Motorized Marble Roller Coaster

This is a roller coaster for marbles. It's made from lots of cardboard and hot glue, some stuff out of an old broken printer, and a few other odds and ends I had laying around.

I played around with cardboard, tape, glue and marbles a lot as a kid, making tracks and ramps and such just for fun.

I had been wanting to make one of these for years, just to see what I could come up with now that I'm a little older. The main thing I'd been wondering about was how I could get the marbles back to the top with some sort of mechanism made from simple, available items.

The whole thing turned out pretty well, and surprisingly, the motor/conveyor belt system I came up with works perfectly, although the initial version was really fast (see the video in step 6).

I made a few changes to slow down the conveyor, and the final painted version is shown here.

Step 1 Supplies

I gathered up quite a bit of craft cardboard for this project, along with a few old boxes from the trash.

I used lots hot glue, along with some wood glue and white glue in a few places.

Comments

[powerfool]

So you didn't actually bend the cardboard to make the track, you have created the tracks by joining two stips of cardboard. Right? Also, some other question, how do you make the cardboard so "glossy" as it appears in the video? Is it just the paint? (spray paint?) Thanks! It's wonderful, I've been dreaming for a long time to make something like that but I hadn't got to it... now it's time! :)

[seamster]

Yes--the track is made from two adjacent pieces of cardboard.

Each side of the track is about 3/4 inch tall. I would draw out each new section of track on a sheet of cardboard, cut it out, and then match it up to an existing piece to see if it would fit on the track the way I wanted. These were like "trial" pieces. If the new piece worked well, and took the ball where I wanted it to go, I'd add the new piece permanently to the track, thus extending the track little by little.

If the new trial pieces didn't fit, which was the case most of the time, at least I could see specifically what shape the new pieces needed to be. Many times I would just try something--knowing that it probably wasn't going to work--but that it would show me what would.

Certain sections (like the loop) were completely made off of the the base, and then added as a finished unit.

This project took lots of trial and error, practice, and patience!

As for the paint, I brush painted everything with basic acrylic craft paints. The paint seemed to slow down the track somewhat, so I gave it a coat of lacquer spray, which helped speed things up, and gave it that glossy look you see.

[the poodleo]

thats a great idea,using nylon webbing for the belt. whenever I think of a chain lift that I would use for a project like thsi, I always think of something more complicated, like the ones that are in the Knex rollercoasters. but I love that this is just scratch built iwth such simple, working items. It would certainately make it easier to build.

[Musicman41]

It would be nice to know exactly how you constructed the v-shaped tracks.

[fkhalsa]

Nice job!
I agree it would be cool to see how many marbles you could load this with.

[supreme-ette]

We also have this project for our Physics, and we used cheapboard. I tried forming the V shapes, but we cant manage to form a loop out of it.

[logrithims]

hi great work .Just wondering how to make the loop

[nathanlow]

hello, great setup you have here, currently building one of my own for a project for school.... i understood that you made the loop off the board i am just wondering how you cut it out on the carboard. thank you so much

[jess.jsli]

oh my god! what a good idea!

[FrozenIce]

man that is grate is it for sale? lol

[trebornerdnoc]

is that like the strap of a school bag

[comsa42]

what is mdf?

[234nightfox]

mdf means medium density fiber. got it ?

[seamster]

MDF stand for "medium density fiberboard." It's a manufactured wood product sold in sheets of varying thicknesses similar to plywood and particle board. It's nice stuff to work with for certain types of projects.

[trebornerdnoc]

i think ill try tomake amodel of a coster i was one it shoud be cool cound you make it all with card bord ?

[flopina]

Cool I wonder if that would be a real roler coaster

[valhallas_end]

This is quite nice - reminds me of the sets we used to play with, and the sliding penguins toy that was my favorite (same principle).  I have about 50 steel bearings roughly marble-sized - I might try to make one of these someday when I get free time to put them to some good use!

