DLuders

From BG87's YouTube video of the 8265 B-Model, you can see that the claw ALMOST touches the table: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaLNj7J3hvc

@ Burf2000: On Philo's "LEGO 9V Technic Motors compared characteristics" webpage, you can see how 12V increases the performance of the 9V motors. However, Philo added this disclaimer: "Caution ! Though I tested motors with a 12V supply, I can't guarantee that they bear the extra load for extended time period. Use that at your own risks !" Philo (Philippe Hurbain) also did a "LEGO Train Motors comparison" too.

@ ZBLJ: You must mean this piece (Bricklink 98989)

@ Meatman: It was featured in The Lego Car Blog on May 5th.

Yes, skppo's Automatic Clutch concept is interesting:

@ Graysmith: The 32187 "Technic Driving Ring Extension" part CAN fit onto the concave end of the 6542 "Technic, Gear 16 Tooth with Clutch" -- I just did it in LDD. You have to place a common axle through both of them and ROTATE the Driving Ring Extension so that it fits past the four "nubs" on the inside surface of the gear. I found it easier to place the gear FLAT on the LDD baseplate (so that the concave surface is facing upwards), inserting an axle through the hole, sliding the Driving Ring Extension (male side downwards) over the axle, then using the LDD Rotation Tool to ROTATE the Driving Ring Extension so that it can fit inside the gear's "hub". This is the assembly:

...SOLD for USD $1,626.00 ( = 1,298.98 EUR)! What a huge fundraising success! Many wishes came true today (for a child, Paul, and the winning bidder)!

hengeresVmotor/ mbmc137 posted this of his Lego Technic Remote-Controlled 4-Speed Gearbox. Photo-sequence Building instructions appear on his Brickshelf gallery. He wrote that it is "A compact gearbox for LOW torque. Because of the red driving rings, isn't able to use in big and heavy vehicles, and directly after a high torque motor(XL). This size contains the 2 switching motor, and ready to biuld in. Of course, it needs some strengthening in the 20:12 gears, this video shows only the working method."

Yes, your LDD design should work -- you have replicated HarupapaLEGO's above.Out of curiosity, to what are you going to attach your claw?

You may have to consider a Lego Technic Driving Ring setup. As seen on HarupapaLEGO's , "This video shows the mechanism of LEGO Technic Transmission Driving Ring (P/N: 6539) and [16-tooth] Clutch Gear (P/N: 6542). The new video is here: " [2nd video below]

As seen on The Lego Group's official below, you can see that the small log grabber can freely rotate. Is this what you mean? If so, you can download the 9397's Building Instructions here to see how it is made. Attach a motor to the 2-long Technic Axle Connector (sticking out of the side of the top of the grabber claw).

@ Sam Lambert: Good observation, and welcome to Eurobricks! I can't wait to buy a bunch of these new Power Functions elements!

@ Pedro Artunes: Have you seen RJMcNamara's "Ultimate LEGO Technic & Mindstorms Crane Claw"? It HAD both LDRAW and Lego Digital Designer (LDD) Building Instructions, but the links don't work. However, the ONLINE INSTRUCTIONS (at the bottom of that webpage) do work. I saved the entire Online Instructions webpage on my computer's hard drive (by doing a File-->Save As--> Webpage). This shows it in action: "The design is based from footage of the Claws used in wrecking and recycling yards to pick-up scrap. This Claw can be used with either your LEGO Technics, or LEGO NXT Cranes. It's the Ultimate Ball Grabber! "I've been working on-and-off for a couple years now on a reliable LEGO Technics, Crane Claws which will pick up balls reliably. Initially I started of with a two sided clamp type claw with a rounded cage to secure the ball, but this only worked reliably if the claw was directly over the ball. There had to be a better way! "The design is based from footage of the Claws used in wrecking and recycling yards to pick-up scrap. "For full project details, including CAD Instructions, please visit http://www.rjmcnamara.com/?p=4265 ."

I don't recall another Lego Technic charity auction held during the last few years. The Vampire GT is now up to USD $1,425 (38 bids), with ~5 hours to go! That's equivalent to 1,138.41 Euros! Do I see $1,500?

It's still hard to beat Paul Boratko's Custom Lego Technic 5-Speed Transmission Gearbox (282-piece kit that can build both of the designs seen below). Instead of the parts kit noted above, one can download the PDF Building Instructions and Parts List from Paul's Crowkillers.com website. The instructions were prepared by Eric Albrecht (Blakbird).

The cover art on Sariel's upcoming Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide has been changed, and the number of pages has been trimmed to 256 (probably to stick to the USD $29.95 price). The release is now scheduled for October 2012 (per this No Starch Press webpage): "The LEGO® Technic system is a line of LEGO that opens a realm of new building possibilities—you can design LEGO models that really move with motors, gears, pneumatics, pulleys, linkages, and more. "The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide is filled with building techniques and tips for creating strong yet elegant machines and mechanisms. With author Pawel "Sariel" Kmiec's expert guidance, you'll learn the foundations of LEGO Technic building, and how to use the system to create impressive to-scale models. Sariel, a world-renowned LEGO Technic expert, offers unique insight into mechanical principles like torque, power translation, and gear ratios, all with the miniature Technic brick. You'll also learn how to build working clutch and transmission systems, differentials, and suspensions. "This full color, beautifully illustrated book is a visual feast of building inspiration and includes ideas for building amazing machines like tanks with working treads, miniature supercars, cranes and bulldozers, and much more."

