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.
Category: Play
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.)
Model Railroad Sale
Locked up my bike outside the Twin City Model Railroad Museum. In a dark room where the lights had failed, other nerdy old guys were pointing their phone flashlights at tables filled with surplus models that were on sale. I did likewise, looked, but didn’t buy.
My First Great Ball Contraption
Posted video of My First Great Ball Contraption.
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