[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Great Ball Pit]

10 hours ago, 9v system said:

instructions have already been made by courbet and akiyuki himself

Perfect, I know what I'm building today!

[Ankoku]

Change of the day! I can't prove this one, but it makes sense and makes it work a lot better/reliable.

In the instructions, we have a Technic Beam 1 x 5 Thin.

I have changed it to a Technic Beam 1 x 5 Thin with Axle Holes on Ends.

This stiffens things up a lot and makes it far less likely to drop balls when it moves.

[tismabrick]

Can you post an image which shows your modification.

I'd like to try this out at my factory since my ball picker doesn't work anymore.

Edit: Forget it. I got it :)

 

Edited March 11, 2018 by tismabrick

[Ankoku]

Yeah, you literally just swap one for the other.

[Ankoku]

Implemented the Bob changes. They work pretty well.

So, now, Bob structure stands 1 plates taller than it used to.

Edited March 12, 2018 by Ankoku

[Ankoku]

Okay, so the red circles are basically Akiyuki design/changes. There is a bunch of other stuff that I have added myself in an attempt to make it more reliable.

So the weight had the back has had one whole brick removed off the bottom, returning it to the Akiyuki design.

It now uses the Technic Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Towball seen in the Akiyuki design, to life the weight.

The pivot point is 2 plates higher. This is to make the movement reflect what I see in the original video.

At the top, rather than using a Technic Beam 1 x 5 Thin with Axle Holes in the 2nd video of the machine, you can see that he is using 2x Technic Beam 1 x 3 Thin. This works well to lock the middle axle in place.

[Ankoku]

Houston, we have a problem!

Reverting back to the original Akiyuki design means that conveyor looping mod is in the way.

I am not intending to use the conveyor, as I want to get the balls back via a different means. That said, I know many people who have built the machine use it, so I will try and work something out.

[sawyer klegr]

I am also a massive fan of Akiyuki's GBC modules (especially his invisible lift) but it is a very big module with lots of unusual and expensive pieces. I know that their are lots of people who want to build it but don't have the pieces to build it (I am one of those people) my solution was to build a shorter, smaller version of it using less pieces.

I tried to use the least amount of pieces possible while still keeping it reliable. If you want the instructions they are here. They are not the easiest to follow but you can defiantly build it from them. 

[Frequenzberater]

I am looking for a nice solution to bring the balls of the output of the invisible lift down to a normal input hopper height.

So far i had the idea to use the ribbed hose tower of the spiral staircase module ore the output tower of the zigzag lift. Any other suggestions or ideas?

I suppose the input of marble run is to high to use it in combination with the invisible lift?

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Frequenzberater

[Berthil]

1 minute ago, Frequenzberater said:

So far i had the idea to use the ribbed hose tower of the spiral staircase module ore the output tower of the zigzag lift. Any other suggestions or ideas?

I suppose the input of marble run is to high to use it in combination with the invisible lift?

 

The Marble Run is too high. I've made a snake ramp from relatively cheap parts after the invisible lift visible in this video from 2:20 up

 

[plingboot]

I’m working on a waterfall- which gathers x number of balls before tipping/dumping them out to cascade down a series of tracks to hopper height. Hope to have a pic to show later in the week. 

Still having major issues with the lift though. Looks like I’m going to have to remove and reassemble all the ‘grabbers’. 

[Frequenzberater]

@Berthil Adding a snake slide is also a neat and practical solution

But I have already one with my fork to fork module and I want to bring in as much variation as I can.

@plingboot I am looking forward to your waterfall design. Sounds promising!

 

 

 

[Scarfacetuga]

Thanks to members that made instructions possible to guys like me that just like to build been having hours of fun with my kid building some of the modules ( ball Factory, fork to fork , ping ball, planets, stuck ball, bucket wheel tower, six heads ) now having trouble with tilted rotor the middle one gets stuck with one of the bottom, and waiting on tubes for the marble run using just Lego tubes have about half done can’t upload pic says it’s to big

so a big thanks me and my kid have loads of fun

[9v system]

23 minutes ago, Scarfacetuga said:

Thanks to members that made instructions possible to guys like me that just like to build been having hours of fun with my kid building some of the modules ( ball Factory, fork to fork , ping ball, planets, stuck ball, bucket wheel tower, six heads ) now having trouble with tilted rotor the middle one gets stuck with one of the bottom, and waiting on tubes for the marble run using just Lego tubes have about half done can’t upload pic says it’s to big

so a big thanks me and my kid have loads of fun

upload your pictures to bricksafe

@Frequenzberater make a second ramp like akiyuki does, it allows for alot of flexability

[Scarfacetuga]

On 13/03/2018 at 9:06 PM, 9v system said:

upload your pictures to bricksafe

@Frequenzberater make a second ramp like akiyuki does, it allows for alot of flexability

Thanks

sorry what you mean by second ramp??

ill need to make an account on bricksafe then again thanks 

[Ankoku]

The difference in position of the Technic Beam within the weight answers a lot of questions.

It uses a Technic Brick 1 x 2 [2 Holes] instead of a Technic Brick 1 x 2 [1 Hole].

The ball dropper is now reliable, move easily and matches what I see in the original video, movement wise.

[plingboot]

Just finished a cycloidal drive. It works but is very laboured. Tried it with a power supply rather than a battery pack and it’s still not as smooth looking as Akiyukis. Even tried removing the steeper from the equation - without luck.

Any suggestions?

l’m thinking that the L motor might need to be swapped for an XL?

[Ankoku]

This guy seems to have reverse engineered some of the Akiyuki ball factory himself, including the large ball collection area.

Some of it is still very different to the original Akiyuki design, but it is interesting to see the personal changes he has made.

[Frequenzberater]

A new rotary train unloader System from akiyuki:

 

Besides that the lifting unit appears a bit flimsy, I really love it. 

 

[Ankoku]

I am starting to suspect that he just really likes powering things with is fully self-contained train unit.

It is interesting that he went with the conventional battery box over the LEGO Lithium polymer battery. That said, maybe the heavier weight is advantageous.

If the lift is more rigid, does it not work as well?

[schraubedrin]

25 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

It is interesting that he went with the conventional battery box

It is awesome that he used the conventional battery box.

I've got a lot of them from Technic sets.

The LiPo box isn't contained in any sets and fairly expensive. But then again, he used the switch, also a relative uncommon part

[Ankoku]

The switch is a lot cheaper than the battery! :)

I love the Lithium Polymer battery. Probably one of my best LEGO purchases. I also like the shape.

That said, the normal box is probably easier to attack to it and also sacrificable to the MOC, which is something you would never do to an expensive battery.

I think when you know others are reproducing your designs, making them as easily accessible, parts wise, is a nice touch.

[Ankoku]

He is a busy bee of late!

 

[lcvisser]

I can't wrap my head around the fact all those things are powered by the trains themselves... it all runs so smooth. Incredible!

[Ankoku]

It is the timings which impress me.