The setting sun bounced off a prototype LEGO pneumatic machine I’ve been building. Today, I finally got it to go through all the correct motions. Now, comes refinement, which may involve taking the whole thing apart and starting afresh, yet again.
Category: Play
Try Again…
A mechanism was not working to my satisfaction this afternoon, so I worked on improving it. One step forward, two steps back.
Akiyuki’s Mind
It was time to get reacquainted with my LEGO and build a mechanism designed by Akiyuki, a brilliant young Japanese engineer. Realized I didn’t have 3 hard-to-substitute parts, so put in an order with BrickLink: soon I’ll be checking the mailbox like an excited kid.
Measuring Angles
Worked on my latest “science project.” I’m trying to move an arm smoothly to any angle using a pneumatic piston. This brings together LEGO Mindstorms and Pneumatics, as well as 3rd-party digital sensors to measure air pressure and angles. This is proving surprisingly challenging.
Lizard Lounge
I always smile when I cycle past Lizard Lounge.
Inventing Needs
Did something totally nerdy: bought a steeply discounted TicWatch Pro 3 GPS watch. It arrived about 3 hours later, although I had not specified a rush. Spent much of Sunday afternoon coming up with use cases to address requirements I didn’t have when I woke up this morning.
Angles
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.
Sinister Reflections
Played with mirrored surfaces at the Guthrie on my walk to meet a friend to go for a walk. The repetition of the George Bernard Shaw panel took me to a sinister place where a pacifist playwright was transformed into a Dear Leader.
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.)