Details: Perhaps a demonstration of a concept isn't terribly exciting, but this dry-run of a CNC machine is captivating. The use of a large Power Functions motor to drive the "drill" component is a smart choice, but not as clever as the use of a separate speed computer so that the user can keep close tabs on it. Thanks to that, you can add a manual form of precision to the precision already offered by the NXT motors. The possibilities for combining this with actual power tools (or some capable LEGO equivalent) are endless.
Since I'm sure it'll come up in the comments - yes, we have technically featured a sort of CNC machine before (Pancakes, anyone?), but that one worked by maneuvering the head on multiple axes. This one actually moves the platform for the x and y dimensions.
Details: You may remember the first LEGO flexpicker robot built by today's builder a little over two years ago. While an excellent project, it wasn't the most realistic use of the technology - generally speaking, multiple delta robots are used together as part of an assembly line. Although that would be a mere quibble for most of us, it was reason enough for the builder to give it another go, applying various new techniques and algorithms to improve performance and reduce size compared to the original. A full description is at the site listed above.
Details: Folding shirts takes time. Building and programming this robot to do it for you doesn't take that much time. The obvious next improvement is to make it grab the shirts itself so it doesn't need to be loaded with each shirt. This definitely speeds things up, though. The use of a cardboard box alongside standard NXT parts is pretty clever. In the interest of showing something you probably haven't seen before, the video above is of the second (faster) version of this machine.
Details: It's a common problem - outdated media that's become difficult to use taking up space. Transferring the content from a pile of floppy discs to a larger modern hard drive can be time-consuming, but if you have enough of them it may take less time to create a robot to make it for you. This machine makes use of an NXT kit, an android phone, a Linux-based laptop, and some Python code. The external floppy drive probably simplified the automation process (compared to using a drive built in to the laptop), but the basic idea looks easy enough to apply. Now if only we could send in our floppies to be archived...
Details: 222Doc claims to have created the first NXT-based biped that can climb stairs. I'll have to take him at his word for that (I'm not aware of any video to prove that, and he hasn't posted programs either). His new creation, though, is even more impressive - a quadruped robot with three-toed limbs that can climb like a sloth. That's the theory, anyway - the machinery has been tested to verify that it can handle the load of lifting it's own weight on ladders in any direction, but the programming's not done yet. This isn't quite purist - you can see some multiplexers and unofficial cable used so that the one NXT can control all of the motors (looks like 8 NXT motors and 4 Power Functions motors to me). Still - this is proof of concept for a type of four-legged walker we've never seen before. I can't wait to see one of these things crawling overhead at a LEGO or robotics event.
EDIT: This is what I get for rushing posts - it turns out that there is, in fact, a video of the X2 walking up stairs, and you can see other videos from the same builder on YouTube as well. More details about the X4 sloth 'bot can be found on the nxtasy forums.
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I'm afraid that this one video is all the documentation there is for this model (the short description on YouTube only says "A project of the robotics group of VHG Bogen / 25 RCX / 73 motors / costs: 8000€ / 2000 man hours"). While not as fast as the duck factory or car factory (masterminded by the YouTuber) we've previously featured here, it is another ambitious entry into this decidedly difficult and expensive genre. There are even multiple color variations that you can direct these factories to build! The possibilities for LEGO robots that can build their own LEGO models are virtually endless.
Of course, it's not time to worry about the robots taking over until someone builds a LEGO Mindstorms factory that builds other LEGO Mindstorms factories...
Details: I've previously blogged a fewinterestingwalkingmachines here, but the fact of the matter is that many of those models are a bit out of reach for most LEGO fans. The availability of various parts (specifically motors and pneumatic elements) leaves a bit to be desired. However, there's one current kit (the 8049 TECHNIC Log Loader) that is widely available and actually includes all the parts you need to try out simple pneumatic circuitry and walking machines. Naturally, I took this as a challenge - can a decent pneumatic walker be built out of only the parts in that one kit? You can see the results (and full building instructions!) at the links above. Spoiler alert: it can be done, but it took me a few tries to get it working smoothly.
