[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Ankoku]

So, I noticed that the height of the side walls didn't look right. They seem too low in comparison to the buckets on the Akiyuki machine.

I have increased it by 1 plate and this is how it now looks.

The main reason for me doing this, is because the conveyor belt would catch on far wall in the above picture. That doesn't happen in the Akiyuki video.

In his video, it looks as though you have a full brick height at the end, so it meant that it needed to be raised one plate in height to avoid it catching.

[plingboot]

Just wanted to share my Akiyuki based progress… hope it's of interest.

I'm building several modules, but the two closest to completion are the invisible lift and fast ball sorter.

"Feature Creep" is however becoming a problem  - which means a lot of half finished bits as I try to modify them. 

Here's a pic of my take on a lift mechanism for the Invisible lift. It's a version of the one Akiyuki uses for the Cycloidal Lift, but adapted to take 3 balls, rather than just one. I've also reworked the hopper. 

 

[Ankoku]

Love the aesthetics!

[Frequenzberater]

Again, I have friction related problems with my Invisible lift. 

After running the module for approx 20min, it was recognizable that the motor began to struggle under the load. In the following minutes the running speed of the whole module decreased continuosly until it nearly stopped. 

I found out, that it requires some force to move the LBG actuator frames in the front:

After disconnecting the two black linkages from the crank, the remaining mechanics rans flawlessly. 

Anyone expierienced similar problems? It is quiet frustrating, because I dont know how to solve the problem. Except adding some kind of lubricaton. 

BTW, the back and forth movement of the single spring loaded sleds works properly. So it seems, that the actuator frames are not able to handle the cumulated load of the six springs per side properly. But this is original akiyuky design and should actually work. 

Guys, please help! 

 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[9v system]

35 minutes ago, Frequenzberater said:

Again, I have friction related problems with my Invisible lift. 

After running the module for approx 20min, it was recognizable that the motor began to struggle under the load. In the following minutes the running speed of the whole module decreased continuosly until it nearly stopped. 

I found out, that it requires some force to move the LBG actuator frames in the front:

After disconnecting the two black linkages from the crank, the remaining mechanics rans flawlessly. 

Anyone expierienced similar problems? It is quiet frustrating, because I dont know how to solve the problem. Except adding some kind of lubricaton. 

BTW, the back and forth movement of the single spring loaded sleds works properly. So it seems, that the actuator frames are not able to handle the cumulated load of the six springs per side properly. But this is original akiyuky design and should actually work. 

Guys, please help! 

 

on the left side the part that connects to the black ball joint pin should be the same piece as the right side, for some reason the rebricker did this change.  

[Frequenzberater]

You mean just to exchange this part

https://i.imgur.com/leTrlmO.jpg

by this part

https://i.imgur.com/I0C71An.jpg

? 

 

Edit: Ok, I just checked the Akiyuky video regarding that part. You are right. Thanks for the hint, I will try that. 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[plingboot]

Does anyone have a cure for sticky/sluggish springs on the invisible lift?

I’m having problems with a couple of sluggish return springs on each side. I’ve looked at rebrickers build videos and tried swapping pieces around, but nothing seems to fix the issue. 

[Frequenzberater]

Have a look at what I have posted one side before:

On 20.2.2018 at 9:37 AM, Frequenzberater said:

Regarding friction of sleds, I found out that in some areas a lot of friction occurs, when the axle penetrates the complete frame. Most likely due to fabrication tolerances and slightly bent parts. (I wonder if not anybody else had trouble with it). Therefore I split the sliding axles (red marked) in all affected areas into two parts:

https://imgur.com/o5yAMLB

That works perfectly.

I also stabilized the output ramp by adding a 13L liftarm (11L would be sufficient, but I couldn't find one). See red marking:

https://imgur.com/Ps4L4zU

On the other side it is hold in place by one of these

fixed at the output ramp tower (green marking). The middle support was moved one stud in direction to output, because ribbed hoses were a bit to long.

Now its quiet reliable.

@9v system:

I swapped the mentioned parts but after that the lifting mechanics did not work anymore. Obviously the resulting half stud difference in frame travel was missing. I changed it back to rebrickers design and added some PTFE spray to the system. Now it works like a charm. 

[Frequenzberater]

Made a small video of my actual setup :) 

[plingboot]

Thanks for the reply.

I'll have a play with alternate axles, but I've also ordered a can of dry PTFE lube - let's see if that fixes the problem.

Edited February 25, 2018 by plingboot

[Ankoku]

Nice touch with the white frame for the invisible lift.

[Ankoku]

Got a reply. He has made some improvements since we last saw the ball factory.

Will make the changes and post.

