Devices
LEGO wind-up clock
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010This clock keeps accurate time using two LEGO pull-back motors for power. More pictures and video here
LEGO Vertical East-West Sundial
Monday, August 2nd, 2010Vertical dials have faces on a vertical surface rather than a horizontal one. They are often constructed on the sides of buildings, usually on the south side. However it is possible to construct them on surfaces facing other directions. A vertical dial on a wall facing directly east can be used during the morning hours, [...]
Another Lego Equatorial Sundial
Monday, July 5th, 2010This equatorial sundial takes advantage of a happy accident of LEGO geometry.
As it happens, the inside bow of a 1×5×4 half-arch brick can be divided almost exactly into 6 sections of one stud unit each. That makes a full circle of 24 equal sections – ideal for sundial construction!
This dial is angled at 41 degrees [...]
Lego Monster Chess
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 Team Hassenplug has completed an astounding Mindstorms “Monster Chess” set with robotic pieces controlled by computer.
In building this room-sized set, which contains over 100,000 bricks, special care has been given to the motion of the pieces. The proportions are such that the square-based pieces can simply rotate 45 degrees and clear a path for [...]
Portable Lego Sundial
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010This little equatorial sundial folds into a small unit just 1 inch by 2 inches by 3/4 inch high. It can be unfolded and assembled to be used anywhere in the world to accurately tell the time within a few minutes. It is constructed entirely from Lego pieces.
Step by step instructions are up at the [...]
Lego Building Lego
Monday, May 31st, 2010 The Lego Mindstorms system was a basic but versatile robotics system that opened up a whole new area of exploration. In 2008, the robotics group of VHG Bogen, a German technical school, used 25 of the programmable RCX robotics bricks to create an automated robotic assembly line that builds airplanes – out of Lego.
The [...]
Lego Clock Update
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010I doubled up the pull-back motors and geared them down in an attempt to increase the running time of the clockwork. This just about doubled it from 15 minutes to just over 28 minutes. I also lengthened the pendulum and made it heavier to increase the period. More tinkering with the pendulum and gearing [...]
Lego Stilzkin Bridge Launcher
Monday, May 17th, 2010It has happened to all of us. On the way to the store in our armored transport vehicle when – WHAM! – the bridge ahead washes out. Peer Kreuger has solved the problem:
An Accurate Lego Orrery
Saturday, May 8th, 2010A few years ago I decided to build an orrery from Lego. I set a few goals for the project – It would be built entirely from Lego, and it would approximate the proportions of the actual orbital periods of the Earth and Moon. I got pretty close.
It was a good excuse to get on [...]
Lego Robot Rubik’s Cube Solvers
Saturday, May 8th, 2010ARM, the chip manufacturer that makes the processor for the new Motorola Droid phone has released this YouTube video of a Lego robot Rubik’s Cube solver completing a cube in about 24 seconds. That’s pretty good, but Lego builders have been working on this for some time now and can do a little better.
First, check [...]