[MINI] Ladybird

[hrontos]

Dear all,

inspired by an old times

toy I have create my entry for the MINI Contest.

It is a ladybird that "never" falls of the table (quite adrenalin with a brick build version ) .

Model consists of 200 parts (including the brick built key).Features:

• 1WD
  
• differential (a bit crazy feature for a ladybird)
  
• pullback motor
  
• unfoldable wings
  
• will not fall of the table (hopefully never)
  

LXF file - pullback motor and one rubber band is missing there since they are not available in the LDD.

Here is image of whole mechanism:

And finally a video of the model in action:

I hope you like it and it will at least inspire you to create also some crazy creation for the contest.

Thank you.

Martin

Edited July 10, 2014 by hrontos

[Kelkschiz]

Cuteness :)

[Lipko]

Hmm, the wind-up mechanism is very clever, much better than I could do. I'm wondering though how the small gears in the differential can handle the torque which can be quite big according to my experience. I noticed some ABS dust in my mechanisms after a few full winding-ups.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Lipko

[Rishab N]

Nice and unique work!

[hrontos]

Nice and unique work!

Thank you. I hope not too much off topic creation.

Hmm, the wind-up mechanism is very clever, much better than I could do. I'm wondering though how the small gears in the differential can handle the torque which can be quite big according to my experience. I noticed some ABS dust in my mechanisms after a few full winding-ups.

Yes, the torque produced by the pull back motor is really very high and motor normaly unwinds very quickly. There is still a room for improvements and optimize the gear ratio to get longer run times. It is not unwinding quickly, so I do not expect any dust, but finding longer run time would be nice.

I already have made modifications to improve running capabilities and "not falling of the table" feature.

Edited June 16, 2014 by hrontos

[Rockbrick]

really nice and might have to make that for my cat to play with

video video video

[hrontos]

really nice and might have to make that for my cat to play with

I would like to see it's reaction, since it's a bit oversized ladybird.

video video video

I will make to video to show it in action.

Pullback motor accumulates only little energy, so it makes only 3 or 4 attempts to fall off the table.

It has also fallen several times during testing, but the body is quite sturdy and it always only looses head, since that's the weak point.

[Nimdian]

Nice one! Fun and different.

[skriblez]

Nice entry :)

[grum64]

I think this is great. Very creative.

[750ACE]

Awesome, but I think you meant to call this a Ladybug.

[hrontos]

Nice one! Fun and different.

Nice entry :)

I think this is great. Very creative.

Awesome, but I think you meant to call this a Ladybug.

Thank you guys. I am glad you like the idea.

I don't know, what is proper English name for this beetle. According to my knowledge, it should be ladybird, but in the North America it is called ladybug. Latin (binomial) name is "Coccinella septempunctata" - seven-spot ladybird (ladybug), C-7.

LEGO set having a latin (binomial) name is quite crazy idea.

[anton1678]

Awesome, but I think you meant to call this a Ladybug.

It is the same thing as ladybird, ladybug is just in america

[Mark275]

Well... Let's focus on the second prize. First price is in my opinion definitely for you.

[legomuppet9]

The wind up mechanism looks very clever, and the model itself looks great too! good job

[anton1678]

"Coccinella septempunctata" - seven-spot ladybird (ladybug), C-7. directly translated means Seven-spotted Small Beetle

[hrontos]

I finally managed to find some time and uploaded a short video of the model in action:

For this video I modified the model and added a small yellow lever to have a comfortable way to start the model. LXF file reflects these changes.

[jantjeuh]

Brilliant. Well done, and very original.

[hrontos]

Brilliant. Well done, and very original.

Thank you.

It's a bit fast and running time could be a bit longer, but as I said, the pullback motor can accumulate only little amount of energy. High speed at least makes it more adrenalin, because you never know if it falls off or not.

I know, it is a crazy and may be a bit off topic entry into competition, but it was fun to build and my kids liked to play with it, so I enjoyed it also.

Thanks to EB for organizing this mini contest. There are many great entries.

[jantjeuh]

Well, I'll eat my hat if this doesn't win. Just downloaded the LXF file to figure out how the gearing works. I'm also guessing it leans on the antennae, and when the 'sensing' antennae drop over an edge the perpendicular wheel makes contact with the surface and turns the whole thing away from the edge?

Edited July 10, 2014 by jantjeuh

[hrontos]

Well, I'll eat my hat if this doesn't win.

Hehe, I would not say that. There are really many great entries that better fit the competition idea. But I am really glad you like it.

Just downloaded the LXF file to figure out how the gearing works. I'm also guessing it leans on the antennae, and when the 'sensing' antennae drop over an edge the perpendicular wheel makes contact with the surface and turns the whole thing away from the edge?

Yes, that's exactly the principle how it works. Very simple. All the gears are there just to be able to wind up pullback motor by a key and not by pulling.

Edited July 10, 2014 by hrontos

[rollermonkey]

Don't sell yourself short! This is an incredibly unique model, and to make it look so nice and function so well with so few parts is very impressive. There's a million vehicle-based MOCs, so seeing something different is refreshing.