Carsten Svendsen

Others say that the details are off. I don't care. I know nothing about trucks and this looks pretty friggin awesome. I especially like the cab being suspended! If I should critisize one thing it would be that there's too much red.

You're right that it is an impressive creation. I think you could make this work, you'd just have to fix whatever you mentioned was wrong. To prevent the main frame from bending I'd recommend going full on brick mode and stack a few on top of each other for maximum sturdiness. The rollers does look quite wobbly, maybe you could make some magic happen with the new quarter gear racks from 42055? You seem to have heaps of space for the gearbox design. You could build anything that would be much sturdier than that, surely. I'd say, yeah it's a big fail if you wont try and improve it. You say it's just been sitting there for a year, maybe now is the time for a second chance?

I recently saw that MattL600 had built a battery drill, and I figured that I could do better so I gave it a shot. Turns out that I couldn't do it better, in a physical resemblance to the real thing, but I got all the functions crammed into it. I still only have the parts from all three sets that I mentioned in my other recent post, which was 42049, 42055, 42064 I would like to show the build progress and internals of the drill along with what I've learned throughout this project. I started by building the battery click function because if I couldn't get that to work I might as well not build it at all. As I didn't have any springs I had to think of something else, and I quickly discovered that the axles flex quite a bit longways, so that is how the clicky works. (Also see video at 2:10) Next up was the handle for the drill. I quickly discovered that the wire for the motor was not at all long enough to reach into the actual housing of the drill. If I had a PF switch I would have done that and that would also have saved me from a lot of hassle. I could have put a switch for the trigger if I had one, but I had to use a transmission ring for the trigger instead, as I wouldn't settle for the switch on the battery. After that was done, I started building the drill it self starting from the front end of it. I wanted it to have a clutch as the real thing - though fixed amount, not adjustable. If you watched the video you'll know that the gears inside burn out before the clutch. I reckon 1 clutch gear would've been enough but it didn't seem like it at the time so that's why I put 2 in there. Sadly, in order to get the selector switch (turntable) working properly, I had to chip away the small taps on the transmission ring for smooth switching. I know that there are 3l joiners made specifically for that so if I had all my LEGO I would just have used one of those instead. Knowing that, it should settle down all of you purists out there. This is also the part where I decided to put the speed switch as I figured that that's where there would be the most room for it. (sorry potato quality, but this is a screenshot from a video I made to my dad of progress. I don't have a picture otherwise) Coming up with a solution for the forward/reverse switch was not an easy task. I knew that I wanted levers like in the pictures above but getting the footprint down to just 1x2L was quite difficult. Also, nothing inside the housing is symmetrical so bracing everything properly became quite a task as well. I realized that in order to get room for the trigger I had to cut down the forward/reverse bracing as well. Up next was the final compartment, which proved to be the most difficult so far since I had to start/stop the drill with a transmission ring instead of a switch. And again, I had no spring so I had to use the tension of LEGO it self. The solution is simple but finding it was the hard part. In case you're wondering, the red and yellow axles were only there to remember myself as to where I should put my mechanical bracing to the rest of the drill. And that's pretty much it. I had some troubleshooting to do as well as one of the gears kept popping out. Luckily it was one of the "easy" ones to access. I ended up putting a triangle beam on top of it to keep it there. The drill in its full glory... or like, something anyway It holds its own weight all right, though the it's only held up by the 2 blue pins on the hanger. I know that it's not the coolest or most outstanding moc ever made, but I think it's a good start anyway. I might just make another drill in the future. One thing I learned from this project is to think outside of the box when the selection of certain parts is quite limited. For instance, there's only 2 each of these parts: I tend to use the grey one a lot, so it's nice to get out of the comfort zone for a change. I also found the new 3L pin/axle combo and the pin on a bushing amazingly useful. I've been needing those parts for so many years and they are finally here. One other thing I learned was how to make limited spring like action with no springs. I also enhanced my skills in levers acting with each other (thinking of transmissions) That's pretty much it, thanks for watching. I won't take it apart for now as if there's something you would like to know, I can just disassemble it and show you on demand.

I reckon the size will be something along the lines of each of the three spinning sections will have a base size of the yellow ring gear rack, and then the entire thing becomes humongus all of a sudden. I don't wanna try at this time as I am not confident that I have enough variation in my current selection of parts. I wanted it to be somewhat minifig scale so the old technic chairs are too big to use.

