Lego Piston Power: Making ELECTROMAGNETIC Piston Engines

[@JamiesBrickJams]

🌏 Get an Exclusive NordVPN deal + 4 months extra here ➼ nordvpn.com/brickjams It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌

[@Jan12700]

VPNs are a Scam!

[@theslaya1576]

8:25 there are official Lego weighted bricks, and bricks are very well compatible with technic pieces so if you bought some you could attach them anywhere on the build that seems necessary to secure. Top, bottom, sides, or all!

[@JasonBorn.117]

Gyatt

[@ADtsd]

This sponsor is garbage

[@denisekyles4299]

please generate energy with sound

[@Unapersonaconunmicroscopio]

I have thought of that so long… Finally! Imagine making lego cars rc while keeping the fake engine and the engine being the motor itself!

[@justinarseneau4450]

So an lpe with tire valves basically

[@TheL1zrd]

I have been waiting for this as well.

[@doctortwilight]

I'd suggest something like what the Brick Experiment Channel does: put different motors against each other in competitions and see which one is better. As a benchmark, you could use a standard or aftermarket Lego motor.

[@FlammableElectronics]

Dude use a ferromagnetic core for those electromagnets like soft iron core and you can get some nice performance from the coils, for proper electromagnets you need a core,you don't just use coils,you need to place a core then you can get some real magnetic power!!! I hope you add a core in the next video!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Hey, that's a fair point! I'm well aware ferrite cores will improve performance. To be honest, I've tried many times to incorporate various cores into my designs, but the primary issue I run into is that the cores attract these beefy neodymium magnets so powerfully that they often yank my magnets out of place during operation. I don't like using permanent fixtures like super glue on my Lego as I need to reuse all parts. Even just building the designs is a nightmare when you've got metal pulling on the magnets. So I often just sacrifice performance for the sake of making the build possible to film and operate at all.

[@FlammableElectronics]

​@@JamiesBrickJamswhy do my comments disappear?

[@notepicalsalt612]

​@@JamiesBrickJams You should try placing an electromagnet at the top of the bore to push the piston back down, improving efficiency, or create an electromagnet that is capable of pulling and pushing.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Not sure, are there more comments that should be here?

[@kissa02]

@@JamiesBrickJams Glue the iron cores to the coils only. This way, they become a single reusable part, similar to the LEGO pieces you use in various projects. Since you seem to use similar pairs of magnets and coils, it might be worth sacrificing a LEGO piece by gluing it to a coil or magnet to create a sturdy attachment point for future use

[@andrewwatts1997]

I love this idea ! I have one tip however. Whenever you are moving something, you want it to be as light as possible, so that more energy is left over in the end. The next time, try moving the coil and keeping the magnets stationary. Seeing the coils move up an down a bit the wire should be fine. If the whole rotor is lighter it should spin allot faster!

[@tetronaut88]

Ay, I just had a surgery, and seeing you upload has lifted my spirit, even if I am still in pain. Thank you for entertaining me.

[@rebeccacoombes2353]

Wish you luck

[@tdeng-h8k]

Out of all your previous creations, which were already incredible, you post one that might top it. I really love the idea of the solonoids and electromagnetism.

[@jarednamlooc589]

This channel should be shown in schools to help inspire kids to think bigger!

[@timipisoboy]

Just wire the coils that are 180 together with oposite polarity and keep the same timing, simple free down stroke. Try to use mosfets for powering the coils and hal sensor with magnet on flywheel for timing. Should be easy enough + the timing could be infinitely variable. Good thing would also be to controll the duration of power stroke, try to wire coils into higher resistance and use more voltage for power, this might produce less heat since the coil could operate more efficienty. Iron core or shield would benefit a lot. Get rid of the contactor ASAP, creates a point of high resistance plus the brushes can just float over it at higher speed or even not make contact due to impurities. Adding microcontroler would be insanely cool, a bit of work but nothing to extreme. Doubling the piston count to 4 is a no brainer imo, potentialy -180 degree of dead zone. Use hot glue, much stronger and comes right off with a bit of alcohol. Hope some of this helps. Keep up the videos

[@JamiesBrickJams]

This is all just the best advice, thanks for taking the time 🙏 Hall effect sensors and mosfets are likely the best means of scaling up to anything more than 2 cylinders. I'll definitely give that a try. I had no idea how glue could be easily dissolved or removed. If so, this could be a major win for the builds that need magnets to be secured in odd positions.

[@tankaccount2990]

@@JamiesBrickJamsyes, hot glue comes up super easily with a little alcohol, just remember to test it before you commit to using it on a build lol

[@Mariano.Bernacki]

Good to see the solder wick in use as contact material.

