Making a Fast Lego Boat 2/3 - paddle wheel

Building a fast Lego paddlewheel boat (sidewheeler). Only Lego parts are used, except for a BuWizz 3.0 battery box and plastic splash covers. Enjoy!
Battery box: BuWizz 3.0 Pro buwizz.com/sho...
Motors: 2x Lego Buggy motor 5292c01 www.bricklink....
Hull: 2x Lego Hull Unitary 57789c01 www.bricklink....
Splash covers: 2x Smartstore Classic 5 www.orthexgrou...
More details in my blog, including a part list and a 3D model for the paddlewheel boat:
brickexperimen...

[@daylen577]

Something to note is that putting the tubs around the paddles hurts performance more than you'd think. The water hitting the tub and falling down means the backwards momentum of said waiter is stopped by the boat, literally acting as a brake. Should've cut the top left corner as wel and folded the side in to make the tub a little longer without the water splashing on the rear side.

[@FloydMaxwell]

Came here to say the same thing

[@3DProjectsRC]

Yea I was going to too lol, having the water reflect literally means pushing onto yourself to move forward, I.e you don’t contribute to forward force

[@micc1211]

Was thinking the same. As there is a lot of momentum gained from ejecting the water backwards. But if you catch the ejected water it becomes part of the system again and you lose all that momentum.

[@wobblysauce]

Plates used to deflect.

[@JohnLandis-vh7ek]

I was also wondering if the shape of the blades would be more efficient if they were shaped like > (with the tip pointing forward) instead of a straigth kinda paddle, since the former would "channel" the water less to the sides

[@chrisgaming9567]

So we've seen lego contraptions for travelling under the water, on the surface of the water, on land and in the air. Now we just need a lego contraption for tunnelling underground, and of course a lego spaceship (well, a lego rocket at least).

[@LegoBob4123]

Thunder Driller go Brrr

[@retrosim5302]

​@jbellfield Let's see how many Lego batteries he needs to do that 😂

[@harumochizuki]

Insert munimuni Bekkan and their underground machine here, maybe some inspiration for BEC?

[@wojtek4351]

could you consider cutting out the back part of the wheel cover, such that the water flying backwards doesn't hit the box wall? wouldn't that slow it down significantly?

[@Stadsjaap]

Torturing Chewbacca @<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="60">1:00</a> 😢

[@gifzilla1818]

WHERES THE DROIDS CHEWY

[@Zeppflyer]

Glad you realized the need for paddle boxes so quickly. When I was a kid, I built a similar boat with a K'Nex frame skinned in Duck Tape. It had the guts of a remote control car running the two K'nex motors, powering either paddle, just like this. It got right about out to dead center in my parents' pond before I realized how much water was getting splashed in and it didn't make it back to shore...

[@dr.trebuchet3836]

Oh, the halcyon days, when catamaran paddle wheelers with translucent fenders plied the muddy waters of the Mississippi.

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

I suspect a normal propeller will win this race, yeah. 😂

[@Ctuchik]

Why do i like hearing Lego being put together?

[@infamoussoapconsumer3870]

The sound stimulates your brain

[@2nd-place]

Probably from those lonely afternoons after school growing up, waiting for your parents to get home from work, the whole house silent except for the snip snap of the bricks held with your little fingies.

[@cruncyart]

@@2nd-place That's oddly personal, I just like the noise because it sounds good

[@squidikka]

@@cruncyart That's oddly personal, I just like it from those lonely afternoons after school growing up, waiting for your parents to get home from work, the whole house silent except for the snip snap of the bricks held with your little fingies.

[@BlueTheFrog]

@@squidikkareally? It reminded me of those lonely afternoons after school growing up, waiting for your parents to get home from work, the whole house filled with the snip snap of the bricks held by your little fingies.

[@antiglimmer]

Try test with the hulls futher apart. The short distance between them seems to make a lot of drag.

[@hydroworldoutlook5769]

Having the hull in the water at all creates a lot of drag. My suggestion is add LEGO hydrofoils to the bottom of the hull so the hull rises out of the water at higher speeds.

[@Dynamic_Flyer]

I cannot emphasise enough how important this point is. You know you do the experiments with options A, B, C? Do exactly that with different hull spacing!

[@_lostme]

is 90° the optimal angle for the blades, or is angling them slightly better 🤔

[@victorsvidss]

I would think 90 since thays what full size paddleboats have been using

[@martijn9568]

My guess would be yes. Because these aren't really being used as hydrofoils, where the angle would matter a lot.

[@daylen577]

@@_lostme for a boat this size it probably doesn't matter much, buy angling them so the outside hits first might help the boat stay more stable as it'd be pulled into the water more

[@Gus_Na]

​@@victorsvidss technically having each blade always remain vertical would be more optimal. In a full sized paddle boat it would probably be over engineered / too expensive to do that but with legos it would be easy.

