Technic Parts We Would Find Useful

[allanp]

So long as 3D printed examples are allowed, well of course I suggest my gearbox parts due to them being much more realistic, easier to build and understand how it works (as well as understanding how a real gearbox works), much lower friction than official gearboxes and can change gears under load making them suitable for RC models and also static display models (like in the video). The drive ring is also only 1 module long (as opposed to TLGs 3 module long drive rings) making for more compact and authentic gearboxes. If my FDM 3D printed parts can do this then I'm sure proper TLG injection moulded versions of my parts would be even better!

And I'd also like to point to some of the excellent parts designed by Barman on brickshelf https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=376235 I recommend looking round the whole gallery but some of my favourites are....

because bearings!

With a slight modification of the existing axles and only one other new part you can get any length and orientation of tow ball link you could ever need. There could also be several variants of the socket piece, like a friction (for suspention/steering) and frictionless (for helicopters for example) variant or a simple axle hole or pin hole variant as well. 

Some accurately proportioned truck wheels with deep positive offset like these....

And so many more new parts like:

Low friction pneumatic sliding spool valve to make LPEs possible (Lego working steam strain or traction engine would be sweet!)

Micro servo motor and a high speed motor

Pneumatic one way valve

Simple sensors for PU such as the touch sensor (just basic like in the barcode truck), pneumatic pressure sensor, rotation/speed sensor, etc. Combine the rotation/speed sensor with a micro servo and you can even make a working dash with working speed and rev counter. How sweet would that be in a static display model like in my gearbox video. 

Daisy chainable lights

Working brake callipers

And this could go on for a while but this post is getting long already!

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by allanp

[efferman]

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

Hmm, interesting, is that meant for locking two free spinning gears together (permanently)? And extending that diff housing for more gearing options?

exactly

[gyenesvi]

3 hours ago, efferman said:

Seems i have overwritten this version because it would only fit to the defender rim.

Oh, that's a pity :( Any chance of going back to it? I'd be interested in testing a printed version at some point, and it would be great to share the part file so that we can experiment also in part designer and virtual builds.

 

@allanp, though in this thread I was thinking more about simpler parts, that could actually be produced by TLG, I really like some of your ideas.

1 hour ago, allanp said:

So long as 3D printed examples are allowed, well of course I suggest my gearbox parts due to them being much more realistic, easier to build and understand how it works (as well as understanding how a real gearbox works), much lower friction than official gearboxes and can change gears under load making them suitable for RC models and also static display models (like in the video). The drive ring is also only 1 module long (as opposed to TLGs 3 module long drive rings) making for more compact and authentic gearboxes. If my FDM 3D printed parts can do this then I'm sure proper TLG injection moulded versions of my parts would be even better!

This is an example that's specialized but would be quite reusable in many car models I guess. It would be great if you could make part files from these, I'd really like to experiment with them in studio. I guess you have a 3D model anyway used for printing already. Not sure how to turn them into part files, but @efferman probably knows, he seems to be doing that.

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And I'd also like to point to some of the excellent parts designed by Barman on brickshelf https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=376235 I recommend looking round the whole gallery but some of my favourites are....

Thanks for this link, quite a few interesting ideas in there, some of them even matching my ideas! I'll try to turn some into .part files.

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because bearings!

As cool as this could be, I don't see these being produced by Lego, because this could be a very deep rabbit hole I guess.

Quote

With a slight modification of the existing axles and only one other new part you can get any length and orientation of tow ball link you could ever need. There could also be several variants of the socket piece, like a friction (for suspention/steering) and frictionless (for helicopters for example) variant or a simple axle hole or pin hole variant as well. 

I like this idea of a composable link, but I'm not sure if this would be strong enough, whether the clips/axle connection would be able to take some abuse of a 4-link suspension on an off-roader. But if such a towball socket part with a regular axle hole would be available, I'd surely try to glue it with some axles of various length :)

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Some accurately proportioned truck wheels with deep positive offset like these....

That would be good for all kinds of rims.

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Micro servo motor and a high speed motor

Would love that.

Quote

Simple sensors for PU such as the touch sensor (just basic like in the barcode truck), pneumatic pressure sensor, rotation/speed sensor, etc. Combine the rotation/speed sensor with a micro servo and you can even make a working dash with working speed and rev counter. How sweet would that be in a static display model like in my gearbox video. 

