Details: Those of you who have supported a Kickstarter project in the past may have recognized a project that showed up in yesterday's "Projects We Love" e-mail. "This Week in Kickstarter" featured PancakeBot, which I wrote about here in 2011 and spotlighted in advance of World Maker Faire 2012. For those of you just tuning in, this is a machine that can print pancakes with custom designs. The non-LEGO Kickstarter project is already well beyond the original funding goal, and will eventually be available for sale at $299 USD (you can still support the project on Kickstarter to get it at a lower price). Oddly, much of what's been written about the current Kickstarter project refers to 2013 as when the idea became the "working LEGO version" and 2014 as when the "First working prototype" was made. I was pretty impressed with the video from 2011, but perhaps a later LEGO version (that I can't seem to find with a quick search) was more reliable and is what they're now considering the "working" version.
There's been a considerable amount of hype around the Mindstorms line as a source of tomorrow's great inventions. This 'bot might be the first to actually go all the way from LEGO-based rapid prototyping to being a mass-produced product that people buy. If you can think of another one, let us know!
Details: This might seem a little quick and simple, but I like it. These use the older minifig-holding magnets (from when LEGO sold minifigure magnet sets where the minifigure was not glued to the magnet), and use tiles and minifigures to indicate different locations - specifically, places that Bret might be when he's not at his desk. It's a good excuse to bring some LEGO into a decidedly non-LEGO environment, and we never have enough good reasons to do that. It's different. It's clever. It's practical. It's functional. It's something I wish I had thought of first.
Details: It's time for another look at what's up at LEGOLAND. This time the photos are from LEGOLAND Billund in Denmark, which was looking pretty great in October of 2010. You'll want to make sure to look at some of the videos included here. Although the parks actually use non-LEGO hardware to make moving items happen (it'd be more exciting if they used Mindstorms components, but I guess that'd be harder to maintain outdoors), it's still thrilling to see things like the boat navigating working canal locks and the ferry transporting moving cars.
Details: Every once in a while, someone builds something that actually breaks new ground in the field of what can be done with LEGO parts. This machine is one of those revolutionary moments. For as long as we've had CAD programs that could be used to create virtual LEGO models, we've had problems with parts not being available. Sure, you can make do (especially if you're a robot that doesn't have those parts either), but it seems inevitable that you'll eventually come up with something that just cannot be modeled on the computer. Parts repositories for LDRAW are filled with elements created from primitive shapes by volunteers, so it's not all that surprising that difficult, more organic shapes that LEGO makes are often unaccounted for. That is, until now. This setup is capable of generating LDRAW parts from scratch, using nothing but an NXT kit, a small amount of other LEGO parts, a laser component, a webcam, and some software. While the process is not entirely automated, it's a huge step forward in making part creation for complex parts simpler, which in turn will allow the rest of us to design in LDRAW with a wider variety of parts.
Details: Today's obligatory "cool LEGO robot everyone is talking about on the internet" is this NXT-based Roomba replacement. Although a good deal of custom electronics were involved to make it happen, I believe this is the first NXT-based robot capable of connecting itself to a recharging station (if you're unaware: only the education edition NXT kits come with the rechargeable battery by default, but you can buy the battery and charger separately through Shop at Home). A top-mounted dFlex sensor determines when it is as far as it can safely go under furniture. The expected differential drive and touch sensors are there too - for once I can actually say that the robot is very well documented by it's builder, so if you are interested in this (or want to build your own), please follow the links above to learn more.
The video I've featured above is just of the recharging action. A video of the "swiffering" can be seen on the site listed above.
Name of Model: RedSedanI (Brickshelf gallery lists the longer description: 4 Door, V8, four speed, parking brake, 4 Wheel Suspension, Rear Torsion bar, Tilt steering, 6 way adjustable front seats -thank you pixsrv-, front center armrest, rear flow through armrest, full size spare, adjustable sunroof, thirdwig@yahoo, up for more)
Details: As a genre to attempt building in, the massive vehicle with brick-built details and working features made out of Technic elements seems like an intuitive idea to try. The reality of building such a thing is considerably more difficult - even though many of us know how to use Technic pieces to build cars that can drive around and reliable suspension systems, all those great working features can easily become nearly useless just by adding extra weight onto a vehicle. There are few things more depressing than building a great car, only to find out that the wheels won't rotate because they're now brushing against the top of that true-to-life wheel well that took an hour to get just right. Sadly, this means we get very few "best of both worlds" models, and we see an ever-growing schism between people who build models with realistic functionality and people who build models with realistic looks.
The builder of this car, though, took on this challenge and excelled. This Porsche has a full body and interior, steering, suspension, and even the hallmark of a truly thought out car in this genre - adjustable seats. You haven't truly made a LEGO car that attempts to match real cars in looks and functionality unless you've included at least one feature that's only of use to the tiny passengers.
Details: Apparently the most popular Technic creation at BrickCon this year (it also won a trophy at that event), this seaplane with a wingspan of nearly 5 feet (just over 1.5 meters) is modeled after a DeHavilland Twin Otter.
