Brickthus

That's right - 2 rows of 3, one row accessible from each side. The pictures need my floodlight for more light and a bigger house - so much LEGO there's no other room to take pictures! *sweet* More light would help the focus to be correct more of the time too. The pictures I posted had to be brightened significantly before posting as a low-energy light bulb is too weak for photography. A shame a bulldozer will have only 84 track links - I'd buy another 2000 if they were available for 5p each. I believe the IR protocol on the remote is related to that on the 9V IR train. There are similarities and differences but I couldn't tell you much even if I knew! You might like to try turning the remote levers with an NXT motor in order to control remote PF items from an NXT. Either that or interface a PF receiver with an NXT sensor port, to receive the signal from the remote and read the commanded motor directions. Perhaps the two motor Fwd/Off/Rev signals could be made into a 9-step input for the NXT (or an RCX) to sense the voltage and hence the states of 2 motors. Not too difficult with a window comparator (if I had time!). With just PF elements, I tried having 2 remotes with their levers pushed by motors, each controlling each other's motors. It makes for quite a chaotic conversation between 2 machines! *wacko* I'll extend the experiment to see if I can get one machine to do something, complete it and then tell the other machine to do something, and so on. Mark

The battery box is similar to the 8287 one but the switch can be operated by a Technic lever and the connector is the Power Functions one. There will be parts to interface the 9V system with the PF system, to ensure backward compatibility. These will be able to be connected to the 9V to NXT convertor cables. Mark

Here they are... http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/...60_seq6_qtr.jpg Poor minifigures... :-X This is the whole rolling track: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/...0_top_whole.jpg Gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=237940 BTW if the whole gallery isn't available for a while, try replacing "seq6_qtr.jpg" with "seqX_top.jpg" where X is a number from 1 to 8 to see a few more shots of the roll sequence. I might make the roll a little less severe (it's currently as tight as the tracks will allow) and also modify the vehicle, to improve gravity-defying performance. It might also be good to combine a roll with a curve. Mark

Some info I can now release, in addition to what I've posted here: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 The Power Functions large motors http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2337975 use the same metal motor inside as the NXT motors. The motor driver chip in the IR RC receiver http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2337974 is the same chip as the NXT motor driver chip. This all means that the large motors have lots of power (as they are geared a bit lower than NXT motors), but also that Power Functions motors and NXT motors are electrically interchangeable. Since an NXT to 9V adapter lead is available from TLG and there will be backward compatibility between Power Functions and the 9V system, it will be possible to connect Power Functions motors to NXTs and NXT motors to Power Functions receivers. Mark

Thanks. Roller-coaster pics to follow - I've done the 360 roll already :-) Mark

This monorail http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/...r_coaster_2.jpg is built with tracks from Snowmobile 8272 and the forthcoming Bullozer 8275. The Power Functions system http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 allows IR remote control of the train. I found it runs smoother with these yellow wheels than with the smaller black ones from the Snowmobile, but smaller size might be an advantage for town and space enthusiasts. Variation of vehicles is possible and designs can depend on the application. I'll try using a PP3 battery box to reduce weight, though this will require some work on the electrical interface unless I wait for the parts that will make the Power Functions system compatible with the 9V system. The curves I've built http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/...r_coaster_3.jpg are as sharp as those of the old monorail, but they can be widened if space permits. To widen them I suggest adding multiples of 6L to each beam in the corners, since the tracks have a pitch between centres of 1.5L. The centres of supports for raised track on baseplates will then move by 12L in each orthogonal direction. Points are possible with this system, using sliding track sections. The train is OK with a track link missing, to permit the sections to slide, as long as a bar or equivalent piece is used on the end of the last track, so that the wheels have something to grip. I'll add pictures of this once it's running. I've tested a hill as a concept, but this is waiting for a proper build. Again, pictures to follow. The vehicle is easily capable of climbing vertically, so I intend to extend the hill concept to work for a full loop for roller-coaster applications - pushing the limits a bit beyond the old monorail! I shall add pictures of a 360 degree barrel-rolling track soon. This concept works but needs to improve on reliability of the gravity-defying part of the roll. The IR system is particularly useful for this function as it removes the need for wires that would wrap around the track! The best thing about this monorail concept is that its availability is up and coming, not in the obsolescence market! A snowmobile has 28 track links and a bulldozer will have 84, so better save up for those bulldozers! Gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=237939 PLMKWYT Mark

