DrJB

My opinion only of course ... but ... 8110 and 8043 are meant as display units, never to be disassembled and recycled/salvaged.

@Effe ... Look up harmonic drive by akiyuki. It does not use a chain. The oval (on the wiki link page) is essentially two rollers, that push a thin gear ring, to cause it to mesh with the internal large gear. One requirement of the harmonic drive is that the external gear (inside) be flexible in bending yet stiff in torsion. It is such deformation that allows it to mesh and rotate. Thus, the wall thickness must be very small. The first link shows this clearly. The third link is another interesting concept. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:20177 http://www.gtajp.com/data/sub2/sub2c.htm http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:30615

Yes, to my knowledge, the only option is to use the original Lego cables . Those were very proprietary and difficult (if not impossible) to reverse-engineer. Check Bricklink, they're about $10.00

Reminds me of a little 'puzzle' my dad used to say a long long time ago .... 1. Tous les Cretois sont des menteurs. C'est un Cretois qui le dit 2. Par contre, si les Cretois ne le sont pas (mentors), Donc, le Cretois dit vrai. Which translates to: 1. All people from Crete are Liars. It's one of them who said that 2. However, if they are NOT (liars), Then that Cretian is telling the truth ...

Agree that only one connector is needed ... unless you want to put water in it and wash it ... for whatever crazy reason.

Nice, thank you. Now, one question: Are the teeth narow enough to be driven by a chain ... ie, same width as the old 8t gear?

Looks nice as it is ... only concern I had is ... if I build it and decide to hang it from the ceiling with a fishing line ... it'll tip forward. Nicely done ... and I've learned something new.

You're right ... and I stand corrected (i.e. wrong). I have not looked as such tanks for a while (and I have few of them). Also, lately I have been working on a pneumatic project (at work, not lego), and used a tank as an accumulator. You really do not need two ports for air ... but you can use 2 if you so desire ... If you use water however, then two ports are an absolute must, as, when you push water in, you need air to come out from the other side. This is in fact one of the main differences between hydraulic and pneumatic systems. In pneumatics, you do not need a return line to the tank, you simply vent the return out (ie, let air go out 'free'). In hydraulics however, you do need to send the fluid back to the hydraulic reservoir. Makes sense???

Looks very nice, thanks for the 'preview'. I'm not fond of grayish trucks as I almost got hit/smashed by one once ... He literally came out of nowhere ... well, he was a grayish that blended very well with the surroundings during a gray overcast day. No wonder they call such color 'neutral' ... but that's a different story. @SR71 ... any chance of a pic of the truck next to the 42009 or other iconic set ... just to get an idea of the sheer size?

Effe, looks very nice. However, how about increasing the usability by adding more 'equally spaced' pin holes around the circumference? The current lego parts assortment can do only 8 (i.e 45 degrees separation). I've struggled several times to have more parts/branches radially, as in a Ferris Wheel. If you can fit something like 16 holes aroud the circumference, this part will have many more uses ...

Absolutely and most definitely not ... we're not talking about water, oil, or gasoline here .... but about compressed air. The same port can be used for both in/out. Need proof? Check Lego's own tank ... it has one single port! Edit: as EV3Noob pointed below, the lego air-tank does in fact have two ports. Yet, my argument still 'holds', as you can do pneumatics with one port only. It is one of those 'situations' in life where it is not black and white, but multiple answers are still correct. Cheers. Thank you ... Sorry did not mean to throw in some math terminology :) ... and not a critique either. It was simply based on my observation over the many years, that all Lego gears have an even number of teeth. Great Job and ingenuity though, keep up the good work.

Very nice. Though, I thought the spacing between axles (in units of M) corresponds always to an integer number of teeth. In the above case, the distance between the 13 and 18 teeth (assuming you meant them to mesh together) will be (13+18)/2 = 15.5 ... and that is not an integer. The tank looks nice, though there is no need for 2 ports. One should suffice, unless you have some nice/upcoming ideas in mind.

Not sure about that ... the one 'problem' I have with PF is the trains ... you spend a fortune on batteries, and the fact that PF and mindstorms are not compatible ... but that's a different discussion.

Next MOC ... a re-creation of a busy scene from the "eyes wide shut" movie ...

I must reckon I initially thought the truck was rather 'bland' when I first saw it .... but this thread made me rethink it totally. Rather impressive build, I'm just 'mesmerized' as to the commitment some of us put to bring such projects to completion, whether the original builder and the many who pay him tribute ... not sure I have the patience to sit through 4000+ parts. That said, if I ever build it, gotta try a different color scheme ... the FLL Senior Solutions kit (which I got at a decent price) comes in handy with 28 black 5×11 panels ... but that is less than a half of the 58 needed ... :( .... I may try tri-color though, by adding panels from the unimog and tractor (black/green/gray) Heck, I wish I had the time to commit to such build.

This then explains why, a while back, when I tried connecting a PF receiver to the old 9V train transformer (with a 9V/PF converter cable in between) ... the PF Receiver could not get any power from the 9V train box ... My conclusion back then was that it makes no sense to have a PF receiver (supposedly for mobile applications) connected to a stationary box (the 9V train) ... but I could not 'accept' that such limitation was implemented by TLG. Now at last, mystery resolved ... it was much simpler than I had concocted. Unless there are some built-in electronics to filter the PWM signals ... those motors are bound to be noisy ... but I guess the coil (windings) of the motor itself have electric 'inertia' an thus act as a low-pass filter.

Thank you.

Look Honey, I got this for $200 off eBay ... and some people are willing to pay $400 for this monorail ... don't you think it's a good investment?

What I struggle with in the above diagram is ... what happens if you connect a motor directly to a battery box? In this case the motor runs at constant RPM, and supposedly uses the max 9V available. Then, the above diagram suggests that wires 9V/0V are not connected at the motor end and wires C1/C2 are not connected at the battery box end ... Not sure then how the motor can operate when connected directly to the battery box ... Does anyone else see the apparent issue? Unless 9V/C1 and 0V/C2 are connected at either the battery box or motor ends ...

Very nice, and quite different from the original design. I can't help but 'notice' that it appears rather front-heavy ... Isn't the main rotor (for lift) supposed to be about above the CG? Then again ... I'm no expert in Gyro-Copters design. So, unlike regular helicopters that use the main propeller for lift and moving forward/sideways ... all controlled by the swash plate (cyclic/collective), the rear prop is just to counter the rotation induced by the main rotor. In a Gyrocopter, there are three components and each has a very separate function: Main prop for lift, second prop to push vehicle forward, and rudders for steering. I guess the level of complexity (in real machines) is much less than in normal helicopters ...

Nice review ... I was not aware of the auxiliary output. I got two of those a while back, with the Hot-Flame. Interesting, that the video says (about the 9V remote battery) .... If you have no screwdriver, you're 'screwed' ... ????

The way I understand it, it all depends on which component you're using (as you stated). Simplistically, two of the wires provide external power (Ground and MAX 9V), while the other 2 wires tell the specific component how much of those 9V to use. For example, in the old 9V system, you vary the speed of a motor by changing the voltage on the wires from 0 to 9V. In the PF system, the 9V is fixed, and what fraction you need to use is 'coded' in the other 2 wires. Thus, while you can run a motor from only 2 wires, you won't be able to change its speed. Hope this helps ... and I'm sure there are more 'elaborate' explanations out there. Edit: Based on subsequent discussions (read below) ... I was a bit off.

Well ... sorry but those pictures do not do your collection justice .... :)

Thank you for sharing, but DropBox says the file has been deleted ...

I have more lego than I'll ever need ...