Author: Lawrie George

  • Lego GBC Ball Return

    Lego GBC Ball Return

    Lego GBC Ball return is a Utility Module designed by Lawrie George that allows Lego GBC Balls to be easily returned to the loop.

    It uses a four corner skate ramps to make the bucket and is combined with a Lego GBC Donahue variation and Brickworld ball pump variation to make it into complient GBC module as well.

    The modules creation occured in three phases.

    First I built the bucket from the skate ramps and configured it so that balls could drop into any module.

    This looked a bit plain though so I then built the flip sign, this was inspired by the old style rotating billboards (they are almost all LED’s these days) that I saw while on holiday.

    At this point it was looking good but it still wasn’t an actual module, to do this I modified a Lego GBC Donahue and Brickworld ball pump to pump balls into the bucket,  then carry them from the output into the next module.

    1. Ball Return, 2. Hand Holding Ball, 3. Hand Dropping Ball

    Night Lighting

    For this module I used a Lego Led light shining through trans blue (to diffuse the light) onto the sign so that it could be seen at night, as well as one of my custom Lego UV/Led lights in the ball pump to charge the balls before they got pumped into the bucket.

    Videos

    Video of this module in operation

  • Lego GBC Compact Cardan Lift

    Lego GBC Compact Cardan Lift

    Lego GBC Compact Carden Lift is a module I designed for the BrickFair Virginia 2019, BrickFair NJ 2019, and BrickFair AL 2020 GBC Workshops.

    It is based around the Cardan Mechanism and uses an 8 and 16 Tooth gears to achive the primary relationship.

    The cardan-gear mechanism invented by Girolamo Cardano in the 16th century is used to convert rotation motion to reciprocating linear motion without using linkages or slideways.

    The module was designed from August 2018 through to Febuary 2019 when the parts were ordered, final box and instruction designs were worked on from April to June 2019 with the completed kits being tirelessly assembled by Stuart.

    100 kits were sold at BrickFair Virginia 2019 with over 30 of them making there way onto the table for the GBC loop.

    Special thanks go to Todd Webb, Stuart Roll and Tom Atkinson for the opportunity as well as KC Ross and Brian Bell for testing and sugesstions.

    Night Lighting

    I haven’t set this module up for nighttime running but it would certainly be possible using my custom Lego UV/Led lights or something similar.

    Videos

    Running video.

    My unboxing and assembly video.

    Assembled Kits can be seen througgout the Beyond the Brick Video for BrickFair Virginia 2019.

    Early Prototype

    Modules

    Designing this module took an iterative approach with each major set of changes being recorded and released to testers.

    V1.10.0

    Pieces Cost Difficulty
    316 $$ Easy-Moderate

    The instructions can be found here: Lego GBC Compact Cardan Lift Instructions.

    • Further instruction refinement to make the steps where timing occurs easier to understand.
    • Addtional slope near motor to help clear balls.
    • Addtional bracing around Cardan Mechanism to improve performance.

    V1.9.1-1.9.5

    Pieces Cost Difficulty
    308 $$ Easy-Moderate

    This is the version produced for the  BrickFair VA 2019, BrickFair NJ 2019, BrickFair AL 2020, and BrickFair NC 2020 GBC Workshops.

    The instructions can be found here: Lego GBC Compact Cardan Lift Instructions.

    • Instruction refinement to make them apply to the four production colors of Red, Yellow, Green and Blue.
    • Box Refinement.
    • Determine possible re-colors.
    • Add barcode easter egg.

    V1.9

    • Swap 11 axle for a 12 as it is a more common size
    • Swap gate to use more common parts
    • Use a bracket instead of a brick to hold 1×2 slope
    • Raise the window back to the top of the bin
    • Increase the height of the tiles for aesthetics and to bring to input to exactly 10 bricks tall
    • Add brace to gearbox to stop it from separating

    V1.8

    • Reduce brick variation to make it easier to customize color
    • Restore tile covering slot as it caused a weakness where 1×1 bricks would separate over time
    • Flip 3×5 liftarm so it no longer jams on top
    • Add 1×2 bricks to support the 3×5 lift arm better (matters more after module has worn in)
    • Restore tile layout (remove 1×3 tile)
    • Change arm weights to reduce friction and add a slight positive angle to arm which makes the pickup easier for the mechanism
    • Add a 1×2 plate to the arm to make it tilt slightly further when the forks hit it.
    • Add a wedge to stop balls stacking and blocking output
    • Add a clutch gear to drive train
    • Add tile to prevent ball and crank jam
    • Close gap to prevent ball and crank jam
    • Add extra rail to output

    V1.7

    • Added an output ramp to bring balls back inline with inbox.
      • This allows 2 or more cardan lifts to be placed inline
      • Stops swing arm from fouling on next module
      • Absorbs most of the ball energy from dropping out of the fork
    • Removed ½ bushes from fork as the ramp absorbs the balls energy now
    • Updated swing arm to reduce collisions with other objects
    • Changed final axle to make timing and assembly easier
    • Reduced gear ratio to better meet 1BPS when moving 4 ball batches
    • Remove tile covering slot as 3×5 liftarm was jamming on it, causing missed pickups
    • Remove lip as motor no longer overhangs
    • Corrected several bush orientations
    • Minor color changes to reduce lot count