In the absence of a decent movie camera, I'll have to use words ;-) A single controller drives two motors at once. The channel selector switch allows 4 channels of 2 motors to be selected. A bulldozer kit will have 1 controller, which will drive the two tracks on one channel and the two other functions on the other channel. There's nothing to stop you using an extra controller from another kit (a dinosaur perhaps) to allow you to control all the bulldozer's functions at once, but bear in mind that it would be easier if you could rebuild it to use one joystick control to drive the tracks and another for the other functions. The rebuild for joystick control would require one motor to drive forward and back and another to add forward motion to one track and reverse motion to the other, to do differential drive. This requires 2 differential gears. Mark

D'oh! *wacko* http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/...stick_1_off.jpg I think the motors are what many fans have been waiting for for years, at least in the power stakes. I'll try putting 2 large motors in my Apache helicopter to see whether the blades stay on :-) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=147936 (adding the full length blades that almost touch the tail fin). Getting close enough to move the helicopter's joysticks might be difficult, so putting the smaller motors on those might help. The motors are great for making unstoppable tracked vehicles though. Mark

With the new Power Function IR RC handsets http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2337967 it is possible to create joystick controls by adding a few extra pieces. The controls are tank drive by default so a few levers are required to turn the sideways joystick movement into forward and back movement of the second lever. This configuration (2 joysticks and 2 auxiliary levers) would be used to control a remote controlled helicopter: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2358115 It's just waiting for a flying LEGO helicopter! It's also useful for an excavator though, tank drive controls in the middle for the track drive and 2 joysticks for the digger functions. Joysticks folder (when moderated): http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=237938 A description text file explains the design a bit further. Handsets will be available in dinosaur 4958 and bulldozer 8275, one in each set. Having built joysticks using axles to move the handset levers, it occurs to me that using motors to move handset levers that control other motors has interesting automated machine possibilities, which I'll investigate. Mark My Power Functions Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 My Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=mbellis

The AC 9V power source for the train controller gives only 300mA, far short of what the 5292 motor can draw under full load. The NXT motor and the large Power Function motor from the new Bulldozer 8275 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 can draw even more power, but only with batteries or a much stronger power supply. I only use the 9V train controller for yard work on my train layout because it isn't strong enough to power 2-motor trains for long periods. The new Power Function large motors are great for making unstoppable tracked vehicles! Also the new IR RC functionality of the Power Function system (2 motors on each of 4 channels, with the other channels operable simultaneously using multiple handsets) might remove the need for hacking non-LEGO RC cars. Mark

It would never have been thought of that way. I think the shape of the NXT motors is better for studless NXT robots because the motors are thinner in the direction of the drive axle. It would have been more difficult to fit motors of the shape of the PF ones in the Alpha-Rex robot for instance. The RC Car and 8421 crane motors are nearer to the shape and power of NXT motors but again they would not fit in a robot such as Alpha-Rex, because of the long motor body. I'm not sure the shape of the NXT motors is any worse to build with, but it is more difficult to conceive the precise location of every attachment point in your head when planning a MOC. Mark

You might like this then - an ideal pneumatic application for a large Power Function motor: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=230222 It's a swash plate pump, an alternative form of air compressor for LEGO pneumatics. I have tried it successfully with 6 compressors rather than the 2 you see here. The extra torque of a large motor works well here, especially because it saves my fingers turning the 20-tooth cog (top left pic2, bottom right pic3). The high power required means gripping the cog hard, hurting fingers sooner. The lever near the cylinder top changes the angle of the turntables and hence the amount of compression for a given amount of axle rotation. It is therefore a variable displacement pump. The friction in the turntables means it's not as efficient as the usual compressors people build, but I built it because it could be done and it works just like real swash plate pumps that are used to pump fuel in aircraft and older cars. Go up in my Brickshelf folder tree for more pneumatics. I think the best thing about the Air Tech Claw Rig was that its alternative model - the refuse truck - introduced automated pneumatic systems. I haven't looked back since then, building all the electronic logic gates with pneumatics and using them in a pick-and-place robot in 1996, and other automated pneumatic MOCs since. BTW the medium motor has 2x6 stud recesses but the large motor is designed for technic mounts only, due to the high torque. I recommend using as many of the holes as you can when mounting them on Technic parts. I agree the shape of the motors is more useful than the NXT ones, but the NXT ones were designed so that the first robot could be built and working in half an hour, putting a constraint on the number of pieces in its chassis and meaning that the NXT motors had to make a robot chassis almost on their own. Mark