[@Unapersonaconunmicroscopio]

Do the mini engine please!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I'll keep working on it 😉

[@discozula4469]

your crank is way too small, you might want to give the crank a bigger stroke, this way youll get more torque. Short throws are good for speed and horsepower but not for torque. Also for the timing mechanism, you might want to try a bent nail held tight with a rubber band so its more akin to a car distributor.

[@den-m]

You only push magnets. Probaly you can upgrade mechanics for push and pull magnet, by changing coil magnetic fields

[@matik09]

0:42 Bro violated that axle 💀

[@EmanuelSopuchsnail_gamer]

TRUE!!!

[@isml23]

İ was loking for this comment

[@jakeoff7885]

*CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CRUNCH* YEOOOOOOOOL

[@Colin-x7j]

putting it on a steamtrain would be cool

[@Nolan_P]

2:38 thank you so much ! I'd also like to thank you, because thanks to your videos I can easily understand technical English, which helps me in my studies!

[@ckrentz0925]

Looking through the comments and seeing two things I really like. One, flip the polarity of one of the coils and keep the timing the same for a free down stroke. This will prevent any “dead spots” in the engine, acting as a fly wheel. Two, using some mosfets to power the coils and trying some Hall effects sensors and a magnets on the fly wheel for timing. This means the timing would be infinitely adjustable and more reliable as well. Also as a side note, I think a microcontroller combo along with some different battery and coil choices might help. Besides that, I love your videos, can’t wait to see the “part 2” of this project!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Great advice, thanks! Definitely electronic timing would be needed for any more than 3 or 4 pistons I think. And it probably gets much more effective using hall effect sensors to get the timing perfect. Will give it a bash 😁

[@Cardthulhu]

There is a theoretically optimal timing based on the radial distance that the contact strip is taking up on the distributor as well as the strips timing with the output of the motor, in number of teeth. And you might be able to get more efficiency from these same designs by finding out the optimal timing. If the magnet is operating any kind of a pushing Force while it's on the up stroke or vice versa then you're going to get poor efficiency and the contact strips width would change that.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's very true, some of these required quite a lot of tweaking to get a timing that worked well. Another commenter suggested using hall effect sensors and mosfets for the timing. I quite like that idea to refine the timing electronically

[@Leonardo-hy1fo]

I’d love seeing more lego piston engines!

[@JaspreetSingh-dh9yq]

Not sure about this but u should try to move the coil instead of magnet because its lighter that might decrease the torque but should increase rpm a lop

[@arcaneblackwood3602]

I suggest adding a ferromagnetic core, and also a thinner copper wire. You will be able to have more turns in a smaller space, making the electromagnet more powerful. Although not too small, else you wont be able to pump as much power through it

[@Gamerboy12949]

10:35 when he says like and subscribe, the subscribe button glows! its so cool.

[@silvory7021]

I feel like it could work really well to have an engine with multiple small pistons to help it get over the issues it had with the one piston test

[@the_oreo_whale]

I think it would be so cool to see a steam engine like configuration with these pistons!

[@OopsyDaisy200]

Keep going, would love to see how small you can get it. How strong you can get it. And so many other categories. Love videos can I wait for the next one. It was satisfied to watch them run 2.

[@Creeperboy099]

Glad to see you making use of the solder wick for the brushes

[@lucasoxtoby3300]

You should add an additional magnet and coil on the same the crank shaft so that you have an equal and opposite force on the crankshaft itself. it should help with vibration hopefully

[@AlexanderTruckenbrod]

2:44 Nice, you made a two-stroke solenoid engine.

[@rb3020]

I think the idea of using the smaller Lego Pistons would be great for higher RPMs that could be easily geared down

[@AJMansfield1]

You could double the performance by making these double-acting. Magnets can both push and pull if you use multiple switches to drive the magnet in both polarities.

[@J1414R]

Could definitely make a working gokart using this concept, instead of brush contacts, electronic control.

[@aidanstubblebine2197]

it could be worth it to make a coil such that the magnet can actually enter into the coil a bit, as that would increase the force generated by each "combustion event" since magnetism drops off with the inverse square law. I'd certainly be interested in seeing the results of that. Great video!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's definitely a worthwhile idea! I've been experimenting a little with homemade solenoids that would work like this. But have been struggling a little to get it working in time for this video. Love the suggestion though 👌

[@thryoparathy]

This is so cool!

[@teammodman]

This is sick!

[@kissa02]

Try reversing the polarity back and forth on the coils, then you will have 2 power strokes per revolution, as the coil will then also pull on the magnet.

[@toaststealer3684]

Something you could do to make the engine make more power is you could make a circuit that flips the current of the electromagnet when the piston is on the way up so it would both pull and push the piston.

