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GBC General Discussion
Jim posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Great Ball Contraption (GBC) - General Discussion and Index This is a topic used for GBC general conversation, questions, hints, tips, etc. This first post will be used to maintain an Index of GBCs here on Eurobricks or other websites. Eurobricks topics LEGO GBC 8 + Building Instructions (5 modules - 2 motors) New Akiyuki GBC Instruction Index Other sources Greatballcontraption.com -
For Brickfete 2016 and the Friends contest, I made a Friends-ly tree slide GBC module. The input and output are to GBC standards so it should play nice with other GBC modules. During the event I had make various modifications and fixes. Although, it worked great at home. I think I got the bugs out of it now. It had pretty good response and feedback from girls and moms. LEGO Friends Tree Slide GBC Module by dr_spock_888, on Flickr Watch the balls climb up and slide down. -
here is an unfinished entry for the contest, photos to come soon 9v system -
Hello, this is amazing: LEGO Great Ball Contraption Circuit - 60 Modules, GBC-Layout 2015: Skærbæk Fan Weekend, shown by Kris, BeLUG. Enjoy! Best wishes Andres -
LEGO Friends Wheel Bucket Excavator Great Ball Contraption - the Friendly WBE way to move GBC balls It has been a while since I've made a GBC module. This is something fun for the LUG's upcoming event season. I've been sitting on an idea to use those "scoop" pieces in a GBC for a couple of years. The upcoming BWE finally kickstarted my bum to action. It took some trial and error to get them to work. I may have to do more tweaking once it starts going to events. As GBCers know, what works great at home, does not outside the home. Wheel Bucket Excavator GBC by dr_spock_888, on Flickr I still have to make a suitable ball receiving/loading bin. I am not sure the events GBC coordinators will let me use the lid from a take out order of french fries.
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Looking for another GBC to build I downloaded the excellent instructions by Paul Verbeek for building his GBC # 5. This was built as per instructions but as I only had one 40T gear I had to use for the 1st stage reduction a 36/12T gear combination, giving an overall gear reduction of 15:1 instead of 25:1. Many of my studded parts are quite old & worn. When the contraption was run the increased cycle rate caused it to fall apart !! Decided to build a stud-less version and eliminate the double gear reduction which was replaced by a simple 24:1 worm gear unit directly driving the crank arm. Instead of using the ball loading device shown in the instructions I used the same ball loading gate as used on my GBC #1 - Bucket Wheel Lift. Getting the trip lever geometry right took a lot of attempts to perfect ! Ball return run is only temporary until I build a 4th module (vertical lift ?) and link them all together. The only non lego part is the 56L x 28L base plate by Play BLOX from Wilco at £3.50 - approx 1/4 equivelant lego price. See video which is best with sound Off. [m.e.d.i.a.] [/m.e.d.i.a.]Doug -
Saw this video today.... Just had to post. Simply amazing. Honestly, I post as a potential GBC in Lego jocularly. Not sure all elements in Lego can behave in such a manner as to make this possible. But what fun if it could! Would be another great group project. -
Greetings. I made a few GBC modules. A conveyor belt, ball accelerator and jig saw. GBC Modules by dr_spock_888, on Flickr
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I am afol and I own a few lego sets, and I am very interested in starting GBC bulds but I dont really know where to start. Any help would be nice. What sets to buy to get started with GBC builds? where to get the basket and football balls? where to get the gears? where to get the power? Web sites etc. Thanks in Advance DS -
Hi guys. I have begun construction of my newest GBC module, and I've decided to try sharing my journey with you. I am aiming to make a projectile launcher, that will get the balls across the gap between two tables, a distance of about one meter. I have considered two approaches: contra-rotating wheels as in a bowling machine; or impact from a moving lever, like someone taking a golf shot. After an afternoon playing around with contra-rotating wheels, I decided that the moving lever had more chance of success. As most of my structural elements are currently tied up in display models and other GBC modules, I decided to use the one set I have that isn't either built or assimilated into my collection - a 8110 Unimog (no longer MISB because I had already raided it for the pneumatic pump). As a result, I would like to see if I can make this from only the parts in this set - because this wasn't going to be hard enough already! Here's a very quick rendition of what I've got so far: The part on the end of the arm is the rubber 2-length liftarm, because I thought it would make for a gentler impact on the balls. I plan to raise the balls vertically into the path of the arm just like they do at some driving ranges. In order to get a rate of ~one ball/sec I'm probably going to have to build two or maybe even four of these things side by side. I do have a couple of questions I'd like to ask the forum: When using shocks like this, should I stop the movement of the arm before the shock expands fully? Or will the shock handle the sudden stop by itself? Has anyone built a reliable projectile module that shoots over such a large distance? I don't remember seeing one online anywhere, though I've seen plenty that cover smaller distances. I fear that at this range precision is going to become an issue. How should I prime the arm? I need to allow for quick release, and automatic re-arming. Is there any other mechanism I should consider? Like perhaps a centrifugal gun? I'll keep you all updated on how I progress. Owen. -
