Building a Hydraulic Lego Excavator

Building and testing a remote controlled hydraulic excavator with Lego. The excavator includes 6 motors controlled by a BuWizz 3.0 (a remote control and battery unit).

An electrical slip ring is used to connect the 2 track motors through the rotating turntable with the battery box. 2x CADA micro Motors are used to power the tracks. They are small, providing high torque, and having low RPM.

The turntable is moved by a Lego small angular motor for space reasons and because of the low RPM, which provides better control of the superstructure.

3x Lego Technic Powered Up Large motors drive one pump each. To make the small Peristaltic pumps, a Lego part had to be modified by drilling holes. The pump works with Regular Lego pneumatic hoses. It builds up a lot of pressure/vacuum, enough to operate hydraulic systems, and it works in both directions.

The Hydraulic cylinders are actually Lego pneumatic cylinders. They are not intended to be used with water as the metal parts could corrode. To avoid this, I used a mixture of windscreen wiper fluid and water. The system requires some air, as the 2 cylinder chambers are different in size and therefore require a different amount of water. Each pump powers its own independent circuit and, respectively, 1 excavator arm joint.

The PS4 Gamepad is connected to the BuWizz 3.0 Bluetooth Unit with an App called Brickcontroller2. The app allows the user to assign buttons of the gamepad to individual motors. The analog sticks of the gamepad resemble the 2 joysticks of a real excavator, adding more realism.

The design and proportions of my Lego digger resemble the CAT 390L, which is why it is in Lego minifigure scale.

The hydraulic system works without fluid by pumping air. However, the movement is not accurate and lacks power.

I made 3 custom parts that are 3D printed: a slip ring mount, a pump housing insert, and an excavator bucket. However, the excavator would function without these parts. The slip ring does not need to be mounted; the pump insert could be attached with sticky tape, and the Lego Bucket would still work despite being big. However, I greatly prefer using a custom shovel.

Chapters:

00:00 Tracks
00:16 Turntable
01:10 Pump
02:52 Arm
03:45 Controls
04:26 Bucket
05:21 Test

Please note: I get a commission if you buy via Amazon or BuWizz link above. Thanks for your support.

Music: Riffs For Days - TrackTribe
Ode to Joy - Cooper Cannell

​#bricktechnology
#legotechnic​
#lego
#asmr
#engineering
#excavator
#construction

[Pumble]

My father and brother are mechanics of heavy duty machines like this, and they always explains me how this works, but this video is really easy to understand. Thanks for the help

[_QUGO]

The fact that the controllers jousticks work exactly the same way a regular excavators is really good attention to detail

[shroomzzz]

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate not only the best design, but the painstaking efforts he goes through to film the test fails, but 3D printing in timelapse? I'm in awe!

[Brave_Little_Toaster]

As a person that runs an excavator for a living and loves lego, this is the best video on YouTube.

I love that the controls are the same as an excavator would be, and that it actually functions.

[blackkissi]

"What else can it do"
I literally laughed out loud at the end. Thanks for the laugh. Another awesome build!

[Brick_Science]

I might be a little late to this, but CONGRATS on 1 Million Subscribers!! :)

[PestifeR]

This channel delivers hands down the most sophisticated and intriguing builds.

[John_Wick-Babayaga]

You are the first one who build a fully RC hydraulic lego excavator. Amazing work

[brq]

NEW VIDEO?! Always nice to see Brick Technology’s high quality videos, even though they take a long time, but it’s worth it!

[KneppaH]

Those pumps are one of the best lego ideas i've seen. Simple, compact and able to generate pressure. Amazing!

[Fouss_]

Bad day + brick technology video = good day

[DeathmetalChad]

Idea: Can you make a truck that comes with this set, in which the excavator puts the sand or whatever it wants to, and then the truck can go wherever it wants and drop the sand? Like a dump truck which has a bed that bends down to drop the sand, and has a flap on the end to stop the sand from falling out?

Edit one: This sorta blew up?? More chance that @BrickTechnology sees

[nathanparcels]

This should be a legitimate set, no joke. Fantastic work

[thk_]

11 year old me could only dream.. Very nice.

[Semystic]

I love the incorporation of 3d printed parts!

[EMPSBladeKnight]

the fact that you only had to modify 1 piece and make another to get a working fluid pump is impressive and makes me wonder why Lego doesn't have something like this for an engineer line

[_cryobyte]

Reminds me of my middle school science project when I made a hydraulic excavator. Little kids wrecked it up before the end of the day 😂

[PantheraOncaTV]

Friend, watching your videos is both impressive and funny! Good job bro!

[Zeigler_]

One day they are going to make a full car out of lego

[Zorro]

Amazing! Really makes me wish LEGO would make more sets using hydraulics.