Still struggling to get an idea for a robot to compete in the MINDSTORMS Summer Olympics Building Challenge? Here’s a video of an NXT “Gymnastic Robot” that could inspire you. This robot can really move!
Archive for July, 2008
Idea for Summer Olympics Contest: Gymnastic Robot (Movie Monday)
Monday, July 21st, 2008LEGO Rubik Utopy (Movie Monday)
Monday, July 14th, 2008The following video was posted in February of 2008 and shows an NXT robot that can always solve the Rubik’s cube—within a minute or less! The robot’s creator is Daniele Benedettelli, who has experimented with a number of robot designs to solve the Rubik’s cube in the fastest possible way.
LPub 4 for Windows and Mac OS X
Monday, July 14th, 2008Kevin Clague has released version 4 of his popular LPub program, which is an “LDraw Building Instruction Publishing Tool.” You can download LPub 4 from his website; the program is now compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X. You can see a screen-shot below of the new LPub (the LDraw model shown is made by Allen Smith and included with Bricksmith). I used an earlier version of LPub to generate the building instructions for The Inventor’s Guide and am excited to see this latest version. Creating building instructions is a much easier task with tools like LPub!
MINDSTORMS Summer Olympics Building Challenge
Friday, July 11th, 2008The official MINDSTORMS website has posted yet another building challenge. This time, the contest has a “Summer Olympics” theme. The website mentions the following:
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games will be held from August 8 24, 2008 in Beijing, China! We are challenging all you to create a robot that can compete in one of the summer sports on the Olympic program.
There’s no limit on amount of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, motors, HiTechnic sensors, or Bluetooth communication you can use on your MINDSTORMS NXT Summer Olympics Robot.
The website also has a long list of summer sports that you can use for inspiration of your Olympic robot, and the sports range from swimming to wrestling. (Note: Do NOT get your NXT wet! Water is its natural enemy.)
What might you create?
LNE: LEGO PackBot (Movie Monday)
Monday, July 7th, 2008Movie Monday time! Stepping back to early 2007, here is a video from Brian Davis titled “LNE: LEGO Packbot.” Nothing can seem to stop this robot; one of my favorite parts is the scene with the robot “swimming” across packing peanuts. You can watch the movie below, and Brian has posted a number of pictures of the robot on Brickshelf.
MINDSTORMS NXT NXT Building Challenge Winners
Monday, July 7th, 2008The official MINDSTORMS website has announced the winners of the “NXT NXT” building challenge: a contest involving creations that use two NXTs. Check out the winners and get some inspiration for your next robot! Employing the power of two NXTs is a great way to demonstrate the potential of the NXT set.
