are an inspiration to us all. You reminded me of one of the reasons I never feel guilty about spending money on Lego (other than the obvious ones) - it brings so much joy to the world that I want to make sure TLG continues to prosper forever.

Here is a purely mechanical four-phase oscillator. Essentially it is a mechanical analogue of a two-cylinder pneumatic oscillator like this. There is just one motor, which powers two "direction selectors". Their outputs are fed into a add-subtract mechanism, and the outputs of this power two linear actuators which flip the selectors. The result is that the two actuators take turns to move back and forth. The outputs (orange wheels) could be used to power something else - not sure what! Maybe a GBC module or some kind of walker... Enjoy!

Wow, that's awesome! Any chance of instructions...?

I think there should be great potential for mechanical puzzles in Lego. Besides these, I've seen relatively few: sliding piece puzzles, some Rubik cubes, and a few puzzle boxes...

This is indeed a very clever invention (among many on xyzzzach's youtube channel). I was also inspired to make my own studless version of this a few years ago!! I also made instructions for mine here. I've been interested (some people might say obsessed) in purely mechanical (non-electronic) obstacle-avoiding robots for a while. Here are a couple of my other attempts at this: And here is one by someone else:

Absolutely amazing! That's a very clever solution to something I would have thought impossible. Very much looking forward to seeing more details of the mechanism working...

Wow! Absolutely amazing!!!! What a great idea! Now how about a purely mechanical (non-NXT) version (like this)...?

Here are a couple of possible improvements that I might try to make it more reliable (this would be a good idea before attempting a 2-digit one, etc.) 1. As pointed out recently in another thread, the knob wheels are a little temperamental as spur gears. I used them in the display because 16t gears don't seem to exist in black. However, I now see that I could do the same thing with three 12t double bevels - this would probably work better. 2. Mathematically the 2:1 ratio of the 24t:12t gears is correct: the cams turn 90 degrees, and the segments turn 180. However, in practice there is a bit of slop in various places, with the result that sometimes the segments do not flip all the way over - it requires very careful adjustment to avoid this. So possibly a 3:1 gear ratio might work better...

Wow, thank you for all the kind words, folks! Not specifically, but I guess such things were in the back of my mind! Indeed, that would be very cool! I have thought a bit about this, and it would be quite a challenge. The "incrementing mechanism" that moves the 10's cylinder would need to be very strong and precise in order to overcome the friction and move it by the right amount (and, with the current implementation, at the right speed - otherwise the segments don't always flip all the way). Then there is the problem of how to place the two digits so all the input axles are accessible, without adding too much friction.... Actually, that should not be too hard. Instead of the circular drum you can just have a length of chain going round two sprockets, with 16 links (or 32 if that doesn't fit). Similarly, one could make it spell out any message that uses 7-segment characters.

Seven-segment numeric displays are found in clocks and calculators everywhere. Sometimes you will also see a mechanical one like this, where the segments take the form of physical objects. I decided to try making one of these. It counts from 0 to 9 by entirely mechanical means (just one motor). I think it's a safe bet that none of the real-life ones work quite like this! Although the idea is simple, it was quite difficult getting it to work well. Enjoy! More pics: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/aeh/

Nice! I like it alot. Applications? The ZIL screw drive springs to mind...

Congratulations Zblj! Very well deserved.

My service pack contained 2 with code 40x0 (new design), and 2 with code 18x0, which were the OLD design! Called LEGO - they were very apologetic and are sending a new pack...

That's very clever and original!

Just tried this, running on various carpets - sadly it does not work at all! The lack of a diagonal does indeed seem to be the problem.

The power comes from the moveable wheel at the front. It is oriented straight when going forwards, but at an angle when going back...