schraubedrin

This is really a great competition. It's awesome what creativity was spark from such a simple premise. It's going to be hard to decide on which entries to vote Although i'm biased towards clockwork-mechanisms, the vehicles are very creative. Will the voting be the usual Formula 1 point scoring?

Really nice video. You managed to capture the LEGO-Batman humour quite well

here's my final entry with some more pictures. My main concern is the horrendous phone-cam quality The Click Counter A clockwork mechanism displaying the clicking sounds it generated by a set of two concentric arms. Features: Planetary motor mount for uninterrupted operation even during wind-up. Torque equalizer: a mechanism converting the spring-energy of the wind-up-motor into a more steady gravity-induced torque. Aerodynamic dampener: preventing damage through sudden bursts of movement by fan blades geared up 81:1. Escapement build completely "in-system" and geometrically locked. No adjustments necessary. Two concentric hands geared 1:7 Overview: Backside: And the not so important belly shot : Again, i want to thank all of you for your support. I never expected such a positive feedback. This really is a pleasant community

Thanks to you guys i built a second version. Now i'm editing a new video, hoping to be ready before Jim closes the entry topic In the meantime, here's a comparison pic: And an uninterrupted video of it running:

25. The Click Counter A clockwork mechanism displaying the clicking sounds it generated by a set of two concentric arms. Features: Planetary motor mount for uninterrupted operation even during wind-up. Torque equalizer: a mechanism converting the spring-energy of the wind-up-motor into a more steady gravity-induced torque. Aerodynamic dampener: preventing damage through sudden bursts of movement by fan blades geared up 81:1. Escapement build completely "in-system" and geometrically locked. No adjustments necessary. Two concentric hands geared 1:7 Progress and discussion topic:

This is really a piece of art. You should leave it like this on the wall I was surprised how "empty" the housing is between the face and the wind-up mechanism. I guess i'm more used to my cluttered building style

Nice to know the name. I actually saw this mechanism at a museum, and was fascinated ever since. Very effective! Without it, the weight jumps out of its supporting beams. Currently it's geared up about 1:80, so besides the aerodynamic resistance, there's quite a lot of rotational inertia. I mounted the fan blades on a friction pin to dampen the abrupt halt.

Wow, thank you for your kind words I guess i'll rework the model today, luckily i don't have to work tomorrow, so i can pull an all-nighter I can see it...? It's visible in the video at the 28 second mark. I try to get better pictures for the second build. I'm sad i couldn't implement my third idea: a rotational pendulum. It would look cool, has a nice long period and save a lot of trouble displaying the mechanism. Unfortunately it introduces a crazy amount of friction and my escapement doesn't have nearly enough power to keep it moving. Still, i wanted to show you my prototype:

There is a mechanism i wanted to build in lego for some time and TC13 was the ideal motivation to do so. I don't dare to call it a clock, so it's a Click Counter, counting it's ticking Sounds by a set of hands Those are the specialities of this machine: The motor can be wound up without interrupting the workings of the mechanism. That's because input (wind-up-mechanism) and output ("counting"-mechanism) are connected like planetary gears. This way only torque gets transferred from in- to output, no rotations (the rotations go into the wind-up motor): Then comes the mechanism i tried to recreate: the constant-torque-converter. The main problem of wind-up-motor powered clocks is their inconsistency. The torque acting on the mechanism changes quite a lot over time, not a good property for a mechanism relying on good timing. This mechanism converts the energy from the spring into potential energy by gravity through lifting a weight up (weight block in the centre of the picture). By turning the lever only a few degrees from horizontal, the torque generated by the weight remains nearly constant. But there is a catch: a weight hurled upwards by a freshly wound up motor gains quite some speed and destructive power. To counter this, i built an aerodynamic dampener (left side of the picture). That's fancy for "fast-spinning fan". Not only does it control the movement, it also looks really cool in action Due to the nature of LEGO, there is a lot of friction. I could make the mechanism more reliable by lengthening the "sensor-lever" pushing on the Liftarm 3 x 3 L-Shape with Quarter Ellipse.(invisible on the right side of the picture) But in the end this whole mechanism burns a lot of energy while making the machine unreliable. Still, i love how it just "recharges" itself every now and then And finally, after some informative videos from @Davidz90 and a little bit of encouragement from @Didumos69, i managed to design a working escapement yesterday. Completely in System and geometrically locked (meaning the parts won't move over time). It's even surprisingly reliable. The clock face was put together tonight quick and dirty (like, admittedly, the whole machine). Using the 28 tooth turntable left me no choice but to give the hands a ratio of 1:7. In the end i'm happy to have found an integer solution. And finally, here's the video i spend far too many hours on, concerning the low quality of the result : At this point i don't even know whether i should enter the competition. As you can see the model is an unfinished mess and i doubt i could build it much nicer, especially not until tomorrow evening. Furthermore i made no pictures of my prototypes, so i don't even know whether this entry will be allowed. On the other hand, i think those mechanisms are really cool and interesting and worth a second look. What do you think? Would this be a worthy enough contender?

