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Hi everybody
I presented a “little” but really fun MOC at BricMania, July 24 and 25th, France
: two cows who watch the trains run.
If you did’nt see them, watch these videos to have an idea on what I will speak
here :
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ea-the-smile/FreeLUG/BricMania2004/cows.mov
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/jlb/FreeLUG/Bricmania2004/dscn1955.mov
The idea :
The idea is so simple that I think nobody found it before :-)
I made meadows for a little part of a train module, with the goal to put some
cows on. And automaticaly, the relation between cow and train came to me. I
should have to make cows who watch the trains run. The system is simple : an RCX
and a light sensor which detects the train, and a micromotor to turn the head.
How did I make it
The challenge was to put the micromotor (the smallest LEGO motor) inside the
cow. According to others MOC of cows, the best size is 3 studs wide. So I should
put a 2-wide motor in a space of 3 studs, keeping the skin of the cow... I chose
to use 2x3 panels. An other solution could be SNOT technique.
The space on the panels allows to put only an electric plate (for the
alimentation of the motor), the motor and there is just the space for a plate.
The electric plate is fixed with jumpers (AZMEP technique).
From this step, the second problem was to made the neck which transmits the
movement from the motor to the head. The unique solution I found was to use a
tile. But the horns aren’t fixed :-/
The third problem was to make the front of the cow. Here I used SNOT technique.
At last, the rest of the cow was easy to finish. A half day to build it...
After, I started to write some lines of code, and built a small loop for a train
in order to make tests. You can imagine my joy when I saw the cow turning the
head when the train passed :-)
After these first emotions, I read a better source for the RCX and built a
second cow, on the same time I made the instructions with MLCad.
Epilogue
I felt that this MOC would have success at BricMania, but not on this
proportion. Everybody were under the charm of these cows. And so, the cows won
the price of the best MOC of BricMania.
Today, YOU could also make your own cow(s) !
You will find the instructions on Brickshelf, and also the NQC source for the
RCX.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=93293
I’m sure you will find some ideas to motorize other animals :-)
Erik / brickerik
FreeLUG member
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
This is officially the coolest MOC I have ever seen. Other than space and brick
constraints, is there a limit to the number of cows you could rig this way? And
is it possible to vary the rate of motion slightly between animals?
In any case, wonderful models! I’d think that this kind of thing must be a
real attention-grabber at displays and shows. Bravo!
Dave!
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In lugnet.general, Dave Schuler wrote:
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This is officially the coolest MOC I have ever seen.
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Thanks :)
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Other than space and
brick constraints, is there a limit to the number of cows you could rig this
way? And is it possible to vary the rate of motion slightly between animals?
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Well, the only limit I see is from the power of the RCX and/or its number of
outputs. You can easely modify the programm, by example in order to add sensors
or outputs to control 3 or more cows. For my part, I have only two micromotors,
so... And of course, if you use two outputs for two cows, they can be
desynchronized. For the power, I used 1 (NQC) (the minimum to move the heads)
but you can increase the speed. But as my two cows are together, they can have
exactly the same movement.
Erik / brickerik
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
So simple and so very cool! That is a great piece of eye candy for a train
layout, super job!
jt
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
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The system is simple : an
RCX and a light sensor which detects the train, and a micromotor to turn the
head.
|
That’s exceedingly cool. But since I don’t have an RCX, it makes me wonder
whether something similar could be done without it. Perhaps a small lever
that’s pressed by the train as it goes past, which is connected by a hidden
string to the heads? Or something that uses the weight of the train on the
tracks?
Probably not as easy or as good as using RCX, but it makes one wonder...
Anyway, super job!
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
> Hi everybody
>
> I presented a "little" but really fun MOC at BricMania, July 24 and 25th,
> France : two cows who watch the trains run.
>
> If you did'nt see them, watch these videos to have an idea on what I will
> speak here :
>
> <http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ea-the-smile/FreeLUG/BricMania2004/cows.mov>
>
> <http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/jlb/FreeLUG/Bricmania2004/dscn1955.mov>
>
> <<http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ea-the-smile/ownmodels2/MotorizedCows/1_cows.jpg>>
>
>
snip
> You will find the instructions on Brickshelf, and also the NQC source for the
> RCX.
