Robotics Monday: Automatous Braiding Machine

Name of Model: LEGO Braiding Machine

Created by: Thomas Johnson

Found at: http://web.mac.com/aklego/LEGO_etc./LEGO_Braider_Photos.html#grid

Details: Remember that automatous knitting machine? Well, that builder has been at it again, and has now built a fully functional braiding machine that uses only a single motor and battery box for power. I'm not really sure how this works - for some reason my computer won't play the video that's been posted - but if it's as clever as the knitting machine was, then you just know it's got to be a real treat. It's interesting to note that the construction is a bit more "modern" looking this time out, relying on studless beams instead of the bricks we saw in the knitting machine. You might recall that the LEGO TECHNIC line shifted from featuring Technic bricks (with studs on top for stacking) to Technic beams (which are smooth and studless) a few years back (Wikipedia has a good description of this topic). If not, don't feel bad - I think it's safe to say that more Technic bricks were manufactured in the 20 years or so when Technic beams didn't exist. That's right, kids, when I was your age, we didn't have studless Technic beams! We had to find ways to make our robots go uphill both ways in the snow without studless beams, or even programmable bricks! Which brings us back to why machines like this one are so interesting in the first place - not needing newfangled programmable parts (I guess the "newfangled" gambit is moot at this point, though). EDIT: The video is now on YouTube.

Robotics Monday: Knitting Machine

Name of Model: Knitting Machine

Created by: Thomas Johnson

Found at: http://homepage.mac.com/aklego/PhotoAlbum22.html

Details: At this point, it's no real secret that most robots and machines made out of LEGO parts rely on the handful of robotics sets that LEGO has released over the years. Because of that, it always comes as a surprise when someone builds a truly exciting robot using nothing but a battery box and some traditional mechanics. That's right - you can make awesome LEGO machines and "robots" of sorts without doing any programming. Of course, the specialized mechanical work can be just as difficult as programming a robot. It's a bit of an art to work out a machine that works more like an old-fashioned automaton, and it can be very difficult to make a sequence of actions occur from just one motor's output. It can also be rather difficult to make LEGO parts work with other materials. Special grips often need to be worked out to make things work "just right". Naturally, then, a knitting LEGO robot based on an old battery box is a truly magnificent thing to behold. A single motor is powered by the battery box, and arms that maneuver properly to knit are powered by chains and gears eminating from the motor. The cycles of various worm gear configurations are timed perfectly to give the arms a fluid motion and keep the yarn from falling. The whole operation is fascinating, but seems (to me) to be fairly easy to understand if you watch the video first and then look at the pictures. Since yarn is obviously needed for any knitting machine, this doesn't really count as cheating.