Lego_GBC_NL

Thanks ludov! Without modification of the legs it will definitely not work, way too much friction. Both trolleys are driven by one PF M-motor and the mechanism is in fact quite fragile, so the legs need to be "loosened up" first, otherwise the whole thing will break. I didn't lubricate them, but I had lots of used legs in stock and simply chose the ones that were already quite loose (caused by playwear let's say). Then I also manually moved the legs back and forth a bit on the hip piece, making sure there was even less friction left. I took a while, but it was worth it! Also important not to make them too loose to avoid having the risk the legs would just fall off during operation. A bit of Trial & Error there... Thanks Philo! Thanks Berthil!

New LEGO GBC Module :-)

New LEGO GBC module based on Akiyuki's Reuleaux Triangle mechanism, designed back in 2020

New LEGO GBC module based on Akiyuki's Reuleaux Triangle mechanism, designed back in 2020

Hi there, indeed my build is based on Blakbird's instructions and corresponding parts list (including the 4L bars). I still have the BSX file, but it's the same as what Jude just uploaded. I don't recall making any mods to the original model, Blakbird's instructions are pretty accurate indeed and I had no performance issues at all with this module, runs extremely smoothly! Only mods I made afterwards were needed to attach the spiral staircase output. I've seen several nice outputs for the Bucket Wheel Tower, Dunes' output indeed explains the extra 7*2=14 pieces (3x5 L-Shaped Quarter Ellipse Thin Liftarms). Good luck with your build!

My latest GBC module

Thanks!

My latest GBC module

Back in 2020 Akiyuki published his video of a LEGO cart with a mechanical direction switching mechanism. I liked the idea and some months ago I decided to build a complete GBC module around this particular mechanism. Later on I added a few more mechanisms by other GBC designers and ended up merging 5 modules into 1. Hope you enjoy the video! :-)

Thanks @HRU_Bricks & @9v system for answering some more questions and more importantly for sharing your experience/knowledge! I'm good to go when it comes to the air compressor (will borrow one from a colleague), the EV3 cables (have some original Lego cables/20/25/35/50cm and bought a few custom cables/1m from a Dutch eBayer) and the pneumatic hoses (have +/- 15m of original Lego hose/transparent). Concerning the inlet/outlet ports: I guess I indeed need to experiment/play around a bit to find out which hose needs to be connected to which port... testing the air flows it is... bit of trial & error I guess... For sure I'm gonna connect all pneumatic parts while building as you both strongly recommend it, but to be able to do that, I still need to know the correct way/order how to connect all pneumatics. Wonder if someone is willing to verify the scheme and hopefully confirm it looks correct (perhaps not the inlet/outlet ports used, but at least some confirmation on the main connections/order of pneumatic parts within the air circuit, what's connected to what in general...). All pictures/videos available were not clear enough to be 100% sure... Oh.. and @HRU_Bricks, the scheme is made manually in Excel and Paint, didn't use any fancy tool and have no experience whatsoever with these kind of schematics So could be that things are not depicted in the best possible way...