I don't have a whole lot of LEGO to play around with at the time being. I only have these sets at hand at the moment: bucket excavator 42055-1, Ocean Explorer 42064-1 & Mine Loader 42049-1 So my options are kinda limited with parts, which is why this is only a mock-up. I think it would be a better success if I had some actual plates to make a round platform with, but I'm not skilled in that department anyway so yeah. I tried to build a proof of concept of something like this: I don't know why it lags so much when turning. It works fine if I remove the bracing from the gears, but then everything would just fall apart. I reckon it would be much more consistent if I turned it by meshing a gear with the outer ring. I wasn't able to in this instance. I think I would have to build the actual seats first to get the actual size right and then go from that, however there's no way that I could manage with only the "few" pieces that I have. So for now, this proof of concept will have to do. The whole thing is being turned only by the star piece in the middle with a 24t and worm gear from an XL motor I think I got the gearing on the platforms right; one rotation pr. 120°. The whole thing it self is obviously moving too fast. When making this much bigger, how would you go about getting the gearing right, and in the correct position with barely any friction?

Cheers Sariel, that simple rotating gear shifter turned out to be the key to make it work properly. I didn't even have to make a new gearbox :)

Yesterday I tried to build a gearbox and I kind of succeeded, but not for the application I wanted. You see, I don't know anything about gearboxes, well, on how to build them anyway. I want a sequential working gearbox, and the way I built it, the it goes like 1-3-2 which is obviously not the right way to change speeds at. I want 4 speeds, or at least 3. No reverse though, all the same direction Currently, my input/output ratios are as follows: 1:1,8 1:3,75 1:6,25 I do not want a 1:1 ratio, as I think 1:1,8 is plenty fast already. The gearbox is designed to gear down and 1:6,25 is ok slow but I don't mind if it gets a bit slower if necessary for the gears to fit. The drive motor I'm using is the RC buggy which has been geared down 1:3 before going into the gearbox. Torque is important. I build Piterx' sequential design but I'd like something that locks both levers into place at all times. The design is a bit flimsy Don't worry about bracing and stuff, I just need the gear combinations/placements. That'd be a great help :)

I see that there are a few ideas I like - I like the idea of a rube goldberg machine. I was always kinda facinated by them. I just don't think my imagination is good enough. I guess I could try building a small one though. - Building an animal also sounds really cool. Some time ago I was thinking about building a dolphin and build a prototype tail but it never got further than that as a dolphin is too complex. Maybe I should just try to build something more simple like an elephant. - A Harbour crane looks cool too. Really simple in construction, but needs strength and fancy wirework. I guess I could make it work. - And I already build a fairground ride, namely my 3D Motion Simulator, but I never got to program it, simply because I'm a douche when it comes to electronics. If someone knows anything that could help me, look at this board and send me a PM here on EB or something. For some reason people don't like to help people when the answer seems obvious to themselfes. - And some that I don't like - An assembly line sounds kinda neat I guess, if I had like 4 additional NXT's. - The balls that come with mindstorms/bionicle won't fit in a 2 stud width for a GBC module(s) - 3D printer/milling is out of the question, my programming skills are far to bad to even attempt at something like that - I don't wanna build a clock 'cause of math - A space shuttle would be a cool aesthetic looking model but what are the functions? Are there any? Besides it reminds me too much of my own plane - I guess I could build technic ships but I won't even bother 'cause they/it would be an abomination compared to VFRacingTeam's models. Besides, I didn't plan on purchasing tons of bricks to make it. I'm wondering though if I should try to finish my other projects first. I just don't have any good ideas for how to complete them. - A copy of a rollercoaster located here in Denmark. Problems being how to build the cars so they stay on the track and roll freely at all angles - My motion sim as already mentioned, where I need the expertise of an electronics guru - My plane, obviously, still work in progress. The thread has been bumped multiple times the past few days

I like to build with my Technic, I really do, but frankly, I don't know what to build which is why I'm asking for ideas. Only requirements are that the thing shouldn't be driveable, well not a car or a truck anyway. I like to build different kind of things. Like for instance, I've build a rubiks cube and a motion sim to mention some of the bigger stuff. I've also build a stand-alone machine for another machine when I went to school, and other small stuff to help with mundane tasks And well, the thing shouldn't be too big since I probably won't complete it then. I don't have any GBC balls at all, and it's impossible to find a good batch on bricklink, so I can't make GBC modules either. - Well I guess I can, but they probably won't work as intended. Being able to use Mindstorms is a plus. I only got one NXT though as monitor on the other one doesn't work. Hopefully I can build something cool :)

I say go for it. I've got a half-finished plane as well. It's so complex that I've actually started to get more bothered to build it than I enjoyed it. But I'm mostly curious as to how in the world you're gonna build a jet engine with regular LEGO motors.

