Instructions to the World of Lego Animatronics

January, 16, 2015

Ms. Tevlin

Engineering

1-4 Instructions to the World of Lego Animatronics

Introduction The goal with Lego animatronics is to achieve as many as possible life-like motions with in one system. In this instruction book we will be going through three different but very interesting motions. This instruction book will walk you through how everything works, what is needed to make the system and how to do it. Two motions from this booklet was based off two motion system found in the Exosanta^2 Lego Animatronics project. One will be a very interesting way to implement a non-Lego material to make movements 10x better. The first motion is the up and down climbing motion, the second motion is the up and down side to side arm movement, and finally an elastic band and cam motion.

Materials reference list This is a list to help have a visual image of the piece while reading this, and to help make reference to pieces much easier. To make the instruction easier to read names for pieces will be based and from the name given above and whit in the picture.

teeth they have) (The above beams will be referenced as Lego Support Website: http://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/ Beams) Website: http://rebrickable.com/sets/991402- 1/studless-technic-beams-technic-2008 (The above item will be referenced as a large cam) (The above item will be referenced as Website:http://images.frompo.com/1 a small cam) 818b1a09126c11252ff11b88e88bda1 Website:http://rebrickable.com/parts /6575/technic-cam

(The above items will be referenced as axles in general) Website:http://pixshark.com/lego- (The above item will be referenced as axles.htm an axle extender) Website:http://brickset.com/parts/45 12360

(The above item will be referenced as an L-shaped piece) Website:http://www.thedailybrick.co. (The above item will be referenced as a uk/lego-technic-beam-3-x-3-x-05- Lego Connector Beam with Lego Teeth) beam-bent-90-32056-yellow.html Website:http://mrob.com/pub/lego/ge ars.html (The above item will be referenced as a vertical gear) (The above item will be referenced as Website:http://bricks.stackexchange. a black connector with friction) com/questions/2228/pattern-for- Website:http://www.amazon.com/LE vertical-motion-using-technic-lego GO-Mindstorm-Friction-Connector- Quantity/dp/B00FD8N920

(The above item will be referenced as a Bushing) (The above item will be referenced as Website:http://www.toysperiod.com/ a white connector without friction) lego-set-reference/educational- Website:http://www.toysperiod.com/ dacta/service-packs/technic/lego- lego-set-reference/educational- 9942-connectors-and-bushings/ dacta/service-packs/technic/lego- 9942-connectors-and-bushings/

(The above item will be referenced as a half connector and axle) Website:http://www.toysperiod.com/ lego-set-reference/educational- dacta/service-packs/technic/lego- (The above item will be referenced as 9942-connectors-and-bushings/ a gear box) Website:http://rebrickable.com/parts /6588/technic-gearbox-2-x-4-x-3-13 Up and Down Climbing Motion

Motion Introduction With this motion it is quick and simple and easy to make. The two main components you need to make this work are vertical gears where the teeth run up and down instead of around the gear. The second thing you need is the gear itself or the object that will be climbing the vertical gears. Basically it will be the round gear running up the vertical gears. With this method of using vertical gears to make a run way for the object there can be endless possibilities. Instead of having the beam where it runs up, meaning it will be up right you can have it horizontally supported and it will run from side to side. There are many ways to construct this so the first thing to decide is how you are going to make it supported. There are different options from using one beam or two beams to support it. In the case of two beams it will just be the object sandwiched between two beams and that adds extra support without adding odd cuffs to keep everything together. This is a very good example of a good vertical movement up and down.

How it’s made There are two essential parts in this system, the climber and the thing for the climber to climb. First of all make the object to be climbed. In this case for the example you start off my making a long rod to attach the vertical gears on. The orientation of the rod does not matter at this point of time yet. It does not matter if it will stand up right or horizontally. A simple object that can be made quick and easy for this example is make a tall 2 by 2 rod with vertical gears on one side.

Steps to make a 2 by 2 rod with vertical gears 1. Find two equal lengths Lego Connector Beam with Lego Teeth 2. Find at least two black connectors with friction 3. Place one of the connectors at one end of the beam and the other at the opposite end 4. Take the other Lego Connector Beam and slap it together side by side, to make sure everything is correctly done there should be no visible connectors popping out 5. Repeat steps 1-4 multiple times until there is sufficient sets of 1 by 2 beam 6. Now take one of the 1 by 2 beams and place one end of the beam in the middle top of another beam 7. Repeat step 6 multiple times until all of the 1 by 2 beam are used up 8. Take the object made and attach it like a train 9. If step 8 was done correctly then the end product should be a 2 by 2 long rod height depending on how many pieces were used, and it should not end up being a huge staircase 10. Collect all the vertical gears 11. On the rod there should be only one side where the Lego teeth/bumps appear 12. Place all the vertical gears along this side 13. After step 12 is complete it should look like picture 1-3, 1-4

Now that the 2 by 2 rod with vertical gears is complete it is now time to move on. Now the final object to complete this system is the climber itself. The climber can be made in many different ways. For this instruction we will only go through the gear system. The support system will vary upon the person making the this system, because the support system to hold everything together can only be found by continuous testing of the system to see which will be optimal. The gear system will be discussed to explain why this is the best method of making the gears for the climber.

