baard Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Hi, I have been following this forum for a few years now and am generally impressed by your creations and creative use of bricks. Inspired by Selander, HenrikLego, Matija and others I have designed a decoupling mechanism using the mini linear actuator to retract the coupling magnet into the bogie, thus releasing the wagons from the locomotive. This bogie can be built into most standard Lego sets, and I have made a MOD to the 3677 Red Cargo train as an example. I have also made my version of a Class 08 Diesel shunter with a similar mechanism built in. The train has 2 motors, PF battery, receiver and lights front and back built in, as well as a train weight to make it heavier. I have to warn you that I am a bad photographer, and worse, the pictures are taken with a mobile camera. I haven´t figured out how to upload my pictures here, but have made a flickr account to share my design. http://www.flickr.co.../115097068@N03/ Thanks for watching! Cheers, Baard Quote
Rufus Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 I haven´t figured out how to upload my pictures here Right click on the picture, select 'Medium 800' (the maximum picture size allowed here); right click on the resulting image and select 'Copy image location'. Insert into image tags: [img=http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/12075398606_9ae70f1d51_c.jpg] And post. Normally I would direct you to the tutorials in my signature, but I looked at your flickr and thought I should help you out. Please post some pictures of that amazing bridge! Might need a separate topic. Quote
AlmightyArjen Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 very clever design, well done! And indeed: bridge looks awesome too! Quote
dr_spock Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Excellent use of the Technic mini-LA. On flickr, you can also click on the share icon when viewing the picture and select "Grab the HTML/BBCode". Copy the BBCode and paste in your post. Quote
HenrikLego Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Great work Baard! As you may have seen on Brikkelauget.no I'm also planning to use the mini PF-actuator as well, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Your mechanism seem to work like a charm! Your diesel engine looks wonderful! So much power functions in such a tiny engine. It's also great to see your older mocs again! I love that bridge and that church! Quote
Zed_43 Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Nice! That is a very clever idea! I like it! Quote
Selander Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Nice to see further progress on the decoupling theme. I'll study your mechanism closer - it looks highly interesting. So the mini LA gives enough stroke for a full magnetic separation? Any problems managing curves or points due to the stretched geometry of bogie? (I mean magnet is a bit away from the swivel point of bogie) Quote
baard Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 So the mini LA gives enough stroke for a full magnetic separation? Any problems managing curves or points due to the stretched geometry of bogie? (I mean magnet is a bit away from the swivel point of bogie) The mini LA is more than strong enough driven by the M PF motor. No problems managing curves and points because the bogie in effect is only 1 stud longer than most bogies in standard Lego train sets. The only problem I have seen is when trying to decouple while the loco and wagon is in a curve, but this of course does not happen in my train yard Thanks for posting my picture, Rufus! Quote
HenrikLego Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 I measured the distance the magnet needed to have to another magnet on a regular weighted train wagon and the mini LA had just enough stroke for the magnetic separation. I just noticed how baard has connected the magnet to the LA. Better than my solution. Think I'm gonna copy that approach! Quote
mikezang Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Does anyone tell me how this is to decouple? I am not sure about its concept... Quote
baard Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 Does anyone tell me how this is to decouple? I am not sure about its concept... On the picture you can see that the magnet is positioned like the magnet on a normal bogie. This is the positition when the loco is pulling wagons like any loco. When the magnet is pulled into the bogie by the actuator, the wagon's magnet will not be able to follow because the buffers hinder this movement. When the magnet is fully retracted you drive the loco away, and the wagons will stay in place. In essence, you can operate this by remote control. This allows for fun activity in a train yard without the use of "hand of God", and also means that it is possible to leave wagons in places on your layout that you cannot reach by hand. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 That is a great work of engineering to fit all of that into such a small space Quote
mikezang Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 On the picture you can see that the magnet is positioned like the magnet on a normal bogie. This is the positition when the loco is pulling wagons like any loco. When the magnet is pulled into the bogie by the actuator, the wagon's magnet will not be able to follow because the buffers hinder this movement. When the magnet is fully retracted you drive the loco away, and the wagons will stay in place. In essence, you can operate this by remote control. This allows for fun activity in a train yard without the use of "hand of God", and also means that it is possible to leave wagons in places on your layout that you cannot reach by hand. Thanks for your explanation, it is so simple, great! In fact, I created a deCoupler with a 9v motor, my design is in opposite way. Two beams will push car off away locomotive, the concept is very complex though it does work. Quote
Laui Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 I was working on something similar since quite a while and my biggest problem was a proper guiding of the LA. Thank you for sharing this so i can finally stop many dissapoiting tries and start to have fun on remote decoupling :D Quote
UrbanErwin Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 This is an interesting design expect it to be stolen. And what Rufus said, that bridge is awesome too! Quote
Duq Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Genius! Have to use this on one of my future loco's. Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted January 23, 2014 Posted January 23, 2014 Nice to see the system in action! Quote
baard Posted January 23, 2014 Author Posted January 23, 2014 Links to videos of the decoupler in bogie www.flickr.com/photos/115097068@N03/12108429763/ and in Diesel shunter www.flickr.com/photos/115097068@N03/12108788566/ Quote
Doom2099 Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Wow, that's really clever. And there are some great pictures over in your flickr. I hope we get to see more! Quote
Hrw-Amen Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I wish I knew how to build one of these, It would give hours of fun. My main question though is how do you control it? Does it have to have a seperare IR unit or does it somehow use the same one the trains main motor uses? How do you control it? Do you use a standardard train controller and if so what bit, the button or the dial? If not what sort of controller does it use? Most people seem to be using the M motor which as it is small I can understand as it would be easier to fit inside of things. But the M motor like the other just goes around and around. How do you know when to stop it or cut the power? Is it possible to rig something to automatically cut the power to make the motor stop in the right place, or do you just stop it when it looks about right or when the motor starts to whine and threaten to pull the model apart? I hope someone can anser these questions. Thanks. Quote
baard Posted January 25, 2014 Author Posted January 25, 2014 Hi The decoupler is driven by an M motor. The M motor uses one of the channels on IR receiver. The other channel is used for the train motor + lights etc. Thus you can use one IR control, i use the noe with the dial. When the actuator is at the end (fully retracted or extended) the motor will continue to operate and the gears will start to slip and you know this is happening because of the sound (!). However, with practice, you get good at stopping at the right moment, after all you are gong to continue driving your train! The actuator and motor are the strong parts of the mechanism, the gears the weak, so if anything is to be worn out over time it is the gears. Good luck in trying and happy building! Cheers, Baard Quote
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