New K'nex Ball Machine in Progress

I am about a week into the construction of my newest and most complex ball machine, which is currently unnamed. The machine centers around a massive two-axis overhead gantry which covers my entire room. When finished, the gantry will be able to automatically detect when a ball has been loaded into it, then deposit it in one of several tracks by the use of a random number generator. This video is the first test of bi-directional motor control in this machine. I will post a new video when I have a test of ball loading and depositing completed.

Continuously Variable Automatic Transmission - Finished

This is the finished model of my earlier Automatic CVT prototype. It contains 31 gears and roughly 2,500 pieces. The mechanical design has remained unchanged since the prototype, but numerous structural enhancements have been made to allow for operation at much higher speeds and torques. I plan to post a video of the transmission soon.

Continuously-Variable Automatic Transmission

This is phase two of my attempt to build a continuously-variable automatic transmission for use in gradually accelerating heavy objects to a very high speed without breaking motors and/or pieces. My first attempt was over a year ago (http://knexdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/knex-centrifuge-work-in-progress.html) which required an operator to manually adjust the torque output and had no variable gearing ratio. This new design, which uses two differential gear boxes, automatically switches the gear ratio between 1:1 and 1:6. Because the gear ratio is continuous, any ratio between 1:1 and 1:6 is possible, and acceleration between ratios is perfectly smooth. This prototype is fully functional, but still needs to be re-enforced and stabilized. I will post more as I continue work on it.

K'nex Projection Mapping Test

I have been experimenting with projection mapping lately, here's one set to music projected on Blue Fox.

K'nex Solar Death Ray

I think I can safely say that this is BY FAR the most powerful K'nex "gun" ever constructed, even if the main component is not technically a K'nex piece. Rather than blasting its target with a white rod shot shot from rubber bands, the "death ray" hits its target with 9.6 Kilowatts of solar energy, enough to reduce pennies to puddles in seconds.

My friend Paul and I bought a 4 foot by 3 foot Fresnel lens this morning. The obvious thing to do with it, of course, is turn it into giant solar magnifier, so we constructed a 1,500 piece K'nex frame for it. By the time we were finished it was 7 in the evening so the sun was fairly low in the sky, but it still got hot enough to vaporize pennies with ease.

I plan to post a video soon when we get a chance to try it mid-day.

Paul holding the death ray, attempting to melt a railroad spike.
The welding mask is necessary to look at the spot, it would blind you otherwise.

Close-up of the death ray vaporizing pennies.

Penny: before and after.

Small summer projects

Here's a couple of small projects I built over the summer.