DLuders

fizzsean posted this YouTube video about the "LEGO LineScout" built by the University of British Columbia (Canada) students: "This is the APSC 479 project three UBC Engineering Physics students worked on. LineScout is the transmission line inspection robot developed by Hydro Quebec and BC Hydro. This project's purpose is to create a replica of the LineScout from LEGO parts. "This LEGO LineScout is remotely controlled using Bluetooth protocol and can cross an obstacle of size of a tennis ball on the wire." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S4Cm2cuzHA

On this Eurobricks post, prateek posted his LDD .lxf file of the 8038 Battle of Endor set. He noted that the required "5.5 axles with stop [were] put to side and replaced with 5L axles in the AT-ST." The building step is shown on the 8038's PDF Building Instructions, Booklet 1, on Page 23: On this Eurobricks post, prateek posted his LDD .lxf file for the 8959 Claw Digger set (from the Power Miners theme). The 5.5L "Technic, Axle 5.5 With Stop" (Part 32209) is shown being surrounded by other parts on Page 4 and Page 5 of the 8959's PDF Building Instructions: [superkalle, can you indicate how many more examples are needed for the LDD development team? It's taking ~15 minutes to dig up each example.]

Yes, Superglue works well on Lego parts. Try to use the thick type that stays in place and is not "runny".

I would get the 8258 Crane Truck now (while they are still available). It is considered to be one of the best Lego Technic sets ever. You could probably get the 8110 Unimog a year from now, once everyone has reviewed the set and you know exactly what you're getting.

Hmmm, Linear Actuators and linear movement.... TechnicBRICKS had this excellent article about Lego Linear Actuators. Conchas/ Conchinchas posted lots of great pictures and videos on how to make Single Configurations and Twin Configurations. Here are just a few:

To elaborate on Jan's comment above, the 19194 Emerald Night set was modelled in LDD by iLikePi; the LDD .lxf file is on this Eurobricks post). Yes, the 10194 Building Instructions (PDF Book 1 of 2), Page 4, shows the situation. iLikePi had to use a regular 5L Technic Axle instead of the (proper) 32209 part that is 5.5L: To elaborate on Brickdoctor's comment above, the 8043 Motorized Excavator (which Zblj had modelled in LDD and posted the .lxf file on this Eurobricks post) has a similar problem. The 8043's PDF Building Instruction page corresponding to Brickdoctor's picture above is Book 1 of 3, Page 57.

animatorSimen posted this of his Lego RC Driftcar/ Racecar. If you look past the non-Lego parts, you can see that it has a lot of Lego Technic functionality. He wrote, "This is one of few Lego cars on YouTube that can actually drift. All the other people who say they can drift are wrong. What they called drift is a powerslide.... This car has 4 setups. 1. AWD + 1:1 -> 1:1,25 ratio. 2. RWD + 1:1 -> 1:1,25 ratio. 3. AWD + 1:3 -> 1:1,25 ratio. 4. RWD + 1:3 -> 1:1,25 ratio. The 1:1,25 ratio is the diff."

Well, for starters, Aanchir mentioned on this Eurobricks post that the 5.5-Long Lego Technic Axle with Stop did not fit for the 8117 Exoforce "Storm Lasher" set (which he modeled in LDD and presented on this Eurobricks post with .lxf file). Aanchir wrote that the 32209 "Technic, Axle 5.5 With Stop" cannot fit into the 6538c "Technic, Axle Connector (Smooth with x hole + orientation)": He noted that "Here's a comparison between it and other axles:" "As you can see, the 5.5-length axles cannot be placed into the connector without leaving a gap in the middle. This is in addition to the known problems with the stop ring and smooth cylindrical area, which do not fit into Technic pinholes. The problem is not present with part 6538a." So, using the Lego Customer Service website, I looked at the PDF instruction booklet for Set 8117, and found the Axle/Technic connector being used on Page 41 and Page 42 (from Brickfactory):

Starting on this Bricklink page, there are four pages of available 1030/1031 Building Cards available from varioud sellers worldwide. Some of them are even willing to e-mail you pictures of the cards before you buy them. If you already have the book (in Dutch), you could patiently type in the Dutch text into an online language translator (like Yahoo Babelfish), and translate blocks of text from Dutch to English (or any other combination of major languages).

The Bricklink Part 5114 5-stud x 4-stud 9V Motor (which Peeron lists as Part 2838c01) should be able to be opened for examination. What have you got to lose, since the motor doesn't work now anyway? You could maybe pry it open and see what's wrong inside. According to Philo (Phillippe Hurbain), "The older 9V Technic motor (1990). Ungeared, it has a high rotation speed and low torque, so for most applications it requires an external gear reduction." Philo took apart the (next generation) 43362 9V Motor on his website, so you could see what it looks like.

