The Lego Great Ball Contraption
The Lego Great Ball Contraption transports small balls through intricate mechanisms, resembling Rube Goldberg machines. It encourages creativity and collaboration, with resources available online for building personal GBCs.
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The Lego Great Ball Contraption (GBC) is a type of machine constructed from Lego that transports small balls through various mechanisms, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine. These contraptions can be intricate and are often showcased at Lego events globally. A recent GBC display in Japan highlighted the creativity involved in moving objects, drawing comparisons to Chris Burden’s Metropolis II. For those interested in building their own GBC, resources and guidelines are available online. The concept emphasizes the playful and inventive nature of Lego, encouraging collaboration among builders.
- The Lego Great Ball Contraption transports small balls using various mechanisms.
- GBCs are often large, elaborate, and displayed at global Lego events.
- The contraptions evoke the style of Rube Goldberg machines.
- Resources for building personal GBCs are available online.
- The GBC showcases creativity and collaboration in Lego building.
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- Many users share their personal experiences with GBCs, including participation in events like Brickworld and BrickCon.
- There is a discussion about the creativity and engineering involved in building GBCs, with comparisons to other systems like Gravitrax.
- Some commenters express a desire to build GBCs with their families, highlighting the collaborative aspect of the hobby.
- Users mention resources and videos for inspiration, including links to Akiyuki's channel and other GBC-related content.
- There are mixed feelings about the accessibility of Lego pieces and the costs associated with building intricate GBCs.
21 commentsI should really get around to properly documenting my design, but here's a short video of the version I brought to Brickworld: https://youtu.be/wdP656HuY6M
https://www.fischertechnik.de/en/toys/marble-runs
Really well-made, excellent instructions and a very Lego-like experience.
I asked my brother-in-law if my nephew would like a more advanced Technix set as a gift, he said no, they were mostly cars and vehicles and he wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. I wouldn’t have been at that age either. A wicked Rube Goldberg machine though…
Searching for GBC yields a bunch of other kits: https://buildamoc.com/search?q=gbc&type=product
The whole thing just makes sense as a software dev. There's an input standard, output standard, and I guess a processing rate expectation (or not - that was probably the second biggest issue we faced was some slow contraptions that would back up). (The first biggest issue was a contraption that "pinged" the balls through the air to a landing container and would sometimes send them off randomly or kids would try to catch them.)
This is partly from LEGO fans previous work on railroad, town, space base, etc. modular builds where they have a spec for where each unit should connect and people bring in their own creations and link them all up.
I've always wanted to do something like the great ball contraption in general at makerfaires but open to all kinds of build materials, techniques, power, etc.
Gravitrax supports a similar kind of creative spirit as lego. For me, it's actually more fun since it's dynamic by default.
GBC specification - https://www.greatballcontraption.com/wiki/standard
It's also interesting looking at its evolution...
Chicago 2014: https://youtu.be/qHQZcRPqUkY
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