>
> <http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=93293>
>
> I'm sure you will find some ideas to motorize other animals :-)
>
> Erik / brickerik
>
> FreeLUG member
Wow Eric,
Spotlighted! That is SO totally cool!!! I showed my kids and they were amazed,
as am I. Truly, imho, it's MOCs like that, that will make HO modelers think
twice about the "limitations of the brick". Way to go! Nicely played.
Sincerely,
Janey "Red Brick" (feeling the pull of the RCX)
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I missed the initial post the first time I read about this, but my
first thought was magnets. My wife (a non-AFOL) thought magnets too
when I showed her the video. I've noticed the train magnets are strong
enough to make the magnets twitch on trains that have been parked on a
siding. The only issue would be getting the heads to reset back to a
neutral position. My wife's idea was to slant the MOC so that the
natural resting position was gravity driven, though I'm not sure the
magnets are that strong to overcome gravity. Perhaps a stationary
magnet repelling the moving magnet...
Just tossing out my 2 cents.
--Jack
GtwLUG, St. Louis
--- Joe Strout <joe@strout.net> wrote:
> In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
> > The system is simple : an
> > RCX and a light sensor which detects the train, and a micromotor to • turn the
> > head.
>
> That's exceedingly cool. But since I don't have an RCX, it makes me
> wonder
> whether something similar could be done without it. Perhaps a small
> lever
> that's pressed by the train as it goes past, which is connected by a
> hidden
> string to the heads? Or something that uses the weight of the train
> on the
> tracks?
>
> Probably not as easy or as good as using RCX, but it makes one
> wonder...
>
> Anyway, super job!
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
A simple idea, and a wonderfully elegant solution!
Best motorized cows ever.
Cheers
Richie Dulin
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
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Hi everybody • snip
FreeLUG member
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Erik, these are awesome! You have inspired me anew to add automation to our
future layouts. A big thanks for providing the instructions as well.
Jason
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
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Hi everybody
I presented a “little” but really fun MOC at BricMania, July 24 and 25th,
France : two cows who watch the trains run.
|
An idea well worth copying. Remember, generally 100% of train show attendees
have never visited LUGNET or Brickshelf, so even if every LEGO train club in the
world copied this idea brick for brick, it would still be new and surprising to
everyone that saw it. And I’ll be surprised if we don’t see a dozen variations
on the idea anyway. Great job.
Rick Clark
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Eric-
What a great concept! And implementation! And effect!
You cut to the heart of what makes a really cool MOC.
I’m certainly going to want to put some cows in our pasteur when I get back from
BF.
-Ted Michon
SCLTC
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"Dave Schuler" <orrex@excite.com> wrote in message
news:I1vw1n.131J@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
> > Hi everybody
> >
> > I presented a "little" but really fun MOC at BricMania, July 24 and • 25th,
> > France : two cows who watch the trains run.
> >
> > If you did'nt see them, watch these videos to have an idea on what I • will
> > speak here :
> >
> >
<http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ea-the-smile/FreeLUG/BricMania2004/cows.m
ov>
> >
> >
<http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/jlb/FreeLUG/Bricmania2004/dscn1955.mov>
>
>
> This is officially the coolest MOC I have ever seen. Other than space and • brick
> constraints, is there a limit to the number of cows you could rig this • way? And
> is it possible to vary the rate of motion slightly between animals?
>
> In any case, wonderful models! I'd think that this kind of thing must be • a
> real attention-grabber at displays and shows. Bravo!
>
> Dave!
Those are great! One way you could make the motion a little different is to
change the gearing on one of them to a different gear ratio and for an added
bonus, add another cow in the back of those facing a different direction and
make his head go up and down instead of left and right.
Again, great work!
Rob
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In lugnet.announce.moc, Erik Amzallag wrote:
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Hi everybody
I presented a “little” but really fun MOC at BricMania, July 24 and 25th,
France : two cows who watch the trains run.
|
Fantastic!!!!
I am hoping you won’t mind that these little cows will get copied for every
train show from now on.
Is anyone going to have time to make some for BrickFest? I really hope so.
JB
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