The full range of Power Functions element pics at http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 (including plugs) should now be visible. More MOCs will appear there soon. I've also answered some questions about the elements and my MOCs made with them in this thread in lugnet.technic: http://news.lugnet.com/technic/?n=15579 Mark

I had to keep this quiet for a while, but now I have permission to share: As a former LEGO ambassador and electronics engineer, I had the privilege of trying out the electrical parts from the new bulldozer. Those large motors are seriously powerful! Here's a MOC rover robot that I built with the parts: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226242 The large motors provide tank drive to the wheels. The first small motor lowers stilts at the back so that the robot bows in order to pick up objects. The second small motor drives the grab, which is adjustable. I hasten to add that the rest of the MOC is parts from my own collection - I don't have a bulldozer kit! This walking robot MOC is one I used to confirm the hight motor torque: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226243 If the legs become aligned rather than opposed, the motors are powerful enoguh to make the robot buck, and also to make the 24-tooth cogs jump on their axles! That's why I used 12:36 not 8:24 on the rover robot. This folder is the one to watch for new MOCs and pictures of the electrical parts: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=226241 It takes longer than most folders to get moderated, probably because it is known to contain pictures of new stuff! Better to add it to your favourites and check every-so-often! The RC system is 4-channel IR, 2 motors per channel - 8 motors in total (if you buy 2 bulldozers!). Imagine fixing the two handsets from two bulldozers together, then adding a few parts to make the controller into 2 joysticks. 4-motor control together! Pics of that to follow! Knowing this, I'll probably buy at least 2 bulldozers! Mark My Brickshelf gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=mbellis

Here are some pics of the layout my wife and I exhibited at model train shows in the UK. It's 16ft x 12ft and built to 8mm:1ft scale. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2011009 The Pendolino train tilts using bevel gears in each carriage. Here's the track plan: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2011014 I didn't put the baseplates on but the station is on the right on 48x48 plates and the shed covers the lowest siding at the top of the plan. There is a double track main line, each line having through sidings so trains can be swapped over easily (the public like to see a train moving all the time) This pic shows the power supply (the the left of the gasholder). My trains need more power than a single LEGO 9V train controller can provide - the Pendolino takes 1 Amp at about 8 Volts. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2011012 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2011013 We had some favourable comments from model railway magazines. My aim is to demonstrate that a decent scale model railway can be made from LEGO. I'm now rebuilding the layout as a double decker modular layout (a 5 year project!). The main difference is that it will have full brickscape scenery. I'm hoping the modularity will mean that it takes no longer to set up than the flat layout (which took 8 hours!). Mark

Looks like it's time for a double decker layout then! Here's what I'm doing with the 9V system - it'll work equally well with 12V track though: Each circuit is a 'looped eight' with 2 tracks through the station platforms and 4 tracks through a fiddle yard underneath the station. The tracks swap levels on the other side of the layout (16ft x 12ft). The maximum slope is 1 in 30 (1 plate in 12 studs or 4 plates per 48x48 baseplate) with 1 in 40 (1 plate per piece of track) on the curves. This is a fiddle yard module http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1830441 - through sidings underneath with the station baseplates placed on top. This needs reliable motors for points underneath. 12V point motors should be OK. I have to use monkey motors for unmodified 9V points. Here the Hogwarts Express climbs to the top level and the ballast train descends to the bottom level: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1953731 This picture shows the swap-over point. The track with the Red loco is the descending line. The nearest line is the ascending line. The line in the middle allows a train from the descending line to swap over to the ascending line to stay on top (useful if there is a crash in the fiddle yard!). Since a short train can be stopped in the crossover line, the ballast is darker there (because more oil would be dropped by the stationary trains on a real railway) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1725978 The extra modules can be inserted into the slope when the middle module changes its track slopes to suit. Mark

If he gets bored playing trains he can always eat the trackbed ("mmmm.... popcorn" said Homer) Here's my ballast scheme: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=147939 Mark

