sawyer klegr

Thanks! An unfortunate side effect that can be seen in some shots is that it makes the model slowly shake across the table or whatever it is on 😂

While this is not a proper GBC module, it was great fun to build. The miniloop shoots balls using a weight rather then a spring which makes it more reliable, although it can slowly shake its way across the table while it is running as a result of this. It can be powered by a motor or by hand, and it can contain up to three balls while it is running although it is designed to only have two. Hope you like it, I have free instructions on Rebrickable if you want to build it here.

Looks great! Reliability improvements are normally not too fun to build, but definitely helpful!

That sounds like a good improvement. To enter it on Discord, I assume you have joined the GBP discord server? If you have, you should have access to at least the "input-bin" channel. Just ask/DM a moderator to verify that you are a human and then you can post a video of your module for the contest. If you have not already joined the server/channel the link is on https://www.greatballpit.com/ in the top right. There should be a discord logo there, if you click on it it will take you to the server.

Great that you got it done in time for the contest! Maybe could place a weight on the other side of the conveyor to balance out the weight and save batteries even more, not sure if it would be worth it though.

Looks great! the way you were able to design it without changing the motor direction is a great idea. It seems quite sturdy as well considering how tall it is.

Thank you! Your ball lift sounds interesting, would be very curious to see how you made it without the need to reverse the motor. I can definitely relate to how hard it can be to stop balls from falling off of tall modules after building this one! You should enter it into the contest if you get it done in time, sounds like it would do quite well.

Thank you! Glad it was at least a bit believable, was hard for me to tell as I already knew how it was built. It is quite reliable for the most part, although not great as far as battery life because it has to lift so much weight.

I built this lego GBC module for the 2021 great ball pit GBC contest. The rules for this contest was to build a GBC module that lifts the balls to at least 64 brick high. My inspiration for this module was the idea of trying to turn a normal GBC module sideways. It is meant to look like a mechanical GBC train module, but on it's side. Of course due to the challenges of making a train go straight up and down, I was not to make it look exactly like the original. I programed the module using python, would be very curios if you found the effect at the start of the video believable. More photos on flickr.

Looks great already! Just curious, do you think the front tracks will have any issues rolling on hard surfaces if it is not powered? I guess if most of the weight is on the center two small wheels of each then it should not cause any issues?

Thanks! The arms are only lifted by the tension from the three pins at the end not being able to move any more. Basically the weight of the arms themselves is what cases the pins to close. That is a much better explanation than mine, that is correct.

This great ball contraption uses a series of gears and pins to grab the balls and lift them. The mechanism is quite reliable, especially for a module that I designed. Would like to have made it run a bit faster as it does not quite run at 1bps, but it should be able to run at that speed if it is run on 9v. (it was only running at 7.2v in the video as the batteries are rechargeable) Photos on Flickr.

How dare you imply that most GBCs are not intelligent! ;)

This lego great ball contraption (GBC) module uses a mindstorms ev3 to control a ball sorting and ball counting mechanism. The module was programed using micropython / python. The module keeps track of the ball count, the count to left and right, the ball per second, and ball per minute. Obviously this was programed using python, which presented some challenges. (I am familiar with almost all major programing languages with the exception of python as a result of my computer science degree... ) In the end I decided to use threads for each of the main tasks of counting the balls and sorting by color. It makes it run much better and faster than just putting all the code in t he main program loop. Hope you like the module! (the full code is on Rebrickable if you want it ;) Rebrickable Flickr

Thanks! Figured I should actually make a reliable module once in a while ;)

42125 Ferrari 488 GTE 'AF Corse #51 The big red car

That Ferrari looks great! Hopefully will be more affordable than the Lambo and Bugatti...

Thank you so much! I really enjoyed building it.

Thank you so much! I am glad you like it. I came up with the mechanism by accident while messing around with the gears for another project. Thanks :) was great fun to build it.

Built another module using a new mechanism, it has two arms that extend half way through the motion to pick up the ball before lifting it to the next module. It is quite reliable and runs better at slightly higher speeds. Would be cool to have two forks on each side, kind of like a "cup to cup" module, however I did not want to do it as it would be much less reliable. Instructions on Rebrickable. Flicker.

Thanks! It was partly inspired by vending machines and a old clock :)

^ That is a great idea! Did not think of using the motor to lift a heavy weight for something like that, maybe could start with a clockwork module so you don't need to worry about waiting for 13 balls?

You could also just set the weight to trigger at 12 balls to account for any differences between real and "fake" balls. Thanks! Your idea of having the motor turn of while it is waiting is a great idea! I think it could be quite challenging, it might be necessary to have a more complicated mechanism, maybe having the last ball roll off into another part of the mechanism to give it more leverage of the electric switch the motor is attached to?

Yes, the weight can easily be adjusted. I added some 2x2 round plates to the back of the module for this very purpose. The module can also run faster, as I was running it on only 5V as my rechargeable batteries finally died.

Thanks! Thanks! The purpose of that is basically a clutch. The one 8t gear in the side that the power is coming from is attached to a friction pin. I made it this way instead of using a "normal" clutch or one of the 24t clutch gears because this way it completely releases pressure for a short amount of time. It is normally not really used, but it stops the module from jamming which occasionally can happen with the 12t gears that mesh with the start of the banana gears. This only happens when it is running at really low speeds. Would still be cool to see your module if it is working :)