I'm rooting for the basketball

September 17, 2024 12:39 PM

Behold, the Great Ball Contraption, from Japan BrickFest 2024.
posted by aubilenon (18 comments total)

holy shit that’s awesome
posted by hototogisu at 1:10 PM on September 17 [4 favorites]

I went In expecting to skip through most parts, because you know, I've seen a few ball contraptions in Lego.

But holy schmoly, impressive, astounding!
posted by uncle harold at 1:16 PM on September 17 [6 favorites]

Question… How do they design these contraptions? Computer modeling? Trial and error? Advanced mechanical engineering degree? I am in awe…
posted by njohnson23 at 1:26 PM on September 17 [1 favorite]

Question… How do they design these contraptions?

I was wondering about this. And like how do they put them all together? Do they have a common connection point? A required balls-per-minute throughput? The fact that it's only eight people makes this all easier, but I feel like assembling the modules all into one big looping contraption would be a large and difficult project on its own!
posted by aubilenon at 1:33 PM on September 17

I love the one that gives the balls a bunch of topspin to accelerate them out; that took a minute to figure out.
posted by sagc at 1:37 PM on September 17 [1 favorite]

This feels like an especially glorious embodiment of Vonnegut's immortal "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." Absolutely delightful.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:09 PM on September 17 [11 favorites]

Needed this, thanks for posting!
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:37 PM on September 17 [1 favorite]

I loved that I recognised a lot of the mechanisms. I recommend Tim Hunkin's videos to anyone who's likewise fascinated. This one on Linkages and Mechanisms is a good start.
posted by pipeski at 2:44 PM on September 17 [2 favorites]

And like how do they put them all together? Do they have a common connection point? A required balls-per-minute throughput?

There's a standard!
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:33 PM on September 17 [6 favorites]

Are they ever allowed to glue pieces together (I can imagine the forces applied are pretty strong in some spots), or is that like the Ultimate Lego Build No-No?
posted by gottabefunky at 3:42 PM on September 17 [1 favorite]

So it's worth noting that the video is presented by one of the most well known LEGO GBC designers, Akiyuki, whose designs are well known for their technical excellence and robustness, and are mainstays at GBCs around the world - this one had classic Akiyuki modules like the strain wave and the interfacing tilted rings.
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:15 PM on September 17 [4 favorites]

My grandsons went to Canadian Academy.
posted by wmo at 4:22 PM on September 17

How about lubrication? Some of those mechanisms seem to be a little jerky. So many questions...Mind blown.
posted by gottabefunky at 7:43 PM on September 17

How about lubrication? Some of those mechanisms seem to be a little jerky. So many questions.

There's a few that aren't 100% reliable so it would run out of balls eventually but assuming it was refilled as needed, I am super curious, if you left it running forever, what would fail first, and how? Did they have to fix stuff during BrickFest 2024?

(Look. I make escape rooms, so "how will it break?" is always foremost on my mind)
posted by aubilenon at 9:12 PM on September 17 [2 favorites]

I feel bad that the yellow robot didn't get any balls to carry because the little round drum kept pushing them to the red robot. I hope it got some that just weren't on video.
posted by numaner at 7:27 AM on September 18 [2 favorites]

If YouTube had existed when I was 10 or 12 my life would have been very different.
posted by fedward at 11:01 AM on September 18 [1 favorite]

Appropriate background music for this.
posted by JHarris at 1:24 PM on September 18

Here's a related link from the past, a collection of bumpers from the Japanese TV kids show Pythagoras Switch.
posted by JHarris at 1:35 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]