LEGO Technic Turbo Polyp / Kraken

[Techniccrack]

A few years ago i started to make an technic Lego Turbo polyp (fun fair ride)

Some call it "Kraken" or "Octopus"

 

How it works

The Turbo polyp has a rotating cilinder that holds the arms

It also has a second cilinder that rotates the opposite direction. This cilinder containes a lifting system that pushes the head upwards

The arms are attached to the head. When the head goes up the arms will make a jumping movement.

Heres a video of the real thing: 

 

The first model main frame (2013)

I build this 5 years ago. with normal turntables.

Because its containes two turntables on top or eachother and with the size of the model its was way to heavy to work properly.

here is a (blurry) picture of that model

The second model main frame(2016)

So i started to rebuild the whole thing.

I had to build a custom turntable.

So i used catterpillar parts to make the turntable. The space in the middle had to be clear to build the support of the middle cilinder

it turned out great. surpisingly sturdy and can handle a big load. 4 rubber powered wheels handled the rotation of the ring.

Here is the underframe (in buildprogress):

And here is the new design turntable:

It was very sturdy and could manage heavy weight in it

Problem was how to make electric connections on this turntable?(rotating or drag contacts)

And the lifting mechanism on the second cilinder was to weak. I was frustrated and the project ended on the attic on a shelf

 

The third model main frame(now)

A year ago or so i saw that the new digging machine containes the new curved gear racks.

So i figured...that can be the sollution of my project.

so i took the old model and began to rebuild the drive ring with the new gear racks

i began with order a big pile of parts

The new yellow rings are great. They can function as ring with a very sturdy structure to support the weight. It has a small ledge where i perfectly can put round tiles (1 stud) to make an great bearing and i can use the racks to make nice the arms with a nice bow (see photo)

I dismanteled the underframe to make the new rings fit properly

Here are some photos of the project:

The new lower drive ringcilinder that holds the arms:(without springs to hold up the weight:)]

[

The lower ring containes two seperates rings. first ring for the main rotation, second ring for control the speed of the rotation of the crosses. This gears are connected to the second ring and due to a connection with the armbrackets the crosses will rotate. By make the second ring rotate, the crosses will slow down or speed up

The middle part is connected to the main underframe. that holds up the second cilinder with the lift cilinder. So the 2 cilinder are rotating apart from eachother)

 

Lift system

Also the lifting system in the second cilinder is competally modified

In the first model used 3 actuators for the lifting system but....to weak. btw..it can only lift the length of 5 studs

Then pneumatic? to weak.

They a scissor lift system..guess what...to weak!

Now i have the sollution..a horizontal 11L gear rack driven by a 24 tooth gear by a worm gear. The gearrack pushes the head upwards. The internal structure of this is so strong it is nearly impossible to slip. And it can lift up to 3,5 kilograms

Only think i need to take care of is not go further then the end point because it could damage the motor

Here the photos of how the lifting system operate

 

A look from underside (the lift structure is hidden, but i will add a LDD picture of it how its works)

I added two hard springs in the structure for extra support the lifting

 

New arm design

The old arms i made of studded beams with 3 corners in the arm.

Problem one: it looked to "lumpy"

Problem 2: its was not very sturdy

Problem 3: to heavy

Problem 4: difficult to add light wiring

Soooo....why not rebuild it? so i did..

Now with the curved gearracks on it. it looks better, its is lighter and very sturdy.  Also great for adding wiring for the lights.

All arms together: (main frames)

Arms in the position that will be when finished the model (for expression)

The ends of each arm containes a gear with a smal turntable.

Perfect for adding a linear electric contact (non Lego), for the wiring and lights.

The lights will be Chasing EL wire and it will look awesome.

And a photo while building it:

 

To be continued

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by Techniccrack

[DrJB]

I remember this discussion ... it was about the time where most of us were getting 'tired' of vehicles with wheels, and wanted to see something different. Yes, would definitely appreciate seeing the progress you've made and how you solved the mechanical 'challenges'. For rotating the seats, maybe flex axles like those used in the ZNAP line could be helpful, as they bend 'easily' and can go through the arms.

