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What I like about this video is that it really illustrates how fast the sensors are on the NXT.  I use RobotC which I believe is one of the fastest running programs and I often find myself getting into trouble because the sensors are getting readings much faster that I had originally thought.

10 DOF Biped

Very slow, very cool.  But Asimo was slow at first too.  Can't wait to see what this thing can do.



And what I like best is that it is done with a single NXT.  Now that is power!  I mean, I bet this thing eats power!  Change the batteries every 5 steps.

Driving Simulators.

Give a bunch of engineers an unlimited budget and say "Go Nuts."  They don't go to Vegas, they don't buy big houses, they build this monstrosity.


Maybe I could build a big X/Y table and slap on a Stewart Platform.


But don't forget about the Formula 1 Driving Sim.

Wowwee Roboscooper

This looks like a fun project that could be done using either just PF motors with a remote controls or a NXT with autonomous behavior.



It's a lot like my Hen Mobile Robotic arm, but with a few extra functions.

Man Vs. Machine: Bowling

Man wins this one...for now.

Advanced Motor Control In RobotC

Wanna know one way to control three motors with each having different speeds, directions and targets?  Here's how.  Copy the code after the break and create a file in RobotC.  Hook up three motors and run it.  If there is enough interest in the code, I will go deeper into dissecting it.

I apologize about the formatting and tabification of the code.  Blogger is terrible for that kind of thing.

Mickey Mouse Dancing Robot

I saw the commercial for this and thought that if I ever got one, the first thing I would do is strip all his flesh from his metal/plastic skeleton to see how he works.

My Next Set?

I was looking at the inventory of the 8053 Mobile Crane.  It's got lots of good parts in it, including some good legacy Technic parts in it.  Might just have to run to the Lego Store this weekend.

Super Massive Mobile Robot

I have no idea what the purpose of the robot is, but it makes me want to go spend $5000 at BrickLink to try to replicate it (as if).  LOVE IT!



I blogged about this some time ago, but at that time it wasn't finished.  I am not ashamed to admit that the base of this was a major influence on my current project.  There is a slight resemblance, mainly that it is BIG.

By the way, the gun is mounted and it works.  It runs around now using two PF IR Remote controls.  I want to get the NXT hooked up and programmed and it will be done! 

Just Need The Parts, Man!

If you are anything like me, you don't always want the whole set, just some of the parts.  I typically don't buy red or blue sets mainly because all of my creations are yellow, black and grey. It is VERY clear to me that TLC knows exactly how to make me pay $60 for just a few parts.  Yes, I do own several red and blue sets, but unless it is a Supercar or something, it typically doesn't get built, it just gets inventoried and put away...red and blue in my "won't use again" stock and the rest in my active stock.  Thank goodness for all the inventories on BrickLink.

Just to prove the Lego forces us to buy stuff we don't necessarily want, take this video done at BrickCon recently about the new "collectable minifigures."  DARN YOU, LEGO!  It's funny but has some brief adult language.

Really Good Robot Dance

I remember when music was about the "music" and not about the dance.  Sheesh, video really DID kill the radio star.  Plus, she doesn't play her own instruments.





I bet they are saying "I went to dance class to backup a ROBOT????!!!"

Automated Food Slicer

Are you tired of slicing off countless fingers while chopping bananas?  Tired of the mess and the hassle?  Call now and get the Lego Mindstorms food chopper for only 159 easy payments of $109.99.  It slices, it dices....



But wait!  if you call within the next 10 minutes we'll quadruple the offer.....blah blah blah.

Pinsetter

Here's a couple of videos of bbqqqbbqqq's Lego Mindstorms pinsetter.  Nice!

Lego Storage Boxes

My nephew sent me a link to these cool storage boxes.  Unfortunately it looks as though they are only available in the UK.  They are even officially licensed Lego products, not some wanna-be.  If you click on the link above, you will see that they have a 2x2 version, a 2x4 version and a minifig head version as shown in this photo.

Non-Circular Wooden Gears

I likes me some gears.  'Specially some cool ones.

