The smallest(likely) remote controlled vehicle

[Tamas Juhasz]

Hello!

Last week I was thinking about a very small PF remote controlled car(somebody started a topic about small PF mocs, that was also inspiration). To make the smallest(or a very small, you can't be 100% sure, can be existing a smaller one which isn't publicated) you don't have a lot of possibilities, the vehicle will feature a LiPo battery box or AAA, an IR receiver, and micromotors.

This is my solution:

Folder: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=510197

Dimensions: 16 stud long, 6 stud wide and 10 stud high. The City theme vehicles are 6 s wide too, so in an exhibition it can drive on the road plates:

The steering motor is fixed by one rubber band, that can be seen in the back:

So only Lego parts were used, the picture text explains the reason for the black rubber band.

The most challenging part of the building was to hide the wires. There are two conversion wires, the receiver's wire, two 9V wire. The most of them are in the left side and bottom:

Top:

Here clearly can be seen the steering and driving, there are no gears, only one (original Lego) rubber band:

The PF speed IR speed remote control is the best for driving, steering is too fast with the regular one. I know it's not fast(0,074 km/h ), but there is no space for a medium motor.

Action:

Edited August 15, 2012 by Mbmc

[timslegos]

It is unbelievable you managed to fit all the components into such a tiny car. Excellent MOC.

tim

[kieran]

Very cool, very well done on getting it all in

[Edwin Korstanje]

Very good smal moc you make, and it's amazing that you get all the PF in it

[AncientDayz]

Nicely done. I was starting to question the power, but - as if you read my mind - you quieted that thought by having it go up the incline.

[Erik Leppen]

It looks like one of those Dakar rally trucks. Great job managing to cram all those cables away in the little space you had.

[Andrew Page]

That is crazy small. I spent some time looking at the Faller car system for model trains and thinking about how to redo it in LEGO. This is 90% of the way there. Nice job

Andy

[F0NIX]

Fantastic!

And finaly somebody else than me trying out this task of making a small (city-size) vehicle that is remote controlled and out of just LEGO.

Hope more people get some inspiration out of this and make other types of vehicle. It would be very fun to watch several vehicles driving around in a minifig-sized city layout at an exhibition :)

[Tamas Juhasz]

Thanks all.

That is crazy small. I spent some time looking at the Faller car system for model trains and thinking about how to redo it in LEGO. This is 90% of the way there. Nice job

We have also Faller cars(but not yet assembled, they wait for the layout), and I thought earlier to make this, but it's only possible with the small PF battery box. Th Faller ones are controlled by the road(if I know well), I made a similar with magnets and road plates, but for that you need an increased layout to hide the mechanics below.

It would be very fun to watch several vehicles driving around in a minifig-sized city layout at an exhibition :)

Good idea, I also thought about to drive with these in one of our(Malug) exhibitions. But it would be no longer than 1-2 hours, I couldn't let be there in switched on state.

[Crazydance]

Thanks all.

We have also Faller cars(but not yet assembled, they wait for the layout), and I thought earlier to make this, but it's only possible with the small PF battery box. Th Faller ones are controlled by the road(if I know well), I made a similar with magnets and road plates, but for that you need an increased layout to hide the mechanics below.

Good idea, I also thought about to drive with these in one of our(Malug) exhibitions. But it would be no longer than 1-2 hours, I couldn't let be there in switched on state.

Well, it doesn't go fast, but if you have a congested lay-out you could do fire-truck coloring and have it zoom about a bit.

That being said it's key for this kind of MOC to have it fit with the environment it's in.

I would do a fire or police truck color-scheme, but other than that it definately can compete with the City scale it looks intended for.

Overall I LOVE the tech-part you did on this small but exciting MOC. Maybe LEGO wakes up and does a series of micro-PF parts for small sets.

(Just so you can cram it up a bit more, lower the truck a bit, and possibly can ditch some of the cabling.)

[parda]

Superb example of how to fit lots of elements in small space!!

Big ideas for small moc'sbentry

Edited August 16, 2012 by parda

[1974]

Thank you for the video

I allways wondered how those micromotors might perform in a vehicle like that. The speed is fine for a busy city layout I think. Great engineering part on steering mechanism - rubber bands are wonderfull

But it does not look much like a current city vehicle though .. Maybe try modding the new garbage truck? Plenty of space in that one

The problem with LEGO electrical parts is of course that they take up a lot of space. I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible to put an IR reciever/controller pcb + motor into something like the old 9V studded motor boxes

But then we have the problem of way too high RPM. DC motors are like that, high RPM, little torque - which have to be converted through gears. LEGO gears also take up a lot of space

I'm not much into RC cars (anymore, it's been +15 years), but I'm sure with all the new fancy stuff like those tiny RC 'copters, there must be very small motors with internal gearing available now?

I think a lot of people might be interested in a solution for this problem and I see several smart techheads here so maybe we could do a community thing?

You know, stuffing a small geared motor with a PF controller into a small box/chassis like those old 9V motors?

Just a thought ..

[Tamas Juhasz]

That being said it's key for this kind of MOC to have it fit with the environment it's in.

I would do a fire or police truck color-scheme, but other than that it definately can compete with the City scale it looks intended for.

Great idea, and it's easy to make into a police truck color scheme. The small speed is ideal for a patrol squad. Maybe I can put a flashing light in with these part: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4771

Maybe LEGO wakes up and does a series of micro-PF parts for small sets.

Yes, that would be very good, for example the most waited PF Small motor(with that this moc wouldn't need at least one conversion wire, and could be much faster). A much smaller battery box and receiver would be also good, but I don' think we will get them in the next 6-8 years. The PF system is very good to make motorised mocs in the size, wich TLC uses for official technic sets. Unfortunately they don't need smaller PF parts. But the S motor is very needed.

I allways wondered how those micromotors might perform in a vehicle like that. The speed is fine for a busy city layout I think

The micromotor is pretty stron compared for it's size, the 71427 motor produce 6 Ncm stalled torque, this one 1,6.

there must be very small motors with internal gearing available now?

There are 1:87 radio controlled model cars, they are ca. 4 cm long(

). So technically it's not hard to make, but every electrical component must fit to the Lego parts system. The stud and the connection point makes the limit. But the PF components could be smaller I think.

Big ideas for small moc'sentry

Thanks for the link, I don't have much time to see all these blogs.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Mbmc

[Tamas Juhasz]

The instruction is done:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=510376

Here can be seen how much wires features compared to it's size:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5577910

and here is the explanation for the rubber band:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5577894

Edited August 17, 2012 by Mbmc

[Rook]

I wasn’t really impressed until I saw the drive train and steering. Double thumbs up!

[Burf2000]

Now that is brilliant, very cool!

[drdesignz]

That's pretty cool, and the smallest I've ever seen. I recently saw a couple other small RC trucks that are well designed too, and one is only four studs wide:

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/21319