Thanks @HRU_Bricks for providing some more answers, almost there! Will sum up what I have so far 1. Air compressor => OK - confirmed the one I'll borrow will do, overkill, but will preset the output pressure on the external compressor to 1.5 - 2 bar (max) 2. Pneumatic hoses => OK - will use the standard LEGO ones (+/- 9 to 10 meters needed). Have them in lengths of 1 and 5 meters, so should be long enough for the BC 3. Best timing to connect all hoses => OK - will try adding them already while building, but this makes the pneumatic scheme even more important (question 7), will get to that later in this post... 4. Version of PDF instructions => OK - guess both versions will do the job, in case of uncertainties will indeed use Jeroen's Stud.io file to check (PDF instructions are just easier\more user friendly I would say...) 5. Version of 8 tooth gear => OK - will use the one w/o friction (#11955). Both #10928 and #11955 exist in red and it's impossible to see in all pics/vids/instructions which one is used. Both Rebrickable & the Stud.io file mention #11955, so I guess that one's correct. 6. Length EV3 cables => stll not sure what the optimal length of the 8th EV3 cable should be (besides 3*1m + 3*50cm + 1*converter cable), but will make sure I'll have at least one spare EV3 cable available (25/35/50cm) 7. Pneumatic/electric scheme\layout => OK for the electric scheme. No need to make a pneumatic scheme yourself, was just wondering/asking if someone had something prepared already when building the BC some years ago. I gave it a try myself and prepared a scheme based on all pictures, videos, Jeroen's leaflet and some common sense (I hope ). Will share the scheme at the end of this post. 8. EV3 program file => OK - explained by Jeroen, know which file to use and what the different programs do 9. Long custom EV3 cables (1m) => still not sure if my assumption is correct (the 3*1m cables are supposed to be used for the light sensors in ports 1 & 3 (ball detection & pneumatic switches) and the motor in port B (M Servo Motor for the linear mvmnt of the gripper). Can anyone confirm pls? The rest of the EV3 parts (sensors & motors) seem close enough to the EV3 brick to be able to use a 35/50cm cable to get them connected. 10. Rubber bands and pneumatic T-pieces => OK - when preparing the pneumatic scheme I also got a good view on these pieces, so I do have a decent estimate now 11. Pneumatic hoses ≥1m => OK - clear answer, there are none (so cutting hoses of 1m\5m should do the trick to get all needed lengths) 12. Conversion/extension cables 9V > PF => OK - armed with 20/50cm conversion/extension cables 13. Pressure regulator => so the pressure regulator (Over Pressure Relief Value) and pressure switch are two different things and work (more or less) independently? Concerning the pressure regulator (to see if I get this right): when building the BC the small linear actuator needs to be turned/wound up (just a little bit) via the red ball joint so the linkage attached (liftarm+spring) will move forward and the black antenna moves closer and closer to the blue pneumatic hose connector, resulting in a fully closed air circuit/sealed air system (thanks by the way for the hint about the very small piece of hose, quite difficult to see!). When the air compressor starts providing air into the BC and everything is fine (meaning the air pressure is not too high) nothing will happen to the pressure regulator and it doesn't need to be touched anymore (antenna won't move and can "take" the pressure). ONLY in case the pressure builds up and gets too high at some point (let's say: air pressure > pressure on the spring), the pressure regulator will pop open (antenna popping out) and the pressure is released (as a safety measure in order not to damage anything). I assume in that case adjustments need to be made (something built/connected incorrectly or too much air pressure coming from the external compressor?). Is that about it? Coming back to the most important question for me personally (question 7). Below is the pneumatic scheme/layout I prepared last weekend based on all pictures, videos, Jeroen's leaflet and some common sense Enlarged version of the pic is available on my Bricksafe page: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Lego_GBC_NL/lego-gbc/gbc-ball-cleaner-akiyuki Please don't pay any attention to the exact position of things or the length/route of the hoses. Was too complicated to get this depicted correctly in one overview. My goal was to show every single pneumatic part (including all T-pieces) as well as all hoses and the way they're connected. Air circuit is divided into a main circuit (blue) and 4 sub-circuits going from the valves to the several cylinders. Start of the circuit is at the bottom left corner. Hope I got it all right, really curious! Would be nice and much appreciated if the BC experts could have a look at this and if I could get some feedback to see if I'm on the right track Also, I especially wonder if the hoses in my scheme are all connected to the right ports on the valves & cylinders. Relates to my last question asked last Thursday: As the "Set timing" and "Initializing" programs prepare the pneumatic switches before running (adjusting timing & setting correct start position), does this mean the way the hoses are connected from the valves/switches to the cylinders doesn't matter, considering this will be adjusted anyway after building (but before running at full speed)? I know the air inlet port will be the middle connection on the valve, but for the air outlet ports (A+B below), is there a fixed way to connect the hoses to ports 1+2 on the cylinder? Or, when connecting the hoses, this is of no importance as the timing will be adjusted later on if needed (meaning there's not really a "wrong" way of connecting the hoses from valve to cylinder)? Thanks a lot for your support so far, I know I'm asking a lot, but as said before, like to be 100% prepared and have a good understanding of how the module works before starting the actual build!

