JoKo

Nice! I think it's the icing on the cake. Makes your version so much better than the official 1200GS with this gearbox, acurate boxer engine and the other visual fix you made. Thanks for the gearbox details!

Let's share random ideas for TC28 ! Industrial : Braiding, knitting, sewing machine, mechanical loom, steam engine, windmill (classical or innovative), drill press, lathe, milling machine (should be able to machine some polystyrene with lego) Musical : functional guitar , metronome Weaponry : crossbow, revolver , catapult , trebuchet , DCA turret , nuke... Space & Stars : deployable satellite , astrolabe, celestial navigation device (sextant require mirrors but other solutions are possible), Solar system model , flat earth physical model

@Davidz90Thanks for the encouragement! I tested with stiff pieces instead of the windscreen like flags or minifig shield. tested the windscreen curved also. current solution is the loudest and most forgiving, not the best sounding. I still have plenty of time to try other thing like dome windcreen as resonator and so on... may also include some kind of clock escapement mechanism to help keeping a steady speed at the gearbox input. Thanks!

I have a few fake engines prototypes on the shelf that could be great for this contest but I think this theme is a excellent occasion to try something different, if possible never seen before. I will therefore try this crazy idea first. It could be described as a Gearbox Barrel Organ. It borrows ideas from the Hammond organ, the barrel organ and the gramophone. Working principle: A flexible tab (reed) touching a rotating gear vibrates and create a note noise. If the gear speed increase, so do the noise pitch. So in theory a well-designed gearbox should be able to turn this noise into some kind of melody, right?... let's try! Gearbox : I first tried to play harmonics like major third, fifth and octave (gearbox ration: 1.25 , 1.5 , 2) The notes were discernable but it is limiting the possible melody. And the gearbox only works one note at the time so no chord is possible. It basically sounded like a bad alphorn. I faced another problem: the reed needs different setting for low or high notes so I had to narrow the notes range. Currently gear ratios are: (1 , 1.125 , 1.2 , 1.25 , 1.33 , 1.5) and it should sound like : A , B , C , C# , D and E Keyboard : It is a quite simple keyboard that activates the dog rings. It features a flywheel to minimize speed variation when notes are played. As i have no keyboard player talent I'm planning to make a music box mechanism instead Horn : In order to amplify the sound I build a flared horn with brassy colors, It has a 42107 Ducati windscreen as diaphragm or reed that makes contact with the 40 th gear at the keyboard output. Of course I can't demonstrate it without a video. Don't expect too much.... it sound weird and bad... at least for now!

I love this one! Great job with the gearbox and boxer engine. This allows the engine to be a real "boxer" with pistons moving in opposition. I'd love to build it. Are you thinking about making a studio model or a video to show the gearbox in action? Also may I suggest a slight modification in order to ad a realistic detail? On every BMW boxer engine the cylinders are offset because of the boxer crankshaft. The left cylinder is ~50mm in front of the right one. Most people never notice it because it is rarely visible on pictures but when you happen to have one between your legs it is obvious. You could add a 1/2 stud offset to your design like this: Right cylinder: Left cylinder: Together:

Was it to promote creativity or for some legal/moral reason?

Now that my animal-human as been set aside I am thinking again about an engine and am facing this question: The engine I have in mind is very typical of a well-known brand. Is it OK if I just don't mention that brand?

OK Let's keep the humanoid ideas for the animal contest I also thought about musical machine, I made a first prototype a few month ago and didn't figure out a way to make it 100% lego.

But no head or any other human-related appearance? is that what you mean?

What about a robot static automaton (exemple: it looks like Wall-e without tracks) that perform some action with arms?

I considered building a large scale fake engine but I thought it was too much vehicle-related. I don't think it's against the rules though. Philosophical question: I'm thinking about a humanoid static automaton. Does it violate the new no animal rule?

@YappilandYou're welcome! This solution could work too. These gears will work just as well! Not sure about the frame but it's worth trying.

I found this: It should work with your wheels too. If you don't have a differential stop the video at 3:20 and build this instead (then back to video at 3:34)

You would be surprised @bruh If you want to build a pop-up town fairs ride maybe just make it unfold from static base.

Ok I'll see what I can do. But I didn't understand exactly what are the electronics you own. Can you be more specific about that?

OK so what size have you in mind? Have you an idea about the wheels you want? The steering system of the McLaren is indeed simple and you can easily connect a servo on the steering axle You can also take inspiration on the McLaren to motorize your car. You can connect the motor to the rear wheel instead of the V8 fake engine. Did I answer your question? I can help you with building a chassis but i need to understand what you have in mind.

Yeah, I know it is still vague. What I meant is a four legged mech with boxy shape is not allowed. It has to feature some "animal" mechanism like moving head, mouth, tail...

I'm sure we can help you with some examples. You want to build a remote controlled car, right? About the same size as the 42123 McLaren? Do you already have motor, servo, technic bluetooth hub or remote controller?

Thank you! Actually I was inspired by this one: https://youtu.be/WnrrxUuZl4c?si=bgbNKofEhxsHrjb3

Maybe the definition of a vehicle could be more precise. What about "a machine capable of moving itself" So mech are not allowed unless it is an animal/human. It would also make the rules more clear about mobile cranes and roomba robots

Totally agree that non-vehicle will already push us outside of what we usually do. More constaint could discourage potential builders So... @JimCan we seriously begin to brainstorm on this theme?

Great! Let's do it

I like this theme, this should bring a lot of new ideas

crowd cheering

I did a WIP topic: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/197324-wip-15-motorcycle-engine-and-frame-motorized/ And I d'like to model it in studio.