![]() It uses the voice files of the original turret from the Portal game – I had to extract them, find the sound files of the Lego WeDo software and swap them to make it work, as the WeDo software doesn’t allow to use custom sound files. The WeDo program controlling the turret is the most complex one I have created up to date. It was a very simple mechanism, but it required large torque to work, which was one of the reasons why I was unable to fit it inside the turret with some smaller motor. When rotated, the connector would push the vertical beams at the back of the launcher and pull all its four cannons’ triggers back. The launcher was controlled by PF Medium motor rotating another axle with a simple connector on it. ![]() The side panels were extended or retracted by a micromotor rotating an axle with a simple system of levers attached to it. There were two Lego WeDo sensors inside the turret: a proximity sensor located in front, below the eye (I was actually trying to install it behind the eye and make it look through it, but I was unable to stop it from detecting the pieces in front of it), and a tilt sensor located inside the turret’s top panel for increased accuracy. The turret was connected to a computer running the Lego WeDo software, which controlled the turret. I was trying to make the stand look like a fragment of the Portal test chamber’s floor. The stand supported the turret entirely, and housed the Lego WeDo USB hubs, as well as helped to arrange the wires. The number of wires coming out of the turret (total: 7) and its inability to stand on its legs made me create a stand for it. It was quite significant and I had to add large stabilizers for the launcher to make it stop tipping over while firing. Building the launcher has shown yet another problem – the recoil from the four Lego cannons fired at once. This way I was able to make both sides of the turret extend and retract, and the turret could control the launcher. Eventually, I decided to remove the cannons from the turret and put them together as an auxiliary launcher, together with the custom laser pointer that didn’t fit inside the turret either. I have toyed with the idea of making only one side of the turret open, but the prototype firing mechanism I developed turned out so large, that even this was a problem. However, I was unable to make them fire – I’ve tried a number of solutions, including most compact ones such as a string pulled by a motor. It took a lot of planning to arrange them into one construction and to make it look as a whole.Īs for my work on the model, I have reached the point where I was able to have four Lego cannons inside it, together with a mechanism and a motor that could extend and retract them. There are two identical extended side panels, rear panel, front panel with the eye and the proximity sensor and the top panel with the tilt sensor. The body, which was quite a challenge to build, consists of five separate panels attached to a central studless skeleton. Which pretty much means that a larger model would have to use an entirely different body. The elements that would be extremely hard to re-create at larger scale include the eye, the hole for the eye, entire legs – even the curved slopes the major part of the body is built with don’t come in larger size. ![]() If the turret was to be made bigger, I would have to use several pieces instead of each single one used here, and it would pretty much ruin the look of the model. This is because almost every Lego piece used for its body has no larger counterpart. I was able to achieve the look I wanted using a variety of uncommon parts, and because of the parts it couldn’t be any bigger. It was quite a challenge, as the original turret is egg-shaped. The size of the turret was determined by my decision to equip it with a studful, possibly accurate body. The legs turned out too weak and the body of the turret turned out too small to house all the necessary mechanics – it was just 7 studs wide. Among other things, I was trying to make the turret stand on its own legs and I wanted it to have Lego cannons inside it, with ability to extend and fire. I had a very ambitious plans for this construction, and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to realize them in vain. As you probably know, there are many Lego models of the famous Portal sentry turret and other “characters” from the game, especially after the release of Portal 2, but they are usually just that – models, with zero functionality. I was halfway through the Portal 2 game when this idea came to me. ![]() Weight: 0.788 kg (together with the launcher) Datasheet:ĭimensions: length 26 studs / width 18 studs / height 36 studs Features two motors and two sensors and is computerized with the Lego WeDo software. A model of a sentry turret from the Portal game.
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