[MOC] LEGO Claw Machine

[le60head]

Hi, everyone,
I'm happy to share with you a project of mine that i've i've been working on and off for quite some time now.

I've been improving individual modules repeatedly to improve performance.

I am now fully satisfied with it functionality-wise.

Some info about the model:

The model is driven by 4 motors in total:

 

2 PF XL motors driving X and Y-movement

Each motor is triggered by a Power Functions polarity switch.

Both polarity switches are linked to the joystick in the middle.

 

1 PF L Motor - Chain Lower/Raise + Pneumatic pump

1 PF Servo Motor - Pneumatic Valve

Both of these motors are connected to a third polarity switch, which is directly linked to the black lever on the right.

The aim was to control both Claw Open/Close and Raise/Lower at the same time.
I was trying to have both functions driven by a single motor, but it never worked reliably, so i decided to switch to a two-motor approach.

 

Personal goals for this project:

I wanted to have a clean look as much as possible;

All motors except the Servo Motor are located in the base (black part) in the legs of the stand.
This means that motion of the motors is transmitted through axles running the full height of the model, and then through series of 32m cross axles (the longest ones available)

The 32m axles define the moving range of the claw, since the mechanism is "threaded" on those axles as they need to be continuous.

 

Future plans:

Change the color of the exterior to yellow.

The control panel needs to be finished aesthetically.

Comments & Feedback are welcome!
 

 

[Heppu]

Cool project!

Seeing and especially hearing all the mechanisms churn away gives it a nice vibe. This would definately be a hit attraction at some smaller Lego event.

 

I don't see the need to change the color scheme to yellow but if you like that more, then go for it! (lots of rebuilding lol) As a minor thing I would attach the pneumatic cables better to to the claw structure so as to prevent them from hanging loosely and blocking the view.