Details: Remember a few weeks back when I featured OK GO's Rube Goldberg Contraption? How about a few months before that when I mentioned Tora no Maki? Imagine combining the weight-powered mechanisms from Tora no Maki with a grand Rube Goldberg Machine in the style of OK GO's but less dramatic and entirely made out of LEGO. That's what this machine is like. In this video, though, you really get a chance to see what's what - after you see the machine run through once, you get to see outtakes edited in order of where they failed. The repeated close-ups on each section make it nice and clear what's going on in each part. Personally, I'm really impressed that no electricity was used - everything is triggered by weight. Another victory for the non-motorized mechanical world!
Here's a fun idea: what do you get when you mix a large, simple, and sturdy Technic frame, a spiffy PID controlled line follower, a 9V-motor controlled gripping device, and a winch setup that holds the gripper? You get this nifty crane setup. The construction of the top frame takes advantage of some of the more strangely shaped liftarms - note how the weight of the crane and cargo never makes the crane's frame bow. The "simple" line following portion of this is handles very smoothly - a sure sign that the program for it is using a PID control system (while proportional error correction is a bit more complex to program than the "classic project" style of zig-zagging line follower, I think that the performance improvement is worth it). You don't see string in many Technic and Mindstorms creations - truth be told, string is one of the few elements LEGO has a hard time manufacturing with a satisfactory amount of strength (I frequently use fishing line instead of official LEGO string) - but here, the 4 strings used as a winch have no problem holding up the gripper and moving it up and down smoothly. Personally, I'm a big fan of the way a 9V motor was used (with a visible 9V/NXT adapter cable) to control the gripping mechanism - when you just need to move something back and forth, you really don't need to use up one of the more expensive NXT motors (which come with built in rotation sensors).
This is just a fantastic design overall, and it's even more impressive that it doesn't rely on rare special parts - it's all fairly standard Mindstorms and Technic parts and mechanisms, arranged well and programmed perfectly. Many of the models I feature here aren't really something I'd try building myself, but I'm inspired to give this one a try.
A word of warning - today's post is a bit of a stretch (it's only marginally LEGO-related) and some of the sites linked to from this post feature mild language. For obvious reasons, I can't control the level of insanity we see in comments on other sites. My choice of "making of" link is one of several, and some of the others contain some language that I try not to link to.
...but really, that's not what warrants a "don't try this at home". Read on to be inspired.
For today, here's something completely different - a large Rube Goldberg Machine that features a LEGO section. Later on in this video, we get to see a large racecar used as part of the contraption (in case this isn't clear - kids, DO NOT try this one at home. I cannot be held responsible for any smashed televisions, splatter-painted walls, messy warehouses, or other shenanigans inspired by this video). The LEGO portion of the machine features a Technic model of the racecar that appears later on. The car is triggered by a Power Functions-based launcher that is triggered by something flying across the room. Similarly, when the car is finished moving across the table with the LEGO section on it, it triggers the next mechanism by way of a flying rope - and then the next part of the machine actually plays part of the song. The LEGO whimsy here isn't strictly functional, though - in the picture below you can see the "concert" dome, where a colorful assortment of minifigures is watching a band perform. Not far behind that is a mosaic of the band's name (oh, did I mention this was a music video? The band wisely lets the machine steal the show).
The machine was created for the band OK GO (yes, of treadmill dancing fame, and yes, I know there's already a LEGO knockoff of that video). The machine was created by Synn Labs. Wired.com has a fairly thorough description of the process, although the nature of a project this large is that there are quite a few people out there who were involved in building the machine and are discussing it in various venues. I'm yet to see anything specific about the LEGO portion, but let's face it - this is just spectacular overall.
