Pneumatic Ball Factory

An ode to the amazing LEGO "Pneumatic Ball Factory" GBC modules designed by Quanix. Inspired by all of his wonderful pneumatic modules, this one is based in particular upon the "Pneumatic Ball Factory V1.0" (2016) and incorporates two "4-Axis Palletizing Robots" and two "Pick-and-Place" modules. The conveyor belts are shortened and operated by EV3. Everything is controlled by an external Control Panel (Pneumatics, EV3, Power Functions). All is built into the well-known Akiyuki frame. All pneumatics in the module are mechanically controlled by the control unit. The EV3 Brick/Program code is only used for the 2 horizontal conveyor belts (start/stop and speed). All parts visible in the video are original LEGO® parts.

Enjoy! :-)

Statistics:

General: Building Time: +/- 4 months Parts: +/- 4000 pcs Dimensions: 115cm (L) x 68cm (W) Gears: 56 Technic Link Treads (conveyors): 166 Maximum Load (inbox): 60 balls Processing Speed: +/- 3600 balls/hr (=1 ball/sec) Rubber Bands: 10

Pneumatics: Pneumatic Cylinders: 17 Pneumatic Hoses: +/- 15m Pneumatic Hose Connectors: 120 Pneumatic Valves: 4 Working Air Pressure: 1.6 - 1.8 bar Air Tanks: 2 Pressure Gauge (manometer): 1

Power Functions: PF Motors: 4 (2x Servo, 1x M-Motor, 1x L-Motor) PF Extension Cables: 16 PF Switches: 4 PF Battery Boxes: 2 (w/o batteries) Energy: 9 Volts

Mindstorms: EV3 Bricks: 1 EV3 Motors: 2 (large) EV3 Sensors: 4 (2x Color, 2x Touch) EV3 Cables: 6

Original designers/credits:

1. Vertical Conveyors - taken from "Batch of 30 Balls" - Dunes/Brick Engineering (2022) - • Lego GBC Module - A module to test the GBC...
2. Ball Splitter Mechanism (left/right stream) - BitoBricks (2023) - • Video
3. 4-Axis Palletizing Robots - taken from "Pneumatic Ball Factory V1.0" - Quanix (2016) - • 2016! The LEGO GBC "Pneumatic Ball Factory...
4. Conveyor Belts with Transport Carts - My own design - LEGO GBC NL (2024) - • LEGO GBC - Pneumatic Ball Factory (Ode to ...
5. Pick-and-Place Modules - taken from "Pneumatic Ball Factory V1.0" - Quanix (2016) - • 2016! The LEGO GBC "Pneumatic Ball Factory...
6. Control Panel - based upon the "4-Axis Palletizing Robot" test setup - Quanix (2016/2017) - • LEGO GBC Pneumatic 3D Module „4-Axis Palle...
7. Air Compressor (used in the test setups) - "8 Cylinder four-stroke Air Compressor XL" - Quanix (2016/2017) - • LEGO High Power Pneumatic „8 Cylinder four...

Everything else designed/modified by myself :-)

Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction (6 modular segments) 00:00:30 - Control Panel / Starting up the module 00:01:15 - 1st run (front view) 00:03:26 - Built-in Features / Setup 00:04:38 - 2nd run (top view) 00:05:15 - 3rd run (close-up views of design elements) 00:07:39 - Statistics 00:07:50 - 4th run (front view) 00:09:02 - Shutting down the system 00:09:34 - Test setups

Pictures: https://bricksafe.com/pages/Lego_GBC_NL

Video editor: InShot

Music: "MBB - Happy" is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: • [Non Copyrighted Music] MBB - Happy [Happy...