Spent a few minutes building a rig to evaluate a LEGO Mindstorms sensor that measures angles. Spent a few hours trying to read the angles from a computer program. Eventually a simple test suggested the sensor is defective. My next LEGO creation needs to “know” its joint angles.
Category: LEGO
LEGO Pneumatic Prototype
Built a quick prototype of a pneumatic mechanism. The yellow baseplates are a new LEGO Technic part that makes it easier to explore a mechanism before incorporating it into a more formal beam structure.
Remnant of WWII
On my cycle ride: World War II guard tower built to protect a Norden bombsight factory. Today, tenants of the old factory buildings include a distillery and a company that develops LEGO military model kits. (The LEGO Company has a strict policy against selling military models.)
My First Great Ball Contraption
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My First Great Ball Contraption
A great ball contraption (GBC) is a [LEGO] machine which receives soccer balls or basketballs from one module and passes them to another module, rather like a bucket brigade. Modules built according to the GBC standard can be assembled into a collaborative display without pre-planning or modification. greatballcontraption.com GBC’s are a whole LEGO subculture, complete… Continue reading My First Great Ball Contraption
No Video Game Here
Spent way too many hours hacking data streaming out of a game controller. I don’t do video games, I’m figuring out how to use it to control seven servo-motors
Visualizing LEGO
Got back to my Lego Mindstorms robot after resting my brain for a few weeks. Started building a software visualization of the robot to help me understand where to move the joints to position the tip of the robot at a particular position and orientation. Needed a nap afterwards.
AFOL
Did something really nerdy: posted to a technical discussion on an AFOL (adult fans of LEGO) site.
Unsolicited Gifts
Reviewed our unsolicited holiday gift collection: a “gifting set” from The LEGO Company (wrapping paper, card, stickers, etc.), a face mask from our state representative, and plastic champagne flutes from the Minnesota Orchestra (to be used during their New Year’s Eve broadcast).
Learning in a Time of Covid
In these days of Covid, travel is not an option. Instead, learning new stuff has been fueling our ikigai (getting us out of bed in the morning), and giving us plenty to talk about over dinner. Until one of our dinnertime conversations, I thought grow lights were pretty straightforward. Apparently the cognoscente measure “photosynthetically active… Continue reading Learning in a Time of Covid