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by DrJB

[John Daniels]

I’m highly anticipating the photos after reading the write up.

[Techniccrack]

26 minutes ago, DrJB said:

I remember this discussion ... it was about the time where most of us were getting 'tired' of vehicles with wheels, and wanted to see something different. Yes, would definitely appreciate seeing the progress you've made and how you solved the mechanical 'challenges'. For rotating the seats, maybe flex axles like those used in the ZNAP line could be helpful, as they bend 'easily' and can go through the arms.

 

He man, that can work, but i used the universal joints for it. But thnx for bringing it up.

[Techniccrack]

Photos are added to this topic (with some more information)

[Edwin Korstanje]

Can't wait to see to progress.

[Techniccrack]

a little progress

The connection with the arms are ready

Edited January 14, 2018 by Techniccrack

[Frequenzberater]

I love it! Cant wait to see the final result. 

TLG should make an official, technical series of fair rides. 

[mocbuild101]

That's one very big project! Definitely going to follow this! 

[Carsten Svendsen]

Looks promising. I'll keep an eye on this

[Techniccrack]

A little update.

i began to make the inner fence around the center unit

here is what it will look like (photo taken before adding the arm connections)

Edited January 14, 2018 by Techniccrack

[DrJB]

Impressive!!! This IS worthy to be front-paged. I like your 'novel' large turntable idea (with the small roller-bearings) and I'm sure once we see the assembly 'moving' we'll get even more appreciation to the inner workings and intricate mechanisms, and even more questions about how you accomplished specific functions. Excellent Job!

Question 1: In real life, the up/down motion of the arms is accomplished by hydraulic cylinders. Did you use LA, pneumatics, or something else?

IMHO, some pneumatics with 'sequencing' would be a neat add-on, though maybe a bit difficult to house. 

Question 2: From the kinematics (your 1st video), it seems each rider-seat has 4 degrees of freedom: rotation of the arm about vertical axis, lifting of the arm up/down, rotation of the 4x2 seats, and then rotation of the seats about their center. I'm sure somehow all seat are connected in 'parallel' and there are a total of 4 motors (or DOFs) for the whole assembly. Now, how many  motors are you using and how many independent controls over the 4 DOFs ?

Edited January 13, 2018 by DrJB

[nerdsforprez]

18 minutes ago, DrJB said:

Impressive!!! This IS worthy to be front-paged. I like your 'novel' large turntable idea (with the small roller-bearings) and I'm sure once we see the assembly 'moving' we'll get even more appreciation to the inner workings and intricate mechanisms, and even more questions about how you accomplished specific functions. Excellent Job!

Question 1: In real life, the up/down motion of the arms is accomplished by hydraulic cylinders. Did you use LA, pneumatics, or something else?

IMHO, some pneumatics with 'sequencing' would be a neat add-on, though maybe a bit difficult to house. 

Question 2: From the kinematics (your 1st video), it seems each rider-seat has 4 degrees of freedom: rotation of the arm about vertical axis, lifting of the arm up/down, rotation of the 4x2 seats, and then rotation of the seats about their center. I'm sure somehow all seat are connected in 'parallel' and there are a total of 4 motors (or DOFs) for the whole assembly. Now, how many  motors are you using and how many independent controls over the 4 DOFs ?

The idea for the turntable is not novel:

but I agree I like the idea. As with others..... excited to follow this and see how it turns out. 

I see you mention the problem with the lights.  How can you have an amusement ride without tons of lights  ???   Wondering how you will address this problem.  PF lights are sturdy and durable, but clunky at the same time and wider, fatter than thord party lights.   Third-party lights are just the opposite, small and more nimble but fragile at the same time.  Any idea what you are going to use?

 

 

[DrJB]

I guess it was novel to me ... I'm aware of the one using the large hailfire wheels with soccer balls (Sariel uses it in many of his videos) or wheels (below), but it's the first time I see the BWE's curved racks used that way.

