Legos

RC Drift Car Chassis

This RC was built for my Freedom Project during freshman year. It features a simple gear-driven rear wheel drive system and a compact linkage powered steering system. The final prototype also utilizes 3D printed wheel covers compatible with genuine Lego bricks to drift easily. The car is remote controlled via a smartphone app (Boost by LEGO) and a custom-coded control screen.

RC Rock Crawler

After watching RC Rock Crawlers on Youtube, I decided to make my own custom LEGO version. My design began as a simple rear wheel-drive RC car, but after some testing on some cardboard ramps and inclines, I realized that it was not powerful enough. I raised the car to be able to drive over obstacles easier, and added a Four-Wheel-Drive system to add more crawling capabilities. To make it an even better car, I added a gear reduction to add torque and removed unnecessary parts to reduce weight. The four wheel drive modification is pictured to the left.

RC Rock Crawler and Drift Car Vidoes

RC Mustang

After gutting an old broken RC car and using its body shell, I used parts similar to my RC Drift Car Chassis except larger parts to accommodate the larger body. After some testing, the motors did not end up having enough power to move the car very fast. The increase in weight of the larger car hindered the motor strength and torque.

Lego Vacuum Engine

After watching an interesting Youtube video on LEGO engines, I decided to make my own version of a LEGO Vacuum Engine shown in the video. My goal was to make an improved version that was stronger and spun faster. I customized my own model by making it more robust, fixing the flaws that I saw on the video such as a weak piston head and low idle speed. LEGO vacuum engines convert air suction to rotary movement at very high speeds. I built a large throttle body to maximize this suction to the piston and used lots of Vaseline to lubricate the piston walls to minimize friction. I encountered many challenges during this project; the most notable problem was the air valve. I had to find a building solution that opened and closed a valve that led to the piston, all while being attached to the same axle as the wheel. This valve was very important: it allowed for suction to convert to rotary power. Without the valve, the vacuum would force the piston in constant upright position, not allowing for the crankshaft to make a full rotation and spin the axle. After overcoming many challenges, my final prototype was able to spin at very high rpms and even managed to melt the plastic piston rod!

F-18 Desk Decoration

I have loved fighter jets ever since I was young. I decided to make my own model to gift to my mom as a desk decoration. The two models on the left were my first attempts a fighter jet. More recently, I have rebuilt the model (on the right) to look more realistic and proportional to a real life F-18!

Trophy Truck Model

This model was inspired by RC trophy trucks. At the time, I was already using my power functions motors on another model, so I made this a non-RC project. The lack of electronics allowed for me to add lots of details that I cannot fit in my other models. It features a fake V8 engine, full suspension, steering, and a fully removable body shell. This design is very special beacuase it represents my first realisitc Lego model. After creating a removable body shell for this car, I continued this design technique for every future model. Building a chassis first and then building a body shell around that platform allows for the model to look more realistic. In the past, I built the chassis and body shell into one peice. This design solution was easier, but commonly looked disproportionate and unrealisitic.