WIP Silverfox

[Zerobricks]

After the realtive succesfull black wolf I think its time to make a new, better and cuter Technic animal.

I decided to make a silverfox, since I have some 1000+ of antennas with the gray base.

Compared to the black wolf, this model will have many improvments starting with total rebuild of joints.

Back in 'ol 2011 the ball joints just came out and were rather a novelity. Now I have enough ball joints, and linear actuators to make a mechanical analougous of hips, shoulder and muscles.

Total amount of LA's used in this model will be 10 or more, having 6 large and 4 small LAs. The number of ball joints will be 6, four for legs and 2 for head and tail.

I already built a mockup both in LDD and real life. Notice that the body is quite compact even though there are 6M motors, 6LA's and some 30 gears in there.

So far it may seem like a unrecognisable shape of bits, but if you looks closer you can see where the legs will attach to the body. The whole body is also double articulated in front and rear. And its articulated to the front and rear can swing not only sideways, but also up and down, so the fox will be able to bend spine in all directions.

[syclone]

Still can't believe that you managed to fit so many thing in relatively small space.

Very nice project!

Edited February 8, 2016 by LXF

[JDL1967]

I like to see the end result.

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Still can't believe that you managed to fit so many thing in relatively small space.

Very nice project!

I can not agree more!!!

[BusterHaus]

I'm looking forward to this. Will it stand on two diagonal feet at a time, or is the balancing too tricky?

[Zerobricks]

I'm looking forward to this. Will it stand on two diagonal feet at a time, or is the balancing too tricky?

It will probably waddle around a bit, because its IQ and sense of balancewill be exactly zero

I managed to rebuild and stiffen the structure to such a high level, that I just cant comprehend what I made! The body is so interconnected, I had to build it in a correct order or else it will not go together.

Even though the body has 4x more movement freedom than the wolf before, the entire assembly is extremely stiff thanks to all the LAs and the frame bricks used.

Oh an bye the way I increased the number of LINEAR ACTUATORS USED TO 14, making this a record breaking model.

Here are the pictures of the real deal, first the detail view of the underside of each leg pair (up to this point front and rear mechanisms are almost identical)

And the underside with all the LA's marked:

And the topsite with marked LAs

Another thing I also integrated is an adjustable irreversible differential which allows you to adjust the phase shift between front and rear leg movement. This will be very useful once the model is far enough that it can walk. You can see the worm gear which is used to adjust it on the upper picture below the rear spine moving linear actuator.

I know this creation may seem a bit weird and all of these LAs and motors used a bit confusing, but given the progress and the level of movement I managed to integrate into this body, I am pretty sure the end result will be one of my best and most flexible animals so far.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Zblj

[zweihander]

You always manage to impress me with your skills Zblj. Even though your styling does not usually suit me (guess it's a matter of taste), I can't even begin to wrap my head around the technical underpinnings of your models. I'm not even mentioning your wizardry with LDD.

[Technic Jim]

You always manage to impress me with your skills Zblj. Even though your styling does not usually suit me (guess it's a matter of taste), I can't even begin to wrap my head around the technical underpinnings of your models. I'm not even mentioning your wizardry with LDD.

I think that this perfectly sums up my opinion as well!

[zux]

Do you even have "trial and error" phase? As it looks to me like any step you make is 100% logical and correct.

[flyboy01]

Wow! this just blows me away with its mechanics!

[Sylvian]

Very impressive... cant wait to see it move..

[Zerobricks]

Progress update, I gave it some legs and connected the mini LA's to the motor.

I need 2 more of the free sliding type 8 tooth gears.

I managed to get to my first buidling problem. The LA's have problems moving the legs, even with all the force they produce. And once a leg is bent a position that is too low, the LA cannot lower the leg back, because there is simply too much weight and the lever is too short.

Now there are two ways of fixing this.

1.Using shorter legs, but than I end up with a Basset Hound instead of a fox.

2. Moving the LA's responsible for moving legs further from the ball joint, creating a larger pivot point, but reducing movement range. At the momment the movement range is way too large anyway and going to the end of it makes the model flop like dead.

Do you have any suggestions?

Edited February 11, 2016 by Zblj

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Since when are you becoming a mad man... :laugh: :laugh: ...this is almost insane... Really, really, really impressive is this build...you keep amazing us, yes you do!!!

[Zerobricks]

Well I managed to fox most issues and the fox is now able to walk and much more! Only thing worrying me is the weight, at the moment motor are struggling a bit already, but battery box isnt fully charged, so I think I have some reserve.

You can see the prototype walking in the beginning of this video:

Edited February 13, 2016 by Zblj

[agrof]

Clockwork fox, perverted, like.

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Amazing!!! :thumbup:

[Edwin Korstanje]

Wow Zblj,

The silverfox is already stunning and walking great .

Can't wait to see some progress :thumbup: .

[Zerobricks]

Clockwork fox, perverted, like.

Glad you like it, but what did you mean by that?

Amazing!!! :thumbup:

Thanks, mate! I can always count on your support.

Wow Zblj,

The silverfox is already stunning and walking great .

Can't wait to see some progress :thumbup: .

I will try my best to keep you guys updated. Next step is working head and tail.

[Zerobricks]

Sorry for the lack of updates, currently I only have bricks to finish the tail, I will need to order some bricks for the head, I hope to complete the order soon.

Here's a rough preview of the head idea, but I will most likely change it later on:

[syclone]

Looks good,but I think you need to add more grey

[Zerobricks]

It will be grey, only the face is black just like the real thingy Oh and eyes will be lid up with LED's and maybe even different colors like this:

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Really love the head! Maybe you should be more "playable" with the "nose hairs", now it is a little to static...IMHO...

[Zerobricks]

I resumed work and found a nice way to make eyes using transparent 1x1 round bricks and 2x2 bricks with rounded bottom for pupils.

How they look in normal light:

Too bad there are no orange tr. spheres, they would be the best for this animal IMO...

So guys which color would be the best? Blue or green?

Edited March 17, 2016 by Zblj

[jgw]

An idea... Use antenna's for those nosehairs. As they are a little thinner and longer, also a little more like real nosehairs. Nosehair isn't the correct english word for it, is it?

[DamonMM2000]

I resumed work and found a nice way to make eyes using transparent 1x1 round bricks and 2x2 bricks with rounded bottom for pupils.

How they look in normal light:

Too bad there are no orange tr. spheres, they would be the best for this animal IMO...

So guys which color would be the best? Blue or green?

The blue has a more organic feel as it exposes the studs within, while the green has more of a glow about it and somewhat inorganic. Depends on what you're looking for, but personally, I'd go with the green.