Details: Minifig-scale furnishings can be difficult to create, so it's not unusual to see ideas recycled from one builder to the next. These candy machines were first built with zanier parts that provided specific varieties (such as the gumball machine - that "dome" is originally from a Spongebob astronaut set) [see image on lower right], and later they were built with more common parts (except for the candies themselves, which are the hard-to-find cherry part) and techniques that would still fit nicely but be a bit easier to build with parts on hand [top left image]. I would never have thought of putting loose smaller pieces inside of a clear 1x2 brick to make the front of a machine, but it works perfectly here. All of these candy machines are great examples of how to build candy machines at this scale, but I wanted to show both at once to highlight how we improvise while borrowing ideas and techniques. While I try to avoid sticking too closely to AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) specific ideas, I think this idea is important at all ages (and even with small collections of parts). There has been a bit of controversy within the LEGO hobby about how much credit should be given for simple but noteworthy techniques like the ones shown here. If you're up for reading an adult-oriented discussion on the topic, you should read the recenteditorials and comments over at TBB.
Details: Front-loading washing machines sound easy enough to build until you realize how difficult it is to build the round front at a decent scale. A simple studs-not-on-top technique handles it here - if you look closely, you'll notice that the bottom of this model is assembled with the studs on top of the LEGO bricks facing downwards. A 3x3 dish element on a pole fits nicely with the arches to complete the front-loading mechanism. The result is a bit too large for minifigs, but is at a decent scale for Miniland, Scala, or Belville people. For those of you trying to build this at home (you know your dollhouse needs one!), take a close look at the photo I've featured here and make sure you have enough of the 'Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4' element on hand.
Details: This isn't exactly a "model" for today, but it's an excellent resource that should help spur on some interesting ideas. Tora no Maki is a book in PDF format that is graciously offered as shareware - you can download it and evaluate it for free, but the author has asked that you pay $10 for it if you use it. Only the opening pages have text (in English and Japanese) - the rest is all full-color photos that clearly show off a variety of techniques. While it's intended to be an educational resource (and is certainly great for beginners - many of the techniques are straightforward and can be built with very few parts), it's still of use even for fairly advanced Technic builders.
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Another toy building system I got into when I was little was Domino Rally. While that system doesn't seem to have caught on with the sort of longevity as most things I cover here, there are still plenty of people making similar domino runs and domino-based stunts. Of course, the "Domino Dealer" part of the Domino Rally system (as well as it's slightly more advanced counterpart which could stand up dominoes in simple patterns) is still an idea worth pursuing even for "real" wooden dominoes, but the issue then becomes finding a "dealer" that you can use with the dominoes you have on hand. Today's model uses an elegant LEGO Technic mechanism with a non-LEGO motor and power source to automate setting up straight rows of dominoes.
Details: (Pictured left: an AND gate. The rest of this post refers to the full group of gates discussed at the website mentioned above).
I've previously mentioned a machine that uses pneumatic logic gates, but pneumatics aren't the only way to try out the LEGO-based logic gates concept. This mechanical approach may be a bit easier (although the parts are less expensive, this is still likely to strain your parts collection if you try it at home). These logic gates move axles laterally to indicate input and output values. They do a good job of showing the principles of logic gates - but perhaps, as with the pneumatic walkers, there may be a way to use these in clever ways to build other LEGO machines as well. At the very least, if you have enough of these working without much loss between them, you could build a computer...
Apologies for the delay on this post, which was written in advance...but then the entire post apparently disappeared overnight. We're looking into the issue now, but still don't know why this wasn't up first thing this morning.
Details: 6 Power Functions motors (controlled through IR by an NXT) control 6 of the Linear Actuator element. Properly connected, they can work this "magic" - a sturdy platform that can be easily tilted or rotated from underneath. This is a clever bit of engineering, and visiting the website listed above will bring you to videos of both Shep's LEGO version and a non-LEGO version.
