LEGO – Eclectic Inventor

Hair Razor Roller Coaster

Eclectic Inventor — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 17:16:15 +0000

I’ve built a Lego Rollercoaster that features working block zones and a switch track. As far as I can tell, I’m the first person to do this completely out of Lego*. When I was designing the track, I wanted there to be as many near miss, sometimes called head chopper, elements as possible. I then thought it’d be funny if the people coming off the ride were bald, due to their hair being shaved off by the ride. This then led me to theming it as a barber shop, complete with a large blade, “water” spouts, and brush on the ride.

I love watching videos of Lego coaster designs, and seeing them in real life, however all of them that run multiple trains usually crash them into each other eventually, something that makes me cringe as a former ride operator. I felt it would be more interesting if the ride could keep track of each vehicle, and stop them at the load and unloads, along with removing them from the track, so that’s what I’ve set out to do.

*excluding extension cables and duct tape added to the cars for grip

LEGO Dumpster Fire

Eclectic Inventor — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 20:18:04 +0000

Download Instructions

I had a lot of those light up bricks laying around, and I wanted to get one of those desktop dumpster fire toys, (because life is just like that sometimes), so I thought why not just make my own? The happiest little environmental disaster can now greet you on your desk!

LEGO Nano Train

Eclectic Inventor — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 17:46:14 +0000

This was my first time using unofficial LEGO lighting. During the last convention I went to I was very impressed by what others were able to do with these lighting solutions, so I decided to implement it into my nano city. The train runs on a chain using the new Link Chain with Bar piece introduced with the LEGO PAC-MAN set.

The main focus of the city was to give each building a different style, many of which were loosely based off of LEGO City sets. All the lights are controlled by the LEGO move hub, using converter cables. The building lights all run off one port, while the crossing lights run off the other. Another thing I really wanted to do with this build was track the location of the train, so it could trigger the crossing lights at the correct time, and stop the train in the station.

Initially I had tried to automate this by tracking the amount of load the motor was experiencing to determine the position of the train, however this only worked about 20% of the time. In the end though I went with calibrating it manually at the start of the program, and then the software knows when to trigger the signal and stop the train.

Development:

LEGO SKEE-BALL

Eclectic Inventor — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 03:16:56 +0000

I’ve redesigned my SKEE-BALL machine from the ground up. Made using only LEGO parts (and extension cables), this machine features scoring, a plunger launcher, 3 light up targets, and game card reader. The aim of this redesign was to address the problems that the original had, including being hard to play, jamming, and misreading the score. It features 3 game modes, Classic, Blackout, and Precision.

V1 (October 30th, 2023) :

After seeing how much fun it was to create my own custom LEGO maze, I decided to play around with the LEGO Powered Up/Spike Prime/MINDSTORMS/WeDo 2.0/WhateverTheNameIsThisMonth system to create an arcade machine. This was inspired by a cardboard SKEE-BALL machine I made when I was younger, that used the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 computer and motors to operate it. Looking on YouTube, I was largely disappointed by the SKEE-BALL machines made by other creators, and felt I could create a more true to life version, using Technic parts. After 7 (4 in software, then another 3 in real life) design iterations, this was the final result.

Design Process:

You’ll notice the design is a bit different from the final build. This was due to it being too fragile, and difficult. The upper targets were literally impossible to score, and so I removed them.

LEGO Pinball Machine

Eclectic Inventor — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 04:16:25 +0000

I have designed a Lego city themed pinball machine, to be built using only Lego. It will feature a plunger, flippers, multiball, bank with “destructable” door, and lighting. This will be the 4th arcade machine I’ve built.

After inventorying the parts I already have, I have determined that $800 should cover the remaining parts I’ll need to order.

REWARDS:

Anyone that donates $5+ will have their name in the credits of the video I’ll make.*
Anyone that donates $25+ will have their name printed on a brick on the side of the machine.*

*Names must be appropriate

LEGO Tower of Tickets

Eclectic Inventor — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 05:12:35 +0000

Play the first LEGO recreation of Tower of Tickets (also called Zombie Snatcher) insert your game card, then press the button to swing the arm. With good timing, the arm will move a puck into the win zone, which automatically returns the puck to the rotating play field. Built only using LEGO elements (and unofficial extension cables)

Design Process:

ICB Arcade Game

Eclectic Inventor — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 22:16:06 +0000

Based on the Ice Cold Beer arcade game, (also called Zeke’s Peak), this game uses 600+ lines of code and features 4 targets, joystick controls, attract mode, music and lighting effects.

Design Process:

Mars Mission Maze

Eclectic Inventor — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:34:08 +0000

Download Instructions

Depart from the Mars Vehicle Bay, to inspect and maintain the satellite dish, solar panel, and oxygen filtration system. Made for the Ideas Maze set, using only parts from it and the Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions set. The tan walls can be removed for a harder difficulty.