 

[Techniccrack]

He there.

The idea of the turntable is indeed not new. I saw a guy on Youtube who came up with the round bearings. All credit for him(Tanwooken YU).

 

I tested the weight it can handle. I putted 10 kilograms on the turntable. No problem

About the questions:

The liftsystem us due to 2 horizontal 11 studs gear rack. It pushes the head upwards.(explained in my opening of this topic)

The seats are not powerwd by a motor.. on the real thing the seats are moving independently cause of the centeal force of the rotation of the machine. The crosses are powered by connection to the second ring on the lower cilinder and for speed adjustments also by a motor

About how many motors:

The model has 2 xl motors to drive the lower cilinder

1 xl motor for rotation of the second cilinder.

1 xl motor for the lifting.

1 medium motor for rotation of the crosses

5 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

The idea for the turntable is not novel:

but I agree I like the idea. As with others..... excited to follow this and see how it turns out. 

I see you mention the problem with the lights.  How can you have an amusement ride without tons of lights  ???   Wondering how you will address this problem.  PF lights are sturdy and durable, but clunky at the same time and wider, fatter than thord party lights.   Third-party lights are just the opposite, small and more nimble but fragile at the same time.  Any idea what you are going to use?

 

 

The lightning will be EL wire.(chasing). And led strips around the model (on backplate)

Edited January 13, 2018 by Techniccrack

[Techniccrack]

A little modification:

The driver that power the lighting must be mounted inside the lower cilinder.

Due a drag contact it get his powersource from 12volts.

However, the room i have inside the cilinder is to small. so i had to modify 2 arm supporters. In between the two, the driver fits perfectly.

The fence around the center unit covers the driver.

Here some photos

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Techniccrack

[Techniccrack]

Arm endparts and electric linear dragcontact

A little update

The crosses and seats will be illuminated.

So therefore a rotation electric contact is needed.

For fix this "problem" i used a motorcilinderpart and a small DC connector that fits like a glove

Parts i used to make the endparts of each arm:

Building it:

 

Wiring:

The curved gear racks and perfect for a put the wire through

As you can see below the two racks together will create a smal hole where i can put the wiring through

 

to be continued..

Edited January 14, 2018 by Techniccrack

[Techniccrack]

Control panel

Everything on the model will be remote controlled. Movement, lifting, lighting

A few years ago i build an controlpanel. (It will be modified a little)

to be continued..

Edited January 14, 2018 by Techniccrack

[Milan]

Hi @Techniccrack

Can you please resize your pictures? Some of them are twice the allowed size (1024 is the max on EB). Thanks!

[Techniccrack]

9 minutes ago, Milan said:

Hi @Techniccrack

Can you please resize your pictures? Some of them are twice the allowed size (1024 is the max on EB). Thanks!Insert other media

mm, strange., i copy the bbcode with size 640 x 360 px.

but i shall resize them

22 minutes ago, Milan said:

Hi @Techniccrack

Can you please resize your pictures? Some of them are twice the allowed size (1024 is the max on EB). Thanks!

They are resized. sorry. my mistake!

[Techniccrack]

Arm frames ready. Only dress up to cover the holes and lighting

[wimpie3]

Too bad the seats won't rotate. I think using a flex axle might be a good solution for this when motors on the arms are impossible. This is what Faller used as well in they Octopussy model.

 

 

[Techniccrack]

1 hour ago, wimpie3 said:

Too bad the seats won't rotate. I think using a flex axle might be a good solution for this when motors on the arms are impossible. This is what Faller used as well in they Octopussy model.

I think you misunderstood my comment.

The seats (read: the crosses) DO rotate like that faller ride.

The seats independently rotate due of the central force of the rotation.just like the real thing

Edited January 15, 2018 by Milan
Removed quoted video. No need to quote pic or vid from the same page.

[wimpie3]

Ok sorry... Time for a video to see things working and to avoid misunderstandings :-)

[Techniccrack]

This week i will test the model. Rotating, lifting, speed, strength, all will be tested in a video

patience:)