Attached is the 2-page, PDF Parts List for Yoraish's Lego Technic Tatra 813 Trial Truck. You will need 1,363 parts to complete it! See the link below. Regarding posting my e-mail address online: Yes, I am aware of the possibility of getting "spam", but it is nothing that my e-mail filter or "Delete" cannot handle. The folks asking for assistance (here) do not yet have the required 10 Eurobricks posts to send Private Messages (PMs). I have provided my e-mail address on other Eurobricks posts (most notably to provide PDF Building Instructions for the four alternate models for the 8448 Super Street Sensation set), and have been able to send ~8 AFOLs large, 4-part PDF files via e-mails when they asked for them. No problems. PartsListForLegoTatra813_6x6TrTr.pdf

@ Thyrane: I used LDD Manager to build a parts list from the Lego Digital Designer (LDD) .lxf file, then I corrected some of the incorrect colors of various parts. If you (or anybody else) e-mail me at LudersDG@MSN.com , I will send you the Excel parts list or a PDF version (whichever you prefer).

In case folks are not following the other thread, RayJunx just posted this second YouTube video on his "Lego Mech Technic Demo": "This video introduce all single features of the Mark1B LEGO mech in detail, including the weapon systems. Some more fun and demo videos you find in my channel. More informations about the battle contest available at http://www.freakwave.de ." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMqjMvmlf00 "THE ULTIMATE LEGO BATTLE 2011 Date: 05.11.2011 Location: Bavaria - Germany Contest category: Show/design, Race, Parcour, Target shooting, Battle, Mission Contest rules overview: Only standard LEGO parts without glue or manipulation. Exceptions: Strings and ruber for the weapon systems. Staff: Rayjunx - Producer, Mechbuilder/pilot Tan - Cameraman, Assistent McMark - Pilot, Assistent IPhil - Pilot, Assistent We looking for: Pilots, cameraman, mech (functional and dummy), environment builder, crew and spectators Just mail CONTACT@FREAKWAVE.DE Tips: Use all motors as near as possible at the thing you want to move, every lego gear loses a lot of mechanical power. If you not able to come to Germany you can send your vehicle/building via post and be part of the event. After the event you can watch it in Youtube."

@ Igor: Have you seen some of the 100%-Lego large wheel designs on this Eurobricks post ?

[Lego Purists, look away] Since you seem willing to experiment, you could get some commercial ~120mm RC wheels from your local hobby shop, and glue some 4185 "Technic Wedge Belt Wheel (Pulley)" parts to hold onto a Technic Axle.

The rules do not limit the Challenge to 5-18 year olds, and AFOLs are not specifically addressed, so one could ASSUME that AFOLs could enter too. During the first month of the 2010 Lego Technic Challenge, lots of AFOLs submitted entries, and TLG then made it clear that AFOLs would be in a separate category than youngsters. I would imagine that the same thing would happen this year. There's only 2 weeks in which to submit an entry, so start building!

Yes, but if one uses Voltio's suggestion about using some 2444 "Plate, Modified 2 x 2 with Hole" parts, the AA PF Rechargeable Battery Box or new AAA PF Battery box can "stick" on the modified plate and be attached to a nearby Technic Liftarm with Technic Pins. The AAA Battery Box will not have nearly the same "milliAmpHour" (mAH) rating as the AA PF Rechargeable Battery Box, so one will have to change AAA batteries often.