Thanks all for your kind words. :-) I find it interesting that town models get more attention than all the specialist themes I build in. My idea with the spiral stairs was to make another mirror-image set for the entrance to a station or public building, but then I thought about the new laws about wheelchair access and how the building would need a ramp too, which might spoil the effect! The staircase is deliberately wide enough for two minifigures to pass each other on it. Perhaps this calls for some more details pics soon. The tricky bit was how to support the handrail with no studs on the tiles for the curved steps. The solution to that was the protruding piece on the corner with the 1x1 round bricks. The tiles are also free-floating at the inner corner. I like to think of the helicopter rotor as the fulfillment of what TLG could have made for the 8856 helicopter set if they were not building to a price point. A 1:20 scale Apache would be a great AFOL Technic UCS set but I hate to think what the cost might be! :-) I was planning to use two 12V train motors to power it, as per my motor technique (see the technic folder of my Brickshelf), giving 16 watts of rotor-turning power. I could use RC Car motors now though, and they might fit inside more easily. The Hogwarts Express should have 4 carriages, but my layout will only fit 3. I noticed, whilst playing the DVD of one HP film on freeze frame, that only the middle two carriages were lit, perhaps because the others had TV broadcast equipment in them. Chrome parts for the Naboo Starfighter would be good, but I think it's 7 4x8 wings per side, which are possible but expensive, plus other parts that were never made in chrome and would have to be sprayed (such as 43mm Technic wheel hubs). Despite my modding tendencies, you'll be pleased to know I'm not into painting LEGO! :-X I've replied more fully about modding in another post: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=5916 Mark

Within the community there is a wide variation of opinion about modifying bricks. This topic takes up a thread that emerged in the MOCs discussion, which I felt it was better to continue separately. I'd like to outline my personal reasons for I allowing myself to move from being dead against modding :'-( to one who mods more than average :-D . 1. In 1997 I was interviewed by TLG for a job as a Technic kit designer, having sent in my CV (resume) a while earlier. One of the questions I was asked was whether I had ever modified any parts. I took that question as an encouragement to do so. I didn't get job for 2 main reasons: firstly I needed an art and design degree and secondly I knew only a few words of Danish and my interview nerves made even those a struggle! However, I took the encouragement home and that's when my modding career began. 2. TLG has a limited availability of moulds. Moulds cost a lot of money to produce and they have to be used a certain number of times, which means there has to the be market for that many parts of each type. A mould for some of the small, versatile parts I'd like to see (such as shorter Technic pins) would hold more parts than would a mould for 2x4 bricks, so the market for these parts would have to be great. Technic is already not the best selling theme, so it is doubtful whether enough parts could be sold in sets to make their production viable. This means that if I want a piece but TLG cannot make it for business reasons, I have to make it myself if possible. This is OK for parts that can be cut down from others, but not for custom moulds, such as BBB train wheels. 3. Having modded quite a few parts, some of the ones I've made are so useful that I've made 50 and would never look back. It's a choice between modding or being limited in what can be built. a). The scenario of steam engine rods requires two liftarms to be attached, allowing them to pivot, with the whole thing being no wider than 8mm. No current Technic pin is short enough but modded ones fit the bill. b) 16x32 baseplates are currenly only available in sets. I need 60 for my railway layout modules. Cutting 32x32s in half not only makes the baseplates available, but it's cheaper than buying 16x32s at their former spares pack price. 4. My modding is not without rules. I need rules to give modding a purpose: a) The primary purpose of modding is to make useful parts that TLG should make but have not seen the light in order to make. b) Since modded parts don't shine like normal parts, keep mods for aesthetics to a minimum. I've modded a couple of tiles, but little else on the surface. c) Never modify any piece that is essential for completing a set; if you ever have to sell the sets, you'll need the parts intact. PaB and second-hand parts are fair game because second hand parts are sometimes damaged anyway, so you're getting a useful piece from a broken piece, and PaB and second hand LEGO has only the value you paid for the parts, no residual set value without instructions. The latter goes for baseplates too. d) If possible test a modding method on a broken piece that doesn't matter before you test it on a piece you want both halves of. e) Only ever use glue when repairing a broken piece (it may be necessary to break a rail point in order to motorise it). f) Never use paint. Use the nearest LEGO colour of bricks if you are building a model of a real item. And finally, here are the pictures of what I've modded: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=184131 Mark

It would be good for us if Airbus see the 787 set and want TLG to do one of their A380. In the same scale it might not fit on a desk at work though :-) Mark

Train MOCs via the links in my other post: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=5871 Mark

Hi, this is a new forum for me. *sweet* Here's the link to my Brickshelf gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=mbellis Have a good browse! There's Trains (8mm:1ft scale), Technic, NXT, Pneumatics, Community as well as smaller Town and Star Wars sections and, for those who aren't sqeamish, some part modifications! Latest MOCs: Hogwarts Express - extra coaches: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=199421 Hopper Wagons for 1400 1x1 rond plates each: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=199422 Train-over-train layout technique pictures: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=178214 Station Building: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=199429 Enjoy! Mark