More sensors for the PU system could indeed be interesting.

 

And to keep listing my ideas, here are some more special beams from the alphabet, some of them have been noted by others as well. The S shapes would be useful for frame structures, maybe the 5x10 is less important because it's similar to existing ones, but the 3x9 in the middle could be really useful, sometimes the existing similar part turns in the 'wrong' direction. The Z shapes (3x7 or 3x9) are also interesting mentioned by someone I can't find now. The T and H shapes are things that I occasionally would find useful (for example the H shape in my render of the small independent suspension above, and the T shape can be useful for connecting geartrains in a solid way).

[keymaker]

3 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

What do you think?

It looks great. I know all this parts are wishful thinking. I see that this small hub is probably not possible to crate simply because lack of space. There is no enough room there to have port for CV joint which would be in hub with ball connectors for swing and steering arms. There is simply no room for all of this. Maybe this is the reason that basically there are no parts for small, driven, steered and independent suspensions.

[gyenesvi]

1 hour ago, keymaker said:

It looks great. I know all this parts are wishful thinking. I see that this small hub is probably not possible to crate simply because lack of space. There is no enough room there to have port for CV joint which would be in hub with ball connectors for swing and steering arms. There is simply no room for all of this. Maybe this is the reason that basically there are no parts for small, driven, steered and independent suspensions.

I don't think it would be fundamentally impossible regarding the space. I derived the ball hub from this hub

which has the female CV joint in it. True that that CV joint head in this one is a little bit slimmer than the standalone female joint's head, but with a very little widening of the hole, a regular female joint would fit and could spin. The bigger ring that holds the towballs would still be thicker than a liftarm's wall, so if that's solid enough, this would also be, especially for smaller builds. I think we could 3D print this hub for a test using a regular female CV joint :) @efferman, do you think such a hub would be printable (while having a female CV joint insertable)? I know Efferman also has printable steering arms.. Or maybe @Zerobricks would want to experiment with these as well :)

 

Moving on with parts, here are a few generic connectors that I could have used in some builds. They are mostly variations on existing ones.

My personal favorite is the one at the bottom corner, which is a shortened version of

on one side and having an axle hole in the other side. The one above it is a longer version of the same existing connector. Then there's a variation on

 

with the orientation of the two ends swapped. The axle-to-axle connector has been mentioned by others as well, and then there's the variation of

with the extensions cut off. This piece is really versatile, but sometimes that extension is in the way. The L-shaped corner piece I found in the page of Barman referenced above by @allanp. It could be useful as an alternative to

because it has its pins fixed, some of which are sometimes in the way and different pin types cannot be used (3L or axle-pin for example).

Edited January 14, 2023 by gyenesvi

[efferman]

40 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

do you think such a hub would be printable (while having a female CV joint insertable)?

should work, even as injection mold.

[gyenesvi]

22 minutes ago, efferman said:

should work, even as injection mold.

That would look great, but unfortunately I found another problem. Although the suspension arms have enough clearance to tilt on the ball because their tip has a slope cut out, the steering link does not have enough clearance and cannot tilt. I tried it on the short towball on this hub. I see you made the wall of the female CV joint housing even thinner, but I think even that's not going to be enough. It would have to be almost just the radius of a 1x1 liftarm to make enough room for the steering link, but that's not possible..

[efferman]

It is possible to solve this problem

[Johnny1360]

20 hours ago, shroomzofdoom said:

 

 

IMHO, this is the one that's most overdue 

So many absolutely great parts ideas, that could be real game changers and this is the one I would really like and I have no idea why it doesn't already exist.

[gyenesvi]

35 minutes ago, efferman said:

It is possible to solve this problem

Ha! That's a great idea! A bit more curvature might be necessary towards the neck of the towball, just like on the outer edge, and then it should be fine. And I guess the 4th ball is unnecessary, so we should take that off in order not to weaken the structure on both sides.

I was wondering how we could test this idea. If you'd put this out to shapeways, we could print this and when the Ford GT comes out, it should be possible to test with 5L liftarms and the new CV joint part. Also, I see you have 5L steering links on shapeways so we could use that as well. By the way, how is the quality of printed steering links and towballs, towball sockets and CV joints? I assume you have tested them already.