On the Lego.com TECHNIC Challenge website , there is this announcement: "Take the Technic Challenge - Linear Actuator!" "This is the LEGO® Technic Challenge competition! - here you have a chance at showing the LEGO Technic designers your designs and your abilities with the Technic elements. The competition is very simple 1. Build a model out of primarily LEGO Technic elements. 2. Take a picture of the model 3. Press the button below to Enter the competition 4. Enter your contact information 5. Upload your image What to build? This month (March) the competition focuses on Linear movement. Build a cool model with nice functions based on linear movement – with or without the linear actuator! Read a Designer's Blog entry explaining more about Linear Actuators. How does it work? Right now you can submit models - On the 15th of March - a panel of judges consisting of designers, marketing managers, building instruction artists and more will pick out (of all submissions) 10 finalists that will then be put up for voting here on the site. Considerations for the Nominees will be based on Model, Design, build to theme and age. The winner will receive a prize and also continue to the Big Finale in October." Here are the Prizes for this month's Challenge: "Theme to build to: Linear Actuator!" "So if your models get selected by the panel of judges to go into the voting round - and all of the visitors here on the LEGO Technic site like your model the most - you will win! The prize is first and foremost a 8069 Backhoe Loader of the new 2011 assortment. Furthermore, your model will go on to the Finale in October where it will compete with 7 other winners over the Grand Prize: >> The Complete 2011 LEGO® Technic Novelty Assortment << This is all models from the LEGO Technic line that are new and have been launched in 2011." To enter the Challenge, go here (but be sure to read the "fine print"): "We need your consent! ENDS Friday 18th of March by 23:59 CET [Central European Time]" [NOTE that there is a discrepancy between this and the "March 15" date listed earlier.] "Before you can upload you image to us, we need your consent to be able to use your mail-address in case you win. This means that we will now require you to log in with your LEGO ID (if you do not have one, you must create one). Then we will present you with the Terms and Rules for this competition, you must read and accept these in order to participate in the competition. If your age is below the legally required age to consent to the Terms and Rule, we will ask for your Parents/Legal Guardians email-address to have them consent for you. In the fortunate case that you are the winner of this competition - we will be contacting you by E-Mail, therefore please make sure that the email-adress in your LEGO ID is a valid one." Please note that we have had a lot of submissions with URLs and/or contact information in the description. Our Moderation team will be disqualifying those models before they even get to the panel of judges as it is in violation with our privacy policy." Here are the "Lego Technic Challenge Official Rules and Regulations". Here are the highlights: 1) One must be at least 5 years old. "Entrants between 5 and 18 years of age must request permission to enter from their parents or legal guardians." 2) "LIMIT: Every person can submit more entries to the building challenge, but only one (1) entry per person will be considered when the final winners are selected. The 10 winners of the building challenge will be selected by a LEGO jury consisting of LEGO Technic designers and marketing responsible." 3) "File format must be in .png, .jpg or .gif, and NOT to exceed 2,5 MB in size. The entry must be the entrant’s own work. Once you submit your file, you will be officially entered into the Challenge. Challenge entries cannot be revised or altered once submitted. Once submitted, all submitted components become the property of the Challenge Entities and will not be returned. Should you experience any difficulties with any aspect of the LEGO Technic Challenge, please send an email to customer.service@LEGO.com and your request will be answered." 4) "EVALUATION OF ENTRIES: Building Challenge judging will begin at 01:00:00 AM Central European Time (“CET”) on March 19 2011 and will end at 11:59:59 PM CET on March 23 2011. All entries will be reviewed by a panel of LEGO® Technic Designers based on the following criteria: creativity, originality and theme. Note, entries must be created using only pieces from the LEGO collection and primarily LEGO® Technic pieces. The 10 models that score the highest cumulative scores in the review will go into a group of Semi-Finalists from which One (1) Grand Prize Winner will be selected by online users of the LEGO Technic web site."

I have read (from multiple Trial Truckers) that using Differentials on Trial Trucks is a bad idea. You may want to read Zblj's 5-part "Trial Truck Tips" on BrickTruckTrial.com .

This looks good so far! Your Brickshelf photos are huge -- they could "go on a diet" too. If your design for your 2-speed Power Functions transmission does not work out, you could consider using Sariel's new design for a "2-Speed Heavy-Duty Linear Gearbox" (complete with Building Instructions):

It looks like the real Jeep Willys!

From Wikipedia: "The Fiat 682 is the first real truck versatile trucks and tractor trailers, manufactured by Italian automaker Fiat VI from 1952 to 1988. It is part of the vast family of heavy trucks Fiat VI equipped cabin. This vehicle will be manufactured for over 36 years and will be the main means of transport still currently serving in Africa. It covers the range heavy transport 16 to 44 tons."

Igor, I looked at the procedures you outlined to achieve the 119-mm-diameter tire on your previous Eurobricks post. If you are breaking plastic in an attempt to achieve a 125-mm tire, you may have surpassed the material's limit. The 119-mm tire you used for your John Deeer 8270R Tractor is well shown on your Brickshelf gallery. My son bought a rubber steering wheel cover for his truck, and the instructions said to heat it up to be able to fit it over the wheel. So, you may try an experiment where you heat up the Lego tire in hot water, then quickly stretch it over the wheel rim. Of course, when the rubber cools down it may crush the plastic , but it's worth a try....

Yoraish had posted this full description of his Tatra 813 6x6 v2 Trial Truck on BrickTruckTrial.com , and big pictures on his Flickr photostream. I really like "The [2-speed] gearbox [which] works this way: The motor drives a pin with 2 gears on in front of the other, when the motor and the pin are being moved forward one of the gears is meshed with his set of gears (gear 1) and when it is being moving backwards the opposite happens (gear 2). The gearbox is duplicated on both sides of the truck: The gearbox is operated by 2 pf M motors driving a worm gear on a 24t gear. They have a lot of power and precision." Specifications: •2 XL motors for drive •6×6 drive •4×6 steering •M motor for steering •2 speeds gearbox •Headlights •2 battery boxes •Functional steering wheel

It's looking real good (from Nico71's Supercar Roadster Brickshelf gallery):