[GBC] The Akiyuki Project (2010 - 2020)

[Ankoku]

Okay, so I have confirmed that the off-ramp from the wheel is at the wrong height.

I have added the missing pin to make the wheel drive mechanism more secure.

I also spotted that this is different:

So I am going to swap that. The approach in the image looks way more secure.

Also, you can see that he doesn't have the slopes either side of the wheel, which were in the instructions, which snag due to the lack of perfect roundness to the wheel.

[Juroen]

@drullph20 How did you build the gearing of the first stepper part with the M-motor? I’m not very happy with mine, it doesn’t run very smooth. I have used a 24 tooth clutch gear and a 16 tooth gear.

[rskamen]

I still need to post photos of my Ball Factory. Did some more minor tweaks and it is running beautifully. Can't believe I did it, especially since it is my 3rd Lego project, and first GBC ever.  I am trying to build the unit that Jonas did with a small wheel and a take off of the mechanical chain system. Very difficult since I only have 2 videos to work from. I do not have any inventory of parts, so I am trying to be careful and precise when ordering what I think I need. If anyone can help shed some light or information, I would be grateful. I have the wheel built and I did a basic set up of the mechanical chain, but need to make a lot of adjustments and order some different size and color technic bricks. I have no idea how to set up the motor, the gearing, or building the wall that the wheel is set on. Looks pretty much like basic brick build.

 

Okay - what's next? The Akiyuki Fork-to-Fork? The Invisible Lift? Or do I dive in to Akiyuki's wonderful GBC Train Layout and begin building one or two modules? I've read the Doug72  thread a 100 times. With virtually no inventory of parts, I have to order everything I need for each build. I have managed to amass a collection of axles, various pins, and some assorted technic beams, but not enough in any size or color to be very helpful. Look forward to any thoughts or advice, 

[Ankoku]

You want this thread for non-Akiyuki GBC:
 

The GBC Relay looks very similar to Akiyuki's cup to cup. Same gears, same motion, so you could have a look at the instructions for that when it comes to gearing, motor etc.

Akiyuki modules are handy as you have full instructions and part lists.

Train system may be better when you have more spare LEGO.

When you are doing an order for bricks, it is always worth seeing what stock the sellers have, buy extra of various things you think you may need in the future. Make the most of the postage cost. Start collecting some train tracks :P

[rskamen]

2 hours ago, Ankoku said:

You want this thread for non-Akiyuki GBC:
 

The GBC Relay looks very similar to Akiyuki's cup to cup. Same gears, same motion, so you could have a look at the instructions for that when it comes to gearing, motor etc.

Akiyuki modules are handy as you have full instructions and part lists.

Train system may be better when you have more spare LEGO.

When you are doing an order for bricks, it is always worth seeing what stock the sellers have, buy extra of various things you think you may need in the future. Make the most of the postage cost. Start collecting some train tracks :P

Ankoku - thank you for your advice and information. Good idea about looking at the Cup-to-Cup to get ideas about the motion and the gearing. Yes, definitely need to build inventory and ordering extras for future use is a great idea. My Ball Factory, if you remember was done in red. I don't want to continue with that color. Too limiting. I will go with the traditional black/gray look from now on. Makes swapping pieces a lot easier.

[Ankoku]

With some models, I change certain colours to change it up a bit, make it unique to me, whilst keeping the majority the original and more common colour.

[9v system]

3 hours ago, Ankoku said:

With some models, I change certain colours to change it up a bit, make it unique to me, whilst keeping the majority the original and more common colour.

do you have any photos of your modules? i would like to see them please.

 

[drullph20]

On 1/4/2019 at 12:06 PM, Juroen said:

@drullph20 How did you build the gearing of the first stepper part with the M-motor? I’m not very happy with mine, it doesn’t run very smooth. I have used a 24 tooth clutch gear and a 16 tooth gear.

I connected M-motor through 8 tooth gear moving 24 tooh clutch gear,  and then on the transition  gear worm screw with 2 bushes. From this arrangment I moving energy to another 8 tooth gear which at the end elevating platform for balls. For better understanding, images below. 

https://bricksafe.com/pages/drullph20

 

[Juroen]

@drullph20 Thank you for your pictures. I have a similar set-up but the upwards movement doesn’t run smooth. Loaded with a few balls makes it worse. Do you have the same problems with the 8 tooth gear?

