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More Lego Engines

Phillip Alvelda — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:19:26 +0000

Here’s another rev of a couple of my favorite working Lego pneumatic engines, a new V8 and a smaller inline 4. The new models sport several innovations that improve the balance in the crank and cam shafts (important if you have flexible shafts that suffer from torsion), and reduces the number of valves and moving parts. The resulting models are smaller (cheaper), and much more efficient, producing a lot more torque per unit weight.

Here are some images and live video of the two engines running.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZeZnfyng4Q&eurl=http://www.lpepower.com/content/pushrod-v8-engine]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwMhsZy_D5A&eurl=http://www.lpepower.com/content/pneumatic-sys-inline-3-cilynder-engine]

They’re little marvels of engineering. You really can build anything with Legos.

These versions are actually up for sale for very reasonable prices (133 euros for the Inline 3, and 455 euroes for the V8) considering the myriad parts and assembly steps required. They come pre-built and tested from Alex and Ivan’s new online store at LPE Power. Or, if you want to source the parts and build and test your own engines in true Lego spirit, check out my earlier Lego Engines post with links to parts lists and step-by-step visual build instructions.

Twilight Turtle: a Planetarium Night Light

Phillip Alvelda — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:35:00 +0000

Too cute for words. Start conditioning those young scientists early!

Buy Twilight Turtle here on Amazon.

A Mechanical Marble Computer

Phillip Alvelda — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:35:00 +0000

Matthias Wandel has developed a fantastic mechanical binary adding machine using a simple series of cascaded chutes to store numbers and perform carries through mechanical toggles. Don’t miss the video embedded below to see it in operations.

Ingenious!

More details can be found on his web site: www.Woodgears.ca along with all manner of interesting contraptions.

Indoor Radio-Controlled Plane

Phillip Alvelda — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:11:00 +0000

Some of you may remember my post last year on the “Butterfly” living room flier from Plantraco Hobbies. Technology is marching on though, with new composite materials and ever more integrated electronics in smaller and smaller packages. Witness the latest in living room RC technology, the Carbon Butterfly. (you can purchase one at the previous link complete with controller and padded carrying case for $299) (hint…hint…anyone planning ahead for my 2007 Birthday/Christmas season…)

(Check out videos of the Carbon Butterfly in flight here.)

The new version above weighs in at a scarce 3 grams including all of the receiver, rudder actuator, and prop motor hardware despite the addition of the new landing gear. Smaller carbon fiber rods and a redesigned mylar-coated wing comprise the major advances. Here’s the older version for comparison (at 3.6 grams):

The new Carbon Butterfly sports a fully proportional 2-channel controller for both the throttle speed and the rudder actuator, and a nice light gear reduction to drive the prop.

Better-yet, the founder of the indoor flyer community, Michael Hendricksen, has started an indoor flier blog showing how you can make your own miniature actuators with simple coils and magnets!

and the Plantraco Micro-RC web site has all the supplies and components you could need to build your own miniature airplanes and helicopters and indoor flying pleasure. These sorts of things are great starter projects to get kids excited about electronics, mechanical design, and aeronautics, all at once!

Matchstick Eifel Tower

Phillip Alvelda — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:54:00 +0000

I just love projects that highlight both engineering and art, particularly when they are managed with limited resources and simple tools.

Check out this fantastic model made with matchsticks! Did the hobbyist is qustion, one Alexandr Pashkevich of the Ukraine, simply have too much time on his hands? You decide.

PicoFlyer, the Furby of 2006

Phillip Alvelda — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:24:00 +0000

It’s true that I tend to obsess about little hobby widgets. But this one is just too cool for words. A company in Norway called ProxFlyer has been developing tiny radio controlled helicopters for a few years now. More recently, they licensed some of the technology to a company called Interactive Toy Concepts which manufactured a toy for sale through Radio Shack last year. I tried to get one last year but they had sold out way before Christmas. Well, now they’ve outdone themselves. Check out their latest effort, the PicoFlyer.

Here are the stats from the ProxFlyer page:

Key specifications, components and materials used to build the small Picoflyer:

Rotor:

Airframe:

Main motors:
Gears:
Tail motor:
Battery:
Control:

Weight:
Flight time:

60 mm diameter (2 contra rotating 4-bladed rotors)
Carbon rod 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm from WES-Technik
Aramid 30 g/m2 fabric from CST, foam tape hinges
72 mm long, 0.08 mm carbon plate, 0.3 mm rod,
1.5 x 0.2 mm tube, brass bearings 0.7 mm from Didel

4 x 8 mm, 11 ohm from Didel (2x)
Plastic gears, module 0.2 from Didel (6.7 : 1)
2.8 x 6 mm, 25 ohm from Shicoh, 0.16 grams
1 x 3.7 V, 30 mAh Didel cell, 0.86 grams
3 channels custom Plantraco 900 MHz radio control
Atmel ATtiny26L with 3 x ESC
Yaw control by differential speed of rotors
Tail motor used for forward horizontal flight

3.3 grams (incl. battery and control)
Up to 1 minute, (0.5 minute continues)

Sadly, this one-off prototype isn’t for sale, but you can get a slightly larger version manufactured by ITC at Radio Shack. Get ‘em while they last. I’m ordering a bunch for all my nerd friends. And I might keep one for my four-year-old. Of course I’ll have to help her learn how to fly it! Oh, and then I might also need another one for all the nifty little parts I could use on other projects….

Here’s a video of the little copter in action.

High cool.