Cuusoo of the Week: Brick-Sorting Excavator by IFitzGibbon

 

  • Cuusoo of the Week: Brick-Sorting Excavator by IFitzGibbon

    Posted by glenbricker, 07 Jan 2013 03:39. Filed under Cuusoo.

    So far I have provided city, castle, space, adventure (sort of), projects with a message, and parts.  Now it's time to show off one of Cuusoo's many LEGO clockwork wonders: a gear logic-brick sorting art piece.

    This Brick sorter is a masterful combination of mechanical cunning and brick artistry. Read on to see the video of this marvel in motion.

    The video says it all: clever clockworks packaged in a delightful excavator package.  If you watch the video and don't intend to support it, there is nothing I can add that would change your mind.  So instead of trying to sell anyone further on this, I will carry on with IFitzGibbon explanation of how the sorting logic works:

    "When the claw can close no further, power is transferred to lifting the boom and turning the excavator. If the claw closes on a larger brick, it will begin lifting and turning earlier, and thus turns further, before a mechanical timer runs out and clicks the machine into reverse. In reverse the excavator drops the brick and returns for another."

    Brilliant!  This is the kind of dynamic artistry that I wish was more common in advanced LEGO builds.  I hope you agree with me and throw your support in for this project.  For those of you who really want to get this project rolling, might I suggest  you direct a tweet to celebrity robot builder Grant Imahara.  

    I will also add that IFitzGibbon is more than happy to answer any questions presented in the project's comments.


    16 comments, latest one posted 4 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Legolijntje in Netherlands, 07 Jan 2013 05:00

Where's the link to the cuusoo page?

Posted by glenbricker in United States, 07 Jan 2013 05:02

oops! Updated with links.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2013 05:11

I am always in awe of models like this one, it may not be the most elegant, but the time and effort that must have gone in to perfecting all of the mechanisms is mind-blowing!

Posted by Timoonn in France, 07 Jan 2013 06:20

Im still sad when i see some awesomes creations like this one with a so small vote count :(.
And in face of that, some irrelevant things to the true AFOLs (BTTF, eve, and especially minecraft) got 10k votes within in a few months.

That's one of the greatest models on cuusoo : technical, innovative, tiny, brillant

Posted by CamberbrickGreen in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2013 06:27

Hands are quicker :p
No I could not design anything close to that! Please can a clever techie sort invent an old brick scourer?

Posted by CCC in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2013 08:08

Is it clever? Yes.

Would I buy it? No.

As a design, it is very clever.

But to me, it is a bit of a useless machine. It sorts bricks by size, so long as they are manually oriented in the right direction. If you are going to do that, you might as well sort them yourself. So it is useless as a sorting tool. You would also need very expensive (mindstorms) add-ons to sort by colour.

Posted by IAmWillGibson in United States, 07 Jan 2013 08:40

This is insane and brilliant. The gearwork [gearsmanship?] is baffling, and so far beyond what I'd even think to attempt.

I feel it's terrible for CUUSOO, however. This is a thing you have at an art show, or on display at a LEGO Land or in a store, to show the marvels achievable with the medium. Not something you'd actually be able to sell to anyone.
But what the heck, I do what Glen tells me to, and I will support this thing on design alone.

Posted by legomaniac in United States, 07 Jan 2013 08:57

That is so adorable, instead of having a lever push the brick where it should go.
I would buy it

Posted by Joefish in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2013 10:39

Fantastic bit of engineering, but totally unsuitable for a Cuusoo product.

Posted by Navy Trooper Fenson in Germany, 07 Jan 2013 11:33

There are still no links, except for a Twitter account.

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 07 Jan 2013 11:45

Wait, Grant from Mythbusters?
Anyways its a really cool project!

Posted by followsclosely in United States, 07 Jan 2013 13:48

Till @glenbricker updates with a link, it can be found here: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/22356

Posted by glenbricker in United States, 07 Jan 2013 14:01

@ Navy Trooper Fenson, thank you for pointing that out...The document has been returned to its original publication state and lost my updates.

Cheers.

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2013 16:01

That model (like tons of these Mindstorms/Technics robotics projects) is absolutely amazing, and the chap who built it mast have been a genius, but I'm afraid I have to agree with @CCC and @Joefish etc. Can anyone really see Lego actually making a model like that even if it reached 10k? That said, why not try and see? But I am still doubtful.
What would be awesome (and possibly more realistic) is if they made a comprehensive book of amazing Mindstorm/Technics designs or something like that, with instructions/how-to's etc.

Posted by Duq in Ireland, 07 Jan 2013 17:34

Absolutely genius! I remember seeing the prototype for this a long time ago. The prototype was just clever. The excavator makes it coffee-table worthy.
This is the same sort of genius as Akiyuki's ball factory and axle sorter"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM9qGZCc4DY

Posted by Konstantin in United States, 07 Jan 2013 23:38

There is a great historical project called "the glory of rome".Please feature it next time.

Commenting has ended on this article.