It's been a while since I posted any backlog posts (due to the aforementioned busyness), so I decided to start finishing the job. I mentioned this project in my Hurricane Launcher mark V post, this was the project where I developed the innovative structure of the mark V.
The idea came because I like the Droidekas (aka Destroyer Droids) in Star Wars and I thought it would be cool to make a pair of pistols that mimic the Droideka's two dual blasters. Each pistol would have to have one motor, two Zamor launchers and a grip that allows you to fire.
From my recent work with compact single Zamor launchers I knew that only two beams are required to securely hold a Zamor launcher, and in this project I had the brilliant idea to put those beams on the outside of the launchers rather than in the middle. That opened up a lot of space for the firing mechanism and I was able to make them quite efficient. The Hurricane mark V was built with virtually the same structure extended to hold 3 motors and 4 launchers.
Because Maelstrom's gun, the Hurricane Launcher mark IV, was based off the mark II and III versions it didn't perform much better than earlier versions. I made little progress in Zamor launching technology until I created the Droideka pistols (post coming soon). Because each of them only had a single motor, they didn't fire very fast, but they used a new type of structure that was lighter than my previous Zamor launchers and I used that type of structure to produce the Hurricane Launcher mark V. It surpassed the previous RoF (Rate of Fire) record by 3 rounds per second, but more importantly it had a lighter structure and used less parts. My previous Hurricane Launchers used nearly a whole NXT set worth of parts each, but the mark V uses only a few large beams, making it easier to incorporate it into other projects by freeing up parts for use elsewhere. I have yet to make a tank using the Hurricane Launcher mark V as its gun, but I probably will at some point because the mark V is better than the previous versions.
I posted 4 different projects on NXTlog for Maelstrom because of all the stuff I wanted to add. The following is 3 of the 4 posts, the other one is basically a repost of the Maelstrom YouTube video.
Maelstrom is my
ultimate project: A giant Lego tank armed with a Hurricane launcher. It
has a powerful drivetrain with suspension to let it climb over some
really tough terrain and its Hurricane launcher can fire 23 Zamor
spheres per second! That's 1380 spheres per minute. It has a 40 sphere
magazine so it can only fire for 1.7 seconds straight, but with short
bursts its ammo could last a while.
Drivetrain
Maelstrom can be split into two main parts, the drivetrain and the
Hurricane launcher. The drivetrain was developed over a period of about 1
month specifically for Maelstrom. It has a type of suspension I
originally tried on Tempest (a Tornado Launcher tank) with mixed success. The suspension allows gravity to
bend the tank's structure without breaking it so the tank conforms to
the terrain. It also has sprung treads so they don't fall off when the
tank bends. It is powered by PF XL motors geared for power and it has
rubber treads at the front to aid in climbing.
Hurricane Launcher mark IV
Maelstrom is armed with the Hurricane Launcher mark IV, the fourth in a
line of multi-motor Zamor launchers. Like the Hurricane mark II it uses 3
motors and like the mark III it uses an efficient firing mechanism. As I
mentioned above, it is capable of firing 23 spheres per second, which
is faster than many real machine guns. Needless to say this thing can
devastate Lego structures (stacked Lego bricks, not pushed down) and
armies.
Hurricane Launcher mark IV Instructions
This project is
the instructions on how to build the Hurricane Launcher mark IV, the
weapon of Maelstrom. Here's an overview of how it works: The 3 motors
spin 24 tooth gears which link to 8 tooth gears (which rotate 3 times as
fast) on a long crankshaft. In 4 places along the crankshaft it is
displaced from the center to make that section spin around the
crankshaft's center. Attached to those sections of the crankshaft are 4
firing mechanisms that push/pull the firing rods in and out of the Zamor
launchers as the crankshaft spins.
Maelstrom Drivetrain Instructions
This project is
the instructions on how to build the drivetrain of Maelstrom. Here's an
overview of how the suspension works: Along a few points in each side
of the drivetrain there are joints that allow it to bend. Each joint
connects 2 main beams with other beams and only a few pegs. To
keep the joint from falling apart an axle runs through it. Also, to keep
the treads from falling off they are sprung by arms pulled up by rubber
bands.
If you have any questions about the instructions, feel free to comment on this post. I'd be happy to explain.
Maelstrom was my Ultimate Lego Tank, and to this day it is unmatched in firepower. Maelstrom was, in many ways, an improved version of Tempest. The idea for Maelstrom was that I would get some Power Functions (PF) motors to use in the drivetrain so I could build a full Hurricane Launcher for the weapon. Soon after I got my PF motors, I began work on the drivetrain. It was fitted with the same suspension as Tempest, but it was necessarily larger because I wanted to fit a huge Hurricane Launcher on it. The original drivetrain was great at climbing over all sorts of terrain, and it was fast too.
Maelstrom drivetrain prototype
Soon after the first prototype, I added some rubber treads to the front to improve its climbing ability. This allowed it to conquer some really tough terrain. Unfortunately, Maelstrom was too heavy to climb over most of the terrain the prototype could.
Improved Maelstrom Prototype
At this point, progress came to a standstill for a while. I had used most of my beams on Maelstrom's drivetrain, so I didn't have enough parts left to make a Hurricane Launcher. I ordered a pack of parts from Lego Education, but it was nearly a month before I could resume work. In the meantime, I made a video explaining Maelstrom's suspension.
