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My spirograph is in action. We have made Christmas cards with it:-) Thanks guys. Have I missed the mention of the universal technic set? Or is it just a wet dream (a nice one, I must confess)?

We do, we do! Thanks! My wife is using the spirograph drawings to decorate Christmas cards. Please invent some snowflake module :-)

Well, welcome to the Third World!! Sorry, but Lego has such an attitude with all outsiders that are not within focus. I just hope Peter finds a good solution.

I guess that those sets might be the preproduction sets intended for early demonstrations with Lego Education dealers (for FLL etc.). Those were not ment for (re)sale. A set that I've seen had a label that said "not for retail" and was without battery. However "our" Lego Education dealer is quite serious and was not selling it. I am sorry about you but perhaps you can with a little help from Lego figure out where did this set come from.

Here is my spirograph: And here is one of the spirals (not L412D to have a bit of variety): Thanks again to all of the contributers for this!

Dear All, I would like to thank you all for your effort. I have made a Spirograph based on your drawings and it's very fun to play with it. I have also tried it with 5-year old and spirograf worked great. Unfortunately I was not able to build instructions but I needed to rely on Mlcad and LLD files. I guess it's to hard for me to enable all of the needed programs. However, it made me aware how much effort went into this. Thanks again! Regarding possible combinations: I would consider L and R side switches as direction regulators of top L and R switches, respectively. Hence th number of combination we could write like this: 9 (for left arm; = 4x forward, 4x backward and 0 for holding still) x 4 (for table) x 9 (for right arm) = 324. Well, we can fix the table too and get 5 speeds there, which gives in total 405 combinations. I have also realized that you can change starting orientations of arms and get a bit different patterns due phase shift.

Previous education sets never came with software. But since retail software will be available free buying the kit itself this should not be a problem. Please note that educatonal software is a bit more complex than retail version - it has data-logging capability and additional instructions (Cwetqo mentioned them already). Lego stated that Education version has a bit more bricks added. However, I think that the majority of parts (besides sensors and battery) are quite common. Therefore I guess you could build Elephant. If not, you can always buy some bricks from BL or use bricks from other technic sets. Probably it's the same other way around.

Dear Bob, nice to see you here. I am an admirer of your RCX to PF stuff. However, I do think that posting pictures of various bags of unsorted technic bricks seem quite cheap, almost like technic pr0n And mixing axles and pins in the same bag?! What is next - mixing gears and pulleys? Gosh, you've done this also - argghh

@AlexC I've seen and tested Bob Koyima's solution (see bottom of his page). It worked on PF cars so it should work on trains. As far as I can understand those programs, it enables different type of signal sending (PWM etc.), however I am too clumsy to use it for trains. If you use this, please report here. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Sorry for bumping this topis but Hans (author) has published instruction on his page. Sorry for possible spelling errors but I have tears in my eyes.

Ups, this sounds like Dali's tracks: You should call those track an art and sell them for a lot of money:-)

Well, when our youngest was few months old, he enjoyed constant rocking in his crib. So I've build two simple tractors to hold the crib's wheels and to rock the thing up and down: It was RCX-guided so it could be driven around:-) Nevertheless, it worked and my wife was very pleased (from that time on I don't get any of those questions - is new box of lego really necessary??!!). I have also used technic bricks for mobiles (something to keep baby occupied when parents dozed off). Now I use it for playing with kids and a phone stand at work.

I haven't seen any direct compatibility of RC and PF. However, TechnicBricks has some additional information involving NXT: " John Hansen together with Jason Railton, adapted the NBC and NXC API functions for the HiTechnic IRLink device, to support the newly documented Power Function modes as well as the RC Train IR protocol. This way with a NXT and an IRLink sensor, it is possible to make use of all modes/commands that LPF protocol allows (Single Pin timeout or continous, PWM,...)." See lugnet for more information. I guess you can basically do this with any programmable/universal remote control, you just sample the IR signals of RC or PF remotes (I haven't tried it, please confirm if successful) I've tried Bob Kojima's RCX solution (bong69, see bottom of the page) with some mixed success. The RC receiver was working but I couldn't figure out the whole programing.

I have done something similar some time ago. Simple add/sub gearing with two differentials. Using a second motor for pure braking instead of turning gears shouldn't be such a difficult task. For me it was a nice exercise in studless technique with and PF motors.

