allanp

Having one motor per axle, unlinked, would actually be authentic to the real life version I think. Will be interesting to see the new drive hubs if they are using the larger CV joints.

I don't mind not having a load included as there are plenty of things around the house to wrap it's claw around. Here kitty kitty!!! Besides, this thing will lift a good heavy weight. Including a big and heavy enough load to demonstrate it's lifting power would be very expensive. And nothing Lego could include would be as authentic as a good sized stick from the garden!

If they would go through the trouble if making a wheel cover they might as well just make a new wheel, complete with a much deeper (more positive) off-set. I watched Austrian brick fans speed build on youtube and while he was putting the hoses on the valves, I noticed that he only placed them on the ports part way down, the hoses were only just on the thicker part of the port, instead of seating them fully all the way down to the valve body. It was so loose that when he placed the axle that bends the hoses over, at least two of the black hoses came off at the exact same place it happened to @kbalage . Maybe there needs to be a notice in the instructions to fully seat the hoses all the way down to the valve body?

I have two variants also, my first one released in 1994 had the black 16t clutch gears and grey tow balls with axle. A newer one i have has the grey clutch gears and black towballs with connector peg, the steering arms have a round hole to accept them. I didn't know they had black tow balls with the axle end.

The more I see it the more I want it! One small and kinda obvious tip to make fitting the hoses easier, wash your hands right before a big hose fitting session, it makes it much easier to grip the hoses and especially the little T-pieces where there isn't much room for fat adult fingers, and don't wear gloves!

The way models are getting bigger I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see those again, in fact even larger ones are probably more likely. But we still might see them if there is a use for them. I think we can make the 2x2 short cylinders more useful by making a change to them. I'd like to see them have additional mounting points near the top port. The internal piston doesn't go that far up, so there should be space for a 1/2 module deep hole to accept a half pin, which would enable them to be mounted rigidly like when being used for a stabilizer.... ....and also allow for mounting them near the top port only as seen in many instances, one such example being the twin slewing cylinders on a JCB...

looks good, fairly clean with minimal gaps. Where are the black wheels from may I ask?

Agreed, I have a hunch this will sell fairy well. But I wonder if the app will get much use, like I never used the extra zetros app features, literally just the screen to drive it. I will likely get the rover but I don't think ill use the app with it to be honest.

@SNIPE I'm surprised no-one has made a 42157 mod thread so feel free to start one.

I don't understand his language but I think he put the diffs in wrong also.

Yes this was my concern for my own idea also. Making it a Lego exclusive, or even one you have to specifically ask for might help. You'd have to let the customers know it exists without unintended purchases. But I wonder how many people want the Liebherr but can't justify spending that much on Lego, but would buy this cheaper bare version? How many more sets would people buy if they could buy bare versions? I think TLG would consider it if it was a profitable idea. Lego sells two versions of the bolide, just in different colours, I guess it depends if there are enough potential customers to justify the extra logistics. @Zerobricks while Technic still has interesting sets like the Mars Rover, John Deere skidder, American tow truck and airbus helicopter I can be happy, though it is a shame there hasn't been an equally interesting flagship for a while (excluding Liebherr as still undecided). The endless cars is annoying but if it helps to fund the Technic theme well let them have it. Buuuuuuuut on the other hand, they could make cars more interesting, the Peugeot did have some small novelty and the ford GT feels much better for being 1:12 scale. But, and I've said this before, there's a lot of other cool hot hatch cars that I think would sell well, at would give us something truly novel with front wheel drive, McPherson strut sustention and transverse engine etc. After all, Technic mostly make vehicles and it seems that front wheel drive family cars are the most common vehicle on the road in most places.

What I mean is that people that buy the bare set without electronics do so with the understanding that they will need to supply their own PU components in order to build the set as per the unchanged instructions or they will have to do their own modifications to use non PU alternatives. This is very common in the hobby RC world.

No I meant everything would stay the same (instructions, design, everything), the only difference is the box of PU electronics is left out of the box. This much cheaper version of the set is for those that already have those components or want to use PF or whatever.