Here is a nice Lego Technic Forest Machine by ale0794/ furius. Based on the Lego Technic 8265 B-model (seen in the photo below), it appears on this and Brickshelf gallery) and uses "4 XL-motors, 4 M-motors....blade that can really cut little plant":

As photographed on Bob Hayes' Flickr photoset, Technic AFOLs will appreciate this Lego Bascule Train Bridge (with its Flickr video of it opening and closing). It was displayed at BrickMagic 2012, but was also seen at past Lego conventions. Here is an older image of the same bridge:

@ ZBLJ: You're correct -- your LDD .lxf file with all three of your Lego Mecanum Wheel designs appear on your original topic post. Your Mecanum Wheel Design #3 appears on the extreme right of your LDD screenshot picture: @ VASH321: I had to adjust the PDF Parts List to account for ZBLJ's warning: "Dont forget, the first (smallest wheels) dont have rims, and the third wheels use 4 Y shaped pieces, which werent in LDD, so I had to use 2 studs long half beams arround a half bush." Here is the adjusted Parts List for his Lego Mecanum Wheel #3: Mecanum Wheel Number 3: 32013 Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Angled #1 (24 ea.) 3705 Technic, Axle 4L (12 ea.) 3706 Technic, Axle 6L (1 ea.) 3713 Technic Bush (12 ea.) 41677 Technic, Liftarm 1 x 2 Thin (12 ea.) [per Zblj's post] 4185 Technic Wedge Belt Wheel (Pulley) (4 ea.) 42610 Wheel 11 x 8 mm with Center Groove (12 ea.) 4265c Technic Bush 1/2 Smooth (16 ea.) (12 ea.) [per Zblj's post below] 43093 Technic, Axle Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise (24 ea.) 44809 Technic, Pin Connector Perpendicular 2 x 2 Bent (24 ea.) 50945 Tire 14mm D. x 6mm Solid Smooth (12 ea.) x202 Technic, Pin Long without Friction Ridges Lengthwise (12 ea.) 44374 Technic, Liftarm Rotor 3 Blade Thin (4 ea.) [added per Zblj's post]

On MOCpages, George Staples posted this excellent Lego Technic TRANSMISSION (Gearbox) TUTORIAL. He wrote that "I've had this one in the building stages for quite a few weeks. I would have had it up sooner, but things come up. So here it is, my transmission/gearbox tutorial. I have built a couple of different transmissions here to show you different types that are out there. I also take very little to no credit for these designs. The only one I really "came up" with is the 5+R, but it was based on the 4 basic 4 speed. "Transmissions, or gearboxes give your creation the ability to change speed, and tourque ratios. The first thing I Should go over is gear ratios. Now if you are really lazy, or just short on time, I highly recommend Sariel's Gear Ratio calculator. Heck I recommend it even if you are good at calculating gear ratios. The main reason being that it allows you to enter a whole gear system, and then enter a motor, and it will calculate the theoretical RPMs (Rotations Per Minute) and torque. It also has a handy little gear coupler, which allows you to find where you can put gears realitive to one another. "Anyway, back to gear ratios. A gear ratio is the number of teeth of the drive gear to the follower gear. The drive gear is the gear that is being powered, and the follower gear is the gear that is connected directly to the drive gear. So if you have a drive gear with 24 teeth, and a follower gear with 8 teeth, the gear ratio would be 24:8 or when reduced, 3:1. When calculating a gear ratio, it's best to reduce the gear with the smallest amount of teeth to 1. Don't get overwhelmed with gear ratios, you can always use the previously mentioned calculator. "I have included 4 different types of transmissions in this tutorial. They are: Linear 5 speed: Automatic Transmission: 4 speed + Reverse: 5 speed + Reverse: Recommend visiting that MOCpages topic to read the explanations and the various pictures. His demonstrates all four of the transmission gearboxes:

Bless you, Paul, for your GENEROUS donation! The bidding is up to $1,125 (with ~8 hours to go). That can definitely fulfill the last big wish of a child with a terminal illness. You're a good man!

@ jakobkristensen: On this Eurobricks post, VFracingteam already said that "With a weight of 10+ kilo's and beams....it can't float."

@ VASH321: I had saved Zblj's various Lego Mecanum Wheel LDD designs on my computer (even though they no longer appear on his original Vector Racer topic or on his Brickshelf gallery). I recognized the wheels at the video 0:27 point as being his Mecanum Wheels #3 design. I posted his Lego Digital Designer (LDD) .lxf file and PDF Parts List on SkyDrive for you to download. I used Superkalle's excellent LDD Manager to create the Parts List (in Excel), which I then converted to PDF for ease of use.

@ AndyCW: You should read this prior Eurobricks topic about the Power Function Infrared Receiver's current limitation. Other related topics can be seen here. Here is a Eurobricks topic about the "Maximum Number of Components on PF Battery Box."

@ johnnyvgoode: Peter81 already pointed out the Lego Cuusoo Feedback on Mahjqa's project, a few posts back: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/13519#FeedbackTab .