[efferman]

The angle fits now to the possible CV joint angle

 

btw, what about new wishbones?

the surface is like sandpaper, but i have never broke a nylon towball. The part should be rigid enough.

Edited January 14, 2023 by efferman

[1gor]

this kind wishbone could be interesting if it goes "arround" differential gear to make more narrow axle using planetary hubs.

[efferman]

Sorry, i dont understand. 

[SNIPE]

12 hours ago, efferman said:

I guess this would be usefull as an official part.

I like this idea, but wouldn't it be better to just have an insert that meshes 2 clutch gears (needs to work on every lego part that contains a female clutch)

Think of it as like what is sticking out of  your  clutch gear designs but twice as thick and its own part.

5 hours ago, efferman said:

It is possible to solve this problem

Yes but make it a pinhole

Edited January 14, 2023 by SNIPE

[pleegwat]

28 minutes ago, SNIPE said:

I like this idea, but wouldn't it be better to just have an insert that meshes 2 clutch gears (needs to work on every lego part that contains a female clutch)

Think of it as like what is sticking out of  your  clutch gear designs but twice as thick and its own part.

You can use this part, though it takes 1 module of space between the gears:

Or there's these old ones, but I don't know how much force that connection can take.

[Zerobricks]

2 minutes ago, pleegwat said:

You can use this part, though it takes 1 module of space between the gears:

Or there's these old ones, but I don't know how much force that connection can take.

No, you can't, they don't engage into the new system.

[DrJB]

I like this one, for a more 'stable' suspension.

Also, how about parts to experiment with multi-link suspensions? ... i.e., those having Negative "scrub radius", as in some Audi vehicles. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by DrJB

[gyenesvi]

6 hours ago, efferman said:

The angle fits now to the possible CV joint angle

Looks good to me! Thanks!

6 hours ago, efferman said:

btw, what about new wishbones?

I like this idea, it would make the mounting more stable and it's good that it leaves space for the springs, though I don't see any other options to place the springs, which could limit its use.

It would be nice ti have a part file for it so that we can experiment with it virtually.

[Ashfall]

These parts all look super good! I hope we get some of them <,<

[1gor]

11 hours ago, efferman said:

Sorry, i dont understand. 

if you put gear 24 tooth between 6 studs LEGO suspension arm (one from 42099 set) it fits in slots, but 28 tooth gear differential doesn't fit inside; I was trying to make narrower suspended driven steered axle with planetary hubs (as you can see in my tread)...so I was hoping for some suspension arm that is wider at the end to fit 28 gear differentials...I don't have access to my parts yet so i cant make photos...

[1gor]

13 hours ago, efferman said:

Sorry, i dont understand. 

as you know it works with 24tooth differential and doesn't with 28tooth...

[gyenesvi]

2 hours ago, 1gor said:

if you put gear 24 tooth between 6 studs LEGO suspension arm (one from 42099 set) it fits in slots, but 28 tooth gear differential doesn't fit inside; I was trying to make narrower suspended driven steered axle with planetary hubs (as you can see in my tread)...so I was hoping for some suspension arm that is wider at the end to fit 28 gear differentials...I don't have access to my parts yet so i cant make photos...

I assume that would be a solid axle, so a much simpler solution to your problem would be one of the proposed shorter suspension arms.

[1gor]

19 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

I assume that would be a solid axle, so a much simpler solution to your problem would be one of the proposed shorter suspension arms.

 

i know buddy; but the only reason that I was looking for this solution is to make use of 4 PF XL motors that i have...(2 per vehicle geared up 40 to 24 gear as someone suggested me a wjile ago and it worked great with daytona differentias) and now it turned up that i can make it with suspension arms from Arocs (axle is 2 studs narrower than on Zetros), but i have to fix it properly...with dog bones...

[Aleh]

Let me suggest to develop beautiful wheel rims here instead.

[Zerobricks]

Just now, Aleh said:

Let me suggest to develop beautiful wheel rims here instead.

I'm thinking of drawing up some modernized wheels with a stud deeper offset for 1:12 scale cars.