[@nitsu2947]

fun fact: the term "bridge" in shipping world comes from paddle wheel steamers being nothing more than boats with massive paddle wheels. These paddle wheels would obstruct view so the crew would create a platform to stand on supported by these large paddle wheel covers essentially creating a "bridge" and the name stuck

[@ddiva1973]

I love the outdoor segment at the end, it's a nice way to finish the testing

[@hotdogmanpyro]

You should have a race with all three boat types it would be cool

[@pitbull9991]

The "flup flup flup" noise it makes in the pool is so satisfying 😸

[@MichanaAlerting]

The other one was fast but this one seems very stable and controllable. Nice work!!!

[@jyrgenruut]

I don't understand why you put the tubs around the wheels... Yes, make something to block the splashed water from entering the boat, but you should not be putting anything behind the wheel... Your boat is acting against that water to make itself move, and because every action has an equal and opposite reaction, the splashed water is a part of that "opposite reaction". Now, if that splashing collides with your tub, it will slow your boat down again!

[@mandyay7765]

Oh yea..

[@Da0yster]

You might be able to increase the stability of a single hull by adding some weight under the grey base tile of the hulls. When you add all the weight of the motors and propulsion system to them, it makes them a bit top heavy and less self-righting. I vaguely recall them just being press fit into the Blue outer hull bits. Also unless you can make it plane somehow, the biggest thing limiting speed is going to be hull length. The longer it is, the less drag the water being displaced around it puts on the hull due to interesting wave dynamics in the water being displaced around you.

[@prosaldozwiler4257]

I like your brick water experiments!

[@gobsmacker8billion]

not sure how practical it would be but i have an idea. on a boat i think it would be interesting to have a wheel at the back such that it can be spun to turn the boat left and right. think normal orientation of a paddle wheel but 90 degrees rotated. when it stops, if there is a way to ensure it stops where one paddle is vertical in the water, that paddle could almost act like a rudder while the back wheel isnt spinning. again, not an engineer, but it popped into my head seeing the boat traverse the river

[@GizmoTheGreen]

I'd think a 3D printer would be super useful for such experiments when you need custom parts like cover for the paddle wheels.

[@duncanurquhart5278]

definitely look in to feathering - linking the paddles to the wheel in such a way that they turn as they rotate to remain mostly vertical while underwater. not only is it more efficient it should cut waaaay down on the splashing (and also be a fun engineering challenge lol)

[@corvididaecorax2991]

I wonder if you might get slightly better performance if there was a wheel on the outside of the paddles too to help keep them flat against the water.

[@EasyMachine]

"This video was amazing! I loved every second of it!"

[@donbionicle]

Catamaran designs are neat, I'm wondering how a design with a keel would fare.

[@juanmacias5922]

The journeys are so fun!

[@SimbahPardimin]

The motor whine sound when it's start revving aggressively is satisfying

[@GholaMuadDib]

What an epic journey down the river. Great video man.👍👏

[@samwarfelphotos]

I'd love to see different time trials on the long journey, or you doing several runs to try to optimize your time with different designs!

[@JakeRobb]

Mount the paddles a bit further rearward. Under acceleration, the bow is diving down. You want it to lift up (but not too much)!

[@smartlegoBR]

You are best content of technic

[@WireMosasaur]

well this one definitely wins best engine sound. plip plop plip plop plip plop :)

[@liliowen2132]

Legos are the best, I love how they work and the beautiful things you can make from them. Lego Technic stuff is great.

[@abdulhossain8816]

He is getting too powerful!

[@danielwild.]

Thank-you for this content 👍

[@AlexxForest]

"I saw a paddlewheel boat on the creek today." "On... On the creek? Are you drunk?" "What, no!" "..." *kicks beer can away* "Go home, you're drunk."

[@gradykinn]

Two videos within a week? This is unprecedented!

[@karyjas1]

Suggestion - add another support wheel, offset it to be above compared of the first, and make the paddles always stay vertical. Im curious how much better would that be? It would also really help if the paddles were much thinner and better shaped, right now theyre just bricks

[@Retrobricks]

BEC is always on next level 😘🤩

[@mazack00]

I like to watch the long journey at .5x speed for real time :)

[@cookiqman]

rejoice, for he has blessed us with yet another video!

[@Acrowat40]

He's not the science we asked for, He's the science we deserve

[@infamoussoapconsumer3870]

I really like that this boat is much wider than the previous one

[@FltCaptAlan]

Add a keel to each hull and it should make the vessel track better, and maybe add a rudder between the hulls for more conventional control

[@daniellundy4568]

Test out different angles for the paddles. I think if the blades tilt forward (opposite of a scoop), it will work better. Paddle boards do this.

