Lego Mindstorms EV3 Preview

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Lego Mindstroms Robot EV3

New for 2013; Lego Mindstorms EV3

New 2013 LEGO Mindstorms on the way!

Time for some BIG news. Today LEGO unveiled the next generation of their incredible Mindstorms Robotics System, titled ‘EV3’. This isn’t just big news for the Lego Community, Mindstorms have taken the computing and robotics world by storm, with the previous RCX and NXT incarnations in use by many of the world’s top universities, NASA, and of course, the First LEGO League.

Apple Compatible 

Due for release in the second half of 2013, Mindstorms EV3 will be faster, more intelligent and more easily programmable than ever before. And, for the first time ever, LEGO Mindstorms is now compatible with Android and Apple’s OS. Using the latest Linux OS firmware, EV3 has been designed with more emphasis and education; a complete sequence can be programmed in less than 45 minutes (so school classes can successfully complete a program in one period). Debugging is built in to the program; if the EV3 recognizes a command that doesn’t match up with expected hardware, it will immediately alert the user to the error.

As with the previous Mindstorms versions EV3 is open-source so it can be programmed outside of the Mindstorms software via programs like LabView and RobotC, as well is in other languages like Java. Expect to see some hugely advanced robotics hitting the internet a few weeks after launch.

Powerful Programming

The new LEGO Mindstorms EV3 programmable brick uses an ARM 9 300 MHz processor and has 16 MB of Flash memory and 64 MB of RAM (expandable to 32 GB with a mini SDHC card). There are 4 output and 4 input ports, as well as USB 2.0 for daisy chaining EV3 programmable bricks. A 178 x 128 high resolution display allows for graph reading and sensor data observation, while also allowing for basic programming via a three-color, six button interface.

Lego Mindstorms EV3

New for 2013: Lego Mindstorms EV3 Elephant

Pricing and Release Date

We expect the Mindstorms EV3 kit to reach stores towards the end of summer, priced around £300 / $350, with a variety of bolt-on goodies released alongside the main kit, or soon afterwards.

The internet will soon be buzzing with Preview information, so to get you started visit Wired Magazine, and start saving…

9398 II

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Lego 4x4 Crawler Van

4×4 Crawler Remix

One of the stars of 2012 was LEGO’s own 9398 4×4 Crawler, in which Power Functions are put to their best use ever; Truck Trial Off-Roading. LEGO have since been running a competition to re-body their 4×4 Crawler chassis, with views to making a spin-off set. One of our Elves found this splendid example on Brickshelf. Jerryp has gone for an A-Team-ish flavour with his 4×4 Recovery Van, complete with a working remote control butterfly under-lift in addition to the standard Power Functions 4×4 drivetrain. See the full gallery at Jerry’s Brickshelf page.

Skid Marks

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Lego Skid Steer Loader

Technic Skid Steer Loader by Bobofrut

Time for some more Technic, and today we’re getting it by the bucket-load (hah!), with this old-school Skid Steer Loader by Bobofrut. It’s fully remote control, being powered by LEGO’s ubiquitous Power Functions motors, and the bucket both raises/lowers on its arm, and tips. See more on Brickshelf at the link.

Jaaaag

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Jaguar XKR-S

Jaguar XKR-S. Like an XKR, but faster. Which is like an XK, but faster. Faster squared.

One of our Elves unearthed this rather lovely Jaguar XKR-S on Flickr. LEGO Bro is the builder behind it.

Space Race

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Renault F1 Car

To school!

A car! On The Lego Car Blog! About time…

Anyway, this slice of yellow magnificence comes from way back in 1995, when Williams and Renault were dominating F1, Shaggy was boombastic, and mobile phones were for playing Snake. Fitted with Renault’s spectacular race engine the F1 Espace became one of the stars of the first Gran Turismo game on the Playstation. The road car was also one of the stars of the school run, creating a whole new sector that’s only now disappearing thanks to the SUV. Marin Stipkovic has recreated the awesome 1995 one-off with some cunning SNOT and a big pile of yellow plates. Check out the full Espace gallery on MOCpages.

Digging for Spitfires

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Spitfire

The most beautiful fighter plane ever?

This incredible Supermarine Spitfire is the work of K Wigboldy aka Thirdwigg on MOCpages. Probably the the most beautiful plane ever designed, and one of the saviors of European, Australian and Soviet skies during World War II, the Supermarine fought throughout the war for the Allied Forces before retiring from RAF service in 1961. Powered by monstrous supercharged Rolls Royce engines the Supermarine nearly went supersonic in dives and paved the way for the supersonic fighters that followed the war.

