Vehicle Headlights

[DKS]

That is, hands down, the most exceptional animation I have seen!

Thank you--I appreciate that!

I wonder if you could square off the end of a piece of fiber after you heat flare the end??

Yes, I've done that: just make a lens that's bigger than normal and trim it down to a rectangle with a sharp knife.

I have to ask about the excavator, what type of motors did you use? I was thinking of attempting to use a tortoise to make the boom of my L90 go up and down.

They're surplus Escap motors. Likely rejects, since they used to run a couple hundred apiece new, and I got them for 5 or 10 each (this was back in the 80s). There are plenty of others that can be used--the miniature geared motor market is burgeoning with options these days--here are just a few sources. That said, I think a Tortoise can be used for your application; you'll have to run it on a much lower than normal voltage in order to slow it down to a reasonable speed. I used Tortoises to animate railroad crossing arms.

[bbeegle]

David that is simply amazing!!!!!!

[RAILCAT]

You could also use miniature servos and control them through a Tam Valley Depot board.

[DKS]

You could also use miniature servos and control them through a Tam Valley Depot board.

That assumes the servos can be operated at a very slow rate of speed; most servos I've seen run much too quickly for an application such as this.

[Lemosteam]

David, my son and I were blown away by this model.  2009. Awesome.

What about stepper motors?  A computer could control the amount and direction of shaft rotation and you would not need the micro switches at all.

[DKS]

What about stepper motors?  A computer could control the amount and direction of shaft rotation and you would not need the micro switches at all.

Back when I built it (around 1998), small stepper motors were a lot more expensive; multiply everything by four, and it was budget-busting. Plus, there weren't many with "plug and play" controllers, and I didn't have sufficient skills for a DIY stepper motor system. Not to mention that having to make a PC available to run it was out of the question.

I'm in the process of building a new excavator--the original is suffering from progressive arthritis, and it's terminal; it will be easier to start over than to keep the poor old beastie running. I've thought about using steppers, but I still prefer the simplicity of plain old DC gearhead motors; I can use much smaller ones this time around, and the limit switches are a lot less trouble than they may appear. Best of all, the whole thing will again be powered and controlled by one small handheld box.

I've got most of the ingredients I need on hand, and I intend to document its construction in a video series. The one commodity I lack right now is time...

[rail and tie]

I think Dave's model is a HOAX!!  ...a fake!

You can clearly see that the hands in the video are actually giant inflatable hands.  Not very lifelike at all.  In fact, the movement of the hands are jerky and erratic like they are servo controlled or on strings or something.

Nice try Dave...  good video a real loader though!!