Completed Himeji Castle today. It was a team effort, with Dwight building the top three floors. There’s a surprising amount of detail, including ancillary buildings and a walled courtyard. It can be opened to reveal an interior. I’ve taken this low-angle photo to highlight how the vertical tapering of the main building creates an illusion of extra height. Click through to see how tapered it is.
Category: LEGO
Revisiting Himeji Castle
Back in April the cherry blossom (sakura) would be late at Himeji Castle, providing an opportunity to check out the most visited castle in Japan before the crowds of sakura season. I arrived early in the day, my hunch was correct, I was able to walk straight in and explore without the usual crowds. Afterward, I ordered the LEGO model. It’s an engaging alternative to our usual fall-back at this time of year: a jigsaw puzzle.
A-Frame Challenge
Dwight was engrossed in the den, immersed in the world of architectural LEGO. His current challenge: constructing an A-frame for the Christmas village beneath the tree. Achieving an acute roof angle, while avoiding any “illegal techniques,” demands ingenuity.
Orchestra Hall at 50
At Orchestra Hall, admired a LEGO model of the venue, part of a display celebrating the building’s 50th anniversary. The model captures the auditorium’s angle relative to the rest of the building and the street grid, a tricky feat with LEGO. Inside the auditorium, we enjoyed a concert featuring Shostakovich, Bernstein, and a recent commission by Chinese American, Zhou Tian.
A Self-Balancing LEGO Bike
Introducing my first LEGO bike, based on a clever design I found via a Web search. A computer program maintains balance by making subtle adjustments to the steering by running data from an electronic gyroscope and three servo motors through an algorithm. The bike happily drives across a room, often without falling over. Next, I’ll… Continue reading A Self-Balancing LEGO Bike
A Rising Star in STEM
Boarded an elevator in our building with a mother and her daughter, maybe nine, who was clutching a certificate. Curious, I asked her what it was for. She told me she’d completed the LEGO robotics part of summer camp. Impressed, I mentioned I build with LEGO MINDSTORMS. The mother beamed and agreed we needed more… Continue reading A Rising Star in STEM
Practical Physics
Downtown had its head in the clouds, it rained pretty much all day: time for LEGO. Instead of relying solely on a solid state gyroscope, I wanted to develop a better intuitive grasp of the physics involved. So, I built a test rig with an actual spinning flywheel. It flew apart, leaving my electronic robot… Continue reading Practical Physics
Balancing Act
Built a self-balancing two-wheeled robot, a copy of a design I found on the Internet. It wanders around autonomously ‘seeing’ with an ultrasonic sensor and maintaining balance using a gyro sensor. After about ten minutes the robot suddenly accelerates and falls over, hence the carpet. I need to slow down and understand the algorithm from… Continue reading Balancing Act
Ready for a New LEGO Project
Decided my next LEGO quest is one- or two-wheeled and two-legged contraptions that don’t fall over. Truck front-end assemblies haven’t captured my imagination, perhaps because they tend to rely on composite LEGO parts to circumvent engineering challenges, or maybe trucks aren’t my thing. I’ll need a LEGO MINDSTORMS gyro sensor, just ordered via eBay (because… Continue reading Ready for a New LEGO Project
Phone and Brick Play Nice
After putting the task aside in frustration, finally got an old phone to talk correctly with a LEGO computer brick. I’ll use the phone’s spatial sensors to control motors while I explore truck front-end assemblies.