Miniature Moving Gondola

I've always wanted a cool mini gondola. I finally found one and it was $300!!! so i made one from parts i had lying around. this project with new parts would only cost about $30, plus if you have a lego train "controller" you can control the speed and direction very easily.

Step 1: Materials

I had most of these things sitting around, so i dont know exactly how much they are.
you'll need:
a motor w/ a power source
wire
fishing line
garage door pulley
a bolt w/ nuts
springs (you probably don't absolutely need them)
3 small L brackets
zip ties
wood screws
a good place to mount it


Tools:
Screw driver
Drill (optional)
scissors
pliers

Comments

[zoxx]

Finally! I can make my own miniature gondola!! My life has meaning. +1

[hondagofast]

A bit of constructive criticism: Try using macro on your camera (if it has it) to focus the pictures better, and use lights to make better lighting.

[samando]

you can also use an h.o, n scale or h.r model train controller

[z999]

AWESOME! at the beginning I didn't know too what gondola he meant so don't laugh at weinsmatthew. I'm going to create one of those on my desk. does anyone has an Idea for something that can replace the pulley? I think I have k'nex wheels I can try using the big ones. two more questions what motor were you using? and what are the dimensions of everything?

[farbs]

Easy questions. One I believe that is the inside of a LEGO MINDSTORMS motor, or something very similar (find an instructable for it, search LEGO its on one of the first three pages, guy tells you about it, thought it was dumb but i guess it came in handy) a good pulley would be a knex, but it is supporting a lot of weight, so try a lego wheel, they are stronger.

[admanrocks]

the motor is actually a lot more powerwul than mindstorms

[admanrocks]

glad you like it. a kennex wheel would probably work. i dont know exactly what motor i was using, i know it was made by buehler. it was an old servo i had lying around. as for the dimension, i dont know if you mean parts or distance. but the L brackets are 2.5 in. on each side, and any other dimensions dont matter that much. the easiest way to do this though is to keep the gondola going straight across.

[Mr.Devious]

I'm sure this would be trippy to someone to watch for an hour whilst on shroom :-P

[dominator027]

thats pretty cool!!

[bigpinecone]

i'm gonna make one of these!!!!

[MixMasterM]

Neat project. I love working miniature amusement rides/transportation like this. I do think that your result would look better if you re-worked the gondola itself so it didn't flop around so much. Maybe a bit more weight and/or connecting it in two points to provide direction. The paper construction is a cool idea by itself though.

[weinsmatthew]

whats a gondola

[Kiteman]

A gondola is the traditional pole-driven boat used by Venetians to fleece tourists (see http://www.gondolacompany.com/ ), but admanrocks means the other kind of gondola, which is one of the "carriages" of a cable-car system (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41883000/jpg/_41883732_gondola203.jpg ).

[admanrocks]

are you kidding?

[Robotrix]

There's nothing funny about gondolas.

[admanrocks]

ha ha you are right