Introduction: K'NEX Motor & Gear Guide

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About: Hello! I'm a maths tutor and primary school teacher and have always had a passion for making things. This started at an early age with LEGO and K'NEX. I share my K'NEX projects on instructables for others to b…

This instructable will be about the use of K'NEX Motors and gears. The last part will focus on a the K'NEX cyber system.

Summary of steps:

  1. Gear characteristics
  2. Some gear connections
  3. Motor characteristics
  4. Cyber K'NEX explained - Intro
  5. The Processor
  6. The Motors & Battery Packs
  7. The IR-Controller

I hope you will learn something about the different k'nex motors there are or see new gear connections.

Step 1: Gear Characteristics

Step 2: Useful Gear Connections

The pictures speak for themselves, hopefully.

These are just examples I made up to show what is possible. Each type of gear connection in a model, requires a different approach, so it's hard to make it standard.

Click here for the link to the K'NEX differential

A differential makes sure a car can make turns without the wheels making alot of friction with the ground.

It is also used to combine the power of two motors together. It is then called an "adder". This is sometimes used in (toy) tanks.

Step 3: Motor Characteristics

All indicated motors can be bought here.

Step 4: Cyber K'NEX Explained - Intro

Cyber K'NEX was a part of K'NEX building line that let you make robot models that would either move on their own and react on their surroundings, or were controlled by the cyber K'NEX remote.

The sets were sold from around 2002 until 2007 (not 100% sure) and came in 4 sets:

  1. Hyper Wheels
  2. Cybots
  3. Ultra Set
  4. Cyber Swarm

In the next steps I will show how to set up the system.

Link for Front Loader video

Link for Fork Lift video

Link for Armoured Vehicle video

Step 5: The Processor

The processor is the "brain" of the Cyber K'NEX system.

It has 6 cables coming from it:

  1. The processor's ON-switch
  2. The Cyber Port
  3. Black Connector (for motor pack 1)
  4. Blue Connector (for motor pack 2, motors 2 & 3)
  5. 2 seperate LED lights

Step 6: The Motors & Battery Packs

As seen in the last picture, there are several ways to connect the battery packs and motors to your model. I've found that this is actually a nice system, and I make it a sport to put them so that they are as invisible and compact as possible.

Step 7: The IR-Controller

The IR-controller lets you control all models from the Ultra Set, plus the programmable key.

Personally I like the Sarge Cyber key the best, because I make alot of steered vehicles with wheels and this key offers a steering mechanism.

Next to that, the programmable key doesn't make so many noises and childish sounds.

I hope you've found this instructable informative and learnful. It would be great if you can use some tips in your next K'NEX model.

! If you like it, please vote for it in the K'NEX contest !

Thanks alot!