Gear System for the Climber 1.First find the following materials: Gear box, worm gear, axles, motor, axle extender, 24 teeth gear, or a gear that can fit in the gear box, and normal 24 teeth gear, white connectors without friction, Lego base, and Lego Support beams with Lego teeth 2. Take the gear box and find the little box opening in the bottom 3. Take a worm gear and place it in that small box in the gear box 4. Take an axle and push it through so it stays in place 5. Take the gear that can fit into the gear box and drop it in and push an axle though it so it will stay in place. 6. Take an axle extender and place it on the axle that is going through the worm gear and attach the axle extender to the motor 7. To continue to step 8 a proper base needs to be made to attach the gear box base to the motor base so everything spins properly (It should look like picture 1-1, 1-2) 8. After making the base for the system take Lego Connector Beams with Lego teeth and make a wall equally high as the gear box and leave the middle space empty The length of the wall should be a lot longer than the gear box 9. Take both of the 24 teeth gears and take two half connector and axle pieces 10. Attach the gear and the half connector together 11. Take the two things made in step 11 and place it in the empty space in between the walls beside the gear box 12. Make sure that all the gears are around the same height(Should look like picture 1-5) 13. Attach the motor to a battery and the gear box gear to the vertical gears on the rod and the rod will move either up or down

That is all there is to making this system. There is still the support system, but in this instruction we cannot go into that because the vertical gears are different in height compared to many other pieces so to make the support system that might go around the rod to hold everything together like the picture below it will require a lot of testing depending on how the system is made. In this example we used a gearbox, but it might seem useless. Let’s say that the object needs to carry a lot of mass so if we use a normal gear straight out once it can’t go up anymore it will start to fall back down. Also gear boxes might seem slow, but they provide a lot of power to the system. The support gears are not connected to anything so they are no supposed to move if there was curiosity why it is not moving.

Pictures

Picture 1-1 Completed gear box and attached to motor ready to go side view Picture 1-2 Completed gear box and attached to motor ready to go top view

Picture 1-3 ExoSanta^2 hanging on Picture 1-4 The gear for the gear box the rod on the vertical gears

Picture 1-6 Extra support gears for the Picture 1-6 Extra support gears for the climber to be stable top view climber to be stable side view Up and Down Side to Side Arm Motion

Motion Introduction This motion can seem very in sync with each other but based on the gears it can cause some pretty odd motions. With this motions system it used an offset gear system to move a beam to make it seem like an arm is moving up and down. There is an additional feature with this is that depending on which way it is going the arms will have different starting position. This is actually a rather harder system to work out because it is the little things that can stop the entire system from running at all. This system requires a lot of testing and configuration to find that nice sweet spot so that it works perfectly. Every little thing changes it from the position, pieces, and just putting Santa clothing on it. There is an especially cool gear system that runs the gears for the arms that allows for both arms to be run by one motor from the worm gear that brings the contraption up and down. So basically this contraption achieved to get a maximum of 3 different motions with one motor. This system is especially adjustable depending on the gear ratio and how it is set up.

How it’s made This system is rather complicated and requires many components to make the system work. To make this easier the entire system will be broken down into two smaller systems. The first system is the component that runs it all. It is a simple mechanic, but it allows for two things to be run by one motor, and this is one of the goals with Lego animatronics to get as many motions as possible with the fewest amount of motors.

Three side gears system 1. First get the following materials: axles, 12 teeth side gears, Lego base, and Lego support beams with Lego teeth 2. First set up two small walls so that there is a 2 wide gap in the middle and one side closed off make sure that there is a connector hole in the middle of the two wide gap 3. On the wall that faced to nothing get a side gear and place it over the connector hole and push an axle through the connector hole to hold the side gear in place 4. On the wall that is perpendicular to the one that was just used find the hole that is closest to the gear and place the gear over that hole and push an axle through 5. Do step 4 four both sides 5. Look and make sure all the gear teeth are touching 6. If everything is done correctly it should look like picture 2-1, 2-2 7. To make sure everything works just connect the system to a motor and run it, the gear that should be attached to the motor is the gear that touch two gears

Now that the first mini system to this entire motion is complete the harder part comes into play. This section we will be really general with where you need to place and position things. This phase will require a lot of trial and error and testing to get the system to work just perfectly. This part of the system is quite odd so just try to persevere though all the testing because once a good combination is found to place each part, everything will work smoothly. Now what you will be doing is make the rest of the entire system from what was previously made. Arm system attachment 1. First of all get the following materials: Lego support beam with and without Lego teeth, L- shaped Lego piece, 24 teeth gear, white connector without friction, and half connector and axle 2. Take a gear and place it on the one of the side axles of the previous system 3. Take a white frictionless connector and place it on one of the outer connector holes of the gear 4. Take the Lego support beam and at the very end of the beam attach it to the connector that is on the gear 5. Continue building up the walls from the previous system with the Lego support beams with Lego teeth 6. Take a half connector and axle and place it on the wall facing the axle outwards from the wall, it should be placed on the wall around the half mark of the Lego support beam being used 7. Take the L-shaped piece and attach it on the very end on the half connector just placed 8. Take the other half connector and axle and place it on the very opposite end of the connector that was previously placed, the connector part should point outwards. 9.Find a position to push the connector through the Lego support beam, to find a good position choose a spot where it will give the Lego support beam the most leeway space 10. Once everything is done and attached do the same thing from steps 1-9 for the other side (At the end it can look like picture 2-5, 2-6, 2-7) 11. If it is not completely working fiddle around with the positioning of the L-shaped piece to find the right place to have it at

