Tag Archives: Mindstorms

Electric Load

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The world is, gradually, going electric. And that means even construction behemoths like this huge wheel loader are now available with battery power.

This is one such BEV, the LiuGong 856HE MAX, with a 21 ton operating weight and a gargantuan 423kWh battery.

Built by previous bloggee Bricksley, this stunning 1:17 recreation of the battery-electric wheel loader is itself battery-powered, with four Control+ motors enabling realistic drive, articulated steering, arm, and bucket movement, plus LED lighting, a back-up alarm, and even a working horn.

A LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor Hub enables the model to be operated via an Xbox controller, which we found most useful for terrorising TLCB Elves in the office, and you can check out the full image gallery and build details via Bricksley’s ‘LuiGong 856HE Max’ album, at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and via the video of the model in action below. Click the links above to go electric.

YouTube Video

Welcome to Russia!

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The news this week contained the exciting announcement that four peoples’ republics, previously under the oppression of the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi regime, decided  – through definitely-not-rigged-in-any-way-referendums – to join the Russian Federation!

A concert in Moscow’s Red Square celebrated President Putin’s signing of the republics into becoming Russian territory, with many in attendance stating they were kindly bused in for free by the Russian authorities, with a few so in awe and wonder they seemed not even to know why they were there!

Here at The Lego Car Blog we’re joining in the celebrations marking the return of the Soviet Union by busing in our own Soviet Union, er… bus, courtesy of previous bloggee Samolot.

This Kavz 3270 was built from the 1970s until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and was based on the GAZ-53 truck. Samolot’s Technic recreation captures the Soviet-era bus brilliantly, with remote control drive, steering, 4-speed gearbox, and a rotating destination board all controlled by a LEGO Mindstorms robotic brain, plus there’s working suspension, a V8 engine, and opening doors too.

There’s lots more to see of Samolot’s lovely Kavz 3270 bus at Bricksafe and via the Eurobricks forum, where you can also watch a video all the motorised features in action, including the neat rotating destination board above the cab.

Come to think of it, Russian buses will be able to add four new locations to their boards now, because when President Putin wields pen, it definitely makes something so, and certainly negates any words such as ‘sham’, ‘in violation of the United Nations Charter’, and ‘illegal under international law’.

For information on Russia’s annexation, whoops; we mean ‘liberation’ of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, take a look at these pages from United Nations, Amnesty International, or Wikpedia.

Say Yes to the Dress(ta)

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This is a Dressta TD-25M bulldozer, and it’s about as good a Lego creation as you’ll see this year.

Built by Bricksley of Flickr, this incredible model blends Model Team aesthetics, PoweredUp motors, pneumatics, and Mindstorms to create a perfectly working 1:18 replica of the Polish crawler-dozer.

A LEGO Mindstorms hub can be operated by an Xbox controller to remotely drive the four PoweredUp motors that power both the tracks and the pneumatic system that provides movement the front blade and rear ripper, whilst LED lights and even a working horn and back-up warning sound feature.

It’s an amazing build and one of which you can see more at Bricksley’s ‘Dressta DT-25M’ album on Flickr – Click the link above to say yes to the Dressta.

High Tech LEGO Projects | Book Review

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We like rule breakers here at The Lego Car Blog. Thus when No Starch Press offered us a sneaky peak into a book with ‘rule-breaking inventions’ written on the cover, we had a take a look! Well, one of our readers did, seeing as we don’t have a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set in the office, and re-coding this site nearly killed us. However reader Wilson Luk is far smarter than we are, and a better writer too; check out his assessment of No Starch’s dangerous new book below!
…

Ahhhh Robotics…

For every new breathtaking advancement in robotics, 10 memes come out declaring the end of humanity (Boston Dynamics, I’m looking at you). LEGO appears intent on speeding up robotic dominance with the new LEGO Mindstorms 51515 Robot Inventor set, the much anticipated successor to the EV3 Mindstorms set. While the new set offers a bunch of quality of life improvements with its new app and native scratch and python support, no one can discount how the new Gelo build looks eerily similar to Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot…

Luckily, our topic today is a little more human-friendly. Grady Koch’s new book High Tech LEGO Projects demonstrates that there is still a ton of life in the older EV3 kit, pushing the boundaries of what the 7-year-old kit can do, without the whole world-dominance vibe.

No Starch Press has kindly provided me with a print copy for this review. My particular copy may be a pre-production copy as it has a bit of a raised splatter texture on the back cover. Nonetheless, the actual contents of the book is clearly printed on nice semi-gloss paper. Colours and text come out well, ensuring no issues following build and programming instructions.

High Tech LEGO Projects is the most recent book tailored towards EV3 users from No Starch Press. This time around, High Tech LEGO Projects introduces some basic circuitry and hobby-grade sensors to the mix, extending the capabilities of the ageing EV3.

A wide range of projects are covered in the 12 chapters of this book, with 2 extra projects available for download from the No Starch Press website. Each project showcases a different electrical component either to use with the EV3, or simply to add to one of your existing or upcoming lego creations.