Thanks for kind words. I've used 8 spokes per side due to axle connectors of 157.5 degrees. This produces the 16-segment "ring," so 3, 6 or 12 spokes will not work in this case. Nevertheless, the hinge cylinders are - based on my testing - even weaker than my arrangement. During the "kids siege", the wheel was operational even when about half of the spokes were pulled out. I think that benefit of hinges is larger degree of freedom of connectors (they are very suitable for out-of-plane constructions as geode but this is not the case in my version of Ferris wheel.

I have created a Ferris Wheel to integrate into the amusement park, which I usually build around Christmas Tree. Well, it's a multipurpose exhibit, while our youngest has a birthday at the beginning of New Year. This means that any installation has to be good enough to pass my wife's aesthetics test and furthermore to pass the crash test of about 10 or so kids from 4 to 6 years old. (Yes, after this year's part, the site looked just like Tokyo after being visited by Godzilla for ten times in the row:-) This picture is taken before the "incident." I have used mostly technic axles. The wheel is made out of two rings and then connected to the center by axles and technic connectors. The axle of the wheel is supported by three arms on each side. The construction is not so sturdy, however it survived the severe attacks by kid-mobsters (no, the kids were great, they of course disintegrated the whole thing but only due to curiosity. So no AFOL was hurt during the party). Ferris Wheel has a motor and a few lights. The height of the wheel is over 80 cm (around 32 inches). It's quite light and stable for this type of construction. Nevetheless, it could be felt that this type of construction is not quite sturdy enough for larger wheels. I guess it would be hard to make it twice the size (with the same technology). The next picture shows the wheel in motion. At the bottom is the ticket office and the engine room (actually engine room is a battery box dressed in a house). Please also note the yellow line, which is attempted to ensure minifigs safety: The wheel is moved by XL motor, which is geared down by clutch gear (sorry, it is hidden in this picture): The view from the bottom is intimidating (for minifigs): However, the view from the top is worth waiting for: More pictures here (when it's public).

This put a little smile on my face. It's great and simple - simply great:-) Looking forward for instructions.

Bowling alley looks great. And I especially like the very clever idea with the string. Great!

I just found that at Gizmodo. It knocked my socks off: Link to the web page is here!

Got replacement part(s). Thanks Lego! Now Unimog works OK! Afterwards I've disassembled the faulty small cylinder. It seems that there is a leak at the seal ring between the cylinder and the rod. I've tried to clean it and looked for some obvious faults but couldn't found one. Nevertheless, I am quite happy about solution. Another great customer support for me.

@tripletschiee: Thanks for this information. I was vaguely reading about this but in my mind it was more related to the pump (should be more careful). Furthermore, for a month or so the unimogs were nowhere to be found in my country. So I assumed that those are sets without a problem. Well, we'll see what customer service will do. They have been extremely helpful to me in the past.

Thank you for advices. I have decided to contact Lego before trying to open the cylinder with a sharp object. However, to say something in Lego defense - I have quite some number of pneumatic cylinders and this is the first to develop a leak.

I've recently got an Unimog 8110. After the assembling I found out that small pneumatic cylinder seems to leak air. When I try to open the claws (just by switching claw opening switch), the pressure in arm decreases and the whole arm falls down. When I put the switch in other position, the pressure slowly returns. I have tried to replace the tubes and to change the switch but it seems that the problem is in small cylinder. What might cause this error and is there some home remedy for this? Thanks for possible insight.

I have ordered in the past a (non-Lego) silicone tube with inner diameter of 2mm and wall thickness of 1 mm (this should yield an outer diameter of 4 mm). I have also mistakenly ordered a tube with outer diameter of 5 mm but I cannot get it through the holes in the bricks (otherwise the thicker tube behaves even better - less springiness in the system). As for materials: silicone is the best, rubber is a bit tricky (can leave traces on connectors). The downside of purchasing the non Lego tubes is that usually you have to buy a bulk of it (25 meters).

Nice work Zblj! I am glad you have returned to Tatra 8 x 8 (the first time I've met you in person you've been hiding behind one of those monsters). How are the technic turntable and planetary gears holding? I understand the in-wheel reduction, however you still have 8t gears. Well, I just made a TT once or twice before and they were quite sensitive. Whenever I see a new and improved model from you I do ask myself a question - can you do even better. And you keep surprising me Great job!