[@alysse_doll7261]

4:35 freaky engine

[@Lgwasherfan5623]

All it needs is oil for lubrication 💀

[@sagetechnology4913]

For the inline 2, It might've been a good idea to make the engine a crossplane, just to make it turn over a little easier. That or making it a 1-stroke by powering both motions of the pistons.

[@andreaswolfesberger6140]

love this stuff - thank you

[@LossBH]

this is so sick

[@AlvinBjorkblom]

this is so cool!

[@frozendude707]

Unlike most chemical piston engines, with a magnetic coil you can reverse the polarity to make it pull instead, so if you connect two pistons with a 90° offset you could possibly achieve a ~180% power cycle and not have to start the rotation manually.

[@user-random-1]

Can’t wait for part 2

[@daviniusb6798]

My guess is that your flywheel is a bit on the bigger side, would be worth experimenting with :)

[@alejandroacevedo9961]

I have an idea, what if instead of adding pistons, you let the crankshaft be more longer vertically? That adds More torque but more vibration and wiggles.

[@jasonong7049]

You are amazing bro!!

[@chris993361]

As you said the engine is more efficient when the magnets and coil are close together. You could probably reduce coil heating by shortening the on duration of the copper strip on your timing wheel to only give any real kick when the magnet's pretty close to top dead center. That way your average current is lower but you're getting peak torque for short bursts

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's true, there's probably a good balance to strike between efficiency and heat production. Interestingly, it's actually quite noticeable that when the coil heats up, the rpms drop. So keeping it cool is clearly beneficial for longer run times

[@DarmiGames]

You could use the solanoids, but put them in a boxer configuration. It would help with vibrations a lot. Also, you could make it in 6 cyllinder or 8 cyllinder configuration for a lot of power. I'd definitely love to see you experiment with this more

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Oh damn that's a great idea! A V6 or something with those could be a lot of fun! No idea how I'd manage the timing, but I'm sure there's a solution

[@alakabis]

why not trying to make a double duty piston by revesing the polarity of the coil when the head is comming back ?

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's actually a great idea, that should be possible in theory! If I can find a way to secure the magnet round the middle rather than on one side

[@alakabis]

@@JamiesBrickJams or you can keep this exact setup , and add an other contact point to the other side of the timer , but with the polarity reversed , so that the one coil alternate the magnetic polarity ?

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Ah yes, that's also possible if I perhaps super glue the magnets in place. My original designs actually pulled rather than pushed, but they kept yanking the magnets out of position. Blu tack just isn't strong enough with these magnets 😅 But pushing seems to keep them in place ok

[@alakabis]

@@JamiesBrickJams have you tried hot glue, it should be better than blue tack and still be able to be removed from legos pieces without damaging them.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I've just been hearing this, and I'm excited to give this a try. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@MarcoMartinez-Melgar]

18:03 it looks like a helicopter

[@BuilderBasti]

Try making a tracked vehicle powered by an I4, perhaps even V8! You could run magnetic clutches and forward/reverse gearboxes too!

[@Bomber-Trebor]

you can control the small Lego engine blocks with the Lego air pressure in case you don't know i believe Lego even made a adapter part for that

[@CenReaper.]

If you make current go in opposite direction at the time when it's turned off (when piston goes in the opposite direction), it'll be way more powerful than it you just put a small pulse of current through it.

[@㘭]

Bro has a deep love for blue tack 💀💀

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I hate it but love it 😬

[@glowytheglowbug]

ooh u got your sponsor :D good job!

[@imahotdog1000]

I've read that you don't like using permeant fixture methods on your Lego like super glue but don't be afraid to use hot glue it offers incredible strength but can be peeled off and cleaned up with no damage done at all this can give you the ability to hold your crazy magnets in place when using a ferrous core in your coils to get a way stronger magnetic field from them

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Oh wow really? If so, this could be a major turning point for my builds. I'll certainly give that a try - big thanks for the heads up! 🙏

[@imahotdog1000]

@@JamiesBrickJams i love getting replies to my comments from you and I'm always so hyped to see new vids i get so excited and it makes my day so much better love your content dude keep it up ♥♥♥

[@gabrielels7557]

Hi😊

[@yigitrecepozdemir4073]

5:25 BRO 💀| 8:57 BROO ☠

[@IskraLabs]

Another good day

[@jonathanbrown4359]

A counter weight would help so much meaning less vibration and less effort from the piston on the upward stroke, for the single cylinder engines at least

[@joshboshgames]

You could probably use reed switches and a spinning magnet rather than a commutator, may be more effective and reliable.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Totally, and I think this method is likely the only reliable way to upgrade to a 6 piston engine or beyond

[@AiOinc1]

Please look into the world of Lego vacuum engines! They're the most powerful engines you can reliably build from Lego!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I'm playing with them right now! They're a lot of fun. Turns out I'm pretty bad at building them though 😕

[@joostr8353]

Try and power the big yellow buildozer with an engine like this. that would be super cool!