[supitsgreg]

Wow, I'm amazed. I'm fascinated with projects like this. Bravo.

I have a question. So did you just make the whole track first, then add it onto the structure, or build it as you went?

Thanks, this project looks awesome, I'm going to take it on soon.

[seamster]

I built as I went, and was constantly modifying and tweaking things along the way.  I mention the process in step 5.  I'd love to see a picture of yours if you make one.  Good luck! 

[simon.leigh]

Way Cool instructable! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Brings to mind my early (pre PC) days in the computer industry, when mice were a real novelty. IBM would only ever supply replacement mouse balls in pairs. I still haven't quite figured that one out....

[LuminousObject]

Cool. I'm thinking of using a conveyor belt similar to this for a ball return for a pachinko machine. This gave me that idea, so thanks!

[blackhawk124]

Ha, I have that exact motor that you used, I got out of an old Lexmark printer. I absolutely love the coaster and have considered many times automating the small marble coasters I've made over the years. I never would of thought of cardboard as an ideal material for track, but it worked brilliantly! Great job

[daniel!]

This is awesome! Congratulations on getting first place! It would be awesome to add a circuit with IR LEDS and lights under the tracks so the light follows the ball. Or to somehow have a clear ball with a LED inside it.

[Javin007]

Sweet Jesus this is entirely too much fun. Plain and simple, I have no choice but to make one.

[cruizerdave]

Incredible!

[junkfactory886]

Gotta love the woo-woo noise. May i suggest that you add more pulleys to lower the speed of the conveyor (And add more torque). or lower the incoming volts. GReat job.

[sgt_pinky]

Yeah add a resistor between the motor and the power source - but make sure that the voltage you end up with is still within the specs of the motor - otherwise you will burn the motor out.

[Kryptonite]

Or it won't go.

[seamster]

Thanks for the ideas. It looks like I'm going to have to do my homework on gears and pulleys and such. It's all kind of foreign to me, but it sure is fun.

[xd12c]

Micro Mark sells a gear box set for motors like that
http://www.micromark.com/MOTORIZED-PLANETARY-GEARBOX,8179.html

[AznPanda]

Very nice instructable :D i would make that but i wouldn't be dertermined enough or have enough cardboard D:

[mashford]

Really cool! I hope I can make one for my kids by holiday season this winter. Where is the motor and battery pack in the final product? It appears to be on top of the base, near the main wheel, in the picture showing how you hot-glued to the base (as opposed to underneath), but I don't see it in following photos and videos? Thanks.

[seamster]

Take a look at the last couple of steps--I redid motor and drive in the "upgraded" version. The motor and batteries are now inside the little building with the red roof on top of the tower. I'm glad you like it--thanks for the comment! Good luck with your own!

[seamster]

I guess I don't have a really good photo showing the new motor assembly... But the second video shows it pretty well from the backside of the tower.

[MrMMatricks]

Hi! Amazing work! What would you think about using a garden hose as track, it's easily bendable and you only need to cut it in half, thefore doubling the distance possible with it :) M

[seamster]

Garden hose would definitely be worth trying out. Also, I imagine PVC or copper tubing seem like readily available, practical materials.

[MixMasterM]

Cool and nicely done! I'd slow that lift motor way down thought. It's kinda hectic and less enjoyable watching it crank continuously at that rate.

[seamster]

Yeah, it does go pretty fast. I'd prefer a slower lift as well, but this is what I ended up with. Any ideas on how I could slow it down (without modifying the entire mode of operation)?

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I LIKED IT FASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hhmmmfff....

[MixMasterM]

I'd personally go with a potentiometer in series with the motor. That way, you could adjust the speed as there will be a point at which the motor stalls or won't start. You can get pots at Radio Shack (oh, sorry, it's "The Shack" now... /gag) for under $2 last time I looked. You could also do the mechanical reduction, but that will not be easily adjustable for fine tuning.