We’re 36 years into our journey together.
Category: LEGO
Celebrating Pride with LEGO
Cycled to the LEGO Shop at the Mall of America to buy the new Everyone is Awesome building set, which went on sale today, the first day of Pride Month. It was 30% off, and I used $5 worth of points from my LEGO VIP (no less) account. Rode the LRT home, admiring my purchase…… Continue reading Celebrating Pride with LEGO
The Year of the Easter Bunny
The LEGO Chinese New Year rabbit I assembled a few days ago doubled as the Easter Bunny today. Here, it’s a little too close to a tray of micro-green shoots. As I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, it may reappear as itself on my birthday.
Easter Bunny Impersonator
A few weeks ago I got this freebie from LEGO to celebrate The Year of the Rabbit. Decided it could impersonate the Easter Bunny, so I assembled it today. It sure seemed to have more than 194 parts.
LEGO Art
Followed building instructions while marveling how Hokusai created Great Wave off Kanagawa in 1831 before the Impressionism movement had started in Europe and while Japan was still closed off from the world. The quasi-pixelated style of the over-loved print lends itself to a LEGO interpretation. Note Mount Fuji and the three boats.
Big Boy Toy
Walked the Mall of America with friends. Made an impulse purchase at the LEGO store: a reward for riding a medical rollercoaster in the past 24 hours. (It ended well, reward enough.) There’s a tradition here: whenever I visited “the doctor’s big house” (hospital) as a kid, my dad would give me a toy car.
Learning from Failure
Built then pulled apart a LEGO mechanism that didn’t pass muster as part of a larger mechanism. Time for more research, a better design, another iteration. Often, there’s more to learn from failure than success.
Filling a Market Niche
Cycled past giant LEGO bricks in captivity. Inside the building, Brickmania produces military LEGO kits. The LEGO Company doesn’t produce real-world military kits as a matter of policy.
Smooth Operator
Posted Continuously Variable LEGO Pneumatic Control.
Continuously Variable LEGO Pneumatic Control
In previous LEGO robotic arm builds I’ve used servo motors to move each joint in the arm. However, the weight of the motor and related mechanism meant each arm needed to be reinforced to the point it became too bulky and exhibited excessive inertia. By contrast, pneumatic cylinders are light, and can apply significant force…… Continue reading Continuously Variable LEGO Pneumatic Control