You may avoid compromising with those water containers by only protecting the rear of the wheel to avoid splashing of water coming up from the surface instead of trying to cover the whole wheel. Granted, it might be heavier, because you would use only legos but... you would use only legos and there is always some elegance to that.

[@Axolotl_astronaut_robots]

Once you get all 3 done, can you make a video to try and optimize using suggestions like fixing the tub, trying to angle the blades, and things like that.

[@b25mtchll]

Nice! The Dennis Hart Mahan Special!

[@bunnysparklzbunnytime5117]

Speaking of paddlewheels I recently finished building a set of peddle powered paddlewheels for my canoe. It's a flipping blast haha

[@TheRealTburt]

Now Lego needs to make a Mississippi paddle boat.

[@dragonfire4869]

This is honestly much more what I love from your channel. Yeah, the car that can climb stuff is okay, but actual machines like this, your drone and your submarine are exactly why I subscribed in the first place! Hope you keep it up and make even more designs to blow minds

[@darthgbc363]

Best <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="301">5:1</a> gear combo is Z8 to Z40 for the least amount of friction.

[@boid9761]

Please please PLEASE make is steam powered. Perhaps a small burner, a Coke can boiler, and metal parts would be needed, I want to see the full Steamboat experience

[@JackieGladeanimation]

Or at least powered by lego pumps. Not steam, but looks similar and is less efficient lol

[@ryancommenter-r7o]

I wonder if steam could melt LEGOS

[@JakobFMller]

Yeah it melts, the problem is also the amount of water in the steam/steam-like air, you can’t really power cylinders on it. In the industry they convert the high pressure high temperature steam into high pressure air, you need to do the same here. Tried it myself - Lego parts were injured during the process 🤕. Could be interesting to see a fully worked out version with this feature!

[@JackieGladeanimation]

@@JakobFMller but there are metal lego pieces. See the video on his channel. Its called breaking steel with lego or something.

[@dalesquirrel230]

If you do an A, B, C test for multiple parameters (deepness of blades, type of blade) you need to do a design for experiments to check the relation between the type and the deepness, cross correlation is everything.If you do an A, B, C test for multiple parameters (deepness of blades, type of blade) you need to do a design for experiments to check the relation between the type and the deepness, cross correlation is everything.

[@5peciesunkn0wn]

I'd love to see you make an articulated paddlewheel lol

[@starzkream]

I love this channel!

[@LegoBoomSG]

love this series boat 🤩🤩

[@Dynamic_Flyer]

If you look at real paddle steamers, they have a feathering system so that the blades enter and leave the water at different angles. In particular this stops the blades from having to lift water out with them, which is a huge waste of power. There is some info on feathering paddle wheels here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle_steamer

[@TealStarsong]

How about combining tracks with paddles? Should keep the paddles vertical in the water, combines the tank research with the boat research, hasn't been done before AFAIK 😅

[@BrickExperimentChannel]

Great idea, you read my mind. :) I actually did build a paddle track boat and tested it quickly but then decided to focus on the paddle wheel boat. You can see images of the tracked version in my blog: brickexperimentchannel.wordpress.com/2024/08/10/fast-rc-lego-boats-paddlewheel-boat-6-8/ It is a very rare design, but one real-life prototype exists made by the US marines. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ3Ml6aabrt-eZI

[@TealStarsong]

@@BrickExperimentChannel Ah, nice, I keep forgetting about the blog! Makes sense that it would raise up further because the paddles going down/up are further out so have more leverage. It would probably need something where the blades always remain vertical to reduce that (i.e. "stab" the water).

[@BrickExperimentChannel]

Yep, that's what I thought. The bow raises because of what happens at the ends of the track. You could keep the paddles completely vertical using two tracks on top of each other. Like this locomotive mechanism, but instead of wheels you have a hockey-rink shaped path with tracks/chains/cables. Probably too complex to actually work, but in theory... :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4K1fZ2Pac-Cb7c

[@SRMkay]

Imagine Steamboat Willie captaining this thing

[@WhiteAce3]

I like that the boat is so agile in the water. It can turn on point like a tank and speeds like a car, but on water!

[@cicalinarrot]

People seem concerned about the engineering effectiveness of the covers. I'm more worries abour ontology: is it still a lego boat?

[@DJOctobot]

You should try the ss Great Eastern’s configuration. A paddlewheel and propeller combo

[@gloriousapplebees]

Would love to see a reupload with the problem of the tubs addressed.

[@Jiffy_Park]

anyone else go back and compare the times with the last video?

[@DarkRequiemFilms]

Whoa. Deja'vu, I could have sworn I watched a video on LEGO boats a month ago.

[@viscinium]

Did you retest the modifications with each other? Like different gear ratios for the blades, or different blades for the wheel heights? I totally understand if that's too tedious, but if you want to spend the time to optimise fully it's good to check!