Details: Every once in a while, you hear me mention that something has become a "fad" of sorts among LEGO fans. About a decade or so back, a rash of pneumatic walkers flooded LUGNET (the LEGO Users Group network) and RTL (Rec.Toys.LEGO, a USENET newsgroup from back when "USENET" and "newsgroup" were things people actually used) as Technic and Mindstorms fans tried to push the limits of what could be done mechanically without having to use expensive motors and sensors to automate creations. Pneumatic walkers are an incredibly fun application of pneumatic logic gates. Simple logic gates (of the same sort used in electronics) have long been considered a "classic project" for LEGO pneumatic elements, but the relative scarcity of those parts generally prevents people from experimenting with the field too much. The basic idea of pneumatic walkers is to have all motion control handled purely by pneumatics - no motors, gears, or sensors are needed on the machine itself. The only source of power is a pneumatic tube supplying air pressure. Each piston-forced movement is mechanically attached to another pneumatic valve, which in turn will force another pneumatic piston to trigger its linkages. Since LEGO pneumatic parts aren't quite instantaneous, they can be used in a variety of synchronized machines, including walkers. Today's featured model is a recent creation that claims to be the smallest pneumatic walker. The machine has a small footprint and only uses the smallest size of pneumatic piston. The newer studless valves are used here to great effect - I can't imagine trying to build a similar structure while needing to brace the older valve elements with bricks. Don't miss the video on Brickshelf alongside the photos.
Details: While discussing the upcoming NXT 2.0 kit this past weekend with a friend who went to Toy Fair, I heard what must be the real reason that the new kit includes a large amount of Bionicle parts: it's a machine gun kit. As a general rule, I don't blog gun related things here (and if I do, they're clearly only fantasy items - this is the same rule the LEGO company has used in the past) - but who am I to argue with the only obvious use for the parts in the new NXT kit? Besides, what other possible reason could there be for cutting over a hundred Technic parts from the kit (compared to the version in stores now) and including Bionicle Zamor spheres and launchers instead? (strike-outs are there to correct my mistake: I confused the NXT kit's piece count with the RIS kit's piece count)
Of course, you don't actually need a new NXT kit to build a machine gun that launches Bionicle Zamor spheres - all those parts are already available. Today's model is one implementation based on parts that are already out (and this builder's created a few similar guns advancing the concept as well).
Still, questions remain - should we still be worried about taking somebody's eyes out? Will any of these parts actually be in the Educational release of the NXT 2.0? Is there some other interesting thing to do with these parts besides make machine guns? Can we hook these things up to a Great Ball Contraption to build shoot-em-up duel games?
Details: It seems like it's been far too long since I've seen a great new RCX-based model (sure the NXT programmable brick is cool too, but the RCX never stopped being awesome). Here's a new one that combines video-game graphics with RCX-based motion and music. The imagery is spot-on Donkey Kong, and the rolling barrels / jumping Mario synchronization is absolutely charming. Of course, this is already starting to go "viral" (appear seemingly everywhere online), but it takes a LEGO fan to catch some of the little details that make models like this one exciting. Take a closer look at the Donkey Kong character, and you may recognize it as one of the trolls LEGO makes for the current "fantasy"-based castle line. People tend to think of Technic as one thing and ridiculous fantasy figures as another, but the LEGO company is surprisingly good at designing parts that can be used in a variety of ways.
My only gripe is that there aren't more photos - we need to know how good that custom Mario fig looks. I'd also be interested in seeing close-up shots of the jumping mechanism and the barrel-launching mechanism. It's kind of surprising that there isn't a great repository of Mindstorms music programs out there too (it takes a ridiculous amount of time to get a tune just right - you'd think people wouldn't want to see the efforts duplicated). Anyway - as much as I'd like to see more documentation of this (and the builder's other great models, which you can find in http://wrench.vib.org/lego/ if you don't mind poking around a bit), this is still an awesome model.
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).
can control all of the motors (looks like 8 NXT motors and 4 Power Functions motors to me). Still - this is proof of concept for a type of four-legged walker we've never seen before. I can't wait to see one of these things crawling overhead at a LEGO or robotics event.
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