Maelstrom Suspension Explained
At long last, I constructed the Hurricane mark IV and put some finishing touches on Maelstrom. This project had taken nearly a month of my summer, more time than I even spent on another Lego project.
Maelstrom: The Ultimate Lego Tank
It's also worth mentioning that this was the first appearance of DroidFreak BattleTech and its logo.
Before I took Maelstrom apart and as I took it apart, I took enough pictures for an NXTlog project and for full instructions. I plan to post those here, but this post has already gone long enough, so I'll post those separately soon.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with school stuff, and I was sick for about a week. Now that I'm done with school for the holidays I'll be posting a lot.
This is a "lost project" because it hasn't been posted anywhere until now. Unlike most of my projects, this one uses no electronics. It's a catapult I made a while back that fires 50 small projectiles (axle pegs) over a wide area. Here's the YouTube video I just posted:
The YouTube video explains what it does, so I'll launch right into an explanation of how it does what it does.
This catapult gets its power from rubber bands, but unlike most catapults the power is transferred through gears. The rubber bands pull back on one lever arm which is connected to a 24 tooth gear. The 24t gear meshes with a 40t gear attached to the main arm. This setup helps to maximize the power of the rubber bands.
Because the small arm has rubber wheels protruding from it, it contacts and stops the main arm just as it reaches a 45 degree angle. This maximizes the range by releasing the projectiles at the best possible time.
The 50 projectiles are held within the holes of 5 parallel beams running up the main arm. Because the axle side of the axle peg projectiles is in the hole they smoothly release most of the time, but sometimes they stick and don't fire or fall short. If this were to be used as a practical weapon, there would have to be a way to keep projectiles from exploding unless they fell far enough away from the catapult.
This is one of my "lost" projects, because I made it a while ago but never posted it anywhere online. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning:
When I discovered Brian Davis's projects, not only did I find his Zamor launchers, but also his Zamor launching tank. Ogre, his tank, is armed with a Hurricane launcher and has sprung plastic treads. Needless to say, that thing is awesome.
Ogre
After I invented the Tornado Launcher, I finally had a good one-motor weapon to put on my own Lego tank. Because this was during the Robotics season where I was building BogieBot, I wasn't content to give my tank a simple tread base. I wanted to give it awesome suspension. Naturally, my first design used rocker bogie suspension. That turned out terribly, because my tread base was too small and my center of gravity too high. That is, it tipped over really easily. Here's a picture of my original design without its treads:
Original design:
After that design failed, I had a stroke of inspiration. Suspension should allow the treads to bend around the terrain without breaking the frame, so why not just make a bendable frame? You may know this suspension style from Maelstrom, but this came first, and this was where I invented it. Tempest turned out awesome, and although I didn't show the Tornado Launcher firing in the movie Tempest had it and could use it.
Tempest movie:
It's kind of incredible (as in unbelievable) that I left this thing unposted, because it was awesome, but I think I know why. Shortly after I built this, my robotics team realized that BogieBot needed to be revamped, and I spent nearly all my time for a few weeks on rebuilding or reprogramming it. During that time I posted 4 YouTube videos of BogieBot. No wonder Tempest got lost in the rush!
A few weeks after I made the Hurricane Launcher mark III, I had a new idea for a super-efficient Zamor launcher, and it produced the Tornado Launcher. It only uses one motor like Brian Davis' guns, but thanks to my awesome firing mechanism it fires faster than even the Hailstorm Launcher with only 2 Zamor launchers. It fires 13 spheres per second, blowing away the 9.5 spheres per second of the Hailstorm Launcher.
Tornado launcher
I also posted the Tornado Launcher on NXTlog under the title Compact High Speed Zamor Sphere Launcher. It included a short video and full instructions. The tank I mention in the project never worked quite right, but Tempest (Spoiler: I'll post a video of Tempest soon), another Tornado Launcher tank actually worked quite well. Here's the instructions:
This was originally posted on NXTlog more than 2 years ago:
Turtle Bot
A bot that
wears it's NXT brick on the back like a turtle's shell. It has two Zamor
sphere launchers and an ultrasonic sensor in the front. This is the
first time I have succeeded in making a compact zamor tank, and I think
it is pretty awesome The breakthrough was to have the motor powering the
launcher backwards so that I don't have a really long gun.
Main pic: top front view
pic 2: back aerial view
pic 3: front aerial view
pic 4: back view w/ spheres in tray
pic 5: front view w/ spheres
Launchers!
This is the big thing about this bot. My backwards arrangement enabled me to make this bot compact.
Main pic: shows backwards motor mechanism (Normally the NXT would be on top of this part.
pic 2: close up on the actual motor
pic 3: another pic of back motor mechanism
pic 4: the forward firing mechanism with the tray removed
pic 5: the tray
Driving base
The base of this vehicle is important because it enables the bot to move.
Main pic: bottom view
pic 2: another bottom view
pic 3: pic of the beam that connects motors in the rear.
Movie!
Movie of the bot executing its primary program, shooting you, and doing wheelies.
(pic is repeat)