Today only 40-odd airworthy planes remain from the 20,000 produced – but all that could change in 2013. A long rumored cache of buried Spitfires in Burma is due to be excavated this year, with up to 60 of the planes hidden neatly in unopened packing crates for 60 years. The Supermarines were shipped to Burma to equip the Allies in the war in the Pacific. However the war finished before they could be built, and the MOD deemed it more economical to bury them than ship them back to the UK. Now that’s a rumor worth buying a metal detector for.

K Wigboldy’s Lego version of the famous fighter is more than a beautiful sculpture. Inside the full-stud body he’s packed in Power Functions control for the Rolls Royce engine, variable-pitch propellor and landing gear, as well as complete cockpit control for the flaps, elevators and rudder. To see more of this amazing creation click the link at the top of the post for MOCpages, or view it on Flickr here.

YouTube Video:

Teeny Tiny Train

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Lego Train

Insert micro-figs for twice the awesome

The Lego Car Blog Elves are no stranger to small things. Firstly, we’re pretty sure their brains are about the size of a squash ball, and secondly, we can fit a lot of them into one packing box if we have to. But enough about our slovenly workforce, the MOC: It’s possibly the smallest thing we’ve ever featured, and yet we’re enthralled by the detail contained within it. Henning Birkeland is the owner. See more on MOCpages.

Metaphor MOC

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Lego Mercedes Truck

Ooh, self depreciating humor!

Where are all the cars you ask? Well, the Elves were locked away you see, and all we’ve managed to find over the holidays are truc… oh, you mean in the picture…

Ralph Savelsberg aka Mad Physicist on Flickr raises a question over the validity of our blog title with his suspiciously empty but rather brilliant Mercedes Actros car transporter. See the full gallery at Ralph’s Flickr photstream.

Lego cars

That’s better, cars everywhere! Points for those who can identify all eight.

Tough Trucks

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Scammell Crusader

92 years of truck making ended with the Crusader in 1988, when DAF purchased Scammell and closed it down

The captive Lego Car Blog Elves have all been re-released following their Christmas in containment (we hope our Reviews during the holidays kept you entertained – as always, you can give your feedback via the link at the top of the page), and today we were ‘treated’ to the first Elf return of 2013.

One of the keener (or luckier) Elves headed to Brickshelf following its release, where it uncovered this; a brutish Scammell Crusader wrecker. Scammell were masters of seriously heavy-duty trucks for decades, being favoured by heavy-haulage firms and the military. Then, like most British vehicle manufactures it seems, they were swallowed up by the British Leyland behemoth, and then sold off when it all turned sour, never to be seen again. This awesome brick version is the work of Makorol, and is fully Power Functions controlled, containing six motors and working lights. You can view the full gallery on Brickshelf.

YouTube Video:

It Came From Outta Space…

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Eurobricks Sci-Fi

Eurobricks’ Sci-Fi Competition now on!

January heralds the arrival of the first major contest of 2013. Our friends over at Eurobricks have been watching too many Sci-Fi movies over Christmas and have channeled this nerdiness  creative energy into a competition for the whole month!

The full details of the Eurobricks Sci-Fi contest can be found at the forum here, and if you need any encouragement, the below prizes should help! Good luck!

Eurobricks prizes

Eurobricks’ January ’13 Sci-Fi Contest Prizes

Happy New Year! 2012 Year in Review

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2013 is nearly upon us, and as we’re all still here we assume that we’ve got at least another 5,125 years of LEGO blogging in us. So before we look ahead to 2013, let’s look back on the year that was 2012.

Lego 2013 New Year

Happy New Year!

TLG:

The LEGO Group turned 80 years old, and 2012 was another strong year for the corporation’s production of vehicles, with the continued success of the Modular Town theme bringing some stunning buildings and vehicles to go with them.

Technic too, continues to flourish, even before the arrival of the 2013 sets which we previewed earlier in the year, with Power Functions dominating, but also Pneumatics and Remote Control making welcome returns.

Finally, The LEGO Group also woke up to the power of social media, launching their blog collaboration tool, ReBrick, and gave The Lego Car Blog a hugely appreciated shot of legitimacy.

So what about us? Well we had a great 2012 too…

The Lego Car Blog continues to grow, with visits climbing towards a projected half million a year mark. Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning, or discovered us for the first time today, thank you for your readership, we’d be nothing without you.