I'm going to try to keep this short - although this hasn't been singled out post-documentation on any blogs, much has been said about it already. Here's the list of features from the flickr set above:
Specifications:
Wingspan 59.5 inch (151 cm)
Length 43 inch (110 cm)
Height 28 inch (71 cm)
Weight 26.5 lbs (12 kg)
Passengers 9 (incl. 2 Crew)
Motors 5
Cylinders 6 Large, 3 Small
Compressor 6 Cylinders Total
Switches 3
Sensors 1 Touch, 2 Rotation
Power 1 RCX, 2 Battery Packs
Pieces 20 000 (estimated)
Working Features:
Elevators
Rudder
Ailerons
Flaps
Landing Gear (With Main Gear Suspension & Casting Nose Gear)
Independently Variable Throttle
Independently Variable Propeller Pitch
Regulated Compressors in Engines
Regulated Auxiliary Compressor
Navigation Lights
Beacon Light
Passenger Entry Door
Sliding Pilot Seats (allowing entry)
Folding Wings
The information above is for the flickr set, but there's actually more documentation for this model spread out across a few sites. For the long write up (by a Technic expert who didn't build this personally - I've briefly mentioned his Technicopedia a few times), you'll need to look at this post on the Eurobricks forum (of all places - we actually try to avoid linking to Eurobricks because of their set-news-leaking habits). There are also photos (again, by Blakbird instead of the builder) on Brickshelf in a BrickCon 2010 directory, not to mention two YouTubevideos that were made by the builder. That's the extended reading when you're done with the 59 flickr photos linked above. For extra credit, write a report on that, create an LDRAW set of instructions for the plane, or build your own that's even larger, more detailed, or more functional.
Details: Coaxial rotation is one of those concepts that used to constantly stymie Technic fans. Specifically, those of us who likes clocks. Surprisingly, while I've blogged a working grandfather clock before, I've never pointed out how hard it is to solve this problem. Or is it? In recent years, we've seen LEGO designers make frequent use of the once-rare transmission gear to allow multiple different speeds to be transmitted on the same axle. New for 2010, we even have a bevel gear that sits loose on an axle. To build clock hands, it's particularly useful to use that transmission gear with plates with toothedends (if you have some, that is - few molds from when LEGO liked that "toothed" system are still in production now. There were issues with the sturdiness of the parts, and the newer parts that replaced those elements are much more reliable).
Of course, all of these parts and issues from the past few decades can be worked around by using vintage parts. The earliest LEGO gears, released in 1965, don't connect firmly to Technic axles. They work with Technic axles, but these gears actually were around first. Not only do these work nicely for coaxial rotation, but since they're large enough to be used as clock faces anyway, you can also just build a hand directly onto one and use it as both a hand and the face of the clock.
That solution is clever enough, but this builder upped the ante by powering this with wind-up motors. The result is an analog clock that can really be wound. Follow the links above for video, photos, and more details (including some information on the escapement).
Details: Here's another for the "don't try this at home" category - building a sword out of LEGO. On second thought, I trust that you can behave yourself and I think we all can agree that this is one beautiful model. This was built for a recent Classic-Castle.com challenge that asks LEGO enthusiasts to try building life-size medieval weapons.
Details: I've previously mentioned James May's attempt to build a house out of LEGO bricks. As you can see from this photo, the house is starting to shape up. As you can also see, there's a wooden structure that the bricks are going around. My guess? There was probably some building safety laws on the books preventing this from being a pure attempt at building a life-size house out of LEGO elements. There are 11 more photos to check out in the flickr set mentioned above, and they reveal this to be a fairly strange multi-colored creation with more than a few elements that reek of "cheating". I think it's clear now that there will have to be another attempt at building a full-size house in order to determine if it truly is possible to do it without using other materials.
Details: It really is made out of LEGO parts, I swear. This is simply a perfect sculpture - the colors match the original woodtone, the studs-not-on-top work that makes all the details of the puzzle work is brilliant, and the way that it actually works like the real thing is pretty clever. I'm pretty sure it's an original mechanism used inside, and not just a straight LEGO reproduction of the original motion technique. At first glance, the surface of the puzzle looks like it's just a flat wall, but you really need to look more closely - there are arches going in multiple directions to make holes, carefully aligned edges and paths, and far more cleverly-placed 1x1 Technic bricks than I've ever seen in one place before. Of course, I don't know if you'd really want to play this instead of the original wooden game - I'd be a bit worried about scratching up pieces. I know I've featured models with no studs showing before, but....wow.
I know this is a second day in a row of real posts, but I am still considering this blog to be on hiatus. It looks like it will be returning at the regular pace around August 10th-15th. In the meantime, I'll continue posting occasionally, but I can't promise daily posts.
Details: Here's another fun twist on LEGO® sculpture - this one makes use of some wire strings (mild cheating) and TECHNIC elements to provide complete functionality. It's a great-looking sculpture too, but the details of how it works just like any other harpsichord are amazing. Here are some details rom the link above about using unusual parts:
Some of the more whimsical LEGO elements were integrated as well: arches (and inverse arches) for the soundhole, roof slopes for the "curvature" of the internal frame and leg decorations, rubber tires to reduce the "clack" of the keys and jacks, and cloth capes (as worn by the likes of the Hermione Granger minifig) for the dampers.
Details: Nathan Sawaya is a professional sculptor who uses LEGO bricks as his main medium. He's available if you need specific things sculpted out of LEGO parts, or if you want to do an event of some sort. Let's say, for example, that you have an air conditioner company - why not have a giant air conditioner made out of LEGO bricks at your event? Or, take it one step further, and have a LEGO fan built inside of the air conditioner so that it can actually cool off people near it. Details to look for here include the vents on the side (more of that studs-not-on-top stuff), the Bryant logo on the front, and the round, sculpted top.
replacement. Although a good deal of custom electronics were involved to make it happen, I believe this is the first NXT-based robot capable of connecting itself to a recharging station (if you're unaware: only the education edition NXT kits come with the rechargeable battery by default, but you can buy the 