MUUUURPH!!!! Sorry, got mixed up with the other space movie starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain

The Leibherr (the real one) uses two engines to drive multiple hydraulic motors to drive all the functions. Currently there isn't a way to replicate this accurately in Lego (unless they release a pneumatic motor....or hydraulics!) but having multiple drive motors drive it's multiple functions feels closer to reality than having a multifunction gearbox, which is never realistic. So I guess I prefer the Leibherr as is, I certainly prefer it over 42082. However, 700 Euro?! I wonder if it would be possible to follow the example of other RC manufacturers, which often give you the option to buy a model without electronics, in case you already have your own (as I do since I own 42100) or decide you want to add something different to what the original model comes with. Would that ever be possible? Or would Lego get too many complaints from customers buying the wrong one and wondering why there aren't any electronics included. But as the PU components are already packed in their own separate box, all Lego would have to do is sell a version that doesn't have that box.

Agreed. The only real "use" for an airtank is to try to make up for a lack of compressed air, but it's always better to address the underlying problem by making your air supply bigger and better.

We didn't get leaked images of the other sets but we did get one for the Liebherr, maybe to gauge public opinion? For a similar PU content as 42100 (one less motor) and 150cm height, that comes closer to explaining the price. Maybe this could lift the top piece onto the 10307 eiffel tower? That would be impressive.

Certainly FDM printing would be very difficult even if you allowed enough extra material to drill/finish smooth because of the tiny gaps between layers. Resin printing however might work better? But I wouldn't limit yourself to just thinking of 3D printing. I love 3D printing but I do get the feeling that now it's more available people are slowly forgetting about more traditional means of making things. Back to your need for an LPE valve, there is something I have wanted to try but haven't gotten round to. Most pneumatic valves in industry are nothing like Legos valves (Lego valves need to fit the "system") but are actually spool valves which are physically much closer to a pneumatic piston. My idea is to take a small 1x Lego pneumatic piston (which slides nice and freely) and figure out a way to glue/drill extra ports on the side in such a way as to turn it into a free sliding spool valve. It's easy to add a port in the centre to direct air to one side or the other, the tricky part is the exhaust, as you need to let air exhaust from the other side of the attached piston.

Agree with what others have said but a few other things you can do is build out of order. You could build a mock-up of the outer shell of the car to get an idea of what needs to go where and what will fit. You can also build a sketch model, like a very first draft of the functions. Looks and colour choices and possibly bodywork are absolutely not important for a sketch model.

Yeah, I think it's fine for people to suggest their ideas, just maybe not for @Jim to comment too much on them to keep the next contest more of a mystery.

Yeah, the very few clear stickers I've used all look worse than the colour matching issue, no matter how clean the brick before you apply it, the exposed glue of the sticker seems to act like an electrostatic magnet to any microscopic particle in the air then magnifies it!

Does the Liebherr use an adder mechanism in reality though? I don't think the large modulus gears are needed in the skidder, they only drive the fake engine and the red diff is very strong anyway. But it's nice to be able to get two of them in a cheaper set than the Ferrari and I think the yellow colour fits much better than the red of the other diff.

That could work, if you are worried about the magnets being too close maybe try a tiny rotary sensor on the steering pivot axis: https://www.rls.si/eng/rm08-super-small-non-contact-rotary-encoder The body of this one is 8mm.

I haven't needed to know their position to a greater accuracy than I can see with my own eyes. "In a bit more, out a bit more, perfect!" But for return to center steering, you can put two cylinders back to back, to create one long cylinder that has a middle point when only one is fully extended and the other is fully retracted. But you might have to change your setup to fit that in. I haven't tried your string fed feedback idea. Lego motors are stiff to back drive and Lego valves are stiff to move and with a noticeably large dead zone in the middle so it's a challenge but doable, but as you mentioned potentiometers, if you are talking commercial, non Lego potentiometers that move with no force at all, and then electrically driving the valve and taking the deadzone in the middle into account, that would be an interesting experiment, don't see why it wouldn't work. But if that's the idea then you could get tiny potentiometers and mount them right to the steering pivot point I guess.

Pretty sure the claw will lift more than that if you hold the back.....er....I mean the front down.