Visits have come from almost every country on earth, with the U.S, U.K, Netherlands and Germany leading the pack. However, it’s also worth noting those countries where one person has found us; Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Benin, Micronesia, San Marino, Fiji, Iran, Suriname, French Guiana, New Caledonia, Tanzania, Liechtenstein and Dominica. If you are the sole reader in each of the countries listed, a massive thank you to you too; you are unique in your nation!

Our top posts have all been LEGO news related, with Previews of upcoming Technic sets taking the top spots, and Reviews of existing sets just behind them, but it’s your LEGO creations which earn the most comments. If we’ve featured your work on TLCB during 2012, congratulations and thank you!

Lego Technic 4x4 Crawler

Set Reviews like the 4×4 Crawler drew huge visitor numbers

Coming up in 2013…

The Elves are out foraging for the coolest creations, LEGO news and set sneak peeks as you read this; 2013 is going to be a bumper year for posts!

And… we can bring you some very early news of upcoming sets for 2013! But not just yet.

Oh all right then, just a little;

  • LEGO will be bringing back the Wild West theme, complete with steam trains, horse drawn carriages and gun-toting baddies
  • Legends of Chima will see some truly nuts vehicles launched, none of which really interest us at TLCB, but the parts they yield might…
  • LEGO Technic will launch two new flagships in August 2013. Our Preview of the new sets for 2013 revealed a few gaps in the numbering system. These will be filled in August with the release of four new Technic sets in addition to those you’ve already seen. We’ve seen the prototypes and will bring you Previews soon. Trust us, it’ll be worth the wait!

Happy New Year from all at The Lego Car Blog!

…

Green Day

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Claas Arion Tractor

Basket Case

With 2013 just round the corner, The Lego Car Blog Elves detained over Christmas were re-released last night. Their search for 2013 is unchanged from 2012; to find the best car-related LEGO creations, news and groups on the web. After a period of hunger and boredom whilst locked in their cages they do seem rather keen to earn themselves some dinner. As such today we have three great MOCs to share with you right out of the box. By coincidence, or through some kind of Elf pact, all today’s posts are on the green side.

The first (above) is this stunning Claas Arion tractor from Flickr builder thietmaier, complete with mowing attachments. View more at thietmaier’s Flickr page or on MOCpages.

Lego Rocket Launcher

Know Your Enemy

The second MOC of today comes from Andy L on MOCpages. Based on a childhood toy, Andy’s truck is a 1950’s rocket launcher platform. It really fires rockets too. See more at Andy’s MOCpage via the link above.

Lego Porsche 964

Hitchin’ a Ride

Our final Green Day post is from a TLCB regular; the incredible Malte Dorowski. Famous for his beautifully detailed Porches, Malte sees out 2012 in style with this absurdly green RWB Porsche 964. Underneath the curves the MOC features working suspension and steering, plus one the most detailed interiors we’ve ever seen. View more of Malte’s stunning cars by clicking the link above.

And with that we end our green-themed finale to 2012. Thank you for your readership, comments and suggestions during the past year – we look forward to hearing from you all in 2013, where we’ll continue to bring you the best LEGO cars on the world wide web : )

Well Articulated

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Gabor Horvath's RC Mercedes Citaro Articulated BusGabor Horvath's RC Mercedes Citaro Articulated Bus

Gabor Horvath’s RC Mercedes Citaro Articulated Bus

Gabor Horvath, the master of small scale RC trucks and buses, is the builder of this fantastic remote-controlled Mercedes Citaro articulated bus. The vehicle is only 6 studs wide yet contains 2 PF M motors, 1 PF IR receiver, 1 battery box and all the gears necessary to provide public transport in a LEGO city. Some more views and a video:

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Take the A-Team Van

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lichtblau's A-Team Van

lichtblau’s A-Team Van

lichtblau has built this amazing 6-wide A-Team Van, including the whole crew. Sleek, isn’t it? But does it have a sliding door? Sure. And all the nice things on board an A-Team needs. Want to see more? Check out lichtblau’s photostream on Flickr.

Transporter Of Delight

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Image

With apologies for the preponderance of trucks in recent posts (there’ll be a car soon, I promise!), I’m afraid I just couldn’t resist this. The elf who brought it was completely resistable, mind…

It’s a 1953 Alfa Romeo race transporter, with body by Bartoletti. What’s really impressive about this beauty is the substance within – proper Technic supercar stuff like suspension on all wheels, steering, engine and all that jazz. It’s not often truck builders go to all that trouble. Thomas Graafland is the one who did.

Quick question: It is an Alfa, and therefore absolutely lovely; but what’ll pick it up when it breaks down?