Hello I finally finished working on my new GBC loop. It has 5 modules: Pneumatic Tower http://www.eurobrick...35#entry1768940 See-Saw http://www.eurobrick...54#entry1716090 Android GBC Counter (V1.5) http://www.eurobrick...43#entry1684650 Drag & Tilt http://www.eurobrick...topic=85411&hl= Marble Pump V3 (no topic) -It uses 6 M Motors (the pneumatic tower takes 2 as I don't have an XL motor) -There are 30 balls on the track. -The GBC counter app says the amount of balls per second is 1.1. Not much to add... Enjoy the video :) -
Hello! I finally had the time to finish building & filming my new GBC module. It uses a single switch and 2 cylinders. Because the air will always go to the cylinder which job is easier, the movment sequence works perfectly with one switch. 2 PF M motors are used to compress and change the switch's position, (2 because one PF M was too slow and I don't have an XL motor) It was very hard to build the body of the crane as the cylinders try to "escape" from turning the gears. Here's the video. Not very long as I will also show this module on my next GBC loop
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Great Ball Contraption (GBC) - Index This first post will be used to maintain an Index of GBCs here on Eurobricks or other websites. Eurobricks topics GBC General Discussion LEGO GBC 8 + Building Instructions (5 modules - 2 motors)
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Hi everybody, here is my new GBC module, using a particular "In basket" following and improving an idea of Platystick (a Techlug member) : the balls fall out of the basket by its side, no possibility of locking. The six-arms wheel system is already known for a long time. The chassis is optimized, the mechanics very simple : M-motor, 16t-20t, and on the one hand, worm gear-8t for the in-basket, on the other hand worm gear-24t for the 6-arms wheel. The module can be used in a classic GBC circuit just moving a flex axle (the same as the four on the 8285 front racks), then the balls are redirected to the end of the module using the ramp which isn't usend in the video :) -
Hello! This is my new GBC module,named See-Saw. It uses one M motor to move the swing (using a crank). The ball input has 2 barriers which are opposed to each other (when one is up,the other is down),so only 2 balls can enter the swing at once. That's it,I think that seeing a GBC module is more fun than reading about it,so here's the video - Thanks for watching!
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Hi I've made a GBC ball counter which uses an android smartphone and an app I wrote in order to detect and count GBC balls. Iv'e done this before (here), but this time I tried something different: counting the balls directly from the GBC track, without a special module. The counter uses the phone's camera to scan a row of pixels (most of them positioned on the track itself). If it detects a drastic change in one of the pixels' colors, it registers a pass and does some calcucations (such as balls / second). It also waits 200ms before scanning for balls again, so the counter won't register the same ball twice. Also included is a small algorithm that will ignore changes in lighting, to prevent false positives. More information: - 100% accuracy rate - never misses a ball or counts the same ball twice - Can handle up to 5 (!) balls per second, which is 5 times more than the GBC standard - The app uses the camera preview mode (~20 fps) - Coded in Java for android devices. I hope you'll like it :)
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One for the structural engineers out there... I am building a structure to support my latest GBC module. I have vertical supports, and a horizontal cross-member. I am using a 12-long brick to form a 6-8-10 triangle to maintain the right angle between the support and the cross-member (thank you Pythagoras!). But which is the best way to do it? In the red version (on the left), the 6 side is horizontal, and the 8 side is vertical. In the blue version, it's the other way around. Which one should I use? Or are they equivalent? Under which circumstances should I use one over the other? In this case, the brace will be under compression (holdling something up). Would the answer be any different if it was under tension (holding something down)? Thanks Owen. P.S. The forces involved are not great, so I'm certain that either one would suffice. I'm just curious about whether one is better than the other. I'd settle for which one is more asthetically pleasing.
