LEGO Rubberband Vehicle

[Topsy Cret]

Well, as much as I hate to say it, I need help. Recently, I took it upon myself to construct some sort of vehicle powered only with the aid of rubberbands. Naturally, I turned to LEGO to use a medium. But, my skills do not exceed to rubberbands and Technic.

So, anybody got any ideas? The vehicle could be anything, from a small car to a giant helicopter to a miniature boat. But, it may only be powered by rubberbands, and should run as long as physically possible.

[Siegfried]

There's one in the 8888 Ideas Book.

[freakwave]

Around the 1997 and 1998 there were a few simple "Bungee Cord" cars, follow the links to peeron for the instructions!

2854 Bungee Chopper

2129 Blast-Off Dragster

8202 Blast Off Chopper

8205 Bungee Blaster

You should get an idea how that can be realized!

I got them recently and they are simple yet effective!

fW

Edited February 14, 2010 by freakwave

[RohanBeckett]

There's one in the 8888 Ideas Book.

This was one of my favourite childhood models to make.. lots of fun.. and didn't need many parts.

I think I remember modifying it a bit, to include a ratchet mechanism.. so you could just lift the arm up, without having to pull the wheels back.

Lego did a couple of rubber band official sets.

http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=8202-1

RB

[Topsy Cret]

Thanks for the quick replies. I had a feeling that there might've been a model of this in the 8888 idea book, but Peeron's images weren't showing when I browsed it earlier today. And, yes, I know LEGO made a number of rubberband sets, but I'd rather not steal their work.

[DLuders]

Lego did a couple of rubber band official sets.

http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=8202-1

The instructions for the "Easy Rider" #8202 Bungee Chopper set are available at http://us.service.lego.com/en-US/BuildingI...ns/default.aspx . After you type in the set number, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of that webpage to see the downloadable building instructions (for both the Main and Alternate models).

[boatbuoy]

Don't forget one of the most efficent uses of the rubber band is to twist it, not to stretch it, if that makes sense. We once had a how far can you get an elastic band powered vehicle to run competition. The most a catapult type vehicle ran was 15m. A twisted band ran +70m.

[allanp]

Don't forget one of the most efficent uses of the rubber band is to twist it, not to stretch it, if that makes sense. We once had a how far can you get an elastic band powered vehicle to run competition. The most a catapult type vehicle ran was 15m. A twisted band ran +70m.

That's interesting! In fact, when I think of medievil catapults that didn't use weights to store potential energy, they used lots of ropes that were twisted.