[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[RohanBeckett]

I actually find the use of narrow gauge track very clever - to create a tighter radius track.. I wonder if any of the Lego Trains guys have used this trick before? :)

[Ankoku]

I got permission to post some close up images of Akiyuki's Ball Factory.

 

They can be found here:

https://bricksafe.com/pages/Ankoku/akiyuki-shifter

https://bricksafe.com/pages/Ankoku/akiyuki-ball-dropper

[tismabrick]

Thanks a lot!

These images really help.

Do you also have mages from the other side of the ball drop tower with the mechanism of the ball picker?

Cheers,

Thomas

[ColletArrow]

9 hours ago, RohanBeckett said:

I actually find the use of narrow gauge track very clever - to create a tighter radius track.. I wonder if any of the Lego Trains guys have used this trick before? :)

It's pretty innovative as far as I know. It's quite neat how the inside rail is used as the outer for the car, and the inner wheels are only supported by tiles/slopes/panels rather than actual rails. It certainly makes sense in this instance, where a far tighter radius is required, and is possible due to the short, single cars.

I don't think any Train people have ever done this before, as we're usually finding ways to make our curves bigger rather than smaller!

Either way, I love this new system. It would be interesting to see what other train-layouts could be created, or if any more modules could be built. Not that there's much left to do.

[Ankoku]

@tismabrick

I don't, since I didn't have issues with it, I didn't ask for images. I have uploaded everything I have. I have made a slight adjustment to his design myself, but I am happy with the fact that what I have is basically faithful to his. You can see it in my previous posts.

You can also see it best here:

 

Which is what I worked off.

Apparently, for him, the dropper was not a reliability issue, it was others parts which caused greater problems when running constantly.

[plingboot]

I've been sword fighting with my invisible lift - when I first completed it everything worked well, but it simply refuses to hold the balls correctly now. grrrrrr

Looks like I'll have to take it apart and rebuild it again…

Anyway, I've also been doing some work on a waterfall exit. I've uploaded a pic to BRICKSAFE and will upload more later.

Balls are dropped onto a short 'tube ramp', they then run down a 'liftarm ramp' before dropping into the waterfall chute zig zag. When 7 balls are in there it tips them out.

The liftarm chute attaches at two points - one of the towers and the base. I wanted it to look as elegant as possible.

 

[9v system]

12 hours ago, plingboot said:

I've been sword fighting with my invisible lift - when I first completed it everything worked well, but it simply refuses to hold the balls correctly now. grrrrrr

Looks like I'll have to take it apart and rebuild it again…

Anyway, I've also been doing some work on a waterfall exit. I've uploaded a pic to BRICKSAFE and will upload more later.

Balls are dropped onto a short 'tube ramp', they then run down a 'liftarm ramp' before dropping into the waterfall chute zig zag. When 7 balls are in there it tips them out.

The liftarm chute attaches at two points - one of the towers and the base. I wanted it to look as elegant as possible.

 

may i ask why you changed the input part of this module? and you shouldn't have to dissemble the whole module to realign the grippers 

[Berthil]

22 hours ago, plingboot said:

I've been sword fighting with my invisible lift - when I first completed it everything worked well, but it simply refuses to hold the balls correctly now. grrrrrr

Looks like I'll have to take it apart and rebuild it again…

 

Rebuild of the invisible lift is indeed not needed, just look carefully what arm or arms causes the problem and adjust gearing accordingly. I've done it a few times on breaking of a 24 teeth gear or after a 40 tooth gear had wandered of an axle. It will also learn you how to deal with timing issues as you probably cannot keep the motivation up to rebuild it completely every time after a timing issue.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

It has enough torque to break gears?

[Berthil]

15 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

It has enough torque to break gears?

Sometimes there is a weak 24 teeth gear and it can break. I've got 5 broken now in al my machines and also in the low torque ones. The Invisible Lift is a high torque machine, hence the presence of two white torque 24 teeth gears.

[Ankoku]

Oh, it is the torque gears themselves which break?

[Berthil]

Just now, Ankoku said:

Oh, it is the torque gears themselves which break?

No, the dark bluish grey ones. The older light bluish greys are even weaker.

[Ankoku]

Youch. Will make sure I get some new ones.

Type 1 vs Type 2, or the proper old one on the left?

[Berthil]

@Ankoku

3 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

Type 1 vs Type 2, or the proper old one on the left?

Both 3648b type and and 2 break at the extra axle indentation. Don't know why that indentation is there, not really needed for anything, nothing fits through it. As you can see there is even less 'body' there with 3648a. Soon I'm gonna send my 5 broken ones to LEGO :)

Edited March 28, 2018 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

I am guessing it gives the gear a bit of give when putting axels/pins in it. e.g. user friendly for the casual/child builder.

I believe with 3648a you could put offset axles through the hole on either side.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Ankoku

[Berthil]

4 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

I am guessing it gives the gear a bit of give when putting axels/pins in it. e.g. user friendly for the casual/child builder.

That's also what I thought. In my own design higher torque machines I tend to use two 24 teeth next to each other (connected with pins for even force distribution) for added strength like in my version of the Cup to Cup with turntables.

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Berthil

[Ankoku]

Yeah, the turn-table version of the cup to cup looks really nice, very stylised. Do you pin them together as well? Or just the axle and halving the load?

It feels like we are discussing the strengthening of transmission axles on Technic rock crawlers.

[Ankoku]

What are the main issues that people face when running the Akiyuki Ball Factory over long periods of time?

What are the reliability issues?

Other than ball dropper. I have fixed that.

[9v system]

2 hours ago, Ankoku said:

What are the main issues that people face when running the Akiyuki Ball Factory over long periods of time?

What are the reliability issues?

Other than ball dropper. I have fixed that.

none, have you finished yours yet? if so could we see a video of it running?

[Ankoku]

Yeah. Had to clear some space on my phone to create the video :P

Will most likely post it tomorrow.

The ball dropper is rock solid now. Also improved bob a bit, in terms of placing the bucket properly and not disturbing other buckets.

[Frequenzberater]

Iam looking forward to the vid as well! I would really love to build a reliable version of the factory by my self. 

[Ankoku]

At the minute, it seems reliable if you are using it with other GBC.

The loopback, which isn't in the original has a few potential issues.

[Frequenzberater]

The loopback does not really bother me :) I want to use it as an regular module with other GBC like you do. 

[9v system]

i also want to use it in a layout

[Ankoku]

Mine is mainly going to be loop back, but my mission with fixing it up, is to get it at more events. It is my favourite GBC machine, so it would be nice to see it around more.