[drullph20]

38 minutes ago, Juroen said:

@drullph20 Thank you for your pictures. I have a similar set-up but the upwards movement doesn’t run smooth. Loaded with a few balls makes it worse. Do you have the same problems with the 8 tooth gear?

I think that my set up runs smoothly. Without any major problems. I will make video how it runs a get you the link for YouTube once is done. At the mean time i would advice you to work in reverse, take it a part up to the point of problem worth to re-check,etc. I will look at mine if I have any problems. 

[Jonas]

19 hours ago, rskamen said:

I still need to post photos of my Ball Factory. Did some more minor tweaks and it is running beautifully. Can't believe I did it, especially since it is my 3rd Lego project, and first GBC ever.  I am trying to build the unit that Jonas did with a small wheel and a take off of the mechanical chain system. Very difficult since I only have 2 videos to work from. I do not have any inventory of parts, so I am trying to be careful and precise when ordering what I think I need. If anyone can help shed some light or information, I would be grateful. I have the wheel built and I did a basic set up of the mechanical chain, but need to make a lot of adjustments and order some different size and color technic bricks. I have no idea how to set up the motor, the gearing, or building the wall that the wheel is set on. Looks pretty much like basic brick build.

Hi rskamen.

Great congratulations to your first GBC project . If you made the Ball Factory run smoothly and reliably, then you have my huge admiration. I myself had spent several months to build and fine-tune the Ball Factory. For me, it was the most challenging Lego Technic build in my life. Yet, I could never say it had run smoothly and reliably. Usually, it used to run no longer than 15 minutes and after that something got wrong. You must be a very very good engineer. 

I really would like to help you with the Relay module but I have not plans, no instructions, no inventories. When compared to the Ball Factory, this module seemed to me so simple, so that I had no reason to document it.  Anyway I found several photos made during the build. If you think this would help you, I can send them to you. Just send me your e-mail. 

 

[Ankoku]

@Jonas Is it worth adding the photos to BrickSafe and posting the link on the General GBC thread? I am sure others would be interested in them!

[Juroen]

Today I did a first testrun with the ball cleaner. The horizontal translation of the grippers seem to have to much friction. Servo motor is running at full speed. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

 

I will sort out the mechanical and electrical part first before starting with the pneumatics.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Juroen
Video embedded

[Jonas]

44 minutes ago, Ankoku said:

@Jonas Is it worth adding the photos to BrickSafe and posting the link on the General GBC thread? I am sure others would be interested in them!

Good idea.

I uploaded the photos to Bricksafe. Here is the address:

https://bricksafe.com/pages/Jonas/gbc_relay

 

[Ankoku]

@Jonas Want to add it here as well:

As that is where most people will look for it.

@Juroen Are the axles it runs along straight? Sometimes they can be a little bent and thus cause friction.

[drullph20]

2 hours ago, Juroen said:

Today I did a first testrun with the ball cleaner. The horizontal translation of the grippers seem to have to much friction. Servo motor is running at full speed. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

 

I will sort out the mechanical and electrical part first before starting with the pneumatics.

Hi so I made some videos, hope that it will help you. And in terms of balls gripping mechanisms I think that trailing lines are not straight. Try to disconnect servo motor and move from left to right gripping mechanisms by hand. I have had this problem too trailing lines has been bend in the middle for about half hole towards motor.

 

 

 

 

 

[Juroen]

@Ankoku @drullph20 Thanks, I will check straightness of the axles. I thought they were straight when I mounted them.  Probably better to check once again.

[rskamen]

9 hours ago, Jonas said:

Hi rskamen.

Great congratulations to your first GBC project . If you made the Ball Factory run smoothly and reliably, then you have my huge admiration. I myself had spent several months to build and fine-tune the Ball Factory. For me, it was the most challenging Lego Technic build in my life. Yet, I could never say it had run smoothly and reliably. Usually, it used to run no longer than 15 minutes and after that something got wrong. You must be a very very good engineer. 

I really would like to help you with the Relay module but I have not plans, no instructions, no inventories. When compared to the Ball Factory, this module seemed to me so simple, so that I had no reason to document it.  Anyway I found several photos made during the build. If you think this would help you, I can send them to you. Just send me your e-mail. 

