Today I made a one-minute video to introduce my first Strandbeest, Beest Één, an 8-legged walker built with LEGO Technic. I was inspired by the massive Strandbeests of Dutch kinetic artist, Theo Jansen. This particular model is largely based on a design by DIY Walkers. Click through to watch the movie.
Category: Play
Strandbeest Construction Zone
Grouped LEGO beams for five legs of my strandbeest. Having built three legs already, I’m now looking to maximize the efficiency of constructing the remaining ones.
Unwinding the Mystery of Strandbeests
Posted Unwinding the Mystery of Strandbeests. Dutch kinetic sculpture artist Theo Jansen’s wind-powered strandbeests are the inspiration for my next LEGO project.
Unwinding the Mystery of Strandbeests
Dutch kinetic sculpture artist Theo Jansen’s wind-powered strandbeests are the inspiration for my next LEGO project. From 1990 onwards, he has taken these strand (Dutch for beach) creatures through twelve periods of evolution. Inspired, I want to build thematically similar creatures using LEGO.
Ready for Takeoff
The LEGO gantry crane is no more; all its constituent parts are now carefully stowed, awaiting the takeoff of a yet-to-be-determined new project.
Autonomous Gantry Crane: The Movie
Finished editing a two-minute video about my LEGO MINDSTORMS autonomous gantry crane. Click through to view it on YouTube.
LEGO Crane Hams It Up
Another subzero day. Rode the exercise bike to nowhere while watching my soapie, and shot video of my LEGO gantry crane prior to dismantling it. With the camera running, the crane sometimes took this as an opportunity to act up.
Scandinavian Bounty: IKEA and LEGO
After walking with a friend around the vast Mall of America, popped into IKEA to return a lamp because it’s not dimmable. After meatballs and mash, got lost in a labyrinth of merchandise, feeling oddly guilty for not purchasing a $1.49 Bolmen (toilet brush). Eventually found my way back to the light rail station via the LEGO Store.
LEGO Snow Village
Kicked off the decorating with LEGO gingerbread houses designed and built by Dwight. Decorating the tree can wait for another day.
Our Playhouse
Dwight worked on his second LEGO gingerbread house, a model of the family’s first North Dakota farmhouse (replaced by a house purchased through the Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog). Meanwhile I trained my LEGO gantry crane to locate and move bricks. Tonight we stream Barbie.