Subject:
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Re: NELUG at 04/06 - 04/07 Greenberg show (Plus some bonus footage).
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains, lugnet.org.us.nelug
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Date:
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Fri, 12 Apr 2002 11:35:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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45 times
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"Eric Kingsley" <kingsley@nelug.org> wrote in message
news:Gu95H1.J18@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.trains, Alex Cruz writes:
> > In lugnet.general, Eric Kingsley writes:
> >
> > > ambitious layout to date. Features included an amusement park with 5 • working
> > > rides plus a static roller coaster, WWII trains, a huge down-town area, • and
> > > much much more.
> >
> > Eric, that was quite the layout. Question: who created the "Octopus" • ride and
> > is it fully functional? ie: spinning up and down and seats spinning. I • would
> > love to see a video of that in action.
>
> Alex,
>
> The Octopus ride was created by Joe Comeau and yes it is fully functional. • The
> mechanism is actually very clever but also very simple. I have included
> org.us.nelug on this post to make sure Joe will see this and he can • explain it
> better. Joe also created the fully functional Merry-go-round.
The Octo ride uses an offset axle to accomplish the lifting/lowering action.
Each of the legs are attached to the offset axle by piece of string
(official LEGO string no less). The offset axle is stationary, so that as
the arms move around, they are at times closer to the offset axle and then
farther away, producing the up and down motion. As for the 'spinning seats,'
they don't really. The figs move around a bit from the various vibrations,
but that's about it. The Octo ride runs very smoothly, so it doesn't help. I
was hoping the weight of a minifig would cause more movement, but they're
just too light. The actual mechanism is just a single motor turning a large
turntable via a worm gear (no major feat of engineering here). The 'magic'
is enabled by keeping the true center axel short, which also is stationary.
The offset axle is attached to this which must be taller, so that the
strings won't hit the center axle. Since all of the strings and the sign
post are attached to the offset axle and the fact that it is stationary, it
gives the illusion that the offset axle is the true center...most people who
see it initially can't figure out how it works.
This picture shows the axles fairly well:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=89574
I will see if I can create a poor quality 'LEGO cam' video of it and post
it. If anyone wants more info, email me directly and I'd be happy to tell
you more.
- Joe
> Other fully fuctional rides include a Ferris Wheel (Jorge Fernandez), Salt • and
> Pepper (Jamie Berard), and another ride that I can't remember the proper • name
> for, it is similar to a Tea Cup but not quite (also Jamie Berard).
>
> All of the added motion that these rides add to the layout make for a very
> interesting display. Plus it keeps the spectators around a lot longer. • We
> also had 2 functioning raidar dishes and a functioning light house. Those
> arn't nearly as interesting but it dose add some movement.
>
>
> Eric Kingsley
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