davec_nc

I tried different layouts, but this was the smallest I was able to come up with that visited all 4 stations sequentially and allowed the stations to be close enough to transfer the balls from one station to the next. Below is a picture of where the rotating chassis connects to the main structure. It plugs right into the support tower in the original Akiyuki design. I used old wheel hubs I had in my collection for the the shock absorber trip arm (wheel with split axle hole 3482). I tried other variants, but found that this was more reliable. I had to change the gearing on the through-unit to slow it down. I added an 8:24 gear reduction right after the 24T gear that is driven by the train, I changed the 20:12 bevel gears to 12:12, and I changed the worm gear to a standard 2L worm driving a 24T gear. (I have disassembled it already, but I'll see if I can find a frame of a video which shows the gearing). I originally used standard rechargeable batteries, but they would die very quickly and it was a pain to change them. I modified the inside of the battery box to accept a LiPo battery (https://www.amazon.com/TATTU-11-1V-450mAh-Battery-Multirotor/dp/B072PPRPRN). The end of the second video I posted has a picture of the components I used. In order to recharge it, I still have to remove one of the two sliding plates on the battery box to connect the charge cable of the battery to the charger. But the one on the top is not hard to remove.

Since I've benefited so much from many of the postings in this forum, I thought I'd share my own realization of the Akiyuki train system. My track layout lets the train visit 4 stations in order without requiring the any movement of the train track switches while it's running. The units include: 1) Loading unit (Akiyuki original design) 2) Unloading unit (Akiyuki original design) 3) Through-type unit connected to Zig-zag lift (Akiyuki designs with customization to link them together) 4) Elevator with rotary dumper (modified) - Elevator is the worm screw version by Doug72 - Rotary dumper is my own modification of the original Akiyuki design to remove the cam lock system. To avoid buying more large ring gears, I used identical turntables for both rotating the dumper and for running the reverser unit. This way I was able to use identical gear ratios for both so that they were synchronized. There is only 1 lobe on the reverser trigger: a single rotation of the dumper corresponds to single rotation of the reverser trigger. 5) The train unit works with the standard battery box, but the elevator drains the batteries very quickly because I didn't include counterweights. So I modified a standard battery box to hold a LiPo rechargeable battery using suggestions I found online (I didn't want to spend $80 for the official LEGO rechargeable). The decreased weight and increased power of the LiPo battery makes a huge difference in both speed and battery life before recharging. (Unfortunately, the ceiling wasn't quite tall enough to capture the entire layout from overhead, but hopefully you can see enough to get the idea)