TSATS: LEGO Falkirk Wheel

[jojoguy10]

Did you know one of the architects of the Falkirk Wheel (Tony Gee) originally made the gearing mechanism out of LEGO? [1] The Falkirk Wheel is a "boat elevator" in Scotland. It was opened on May 24th, 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II. [2]

This is just a bunch of random facts. Let's get down to my build:

This is it. The specs:

• 2 PF Battery Boxes
• 2 PF Switches
• 4 PF M-Motors
• 2 PF IR Receivers
• 6 short turntables
• A bunch of panels (but not enough in the same color )
• A bunch of (mainly) 24t gears
• And a bunch of other parts

There are more pictures in my Picasa folder here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/118373039699891060648/LEGOFalkirkWheel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

First Video:

Second Video:

https://vimeo.com/37868205

Thanks for taking a look at it!

Joey "jojoguy10"

[1]: Falkirk Wheel PDF file

[2]: Falkirk Wheel Wikipedia Page

Edited March 4, 2012 by jojoguy10

[Javert]

you are doing a cracking job! can't wait to see it finished :D I live just around 40 minutes from the real thing!

[jojoguy10]

you are doing a cracking job! can't wait to see it finished :D I live just around 40 minutes from the real thing!

Thanks! I know it's not much to look at, but I AM done :-). I'm hoping that I'll win with creativity more than the actual build, but we'll see :-)

jojoguy10

[timslegos]

Looks awesome, and very original! maybe you could fit a few of Alissar's boats on it.

tim

[jojoguy10]

Looks awesome, and very original! maybe you could fit a few of Alissar's boats on it.

tim

HAHA! Maybe :)

[Alasdair Ryan]

I been on the Falkirk wheel my self,what a great attraction.

[jojoguy10]

I been on the Falkirk wheel my self,what a great attraction.

Cool! I, sadly, have never been on it (or even in Scotland for that matter )

Edited March 3, 2012 by jojoguy10

[Alasdair Ryan]

Looks awesome, and very original! maybe you could fit a few of Alissar's boats on it.

tim

Who's boats?

[jojoguy10]

Who's boats?

I Googled it (best friend!) and came up with this:

Is this correct timr?

[Alasdair Ryan]

I would love to have a go at building the wheel myself,i said to my dad i would,but i would use droid wheels.

[jojoguy10]

I would love to have a go at building the wheel myself,i said to my dad i would,but i would use droid wheels.

Ya....that was my VERY first idea.....but I don't have SIX of those :-( (I don't even have ONE )

[Alasdair Ryan]

You only need 4 then have 2 turntables in the middle,there only 15 uk pound each on bricklink.

[jojoguy10]

You only need 4 then have 2 turntables in the middle,there only 15 uk pound each on bricklink.

Actually....you need ALL 3 (3 on each tower) to be the same size for the mechanism to work. That way it's always a 1:1 ratio :-)

[Alasdair Ryan]

You need to gear it down it turns to fast.

I see what you mean about the ratio,i wounder could you gear it behind or in-front of the droid wheel instead of it coming from the gearing of the droid wheel,this may mean that you only need two.

Will not work.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Alasdair Ryan

[jojoguy10]

You need to gear it down it turns to fast.

I see what you mean about the ratio,i wounder could you gear it behind or in-front of the droid wheel instead of it coming from the gearing of the droid wheel,this may mean that you only need two.

Hmmmm...maybe, but I wanted to try to stick with the original mechanism. But I see what you mean.

I also tried using the speed controller, and that worked....sort of. Sometimes, it would only power ONE of the motors. Too confusing. That's why it's so fast. Plus, I was using M-size motors :-)

[timslegos]

Who's boats?

haha sorry i meant Alasdair's boat .

tim

[jojoguy10]

haha sorry i meant Alasdair's boat .

tim

Oh, LOL! BIG difference!

[Omikron]

Wow, nice one!

Cannot see the photos here though, also g+ just shows blank white spaces

Edited March 4, 2012 by Omikron

[apemax]

Very nice. I've never heard of this before but it looks awesome. Lots of gears in there too. Well done.

[jojoguy10]

Wow, nice one!

Cannot see the photos here though, also g+ just shows blank white spaces

Oh, sorry. I don't know why. Here's a link to my Picasa album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/118373039699891060648/LEGOFalkirkWheel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

First post updated.

Thanks for catching that! :-D

[TinkerBrick]

Nice!

[chorlton]

you are doing a cracking job! can't wait to see it finished :D I live just around 40 minutes from the real thing!

I'm only half an hour away too; it's an amazing pice of engineering. Inspired idea jojoguy10!

Edited March 4, 2012 by chorlton

[Studio Draven]

This is awesome! I live right near the Falkirk Wheel, & I've been to see it a few times. It really is a fascinating piece of engineering.

The thing I find the most incredible about it is that the Wheel is so well designed, built & balanced that to rotate it takes roughly the same amount of electricity as it would to boil a kettle.

[Porty]

Nicely done! I truly had not heard of the machine before this.

[jojoguy10]

This is awesome! I live right near the Falkirk Wheel, & I've been to see it a few times. It really is a fascinating piece of engineering.

The thing I find the most incredible about it is that the Wheel is so well designed, built & balanced that to rotate it takes roughly the same amount of electricity as it would to boil a kettle.

Yes...it's an AWESOME work of machinery, mechanics, and engineering! :-D