@Juroen, thanks, that's clear! One more question about this if you don't mind (sorry if it's a question asked by a pneumatics newbie with little knowledge ). As the "Set timing" and "Initializing" programs prepare the pneumatic switches before running (adjusting timing & setting correct start position), does this mean the way the hoses are connected from the valves/switches to the cylinders doesn't matter, considering this will be adjusted anyway after building (but before running at full speed)? I know the air inlet port will be the middle connection on the valve, but for the air outlet ports (A+B below), is there a fixed way to connect the hoses to ports 1+2 on the cylinder? Or, when connecting the hoses, this is of no importance as the timing will be adjusted later on if needed (meaning there's not really a "wrong" way of connecting the hoses from valve to cylinder)?

@Juroen, I don't have that much experience with LEGO pneumatics, so to me all those hoses look like a difficult maze Always like to be fully prepared and understanding a complex module like the BC before starting to build. OK, I'll use the EV3 program file on your Bricksafe (“Set timing”, “Initializing” and “Running”). So the 5th program (Loop 05 - “Determine if balls are available”) isn't necessary to incorporate in the "Running" code? To prepare the module before running I simply run programs “Set timing” & “Initializing” first and then the 3rd program "Running" without "Loop 05 - “Determine if balls are available”? Is that it?

Thanks @Juroen, I'm still far away from starting the actual build, need to gain some more confidence first and I hope the answers to my questions will do that. Still quite some questions unanswered, but I'll take things step by step. Especially questions 7 (pneumatic scheme) and 8 (EV3 program file) worry me the most...

Thanks @HRU_Bricks for these clear explanations! This is helping a lot to understand the several pneumatic mechanisms that Akiyuki incorporated into the model, all so cleverly done! 2. I'm armed with +10m of Lego hoses as we speak... if I mess up cutting them too short, will buy extra Below is the link to the Dutch webshop I was referring to. They used to have a lot more pneumatic parts in stock, but unfortunately all nice stuff, like cylinders, pumps, valves, switches, manometers, air tanks are out of stock now and even completely removed from the website I believe. Luckily they still have some 1m/5m hoses available in different colors. https://www.brickshop.eu/lego-parts/pneumaticshtml.html 3. OK, so the pressure regulator (Over Pressure Relief Value) and pressure switch are two different things and work (more or less) independently. I totally get now how the pressure switch works! Concerning the pressure regulator (to see if I get this right): when building the BC the small linear actuator needs to be turned/wound up (just a little bit) via the red ball joint so the linkage attached (liftarm+spring) will move forward and the black antenna moves closer and closer to the blue pneumatic hose connector, resulting in a fully closed air circuit/sealed air system (thanks by the way for the hint about the very small piece of hose, quite difficult to see!). When the air compressor starts providing air into the BC and everything is fine (meaning the air pressure is not too high) nothing will happen to the pressure regulator and it doesn't need to be touched anymore (antenna won't move and can "take" the pressure). ONLY in case the pressure builds up and gets too high at some point (let's say: air pressure > pressure on the spring), the pressure regulator will pop open (antenna popping out) and the pressure is released (as a safety measure in order not to damage anything). I assume in that case adjustments need to be made (something built/connected incorrectly or too much air pressure coming from the external compressor?). Is that about it? Did this actually happen to you when you ran the Mindstorms/Akiyuki version? 11. Concernig the 1m EV3 cables: clear why they're needed (long distance, cable management etc.), but my question was more to get a confirmation that the 3 long EV3 cables are used for the light sensors in ports 1 & 3 (ball detection & pneumatic switches) and the motor in port B (M Servo Motor for the linear mvmnt of the gripper). The rest of the EV3 parts (sensors & motors) seem close enough to the EV3 brick to be able to use a 35/50cm cable to get them connected. PF motors via the converter cable (+ extension cables I suppose). No more questions for now (13 was already enough I guess ), but for sure other questions will come to me later on... THANKS again and I like your schemes with the arrows! Very helpful!