Building the second model was a smoother process; I suspect a key reason was knowing from the start that a certain amount of improvisation was part of the process. I’m learning that, in the absence of specifics or mechanical constraints, I tend to err on the side of longer metal rods which gives some extra room for adjustment.

The core thing I took away from this model was the translation of radial motion into horizontal motion. A pleasant surprise was the use of metal rods as rails for a building block. This works amazingly well and is a testament to how well fischertechnik produces basic pieces which combine in different ways to get to complex mechanisms.

This build was fun and the way the light moves is visually quite satisfying; but, I admit that I’m eager to get to the models where there’s more interaction between the electrical and mechanical components.