[@Puneet.K-z7r]

love ur vids make smile

[@Alstrak]

Try advancing the timing. This can improve the top speed and maybe even add some torque.

[@Colin-x7j]

Thats so cool

[@earmunchermuncher7639]

I think a bigger more functional one would be more satisfying to see

[@DamianLeoMaximusRasonable]

The axle got violated rightly

[@marshmellow377]

using the same engine, add capacitors where the battery was, and use the rotor to make a piston wind turbine 😂😂

[@psychosis7325]

There art no replacement for thy displacement 😉

[@JamiesBrickJams]

😂

[@tridentpower6954]

Now I want to make these

[@StefanEisenbach]

Very nice !!!!!!

[@Weretyu7777]

A car with literal rear wheel drive. Also, would be cool to see if you cpuld make a V-8 version of this.

[@233kosta]

An inline six ought to run smoothly enough

[@ahather]

basically a very strange electric motor, I wonder how it compares to a similarly made more traditional electric motor

[@Milcso2]

U should try lego vaccum piston engines :)

[@BuildWithJens]

more of this!!!

[@AustinTexas05]

You should build a model T using this engine method.

[@Loloskye123]

12:39 YESSSSSSSS

[@butterbutler3451]

I don’t know how to but reverse the polarity on the off cycle instead of cutting power I bet that be cool

[@zelis351]

i think you can get really a lot of energy with gravity engine, but you'll need a lot of gears for it to not destroy itself

[@phoenixmg-kn7eh]

can you experiment with those small pistions and cilinder engine that runs on compressed air? those are made with tire valves.

[@jakewynn]

reverse the polarity on the opposite stroke to gain double the power.

[@verebellus]

those magnets look a lot heavier than the coils do, so maybe swap it so the coil is on the piston and the magnets are stationary?

[@JamiesBrickJams]

It's technically possible. Though there'd be quite a bit of mechanical wear and tear on the wires being flung around the place. Would probably get quite messy. Certainly possible for a short-lived project though

[@noelleirvin925]

Make the motor power a generator (after a few manual rotations) that powers the motor while storing extra power

[@johnnicholls9023]

Just a idea seen when you made the magnetic clutch instead of having them attract, have you tried it to repel just feel if it has a pulling would cause drag but if it was repelling it would take some of the drag out 🤔

[@paolotanedo1420]

Would the dual piston engine benefit from having each piston 90 deg out of phase?

[@TheSlackingGecko]

You could make an lego car, itd be really cool, and reutillize the rubber bands from your projects i commented it on your generator v2 video but my comment was outdated and you didnt see it hope you see this also, itd be very cool for like battery/rubber band vehicles on this channel.

[@TreadWalkin]

I'm at 14min I'd recommend a heavy compact flywheel for a better energy capacitor

[@osensiv3sounds978]

What is the song at the end???

[@osensiv3sounds978]

Starts 18:47

[@spoder5043]

both, both is good

[@LeFoUv3r7]

Bigger or smaller ? «Both ? Both. Both is good.»

[@CenReaper.]

I think that making them air powered would be cooler. You just need a bicycle tyre valve.

[@sonofagun1037]

you know with it being a DC electromagnet, you could make a mechanism to swap the polarity of the electromagnet and turn the two cylinder into a 4 cylinder due to each stroke being a power stroke

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Yeah that seems to be a common recommendation, and I think it's a very good one, thanks! If I can find a good way to secure the magnet better that's definitely doable

[@9_1.1]

i have a bugatti chiron set with a W16 engine, it’d be crazy to see it power itself

[@nyscersul42]

Move the coil, not the magnet... The magnet is heavier, and induces more vibrations. Move the lighter component.

[@clubcyberia8572]

reminds me of the big old hit and miss engines

[@richy1666]

Could you not invert the power on the terminals so it pushes and pulls on the same stroke?

[@AlexAegisOfficial]

could you split the DC into a positive, a negative and a ground rail and have a second inverse timing gear connecting the coil to the other negative rail on the backstroke pulling the magnet. YOu could have a two stroke solonoid engine, and combine this with the other guys idea by adding coils to the other side of the piston head too and get a 2 stroke 4 cylinder engine out of 2 magnets, it's ECO!

[@nataliedewaal5717]

build a BIG BIG lego Engine pls😃