42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator - MODs and Improvements

[Gabi_BC]

Something i'm working on

Ideally there would be 3 pairs of tracks with pivot centers forming an equilateral triangle. But that would require an enlargement of the entire base part, so...maybe some other time.

One L-motor drives each pair of tracks. I am planning to make the tracks a bit longer.

Retractable ladder will be moved to this area.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Gabi_BC

[Imanol BB]

It looks amazing, are you building a Bagger?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

What are the protruding red axles for?

[carver0510]

Hi @ImanolBB

I have seen your chassis RC is like mine. Also the IR Receiver is in the same place. But there is a big problem: During rotation of the superstructure there will be a collision and you can't rotate it the whole 360 degree. What have you done to avoid the collison?

There is another Problem in the way you motorzied the bucket wheel: The rotation from the L-Motor is to high, so your bucket wheel will spin very fast. You should reduce the rotation speed.

I like your connection from the LA's to the motor!

Sebastian

Edited August 5, 2016 by carver0510

[Gabi_BC]

What are the protruding red axles for?

just temporary to add the tracks in place.

It looks amazing, are you building a Bagger?

Nah, just a larger version of this one, something like this

[Imanol BB]

Hi @ImanolBB

I have seen your chassis RC is like mine. Also the IR Receiver is in the same place. But there is a big problem: During rotation of the superstructure there will be a collision and you can't rotate it the whole 360 degree. What have you done to avoid the collison?

There is another Problem in the way you motorized the bucket wheel: The rotation from the L-Motor is to high, so your bucket wheel will spin very fast. You should reduce the rotation speed.

I like your connection from the LA's to the motor!

Sebastian

Thanks carver, today, after some tests, i found the problem of the collision between the rear part of the rotation system with the IR receiver, but now i have moved the receiver one stud further from the rotation system, and i have fixed it:

And about the L-Motor in the bucket, i am completely agree with you, i will see if i can make some more reduction there, and to be sure, i will calculate the possible rotation speed.

I am glad that you liked the motorized LA´s mod.

Also, Gabi, that thing looks amazing, and basing on the size of the tracks you made, it is going to be really huge.

[Imanol BB]

Here is another attempt for the bucket wheel, now the supposed speed of it is between 3,5 and 4,5 RPM, so it is more closer to original speed which is between 2,8 and 4 RPM:

[technicbear]

Are you planning to release your modified LDD file, because these changes are awesome and some of the pictures are hard to understand that what is exactly changed. :)

[Imanol BB]

Yes, here is the file: http://bricksafe.com/files/imanol/bwe/mods/42055%20mod%2008-05-16.lxf

I will post updated files every time i make an important modification and if there is people interested on them.

[Gabi_BC]

Ok, so this would be my take on the tracked base:

Now comes the fun part...

[andrewganschow]

The brick built structure on your base gives it a weird feel for some reason, but good lord I do love that base design, I wonder how much sturdier it will be?

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Something i'm working on

Since I'm not a big fan of this set, I'm really curious what you're heading with this...! Very cool tracks design, excellent build and so many cool details...job well done!

[Imanol BB]

That thing looks very nice Gabi, those tracks would look very amazing on something like this: http://static.keptelenseg.hu/p/691e6176d0040bc919100f0804dca826.jpg

[Gabi_BC]

^^ I know, i am now working on a tripod configuration. We'll see how that turns out.

[dr_spock]

Would a walking BWE like the UNEX KU800 be an interesting MOD?

[Imanol BB]

Thar would be a very amazing mod.

[Imanol BB]

B model is finished, and while building it, i found pretty interesting systems, the way it separates the bricks, and the whole conveyor belt system looks good too:

LDD file: http://bricksafe.com/files/imanol/bwe/b-model/42055%20B.lxf

Have a happy moding.

[allanp]

I wonder if the A model can feed into the B model, or is the B model too tall?

[technicbear]

I imported both models into ldd and i think you need to raise Model A feeding belt little bit, not much, couple of studs or so.

[Imanol BB]

I wonder if the A model can feed into the B model, or is the B model too tall?

I am not sure, but if it cant feed the B model, i think it would need the A model to be placed a little bit higher than the B model, but the only problem is not the height, it is also the width of the B moddel that would cause it to stay too far of the A, that is why i extended the lower conveyor belt to avoid this problem.

[Imanol BB]

Here i have some mods for the B model:

First, i have changed the separator grille angle, it is now more horizontal, but also, i have duplicated the number of the 5L liftarms, which i don´t know the specific name in real life (maybe pallets?), so this makes the grille shake twice the speed it had, and so the separation function might work better:

Second, i have changed the speed of the upper conveyor belt, because it is a bit slow, and with the previous changes, a difference of about 50% more speed shouldn't affect too much the separation function, but it would make the process pretty much faster, here is the very simple modification, i changed the 12T gears with a 20T and a 12T gear to increase the speed:

The future mods should be decrease the track speed and extend and lift the rear conveyor belt for big bricks.

Edited August 12, 2016 by ImanolBB

[Gabi_BC]

So...i've finally managed to design a tripod tracked base, like nearly all large BWE have.

In real life it looks like this:

And here's my take on the subject

3 L motors drive 3 pairs of tracks. 2 of the pairs can rotate in order to turn the excavator in place. This is done using linear actuators and another L motor embedded in the base.

one IR receiver will control the track motors, one IR receiver will control the L motors that moves the LA's and the motor that will rotate the superstructure (not yet modeled). As is the case with real BWE's the superstructure will not rotate 360

I have to design a system that automatically changes the rotation direction each time the superstructure reaches the end of the turn. Any advice with this is welcomed.

On one side there is a fake cable drum similar to those used in real machines to supply the excavator with electricity.

This is far more realistic than the base of the 42055 and also better than my previous base with 2 track pairs. However with this the superstructure now looks too small. Not to worry, that's where i'm heading next, after a short vacation.

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Feel free to correct or improve the .lxf file. Since i'm a beginner with LDD there might be some mistakes or overlooked issues. For easy navigation most of the components are grouped.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t94s2wywwmhkrm4/T1.lxf?dl=0

[carver0510]

Hey Gabi_GC this is an awesome MOD! Looks great :)

[mattthewise]

That tripod base looks really cool. Are any of the system parts necessary for the design, or are they just the icing on top?

[Gabi_BC]

System parts are just for aesthetic purposes since i want to get as close as possible to the looks of a real bwe. They are not needed for the proper functioning of the machine. In the lxf they are grouped separately

Edited August 8, 2016 by Gabi_BC