Well It's still in the shape I left in last, I just haven't been motivated to make any more progress, because every time there's a problem with the way the specific mechanism needs to work, the solution is so friggin' complex. I quite literally get a headache whenever I've been building on it for too long, so I that's why it's not finished. In fact, I already got the lid for the landing wheels figured out, I just need to get some stuff from Bricklink to fully complete it. Then I still need to find a way to make the rear wing ailerons work. Space is extremely limited as it is. And when those 2 things have been solved I'm actually done with the model. Then I'd have to get it airborne which is a new challenge in it self. I'm glad you like my work :)

Very cool forklift! Looks great too! The only negative thing I have to say is about your controller. It's not really user friendly to have both driving and steering on the same side since you only have 1 thumb on each hand. Either split them apart or rearrange some wires on your model. Cheers! Edit: Nevermind, I forgot that you made a crossover bar thing on the controller for steering. TL;DR Keep up the good work!

I think that this is the most awesome thing I've seen in quite a while. I totally forgot how easy it is to build with studded bricks instead of liftarms. I always wanted to know how the cars on these things are detached from the main pulley. How does it work? I've seen every other picture you got and I still don't know how it works.

I've begun building again. I finished the front and the autovalve of the plane. Right now I'm working on the rear landing gear. You can expect to see some actual updates later next week. I found that I made a mistake when I build the landing gear some time ago. Lots were offset by both half a hole and a whole hole various places. This caused some minor twisting and stretching. I needed to rebuild it anyway since there was no way for me to build the cover that closes with the wheel. This was because that there weren't enough space around the wheel it self.

Even though I agree with Bionicle pieces being rather useless in normal circumstances, I think that these pieces look really useful but I have never really found a use them.

Now this is interesting. I recently started building on my own plane again, as it seems my recent MOC kickstarted my lust to build again. As others have said, I don't think it's going to hold in the engine compartment as there's too much vibration and the glue and bricks will simply come apart. It depends on the type of glue you use though. I know that there exists some glue that actually melts plastics a bit when put together. Though bricks will make it much stiffer and solid, it's going to be a lot heavier. My plane also weighs in around 5 kg but it's a lot bigger in comparison. You need some good reinforcement on the stressed parts. I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread

That would work too, but I'm not sure if bluetooth is fast enough for it. I'd love to test it but if I can't even program the simple "select and run" app, then how would I make it work with bluetooth? Nah, I need someone to make an app for me. Or I guess, I could simply have a time on the start button on NXT, and when I press the NXT 10 seconds will countdown, while the video on the phone will run simultaneously. Only problem will be a few synchronization errors at times, not making for a good ride. Although..... who's gonna test ride it? I don't have a hamster. Yet.

wow, I didn't know you could lower the drive gear on the differential gear like that and it still works. Thats just so cool. We could use something like that in LEGO.

It depends on how much LEGO you have to begin with. The drawers you linked are good for newcomers and smaller parts. Personally, I have over 30 boxes varying from 1-7 liters. It also depends on how much you want to sort your LEGO.

Well because I want an app, is because I want this to happen Select a roller coaster track from a drop down list on the phone Press start button on phone Insert phone into the simulator After 15 seconds or so the phone will start to display the video and is synced with the NXT via simple light flashes using a light sensor and the phones light on the back Option for recording with the phones front camera in case I wanted to have some fun with a hamster or other critter It's not a whole lot the app should do, I already tried using Delphi XE7 to make an app as I used that program before but apparently it is more complicated than I thought, mainly due to some strange programming logic which I can't figure out how to fix.

I wanted to program something complicated using my NXT so I build a motion simulator as seen in amusement parks or fun fares. I haven't programmed it yet as it proves rather difficult, especially because I can't make an android app to communicate with my NXT via bluetooth, or just simple light flashes. The programming NXT-wise is actually really simple, it's just very time consuming as there are a lot of different and simultaneous movements during a roller coaster ride. I figured I'd make a roller coaster in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and record the 1st-person view of the ride. I made no efforts on programming or ride building yet as I don't want to waste my time if I can't get an app up and running **hint hint** Those are the pictures, it sure is a good thing that LEGO is so flexible otherwise I'd have to make something way more complicated to tilt the house. The scissor lifts are a bit tall I know, but at least it makes for a good headroom in case I need to make something like fall straight down like a power launch tower The doors are functional as well, see video. I don't want to bother on stairs and such since I just wanted something to program, but since I cannot make phone apps this project will stay as you see here.

4: 3 8: 3 9: 1 22: 2 23: 1

I believe you would have to make the spacing between the rail magnets 3 studs instead of 1, then, on the wagon, you put a magnet on each end so that one magnet is on top of a rail magnet and the other one is between the rail magnets. You could do this with the current 1 stud spacing but I think that the magnetic force would be too strong and slow the wagon down instead of keeping it rolling.

Thank you much for the nice words. The plane is obviously not done yet and I have kinda gone into a "Dark Age" since I lost my job back in February. I do plan on finishing it but it won't be anytime soon.

That looks really clever, a bit weak maybe as I assume it could fall apart after some thorough riding on the track. How do you plan on adding more cars? I'm specifically thinking about the connection linking them together, I've had quite a few problems finding a solution.