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Summary
- Moore curve marble run is a fascinating, 3D-printable project that uses a motor to push marbles.
- The motorized run incorporates a lift with a spiral guiding rail and steeper slopes for acceleration.
- Instructions for creating the marble run are available on Makerworld, with an optional hand-crank feature.
Listen, I'm really easy to distract. All I need is a fun doohickey or an interesting thingamajig, and I'm entranced. If said item runs automatically, it's practically fatal; I could watch it for hours. So, imagine how I felt when I saw a 3D-printable marble run that uses a motor to push marbles from the bottom back to the top. If I ever make this, my productivity is going to tank.
This cool Moore curve marble run is the ultimate conversation piece
The story begins over on the 3D printing subreddit, where the amazingly-named SturdyMilk05254 had an epiphany. See, they had created this wonderful project where marbles are brought to the top of a 3D-printed run and allowed to roll to the bottom, but they never actually showed it off. So that's exactly what they did:
Amazing, isn't it? Apparently, this isn't their first shot at it either; they comment that, while they originally made a Hilbert curve track, this new Moore curve version allows for better hiding of the motors, which I think is a really good idea. Keeping all the electronics out of sight means it's a lot easier to focus on the marbles moving around.
They went into further detail in a comment:
Some more details I forgot to add; the lift with spiral guiding rail is actually needed since the lift is positioned at a curve in the track. Whilst halve a turn is needed to get the lift to match, the loop around the lift is necessary, because I did not want to support the lift at the top for esthetic reasons
Furthermore, the slope of the track is steeper at the start and end to make the marbles roll from stationary positions. This is why you hear the marble accelerating at the end.
The motor used is a n20 motor with gearbox that has a sideways output shaft. Oh, and it can also be used with a hand cranked lift.
I als have a double dragon fractal (which is best fractal curve) track that I would like to do this with, but I couldn't fit the motor in there nicely
If you're not as easily distracted as I, you can give this project a print by heading over to its Makerworld page and following the instructions there. It notes that, while you can attach a motor to it, there's the option to hand-crank the lift if you want to skip the electronics. And, of course, you'll need eight 8mm bearings to act as the marbles.
If you like projects akin to this one, don't forget to check out these wacky and wonderful desk toys you should 3D print at home.
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