Original Year	1990
# of pieces	211
Categories	Other: Universal Sets
Dimensions	various
Models	Race Car Helicopter Tow Truck Forklift

8064 Motorized Universal Building Set

The Universal Set 8064, released in 1990, was the first to make use of the new 9V motor and battery box. One motor is included and is used for each of the 4 models, each of which have full instructions. The car features steering and a motorized rear axle. The tow truck features steering and a motorized winch. The helicopter features motorized main and tail rotors. The forklift features steering and a motorized fork lifting mechanism.

Other than the use of the new motor, there are not really any new technical innovations here, but the set is pretty versatile for its size.

I find the Forklift the most interesting, and it is the model I chose to keep assembled for my display of this set.

1^st Model: Race Car
This rather sleek looking race car features rack and pinion steering and a motorized rear axle. The "body" is actually similar is style to the 8865 Test Car. The front wheels can be steered using a gear at the driver's position. The wheel drives a 16 tooth pinion. The pinion drives the steering rack. The steering mechanism itself uses steering arms and toothed links. The motor connects to a pulley via a belt as shown in the computer image. The belt drives the solid rear axle through a set of 8 and 24 tooth gears. Since the total reduction is only about 9:1, the high speed motor drives the car pretty fast.	Click to download the LDraw file of this model. Model by Benjamin Wendl Click for an animation of the steering in motion. Click for an animation car driving.
2^nd Model: Helicopter
This mid-sized helicopter seems to clearly be a model of the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane. Like the S-64, its wide landing gear allows it to lift full size cargo containers. In this case, the cargo is the battery box which can be detached from the helicopter. The main and tail rotors are motorized as shown in the computer image. The motor drives a pulley wheel through a belt. After a pair of 8 tooth spur gears, a worm gear drives the main rotor with a reduction of about 24:1. The tail rotor works in parallel following a set of 14 tooth bevel gears, and is geared to move 8 times faster than the main.	Click to download the LDraw file of this model. Model by Benjamin Wendl Click for an animation of the rotors in motion.
3^rd Model: Tow Truck
This small tow truck features rack and pinion steering and a motorized rear winch. The front wheels can be steered using an overhead "hand of god" wheel. The wheel drives a pair of 24 tooth gears which drive a pinion. The pinion drives the steering rack. The steering mechanism itself uses steering arms and toothed links. The motor drives an 8 tooth spur gear which, in turn, drives a 24 tooth crown. The next stage is also 8:24. Finally, a belt drives the final stage which is connected to a string and powers the winch. Final gear reduction is about 27:1.	Click to download the LDraw file of this model. Model by Benjamin Wendl Click for an animation of the steering in motion. Click for an animation of the winch lifting.
4^th Model: Forklift
This forklift is very well done and features rack and pinion steering and motorized forks. The construction method is quite complicated and asymmetric. The construction techniques are similar to those found in the 8851 excavator. The front wheels can be steered using an overhead "hand of god" wheel. The wheel drives a pair of 8 tooth pinions through a set of 14 tooth bevel gears. The pinions drive the steering rack. The steering mechanism itself uses steering arms and toothed links. The motorized forklift uses one of the more convoluted gear trains and among the higher gear reductions in Technic. The computer image at the right is color coded for convenience. First, an 8 tooth spur gear on the motor drives a 24 tooth crown (red axle). Next, a pair of belts drive through pulley wheels (green axle). Following that are another set of 8 and 24 tooth gears (yellow axle). On the yellow axle is a worm gear which drives an 8 tooth spur gear on the blue axle. The white axle has the final 24 tooth gear which also drives a pair of liftarms. The liftarms make up part of a 4 bar linkage which lifts the forks and keeps them parallel to the ground. Assuming the pulleys are about 3:1, the final gear reduction is (24:8 x 3:1 x 24:8 x 8:1 x 24:8) 648:1. It takes about 5 seconds to lift the forks. The use of a worm gear results in a system which cannot be backdriven (because the axial friction is higher than the backdriving torque due to the screw pitch angle) which allows the forks to be supported so that they do not fall under their own weight.	Click to download the LDraw file of this model. Model by Benjamin Wendl Click for an animation of the steering in motion. Click for an animation of the forks lifting.

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