    V1.6

    • Change 10 axle to 11 to remove guesswork when positioning axle in the frame
    • Change ½ bush to 1×3 lift arm to aid with timing and reduce overswing
    • Change swing arm pins to 6 axle for easier swing-arm removal
    • Change the base plate configuration to allow for left-turns when two cardan lifts are placed together
    • Increase width of input tray so that motor sits within module
    • Instructions order changed around assembly of cardan mechanism

    V1.5

    • Add guide plates for correct spacing of the next module
    • Add bushes to slow the release of balls
    • Add Braces to reduce flexing
    • Added a gate to swing-arm to reduce leaking

    V1.3-1.4

    • Major redesign of input area to reduce timing and jamming woes
    • Change gearing to run module in correct direction

    V1.2

    • Isolated piston and added window to wall
    • Removed spring

    V1.0

    First working design:

    • Used a  spring to support lift
    • Piston moved entire outer wall

  • BrickFair Virginia 2019

    BrickFair Virginia 2019

    Arriving early Wednesday evening to BrickFair VA 2019 I was surprised to see that almost all of the GBC area had already been filled, however, after a bit of cajoling I was able to secure one and a half tables to set up my modules on.

    This year I displayed my newer modules Lego GBC Stargate and Tower Crane, as well as my Lego GBC Mini Golf course, after these modules I had a small area dedicated to modules with Lego GBC Instructions.

    We ran the whole loop for World of Lights on Friday evening this year by using UV Led Strips and PV glow in the dark balls.

    All in I had loads of fun and picked up a “Best GBC Module” award for my Lego GBC Stargate.

    (FYI that’s Tom Atkinson’s Ferris Wheel in my area underneath my Tower Crane).

    GBC Workshop

    This year I was the designer of the GBC Workshop module kit “Compact Cardan Lift”, these kits were produced in 4 colors (Red, Yellow, Green and Blue) and will be used in the BrickFair NJ 2019 (Builder), BrickFair AL 2020 (Builder), and BrickFair NC 2020 (Builder) conventions to allow attendies to build there own GBC module.

    Just over a 100 kits were assembled in two workshops and 30 or so of these participated in the GBC loop.

    You can get Lego GBC Compact Cardan Lift Instructions in my store, however, I would recommend picking up one of the kits at the upcoming shows if you have the opportunity.

    Videos

    This year I had some big shoes to fill by being the Narrator in the Beyond the Brick video, a roll that has been filled by Tom Atkinson for many years.

    Adams Brick Junction’s video of the GBC loop for World of Lights.

  • Lego GBC Stargate

    Lego GBC Stargate

    Lego GBC Stargate is a module designed by Lawrie George that teleports the balls from one portal to another.

    The module was inspired by the theme the “Moon and Beyond” and my love of Stargate with the begining portal being themed around Cheyenne Mountain and the second gate being themed for Abydos.

    Night Lighting

    For this module there is no UV boosting (e.g. Lego UV/Led lights ) but the portals have a RGB LED strips in them that flash and fade through a range of colors during daylight running or stay fixed on a deep blue for nightime running.

    Videos

    Videos of this module in operation.

    Awards

    My Stargate module won “Best GBC Module” at this years BrickFair Virginia 2019 and also picked up a designer token MOC.

    Modules

    Builds and revisions to this module

    Pieces Cost Difficulty to Build
    >1000 $$$ Moderate

    The instructions for the Portal can be found here: Lego GBC Stargate Portal Instructions

  • Bricks By The Bay 2019

    Bricks By The Bay 2019

    Bricks By The Bay is a premier Lego fan event in Santa Clara, California (USA), that I got the chance to attend this year and participate in the GBC layout.

    For this event, I had my 9 Lego GBC Mini Golf modules, Cardan Lift, and a V2 testing version of Lego GBC Hoecken module along with 9 other builders with a total of 46 modules.

    The layout started on a custom drain system over 6 tables, however, this was quite a compressed layout and I encouraged them to expand the layout onto an addtional two tables for the Sunday run. This made the loop easier for the public to see at the expense of more work cleaning up balls.

    The GBC layout also won peoples choice (voted by the public) and I picked up “Greatest GBC” for my Mini Golf modules.

    Videos and Media

    My Mini Golf modules ended up featuring in a few different places including a piece in the Mercury News.

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/13/photos-lego-aficionados-gather-for-annual-convention-in-santa-clara/

    I also had the express pleasure of chatting with Norman Chan from Adam Savage’s Tested about Great Ball Contraption.

    https://www.tested.com/art/lego/882126-lego-great-ball-contraption-mini-golf-modules/

    And Boon and John from Beyond the Brick filmed the whole layout (I’ll link the video when it’s released).

    Lego GBC Counter rolling over to 20,000 at Bricks By The Bay 2019