[9v system]

1 minute ago, Ankoku said:

Got a reply. He has made some improvements since we last saw the ball factory.

Will make the changes and post.

in what way?

[Ankoku]

Seems the original mechanism he used for moving the shifter from left to right has been revised. He has removed the ability for it to bend. e.g. the 8L and 5.5L with Stop axle could bend with tension.

Good to know he still has it and is improving it.

That is one of the things I like about the GBC events. When you have something running all day, you soon learn what is working well and what isn't.

[9v system]

24 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

Seems the original mechanism he used for moving the shifter from left to right has been revised. He has removed the ability for it to bend. e.g. the 8L and 5.5L with Stop axle could bend with tension.

Good to know he still has it and is improving it.

That is one of the things I like about the GBC events. When you have something running all day, you soon learn what is working well and what isn't.

interesting let me know what else you find

[Ankoku]

On a plus note, the revised height of the whole thing I finalised on has proven correct, so that is a relief.

[Frequenzberater]

I am really looking forward to see your final improved version of the BF 

[Berthil]

I will also rebuild the Ball Factory if the improvements are reliability improvements.

[Ankoku]

Although this isn't Akiyuki himself or involves the balls, this is apparently what inspired him to make the Ball Factory:

Not as elegant, but there plenty of impressive stuff in there and you can see a few similarities. Worth checkout out his other videos.

A machine which came before this one, by another guy in 2006, is this one:

Impressive stuff.

Slightly off topic I know, but I am sure we all enjoy the mechanisms behind these things and the inspiration.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Ankoku

[Ankoku]

@9v system You have an operational factory at the moment don't you?

If you remove the holder from the conveyor, do buckets get stuck transferring from one to the other on occasions?

[9v system]

1 hour ago, Ankoku said:

@9v system You have an operational factory at the moment don't you?

If you remove the holder from the conveyor, do buckets get stuck transferring from one to the other on occasions?

yes they do

[Ankoku]

Made a video of the shifter changes. Will post that in a bit.

Whilst I was working on that, I noticed that the first conveyor belt wasn't at all smooth. This was due to the sharp angle and use of two universal joints. It would speed up and slowdown in a cyclic manner.

So I ended up adding some gears to avoid that:

It is ugly as sin, so I certainly don't recommend this change, but it works as a proof of concept in terms of getting rid of the uneven movement.

With this in mind, after sorting out the rest, I will endeavour to create a less ugly solution for myself.

This doesn't help reliability, it is just a personal thing where I really dislike uneven movement.

The initial try had just 2 gears, but it mean the conveyor travelled in the wrong direction :P

[Ankoku]

Okay, will be posting the changes today. Was delayed due to one change requiring another change etc.

First off is one of my own changes, which I posted above. I am fairly happy with this as a final version as it is clean and in keeping with the general style of things:

This removes the need for any universal joints and thus removes the variable speed of the conveyor.

It uses 3 gears as the chain is a little bit too tight with two. It is very useable with 2, but my main goal with this machine is to make everything operate effortlessly. So 3 gears allows for no slack and yet loose enough for it to be really smooth and easy.

I had tried doing it from the other side of the pistons, but there wasn't enough room.

 

Another thing you can see in this image, is the fact that the wall closest on the first conveyor is higher than the back wall of the same conveyor. It just looks better, keeps clear of the 2nd conveyor and as far as I can tell, matches the Akiyuki original.

[Ankoku]

One of the most fundamental changes to the whole thing is the height. You can see it here:

My original guess when it came to how the back/forth piston connector was actually correct, but didn't work because the height was wrong. Fixing the height allows it to work.

Here you can see the two black Technic Bricks. They are 15L and make the whole thing more stable.

It is also worth noting the indent at the bottom of the left tower. I will address that better in another image though. (This is an Akiyuki change.)

[Ankoku]

Here you can see the back and forth connector.

You can see the use of the Technic Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Double with the connection being made through the bottom hole using a Technic Axle 4 with Stop.

You need the two Technic Bricks so that the left axle of the shifter isn't just floating in the air.

Here you can see it from the other side:

I have used a Technic Pin Connector Round 1L [Beam] between the piston arm and the pivot arm. Akiyuki uses a Technic Bush. The choice is yours.

On the right, you can see the way Akiyuki has chosen to extend Technic Beams. He uses 2x Technic, Plate 1 x 5 with Smooth Ends, 4 Studs and Center Axle Hole. I had 4 kicking about, so I used them. You can just use a normal Plate 1 x 6, but it is a bit uglier. I like them as it makes the whole piston beam really rigid.

Although you can't really see it in these images, there is no gap between beams on the left/right piston. There is a gap of 1L on the back and forth piston, which means the total length is odd.