[@MK73DS]

In 2034: Making a Fast Lego Particle Accelerator 2/3 - electron cannon

[@WillowEpp]

Part of why you weren't stable with the single hull is just the size of your wheel. You have a flat-bottom, so you have to rely on form stability and your centre of gravity was likely above the metacentre -> you capsized. Add weight or even a keel to lower the centre of gravity (or shift to weight-stability because your form is narrow). I'm a little surprised you didn't try to rig up a feathering paddle for better bite with the water. Or at least try scooped blades...

[@BenAlternate-zf9nr]

I'd be interested to see a version with caterpillar tracks with paddles.

[@GOAFPilotChannel]

bit of a blunder both with the domain size and static vs dynamic thrust, but still cool

[@mattevans4377]

Here's hoping the jet pump boat makes a return, this time with a more powerful pump

[@jamesgroccia644]

Looking at the thumbnail, the paddle boxes should have a curved profile. It allows for better hydrodynamics with the paddles

[@5yearbricks]

Thank you for the nice words of sympathy!

[@LKLM138]

I want to see a lego cargo ship, a crane and two piers where you can load and unload your cargo. Also all thr best gear ratios and forces

[@headcrabnumber2_fromhalfli835]

Yaayy!!

[@kaydabalab]

very nice

[@user-qg1mw5tz1q]

cool boat.

[@jakisukayam]

Nice Video!

[@lolcec81]

Классный эксперимент

[@HzachGames]

Under an hour nice!

[@DarkStar-nw8ee]

Making a Lego Rocket Engine 1/3 - lunar visit

[@SmartLegoSG]

Lego Technic is the best, I always expect you to release new products

[@xpeHavblcoro]

❤👍you need underwater wing that makes glisser and reduce water resistance

[@clopetrone]

It's actually faster than a F1D indoor model airplane F1D is indoor free flight rubber powered model airplanes, it's very lightweight (at least 1.5g) and pretty large (the legally max wingspan is 55cm). It's very fragile even a light wind gust.

[@Technic-pro]

nice design🤟

[@CaptainWizard3000]

I hope the part three has a boat that can get past the fallen tree. And if not, I know what part 4 will be!!

[@zekelockman1477]

i was waiting for an alligator or something to just swipe the boat out of the murky water in the ending

[@TheRedRobin96]

New challenge, a Lego rigid airship.

[@paddlesaddlelad1881]

you should redo the tests. try lifting the paddlewheels out of the water and using a faster gear ratio (like <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="181">3:1</a>). after that you use smaller paddles and use <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="61">1:1</a> gear ratio maybe.

[@i12cu2]

When will be Part 3 released? Can't wait, so good videos!

[@ArchangelTirael]

Please somebody move that fallen tree out! :D

[@HellWatcher117]

I'd be curious about what changing the angle of attack for the blades would do.

[@psteknyo]

Have you considered using Lego keels to reduce spinning and increase stability?

[@Tylerfrompdx]

What part of the world are you in? Love where you took the boat on the test drive.

[@jardozouille1677]

Next stage : jumping over the tree ... 😉

[@fmscientia]

amazing!

[@COROLLA-2024]

I have a really big request, can you please build a drone with lego, but this time using only lego batteryboxes, motors and other? I and few of my friends wanted to see it. (im talking about the radio controlled drone that you made) please try doing it with lego controllers also. You can surely use brickcontroller2 or something else, but it would be really nice if you do it for me and other people.

[@GoldenCroc]

Interesting how the deepest paddle wheel height was fastest, when the pure physics of the forces would indicate top height would be fastest, becuase of the force directions. I can only assume its becuase of a combination of the water being "disturbed" from preceding paddle and poor paddle rpm and shape to hull speed optimization.

[@BenAlternate-zf9nr]

The deeper configuration takes better advantage of the high-torque gearing since you get _some_ forward thrust anywhere on the bottom half of the wheel (along with a lot more drag). The shallower configuration would prefer a faster wheel speed, and as others have said, rotating the blades along with the wheel to keep them vertical would be the best-case scenario since that minimizes the wasted drag from the up-down motion.

[@GoldenCroc]

@@BenAlternate-zf9nr Yes, thats what I was thinking. The hull resistance is too high and hull speed is way too low for the shallower depth that would theoretically do the best, and it cant transfer the power effectively. Thus the lower depth adds more "grip" thats sorely needed for this configuration. Quite similar to running a too small diameter prop on your nornal boat.

[@lChronosl93]

Very cool video. What about the differences between a paddle wheel locaiton? Stern-wheeler, Side-wheeler and Inboard paddlewheeler.

[@upcoming]

Why not use a rudder instead of steering by adjusting the speed of each paddle wheel? It would have helped with the instability issue.

[@Ascrack8888]

Can you try boats/submarines but In the sea