The Carver

[vmln8r]

[le60head]

Wow!

I'm seriously impressed!

Love your other work too. Keep it up!

[timslegos]

Wow awesome car!! Very agile and fast.

tim

[Creator]

Awesome! Very clever designed and a good Technic copy of the original machine.

Would love to see more details on the build. Cheers.

[DLuders]

There are some details visible in VMLN8R's 4-image Flickr photoset:

Wikipedia says that "The Carver is a tilting three wheeled vehicle using an automatic balancing technology to balance the passenger compartment under all conditions. The first commercial Carver product, the Carver One, was designed to seat two people, and manufactured and distributed by Carver Europe (formerly named Vandenbrink) in the Netherlands. In June 2009 however the company reportedly declared bankruptcy, and ceased commercial production and sales":

Edited November 7, 2011 by DLuders

[aeh5040]

Wow, that's awesome!

Any chance of instructions...?

[Jurgen Krooshoop]

Cute & fast, very nice !! It reminds me of the RC Trike I built some time ago.

[sverre]

Really nice mecanics. Like it a lot :)

[DLuders]

NimdianT/ Nimdian recently posted this larger version on MOCpages. He wrote, "This is a [Lego] Carver Car which tilts to the sides to take a turn. Features:

* Full RC

* Independend suspention on all 3 wheels

* RWD with differential

* Front LED lights

* XL motor for drive and another XL motor for tilting the car"

He posted a short

too:

Edited November 11, 2011 by DLuders

[timslegos]

Nice car. how does it steer if the front wheel dont move when it tilts?

tim

[DLuders]

Since the front tire tilts and rolls on an off-center orientation, the rear tires "push" the vehicle to "turn". Once the front tire is "straightened" and not tilted anymore, the rear tires push the vehicle in a straight line.

[timslegos]

Since the front tire tilts and rolls on an off-center orientation, the rear tires "push" the vehicle to "turn". Once the front tire is "straightened" and not tilted anymore, the rear tires push the vehicle in a straight line.

Play that makes sense now .

tim

[KEvron]

this may sound stupid, but how is that you're able to use the motor as a servo? and does the steering return to center?

KEvron

[vmln8r]

KEvron: The motor isn't used as a servo, and doesn't return to centre. The gear combinations/ratios for simultaneous leaning (8:24 > 8:56) and turning (previous gears + 56:8 > 1:8 > 16:20) are sufficiently low that controlled turning isn't difficult.

aeh5040: When I have time, I will whip up a LDD file.

I'd like to see a video of Nimdian's Carver turning. I'm not sure about the original Dutch version, but the re-licensed US version has some sort of steering on the rear wheels, in addition to the front one.

[KEvron]

sufficiently low that controlled turning isn't difficult.

is there then a danger of over-steering?

KEvron

[eric trax]

I'm impressed with the driveability of the vehicle! Very fast and perfectly twisting. Outstanding shot while driving, what you used to shoot this scene?

[Concept]

I am so jealous. I have just started mucking around with Techinc again and it took me a whole day just to RC the 8110 drive and steering lol

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow, very nice technique and beautiful realization!

I like this video and how this bike run fast!

[vmln8r]

Thanks everyone for the nice feedback :D

is there then a danger of over-steering?

KEvron

Nope (it doesn't return to centre, so there's no stress on the motor to hold the vehicle at a specific angle).

eric trax: A camera mounted on a vehicle which uses the same motor and final gear ratio as the Carver itself. Like these ones, except without a 8878 (which would make matching the speeds of the two vehicles so much easier).

[eric trax]

eric trax: A camera mounted on a vehicle which uses the same motor and final gear ratio as the Carver itself. Like these ones, except without a 8878 (which would make matching the speeds of the two vehicles so much easier).

I have the same camera :D I tried to do something similar but without twin wheels so my camera was bounced on bumps :/

BTW I try this solution in my next project:)

[KEvron]

there's no stress on the motor to hold the vehicle at a specific angle.

right, but what is there to limit the rotation of the motor wrt steering, other than the operator's own good judgement? i'm not trying to be contentious; rather, it's that i'm not familiar with the pf line, having yet to purchase any of the elements. i don't know the properties particular to each element. that being the case, i can only extrapolate from what little i do know about lego motors.

i admit that i have an ulterior motive in pursuing this discussion: it occured to me that a motor combined with a limited slip differential could provide a make-shift servo. the primary output would actuate the steering up to the point of limitation, at which point the neutral output would receive the surperfluous torque.

your moc got me to thinking, is what i'm saying. those are the ones i enjoy the best.

KEvron

[vmln8r]

right, but what is there to limit the rotation of the motor wrt steering, other than the operator's own good judgement?

Nothing - just the operator, as you say. Your make-shift servo sounds good, if bulky.

[KEvron]

bulky.

yeah, it'd definitely take up some space, and it's not a particulary clean solution. it's just food for thought, and that's always on the menu.

KEvron

[nikolyakov]

Anyone see battery/battery box/power source or am i blind?

otherhand vehicle is great!

Edit: i saw.

Edited November 18, 2011 by nikolyakov

[vmln8r]

Download here: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/vmln8r/1982-Carver/carverbyvmln8r.lxf.

After getting the soft axles to form simple curves, I'm even more impressed by zblj's ability to make perfect augers out of them.