Lego Wii Remote

Lego and Nintendo have teamed up to offer us a Wiimote all dressed up in Lego.  TRU is taking pre-orders and it comes out October 16th at a cost of $39.99.  Now you can control your NXT robots with something that LOOKS like Lego.

I have been thinking about getting a couple more Wiimotes and now I have an incentive.

A New Parallel Robot

Panasonic now has a version of the parallel robot.  The Flexpicker is still tops in my book, but this one has some extra features. 


Panasonic introduces a new Parallel link robot in Japan from HIC Network on Vimeo.

Build THIS with Lego. I dare you

56 motors, 3 modes of transport, tons of sensors.  I also noticed at 2:06 the operator uses a parallel linkage nearly identical to the Flexpicker to control the robot.  Pretty cool.

Cool Illusion

From  ISOGAWAYoshihito, the author of several Technic Idea books.  This is a really cool illusion that YOU can build.  And I just might!

Superfail is No Longer a Fail

This behemoth is no longer a static monument to an engineering mistake. It now runs well, a bit slower than I would like, but it runs. The gearing is slower and much more rugged. The tracks stay lined up when it turns and nothing slips. It looks nearly identical to this picture too.  Now on to the next task…mounting the NERF Stampede.

I really wish there were much larger motors and axles. The torque that is needed is pretty high, even for XL PF motors.

Mechanical Art

Some things are just fun to watch.  I don't care it it tells time correctly or not.

Some Ideas For The Season

But you didn't get them from me.

The Next NXT Internet Viral Video

A spectacualar Wall-E

Berkeley Bionics Reveals eLEGS Exoskeleton

Over at Engadget they have a post about Berkeley Bionics and an exoskeleton that they are working on to assist paraplegics walk.  This is particularly interesting to me because I have lost about 75% of my ability to walk because of a degenerative disorder.  It's great to see that so much progress has been made and by the time I can no longer walk this device may be available and the bugs worked out.  Hooray!

There is some pretty cool video on the link.

A Nice Game of Pong

For those of you who didn't live in the 1970s, Pong was a huge breakthrough.  Now anybody can program it on some Lego.  This version is really great, but the hardware is configured so that the combatants have to touch heads to see the NXT screen.

Fast Scanner

This thing is fast.  Simple, and fast.

SuperFail

If you haven’t figured it out yet, my current project is a Lego Sentry gun using the new (and might I add really cool) Nerf Stampede machine gun. Last weekend I spent about eight hours building the mobile base for it. I even ordered some needed parts from Bricklink before I knew whether or not it would work. I now know that it doesn’t work the way I currently have it built. I tried to give it enough power by putting two XL PF motors on each track, but that still isn’t enough. It moves fine going straight, but it won’t turn and every so often the track belts break.

I guess that is the price when you build big; your mistakes and rebuilds are big. But it looks really cool, so I thought I would show it off.

Back to the drawing board.

ESA Rosetta Project-In Mindstorms

I found this over at the NXTStep.  I was struck by this video in particular because the entire video used Lego Mindstorms to describe how a comet lander will study the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.  The Europeen Space Agency's project is called  Rosetta.

Put the video on full screen and enjoy about 20 minutes of interesting space/Lego goodness.

Childrens Anit-Bully Robotic Suit

Let's just hope the bullys don't get ahold of these.

Challenging The Traditional Robot Platform

Really cool flying robots.  The first video is awesome.

Three dancing Quadrotors


Swarming behavior

AFOLs on CBS Sunday Morning

I got up this morning and turned on one of my favorite programs, CBS Sunday Morning and had a very pleasant surprise. I like that show because they show a lot of positive stories from all over America. The surprise was that they were doing a story about AFOLs. I sat through the five minute story with a big grin on my face, mainly because this dude and I are nearly identical, 'cept I use Mindstorms stuff.


Here is a link to the story. The full video is embedded in the page.

Lego Wedding Ring

I wonder if they make a Technic/Mindstorms version??

KLUNGBOT or angKLUNGroBOT

Say what???

Just watch for a few....

Sentry Gun

Who would build something this cruel???