Pictures

Picture 2-1 The three side gear Picture 2-2 The three side gear system front view system top view Picture 2-3 The entire gear system without Lego Support beam in place side view Picture 2-4 The entire gear system without Lego Support beam in place top view

Picture 2-5 The entire gear system Picture 2-6 The entire gear system and arms in place side view and arms in place side view

Picture 2-7 The entire gear system and arms in place top view Elastic Band and Cam

Motion Introduction The main aspect to this motion is actually the elastic band rather than the cam. The elastic band acts as an energy storage method. Once the tension in the elastic band is released it can produce a very quick kind of motion. There is also the motion that happens before that where the beam will move very slowly than instantly quickly. More tension the faster the motion, but make sure it is not too much or the motor won’t move at all, not too little or the motion will not be exaggerated. I would say the cam is unimportant because it only serves the purpose of pushing the Lego piece and because that is it’s only job it can be replaced by many different methods. Basically it does not necessarily need to be a cam to make the entire system usable. Further on we will talk about different methods of making this same thing. In this example we will be using cams because it will easily explain what is going on, but don't limit yourself to just this idea. This system is much more special compared to the previous systems because it implements non-Lego material the elastic band. It is also a better motion than the previous two because the motion is really uneven compared to the other where it is almost very timely.

How it’s made Compared to the previous two motions this motion is much simpler instruction wise. This motion can also be produced by making one system right away compared to the previous two where it would be easier to make multiple systems and attach it together. The steps for this system are easy to follow and it produces an amazing result too.

Step by step instruction on how to make this motion 1. First of call collect some materials: elastic band, a small cam, Lego support beam, white frictionless connector, axles, axle extenders, bushing, Lego base, and Lego support beam with Lego teeth 2. Make a wall out of the Lego support beams with Lego teeth 3. Take the white connector and place it at the most bottom right corner 4. Attach the Lego support beam to the connector 5. Tie the elastic band to the Lego support beam on the opposite end of the connector 6. Get a another half connector and axel, and this time place the connector into the far most left bottom corner 7. Take the elastic band and tie it around the axle half of the connector and put a bushing over it to keep it secure 8. Take the small cam and position it under the Lego support beam, but also to position it in a way that will no hit the base when it is rotating 9 Once the cam is in the correct position push an axle through the connector hole and into the cam 10. Take the axle extender and attach it to the axle that is connect to the cam and attach it to the motor and start running the system.

With this the motion system is now complete. There is leeway space to fiddle and play around with the tension of the elastic band where to have it. There is also a different method to replace the cam and that is to have a gear and on one of it connector holes have a connector sticking out and basically in a rotation the connector will almost act as the cam. Pictures Picture 3-1 Completed system with Picture 3-2 Completed system with elastic band top view elastic band front view

Picture 3-3 Completed system with elastic band side view left side Picture 3-4 Completed system with elastic band side view right side

Picture 3-5 Elastic band system running 1/5 rotation front view Picture 3-6 Elastic band system Picture 3-7 Elastic band system running 2/5 rotation front view running 3/5 rotation front view

Picture 3-8 Elastic band system Picture 3-9 Elastic band system running 4/5 rotation front view running 5/5 rotation front view

Video/Tips and Tricks/Possible Adaptations This video shows all the different motions discussed here in action Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spKo-zi6Jso&feature=youtu.be

In the video it showed the functionality of the arms in slow motion. So in slow motion a cool characteristic of the gears are clearly visible. The characteristic is that the gears are powered by one source, but it has an output of two different directions. The characteristic is made because of the three side gear system. So using that system can not only double the output making it two motions, but it can cause two different motions if you can properly utilize it.

For the up and down movement in the video it was up right and standing. Realistically it does not need to be standing up right like that. If it were to be left like that I can act as an animal climbing up a tree or Santa up a chimney. Another interesting option is to have the rod horizontally supported and make it look like an animal hanging off a branch.

In the video even at slow motion it might be hard to follow the elastic band system because it was going at a very high speed. There is always the possibility that that kind of speed in unnecessary. So this can be solved by using a gear box, but gear boxes are limited resources, so try to conserve. Another option is changing gear ratios. Changing gear ratios to something high can not only help to slow down the system to a desired speed, but it also ensure that the system runs even with high tension elastic band because the gears have more power.

Everything in the video seemed pretty lame and boring. Lego is naturally just very blocky looking and unreal because of how glossy it can be. So to solve this problem is to implement as many non-Lego materials into the design as possible. Non-Lego materials add another texture, feeling and look that makes it seem more natural and better than if it were just Lego alone.