I'm looking for suction cups that are compatible with the LEGO pneumatic system. I've seen people who have built things with them (on YouTube videos, etc), but haven't found anything on eBay or BrickLink. Short of drilling a hole in a normal suction cup and popping a pneumatic tube into it, is there anything out there I could buy?
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3Check out The Vertigo III on LEGO.com's NXTLOG. It is probably a pretty good example of what Dave's looking for. – Peter Cassetta Jan 31 '12 at 17:09
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1@PeterDC yep, that's exactly what I'm looking for! :) – Dave DeLong Jan 31 '12 at 17:54
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That link got broken in Fall 2013 when the MINDSTORMS website updated, so here's a fixed link: us.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/community/… – HaydenStudios Aug 3 '14 at 14:55
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@HaydenStudios And THAT link is broken, too. Please fix it! – mindstormsboi Apr 28 '20 at 21:21
From the post about Vertigo (the precursor to Rory's answer), TrilogyGlenIvy (the creator) stated:
Suction cup hangers were easily located in stores. Drilling a small hole and inserting a short section of copper tubing (1/8 “ or ~3 mm diameter) along with some vinyl glue produced the feet that I used.
Basically they are usually found in DIY/Home stores as metal or plastic hooks wrapped around a transparent suction cup so you can easily affix them to tiles or windows.
There is also a picture showing three variants that were tried, with the preferred option being those in the bottom left I think:
Depending on the weight of the model you've got you may also need to invest in some additional custom air bellows:
An internet search finally pointed to a “Climb@tron Vertibug” toy that contained two air bellows (~23 mm in diameter). I bought one of the toys, removed the air bellows, and designed a “worm gear slider” system using NXT parts to stretch and compress them. The vacuum system was then installed in Vertigo and has worked reasonably well.
answered Feb 20 '12 at 14:53
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1AHA! I should've kept looking a little bit longer then. This is pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks! :) – Dave DeLong Feb 20 '12 at 17:26
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Definitely Vertigo III - superb build project
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I'm sorry, but the question specifically asked "is there anything out there I could buy?". Unless the suction cups for the Vertigo III are for sale, this is not a valid answer. Sorry if I'm sounding harsh, but this is not one of the possible right answers. – Peter Cassetta Feb 8 '12 at 12:26
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It looks like it is for sale under one of the Education links - the 9641 Pneumatic add-on set – Rory Alsop Feb 8 '12 at 12:32
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@RoryAlsop: According to Peeron, 9641 doesn't include the suction cups. peeron.com/inv/sets/9641-1 – Kramii Feb 8 '12 at 13:30
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