Many of the projects will require extra pieces beyond what is provided in the EV3 Mindstorms set. Most of these can be found on BrickLink/BrickOwl, while many of the electrical components and tools can be found at local or online electronic stores.

Get comfortable acquiring the extra LEGO pieces, but don’t get too attached to them. Some of these projects are not for the faint of heart. The second project already has you drilling holes through TWO technic gearbox pieces! I can already hear the collective screams of agony right now. The first time I saw the picture demonstrating where to drill, my first reaction was to cover the eyes of all my Lego mini-figs.

Continue reading →

Dumping Cat

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As has been documented here before, TLCB Team – as a rule – dislike cats. We appreciate that’s a controversial thing to say on the internet, which is very possibly ruled by cats, so prevalent is their content, but we’ve probably said worse.

We do like this cat though, Sariel’s huge Caterpillar 797F dump truck – which is currently filled with Elves riding it up and down the corridor here at TLCB Towers – and it’s packed with functions.

Firstly, that enormous bucket they’re piled into features a remotely operable dumping mechanism thanks to a Mindstorms EV3 IR sensor, which we’ll test out on our unsuspecting workers shortly. The choice of a Mindstorms control unit is an usual one, as they don’t often feature in models here at TLCB, but Sariel’s decision to use one is rather cunning…

The Mindstorms EV3 not only controls the tipping bucket, it also measures the suspension tilt and applies an automatic motorised correction to keep the Caterpillar level. Self-levelling suspension is a system relatively common on SUVs (as well as mining trucks), but it’s one that requires such ridiculous ingenuity in Lego form that we don’t even know how Sariel began. But then our cleverness peaked with the title on today’s other post, so it’s no surprise that this is way over our heads.

Sariel’s Caterpillar also features remote control drive and steering via LEGO’s Power Functions system, non-LEGO ‘Baja Claw’ RC tyres fitted to standard LEGO wheels, and a host of accurate details and decals to replicate the real 797F.

A complete gallery of imagery is available to view at Sariel’s Caterpillar 797F Flickr album by clicking here and you can join the discussion plus watch a video the the model in action (including a demonstration of the clever suspension) by visiting the Eurobricks forum here.

Enormous Erection

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Lego Technic Liebherr LR 11000 Remote Control

Even your Mom hasn’t seen one this big.

This is a Liebherr LR 11000 crane, and it’s seven and half meters tall in its full configuration (or 2.5 metres when indoors so it fits!). Built in 1:24 scale, this brick-built behemoth weighs 27kg, including 5kg of lead ballast. Other than that lead weight, some string, and a few 3D-printed pulleys, the entire model is completely constructed from standard LEGO pieces. Which makes it even more astonishing that this enormous replica works.

Lego Technic Liebherr LR 11000 Remote Control

Dawid Szmandra is the engineering genius behind the build, and yes this 27kg Lego creation really does work. With four Mindstorms EV3 processors, nine motors, seven light sensors and a touch sensor, this incredible creation can do everything that the real Liebherr LR 11000 can do. Only at one twenty-fourth the scale. Which is still massive.

Lego Technic Liebherr LR 11000 Remote Control

The drive to the tracks comes from two EV3 Medium Motors, whilst another can rotate the entire superstructure. Five Large Motors plus another Medium power the six separate winches, whilst the sensors can measure the load and winching distance.

The result is a crane, built entirely from little plastic bricks remember, that can lift a chair. There’s only one way fully appreciate what this incredible creation can do and that’s to view it in action. Join us watching in amazement via the video below, and you can see all the images of Dawid’s unbelievable model at his Flickr photostream and via the Eurobricks discussion forum.

YouTube Video

8479 Technic Barcode Truck Review

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Lego 8479It’s a Review day here at The Lego Car Blog, and with much of LEGO’s latest product line-up covered we’re going to take a journey back to 1997, and to one of LEGO’s forgotten gems; the 8479 Technic Barcode Truck.

LEGO had successfully produced programable robotic models as far back as 1990 with the marvellous Control Centre and its mark II follow-up in 1995. Both sets allowed children to control a Technic model via a joypad and to program a series of functions into the system so that movements could be repeated. The only drawback was that the ‘brain’ control brick was a large black box that remained external to the models under its control.

For 1997 LEGO designed its first robot where the control brick and memory were integrated into the model itself, allowed by the continuing compacting of computer storage technology. Called the ‘Code Pilot’ it’s a neat handheld battery pack containing the model’s power source, memory, control buttons, and – rather inventively – a barcode scanner, just like you’ll find by the till in any shop. In short, this is LEGO Mindstorms’ genesis. Continue reading →

And Now For Something Completely Different

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Robotic Dancing Cheerleaders! What’s not to like? Distinctly non-car for The Lego Car Blog, but they do have wheels – only 2 on each robot and they’re balanced by gyro sensors. These are full of Mindstorms trickery to make them move and wave their arms to a beat. Whatever it is they smoke in the Family Vuurzoon household, we’d like some…

Enjoy the video. We did.

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…