 

Jonas, thank you for your reply and offer to help. My email is: rskamen@comcast.net   Anything you can send would be most helpful. Without any inventory of parts, I have to order everything as I need it. I don't have parts bins where I can just grab what I need, and switch out what doesn't fit or work.I have the mechanical chain partially assembled, but I think it is too long. I even figured out the last ball lift which is 90 degrees to the 5 main lifts. I am slowly getting it worked out. I greatly appreciate anything you can send to help me. Thank you.

[Ankoku]

Found a Fork-to-Fork video which highlights why I changed certain aspects of it back to the Akiyuki original design, over what the instructions create:

At the 1:00min mark, you can see the wheel stuttering as the sides of it rub against the ball holder. This is because some Slope 30 1 x 2 x 2/3 were added which obstruct the path of the wheel. They aren't in the original design, so I removed them and that allows the wheel to rotate without obstruction.
I did leave the Tile 1 x 2 with Groove, as they didn't obstruct the wheel and covered over a few studs.

You can also see that the Technic, Liftarm 1 x 3 Thin on the inside of the wheel is sat at a far higher position than in the original design, yet at the same time, you can see how the balls almost have to climb to get onto the off-ramp at 1:11min.

This is because the off-ramp is 1 plate too high. Bringing it back down to the original height simplifies the wall and means that the balls come off the wheel far more easily.

It doesn't really show the method of connection between base and fork holder near the wheel. Changing it back to the original just makes more sense. Far more stable and smaller.

 

It is nice to see the alternative colour schemes out there. There is also a blue one and a yellow one on YouTube.
My main issue with mine currently, which is, for the most part, going off the same colours as the instructions, is that the main section is VERY black. Painfully so. Been looking at various antenna and bar colour combination. I may just go for a change in bar colour and maybe switch the black Plate 2 x 3 to light bluish grey.

Gonna try yellow Technic Knob Wheel instead of black, since I have them.

Will try yellow Technic, Liftarm 1 x 3 Thin on the inside of the wheels and change the tiles on the top of the wheel wall to light bluish grey.

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Ankoku

[Ankoku]

Anyone here built the hockey module?

 

I am finding that the ball lifter at the start, the bit which lifts the ball on to the white antennas, is sticking at the bottom.

Since it is only being lifted from one side, it make the lifter angle slight, which increases the friction on the axles it is travelling up.

[9v system]

2 hours ago, Ankoku said:

Anyone here built the hockey module?

 

I am finding that the ball lifter at the start, the bit which lifts the ball on to the white antennas, is sticking at the bottom.

Since it is only being lifted from one side, it make the lifter angle slight, which increases the friction on the axles it is travelling up.

@RohanBeckett had the same issue. it has to do with the axles not being straight

[Ankoku]

I changed one of the axles, which helped it, but I am still not 100% happy with the sound of the motor. Listening to his motor, his doesn't sound great either.

I do wonder if they changed the material in the axles or storage/age impacts them. e.g. movement wise, the replacement felt as though it stuck less.

Both the vertical slider and the horizontal slider at the bottom are a bit iffy.

[Nikopol]

On 1/1/2019 at 5:59 PM, Ankoku said:

Many years ago, you used to see the robot arm at GBC events in the US. So someone did end up creating something similar.

I was talking about the 6-axis robot arm by akiyuki http://akiyuki.jp/en/works/441 

 

[Frequenzberater]

@Ankoku

As I mentioned on FB, I built the module exactly according the Akiyuki instructions and it runs very well from the first second. Probaply my best running module so far. 

 

Therefore I suggest to doublecheck all involved parts regarding straightness and possible interferings. Good luck! 

 

 

[RohanBeckett]

yes... once I got the right axle, it ran fine.. I think I swapped 3 or 4, on both sides, until it got smoother and smoother.. eventually finding the 'perfect' one...

 

the module now runs quite well... 

 

I actually have 12 more hockey sticks.. so I'm tempted to extend it taller... theoretically, it should be ok.. there's not a lot of weight, nor friction on any of the upper arms!  But I might leave it until after Brickvention.. I have enough on my plate for the next week!

Also.. on a similar note, It's not Akiyuki, but related - the Egg Process machine - I completely reframed it, and reinforced it today.. and it's running a LOT better.
I only just discovered too, that some of the hats weren't in perfect alignment (they were a bit rotated on the stud)... I fixed all that.. and now.. it's done 20mins - 100's of balls, without dropping any! woohoo!