Posts Tagged ‘Brickworld’

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By now you have likely seen the picture above or my original post. In September I took these guys to World Maker Faire in New York City. These bots were a huge hit, bringing Minecraft to life! Since the original video, I have received one question to no end: does it explode? My answer? See for yourself!

My latest video takes captures some of my favorite moments from World Maker Faire. The event was a team effort bringing employees from LEGO as well as the greater LEGO MINDSTORMS Community together. There is so much overlap between the MINDSTORMS Community and the Maker Community! It was great to share ideas and projects with others!

These Creep3rs will be touring for a bit. My good friend Marc-Andre has one up in Canada. In addition, a couple of these guys will be traveling with me to Brickworld Tampa in a couple weeks!

I promised pictures from Brickworld Indy and my Trip to Australia, only one problem: not enough space to post them here! I have created 2 public facebook albums.

Brickworld Indy 

Australia

 

 

Brickworld Indy

Posted: March 11, 2012 in LEGO, News
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What can only be described as one of the best LEGO evnts around, Brickworld brings it evvent to Indianapolis for the 4th year. Families from all over the midwest have decended on Indy for some 1 on 1 time with the most innovative and creative LEGO MOCs around. The event ends today and I will be sharing pictures tomorrow. If you are in town, stop by!

I’m on a Boat!

Posted: October 28, 2011 in LEGO, News, Robotics
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Well not really, but I made a robotic one. I have been working on a robotic board to hopefully compete in Brickworld Chicago Boat Race in June. I am on my third revision and I think I finally have something successful. The first 2 boats had a special unique feature that when they turned, they also flipped over. NXT + water != good. I added vertical and horizontal stabilizers to the rear of the boat, as well as lowered the center of gravity. While the boat does rock a bit, it is much more stable. I also wanted to reduce the mass of the boat. As you can see, it is quite simple to build.

I decided to do some simple NXT-G programming and link it to my controller I use for the segway. (I also used MindDroid on my Android phone. That worked well, though less precise than the segway controller.) Getting in touch with my inner 8 year old, I filled my bath tub and put the boat in a couple of nights ago. Much to my surprise, it was stable and controllable and fast! (Watch out other AFOLs!) I did discover one issue with it kicking up a lot of water. I need to add some splash guards to keep the boat from filling with water. I plan to add a sensor mast as well and attach a GPS, IMU, and compass to allow it to drive around on its own. My next testing grounds: Rose-Hulman’s Speed Lake!

Miss Brickworld Fort Wayne? Want to see what you missed? Check out this video on all the different robots, models, and artwork on display!

Many have asked me if I had a video of the shuttle in action. During some down time at Brickworld Fort Wayne, I decided to take a quick video of the shuttle in action. Check it out! This is also the first video I have posted from my phone. Not too bad of quality. Shout out to Marc-Andre and John for helping build the shuttle!

 

Also, another interesting video from NI on the LEGO MINDSTORMS Space Shuttle. One of the Application Engineers explains the shuttle in Spanish at NIWeek. (I dont speak spanish, so I have no idea what it actually says.)

 

 

As promised, I have a bunch of pictures from the event. This post has a few, but I also have a public album on facebook if you want to see more. If you are in the area, stop by!

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Today is off to a great start here in Fort Wayne. Lots of people and lots of LEGO! I am doing some live demos of the NXShield and DI IMU. Be sure to stop by if you are in the area! Check back later for more pics!

This is a busy time of year for me. I have a few major events in the next few weeks! First, if you are in Terre Haute, this coming Saturday is the Rose-Hulman Homecoming. The LEGO MINDSTORMS Space Shuttle and some other bots will be on display at the new Student Innovation Center. The very next day those bots will be paying a visit to the Terre Haute Children’s Museum to celebrate their first birthday in the new building!

If that wasn’t enough, Brickworld Fort Wayne is only a week away! You can come by and check out all my robots. If you want more information on Brickworld, check out brickworld.us! There are a few more in late October and November so stay tuned for more details!