Dodging miniature cars on 3D printed racing toy
3D printed racing toy by wontonnn revives the days of arcade games using miniature rolling cars manually driven by a steering wheel. The game is simple: the steering wheel moves the main car – the red one in this case – to the left or right paths, and the player tries their best to dodge the cars coming towards it on a moving track. If the main car crashes, it falls off from the hook, similar to the real racing-car games in the arcade.
There are two versions of the 3D printed racing toy. The first one has a moving track, and the player uses the steering wheel to play the game and dodge the cars. The second has a hand crank on the upper right part of the toy and a handle support on the left part. In this case, it is a two-player mode because the second player chooses the speed of moving the rolling track by using the crank, turning the 3D printed racing toy into a strategy game.
all images courtesy of wontonnn
DIY model with motor and battery
Players can also build their own 3D printed racing toy (in fact, wontonnn makes it as such). There’s a dedicated kit from Bambu Store that they can purchase named Maker’s Beginner Kit. It includes a small motor (030 Micro DC Motor), a battery connector, a gear set, and some magnets and screws. These are enough to make the mechanical parts in the 3D printed racing toy move. For the building part, the players need to print and build the motor and battery case using the instructions in the kit. Then, they screw the support pieces to the base and insert the rollers, which help move the rolling track.
They place at least three miniature cars, which are also 3D printed, on the conveyor belt to serve as the ‘obstacles’ in the game and attach the belt to the rollers. Once they’ve inserted and secured the motor and battery case, they can test the motor to see if the track rolls. The steering wheel comes next by putting it on a stick. Players need to insert magnets and a cap into the stick (using glue can help hold them in) and make sure that the steering stick moves freely left and right. The last is to insert a magnet into the player’s car, then attach that vehicle underneath the steering stick. Once all is done, the users are ready to play their 3D printed racing toy, reminiscing about the arcade machines in a portable, non-digital way.
the steering wheel moves the main car, the red one; it tries to dodge all the incoming vehicles
there are a motor and a battery powering up the rolling track
side view of the model
view of the red car after a car has crashed into it and the game ended
to restart the game, the user needs to stick the main car onto the pole above the steering wheel
users can build this model on their own
project info:
name: 3D printed racing toy
creator: wontonnn
kit: here
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