Shannon's Ultimate Machine, aka the "Most Useless Machine", has become something of a fad.
So of course, people have made Lego versions.
I think this one, announced in this Lugnet post, is my favourite.
Yep - it's clockwork!
The clockwork motor it uses is either this one or this one. There's also this rather rare see-through one. You could probably also use one of the many pull-back motors.
(Bonus points go to anyone who makes a Useless Machine that's powered by the clock escapement from the #8888 Idea Book.)
9 May 2010 at 11:10 pm
I had #8888 back in the day (wish I still had it). I never built built the clock, as it had an awfully large gap from step 1 to step 2. I built the scale, the walking dogs and astonishingly the Lego "CAD" plotter at the end. I didn't have the 'caterpillar' chains, so I used long 'cards' made of huge flat plates (from an older oil-rig set #373, with proto-minifigs from the 70's) with tiles as the programming strips. It was tremendous fun.
The tension-powered cart from pages 66-68 caused my darkest ever day in Lego - the destruction of some critical parts for my treasured #8860 Technical Car Chassis. My larger, and dangerously faster spring powered car crashed on a fast run down our driveway, breaking the hubs of 2 of the giant wheels, and 3 of the crucial 1x16 technic beams. While I still have the parts for the car, I cannot build it in it's original form as the wheels proved to be irreplaceable. Since that dark day, my Lego has stayed indoors.
10 May 2010 at 9:16 pm
I just adore the mechanical action in that thing. That's a grumpy little WALL-E in there reaching out to hit the snooze button whenever some annoying thing sets off his alarm...