The gearbox of Jos

In the standard box of the NXT there are three motors. Also on the brick itself there are three plugs for motors. So three sources of power are provided for, very basic as it turns out.
In the car mode:
Steering and driving takes two, (whatever the construction) so one motor is left for doing something, grabbing a ball, lifting a peddle, or turning the sonar around.
In the crane mode:
turning, lifting and grabbing.

You wonder if it could be possible to do more. (That is without simply buying more motors and putting in some wiring to get these running on the three plugs.)
Is there another possibility?
There is this wonderful complicated piece in the set, having inner and outer cogwheel teeth. It is used in the crane, described on the Lego CD.
This double cogwheel really inspires fantasies about spaces filled with gears and shifting components, clicking and humming and working and producing and……

The idea of a gearbox spring to mind!


Suddenly Jos made a drawing like a Leonardo da Vinci and got to work. He constructed a complicated little, watch like device, which has the possibility of shifting a cogwheel to several other cogwheels. In principle two motors can steer a whole set of activities. This gearbox has to be built in the total Lego structure, which will be another little challenge.





















Now it gets to real engineering and you could possible understand why all the cranks, bolts and screws you need to turn are so difficult to reach in cars :-)……















And a model i came across by accident using this phantastic piece in a creative way is the hopper:
http://ricquin.net/lego/instructions/hopper.htm