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My new GBC Module(s). These are actually two modules working together,both using the same motor. The tricky part was to sync everything up - making the motor switch the cart direction just when it reaches it's extreme. Everything stays in sync without any drift (tested for ~2 hours,stays in perfect sync) The motor always spins in the same direction. Here's the video Thanks for watching! (It's very hard to name GBC modules )
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Hi! I made a new GBC module. This one wasn't aimed to be complex or very clever - It was aimed to be simple and easy to operate. I built it because many people on youtube asked me for a simple,not motorized GBC module,and only uses common Lego pieces. It's very fun to operate as you only need to press a button and the ball elevates,unlike previous marble pumps which were hard to operate by hand. I think that the video & description provide enough info...so...here's the video (there is also a LDD file in the description)
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Hello! I had this idea of making a ball counter for a long time,however,I don't own an NXT and neither have enough pieces (and the knowledge) to build a mechanical one (like Nico71's) So after some work I came out with this - I've built an app for my Nexus 4,which uses the phone's built in proximity sensor to detect proximity change. The app then adds one to the ball counter,and waits 700ms before measuring again (because of the lever sometimes jumping a little after it moves) The first prototype was a rail going in front of the proximity sensor,so every time a ball crosses it will block it. This,however,wasn't reliable at all because of the sensor's low refresh rate. So I built what you see in the video - now,a ball goes up in a threads lift,moving a lever which then blocks the proximity sensor. It's 100% accurate. Here's the video,thanks for watching!
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After the success of my previous GBC Counter module, I decided to upgrade the app and also release it to the public along with a detailed tutorial for building your own GBC counter. How it works explained here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=83844 The app & module support the GBC standard of 1 bps. New features: -Balls per second display -The new app & module can handel more bps than the first version -GBC timer -Better design Tutorial download (includes a PDF file, LDD file and the app itself) http://www.mediafire.com/download/wmfxy3ny1rbdrtc/GBC_Counter_Tutorial.rar The video: Thanks for watching!
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Hi everyone, Of all the things made with Lego, my favorites are inevitably the Great Ball Contraptions. GBCs, as they are known for short, are Rube Goldberg-style machines designed with the sole purpose of moving tiny balls through a circuit. The GBC is an elegant ballet of Lego, and the ultimate contruction feat of these balls as well as their robotic NXT counterparts. The mechanisms that move the balls through the loop are generally as complex as possible, using clever actions that are reminiscent of the workings of a factory right out of How It’s Made. I think, the Great Ball Contraption is just about the greatest feat of Lego engineering that there is. So I mostly make LEGO GBCs with in particular GBC-plans with more modules mixed in one big great ball contraption. I only publish the final videos on youtube. So subscribe if you don't want to miss anything. For interim updates you must visit my facebookpage or my website. So make sure to check them out as well! If you like what you seeing, please support the CUUSOO-projects (links are below), like my facebookpage and subscribe to my channel. My latest projects: LEGO GBC 5: LEGO GBC 6: LEGO GBC 7: Contact: Website: http://pv-productions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook...206638589482664 Youtube: http://www.youtube.c...op?feature=mhee Support site: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/43300 NOTE: I usually publish a video once a months or even longer. Keep in mind: quality costs time and I do not have always time;)
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My eBay order of 14mm beads arrived in the mail from China today. Big thanks to EyesOnly for providing the eBay link. They costed about $5 USD. Since I have a few Lego balls, I thought I do a comparison. Here is a picture of the recent Lego balls from Friends sets and the Chinese bead on the right. As you can see the bead is shinier and smoother than the Lego balls. Also the bead has a bigger hole that goes all the way through for the strings. The hole in the Lego balls do not go all the way through, therefore, you can't make a necklace or bracelet out of them without drilling. With the bigger hole there is probably less mass. I weighed 8 Lego balls and 8 beads. 8 Lego balls = 12 grams 8 beads = 11 grams The slight weight difference didn't seem to cause a problem with my ball accelerator module since I am not flinging the beads that far. GBCs that shoot long distance may need some testing and adjustments. There is also a size difference with the beads. They don't have the exact size consistence as Lego when measured with a caliper. Lego ball = 14.07 mm beads = 13.5 to 13.7 mm In general, they seem to work well with my 4 GBC modules. One issue I found with the bigger hole is it can create a flat spot that the beads can't roll over if it doesn't have enough momentum. Some of my GBCs uses incline with gravity to feed and the beads some times get stuck until another bead knock it loose or I manually free them. Summary. At 5 cents USD each, they are a bargain compared to Lego balls. They are lighter than Lego balls and the bigger hole can cause the balls to get stuck on the path. So more 'babysitting' of the GBC module may be required. Overall, I think they are great for doing public display of GBCs where balls tend to get lost throughout the day.
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I found this new video by LEGO, which contains an interview with Akiyuky as well as some of his modules and a sneak peek to a new module :) It was uploaded about 30 minutes ago - I think you'll enjoy it.
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We are here to pump you up. Presenting a simple ball pump GBC module. LEGO GBC Ball Pump Module by dr_spock_888, on Flickr YouTube video: (no music to avoid DRM issues in some regions) Enjoy.