Thanks for your advice, I'm sorry that i was so frustrated That is actually what i'm in the process of developing, this video actually helped me, thank you! As usual i'm my own worst enemy: i want to build in system with geometrically locked parts. Currently i have some kind of double-galileo-escapement with an unpowered pendulum. So I'm at least able to show how my machine is meant to be working And really important. I have the feeling that rigid bracing directly influences the efficiency of a drivetrain, especially at high ratios with low torque. This construction in the Porsche was a good lesson by bad example

Oh come on. How on earth do you come up with those mechanisms so quickly? I was working on an escapement using the saw blade for the last three days with no results. It's the only thing stopping me from entering a competition for the first time I guess i'll just enter my unfinished work

I also think that coherence is the most important design aspect. I found that i like the design of the 8458 Silver Champion as much as e.g. the recently posted front loader garbage truck from @Waler To add to the discussion: Maybe the perceived "panelling density" influences our impression. Models with a uniform panelling density seem to be cleaner. Based in this hypothesis, the old panels fit the more open panelling style, as they had holes in themselves. So adding an old panel didn't automatically create a big spot of closed surface. Adding a new 5x11 Panel or a large smooth panel #17 creates a closed surface of 45-55 stud², quite a difference to any bigger holes. (I hope my point is more or less understandable, i feel like i'm on the edge of my English knowledge )

I formulated that badly. What i meant was a separate winch motor for each arm, as they get unsymmetrical depending on how the rope gets coiled up on the winches.

That's a really cool implementation of an unusual model. It looks so incredibly clean! Even on the underbelly shot the motors are nearly invisible. I really like that you used the standard Battery box instead of the smaller LiPo box. I think the cranes might benefit from separate winches and a rope guide near the pivot points to minimize the length variation during the tilt of the large crane arms.

Man, this model makes me want to buy 42077. Do you plan to make instructions for it?

My friend made an RC-mod of the 42076 B-model but is to lazy to post it, so here i am, doing it for him and you guys He raised the chassis 1 stud and all the parts fitted without any great modification. He said it felt as if the chassis was designed to be modded this way Here are some pictures: I like how well the receiver fits in there:

Depends on what "value" you base this on. Price per part is really good. But price per gramm? And i guess there aren't many mocs using more than 40 5x7 frames. So as always: "it depends"

That's really a bummer. Guess i have to try and install the old linux version on which i worked in those days . If i remember correctly the drivers for the USB Tower were part of the core package

I actually found it to be quite reliable under the right circumstances. The refresh rate is quite slow, so the maximum reading should be dismissed. As it measures in 200 rpm steps, it's useful to gear it up for measuring slow speeds. Measuring continually, constant turning PF Motors is exactly the right use-case. Although I'd advise to gear it up 1:3 for an XL-motor

What readings are you getting for which motors? Are they at least consistent when you test the same motor a second time? I've got a speed computer right here an could do some tests to verify your measurements if you want to [Edit:] Do you have a way to measure the operating voltage? What power source are you using?

Are they spinning freely when you're spinning them by hand? Resistance in the drivetrain might also hinder the free movement of your tracks.

This is really great work. Programming with NQC was my first programming experience and taught me so much about programming, compiling and using the command line. To this day i prefer programming in a text editor (Kate) and using the command line to compile and run a code over any integrated development program. My RCX is sitting in my current collection just waiting to be used. Did you by chance test your setup with the USB IR-Tower?

I thought it was meant to be a roof ventilator.

If i looked at the video correctly, this truck is a dream come true: - more than one axle driven, on a non-suspension vehicle - custom built engine - working steering wheel - potential room for a battery behind the driver seats - colossal parts pack I'm in love. Fortunately i haven't looked at the prices yet

This is so awesome. How do you keep on finding those perfect connections?