LUGNET News : ~1048/GBC


Brian Alano / GBC

Main GBC info at GBC Index

GBC History

Seminal Thread

GBC Lessons Learned

Great Ball Contraption, Type 1. DRAFT

revision history

11 October 2004 - initial version - Brian Alano
14 October 2004 - ball, crate, and throughput proposals - Brian Alano

Introduction

The general idea is to make a modular contraption where balls are passed from one machine to the next. UNRESOLVED: linear or non-linear? UNRESOLVED: branching or non-branching? UNRESOLVED: looping or not?

The goal of the Level 1 standard is to make GBCs simple to implement and GBC modules buildable by most AFOLs.

Terms

Great Ball Contraption - an interfaced assembly of modules which conform to this standard
Contraption - short for Great Ball Contraption
GBC - abbreviation for Great Ball Contraption
module - a Lego MOC of standard dimensions (herein defined) and standard interfaces (herein defined) which receives and dispenses balls
ball - PROPOSAL 04-10-14e by BBA: an essentially spherical Lego part equivalent in size to a Lego soccer ball or basketball.
crate - a receptacle of standard dimensions (herein defined) for balls . Non-moveable crates at the interfaces are functionally equivalent to hoppers.
crate capacity - the number of balls a crate can handle without balls bouncing out when dropped in or spilling out when jostled. Actual number will vary with crate design. See Lessons Learned.

Modules

1. Standard Interfaces
PROPOSAL 04-10-14a by BBA:
Only balls will pass between modules. There is one type output interface, a ball dispenser. There is one type of input interface, a crate. The ball dispenser will dispense balls into another module’s input crate.

PROPOSAL 04-10-14b by BBA:
Throughput:
A module must be able to process balls at a rate of one per second, averaged over 30 seconds. A module must be able to process 30 balls dumped into its input crate all at once.

UNRESOLVED: single or multiple input? UNRESOLVED: single or multiple output? UNRESOLVED: linear (receive on left, dispense on right) or multi-directional? UNRESOLVED: location, height, width, depth, slope, etc.

2. Standard Dimensions
UNRESOLVED

Balls

1. Standard Dimensions or Specified Parts
PROPOSAL 04-10-14e by BBA:
The balls shall be Lego Soccer Balls or Basketballs (Bricklink parts x45, and bb84).

Crates

1. Standard dimensions
UNRESOLVED: based on SMART standard or something else?
SMART’s crate

2. Crate Capacity
PROPOSAL 04-10-14c by BBA:
The crate capacity shall be 30 balls.

Great Ball Contraptions
PROPOSAL 04-10-14d by BBA:
The first module in a GBC should be well regulated so as to dispense balls at a steady rate near but never exceeding the maximum allowed throughput.

Steve Hassenplug posted the final rules on or before 31 May 2005.

My GBC Index

Primary content in this document is © Brian Alano. All other text, images, or trademarks in this document are the intellectual property of their respective owners.