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Building Lego Machines to Destroy Tall Lego Towers
- IG_Semmelweiss 2y agoThis is very impressive and looks quite fun! Do higher end competitions, like FRC, can also support the iterative approach of trial and error to solve a problem ? Not sure if due to lot of small parts and dependencies - particularly with software- its much harder to iterate around it
- notnaut 2y agoCheck their YouTube channel out for like 10-20 more fun challenges like this. Whoever’s responsible is so creative and clever and also very good at making entertaining videos.
- schoen 2y agoI love how the failed designs in this video will sort of slink away from the tower sheepishly.
- OmegaMetor 2y agoWith frc it depends a lot more on the specific team and how they work, some teams will very rapidly prototype lots of things to find what works for them, while others will just have an idea they like and start building. It's more of a time management issue than anything.
- gbear605 2y agoThe FRC team I was on (years ago) would prototype individual components of the robot, but for the whole robot design they would just design the entire thing in CAD before actually starting building. Obviously there would then be some iteration as some parts work or don’t work, but the large majority of the robot would stay the same after the initial model.
- ipsum2 2y agoBlog spam for https://youtu.be/HY6q9hwYcoc?si=VCBF2FlHADUZyH_1 https://youtu.be/HY6q9hwYcoc?si=VCBF2FlHADUZyH_1
- dependsontheq 2y agoI wouldn’t call Jason Kottke blog spam.
- dumbassidiot 2y ago[flagged]
- ImPostingOnHN 2y agoAssuming good faith here, I think there might have been a misunderstanding: The person you're replying to, didn't call any person "blogspam". That would be rude, and I wouldn't call ipsum2 rude. They didn't even call any blog, "blogspam". That would also likely be rude, and again, I wouldn't call ipsum2 rude. They called this particular post, "blogspam", because that is a good definition for a blog entry which reposts someone else's content without adding much beyond the original content, which is an accurate description of this blog entry. Note that this definition doesn't describe a person, it describes a behavior. Misinterpreting feedback about a behavior, to be feedback about a person, is likely to lead to such misunderstandings. If we can make sure to tell the two apart, we can eliminate some of the strife in the world at no cost :)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- red_admiral 2y agoIf your blog is that good, you're allowed to spam occasionally.
- dumbassidiot 2y ago[flagged]
- kromokromo 2y agoHuge fan of this guy, very talented and creative mechanical lego engineer. You can also tell he spends a lot of time editiing his videos.
- MarioMan 2y agoFor anyone looking for more of this, there are several channels that are all pushing LEGO Technic to its limits, not just Brick Technology (https://www.youtube.com/@BrickTechnology https://www.youtube.com/@BrickTechnology). Some of my other favorites in this niche include: Brick Experiment Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BrickExperimentChannel https://www.youtube.com/@BrickExperimentChannel Dr. Engine: https://www.youtube.com/@DrEngine https://www.youtube.com/@DrEngine Brick Machines: https://www.youtube.com/@BrickMachinesChannel https://www.youtube.com/@BrickMachinesChannel Jamie's Brick Jams: https://www.youtube.com/@JamiesBrickJams https://www.youtube.com/@JamiesBrickJams Build it with Bricks: https://www.youtube.com/@BuilditwithBricks https://www.youtube.com/@BuilditwithBricks GazR's Extreme Brick Machines!: https://www.youtube.com/@GazRsExtremeBrickMachines https://www.youtube.com/@GazRsExtremeBrickMachines
- unwind 2y agoGreat list, thanks! For original models, often with advanced and beautiful moving parts, JK Brickworks [1] is great, too. 1: https://www.youtube.com/@JKBrickworks https://www.youtube.com/@JKBrickworks
- MarioMan 2y agoThanks for this. I was looking through my subscriptions, and this one slipped past me.
- lancefisher 2y agoAkiyuki makes infrequent videos, but beautiful LEGO machines. https://youtube.com/@akiyuky https://youtube.com/@akiyuky
- shagie 2y agoAkiyuki is well known in the GBC part of Lego. The Great Ball Contraption is in part a standard that defines how different GBC modules connect, and by following that standard you can have a large number of them, built by different people in isolation, be linked together. https://www.greatballcontraption.com/wiki/standard https://www.greatballcontraption.com/wiki/standard https://youtu.be/RRiAI5xrFEM https://youtu.be/RRiAI5xrFEM (you will Akiyuki in there a few times)
- Dedrillion 2y ago[flagged]
- crawfishphase 2y ago[flagged]
- yAak 2y agoI share an outrage for mass production of plastic, but not at all for Lego. Lego is a fantastic use of plastic, IMO. Durable, reusable, broad appeal, and designed to be kept, not churned out into the landfill or ocean.
- robohoe 2y agoEspecially reusable and designed to be kept. We still have 30+ year old Legos in our household. Those bricks have paid for themselves.
- badcppdev 2y agoThere's a line between "consumerism" and living a good life. I believe that many people in HN think that well made construction kits with parts that last for decades like Lego are part of having a good life rather than simply 'mass-martketed mass-producted plastic'.
- red_admiral 2y agoLego lasts much, much longer than most electronics these days. And that's not just because of stupid lightbulbs that stop working when the company shuts down their servers.
- crawfishphase 2y agoIts a lifestyle that glorifies plastic and results in the mass production of it. Its marketed so well that many just refuse to see it. Its like the tobacco of plastics. One brick can last 1300 years. Do you REALLY need your toys to last 1300 years? True creativity can use a responsible sustainable medium. Take a look at this mess: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-66187273.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-66187273.amp
- wslh 2y agoExcelent for a high school course in physics.
- dumbassidiot 2y ago[flagged]
- kjrfghslkdjfl 2y agoI'm disappointed to see that he didn't try the simplest and most obvious solution: deploy a telescopic boom that pushes the tower against the floor.
- codeflo 2y agoSlightly off-topic, but I was recently very disappointed to learn that Lego Mindstorms was discontinued some time ago without replacement. It’s such a shame that hardly modifiable licensed IP shovelware sets are now by far the most profitable product lines for Lego. Supposedly that’s true in Asian markets in particular. The kinds of sets we grew up with that inspire creativity and technical understanding are at best kept as a niche, at worst abandoned.
- acedTrex 2y agoYes, i learned this recently as well and was devastated. A very core part of my journey to becoming an engineer.
- baruz 2y ago> recently very disappointed Here too. Apparently the components are scattered through the education-oriented Spike Prime sets. If you can stomach the kid-oriented colors, that’s the best route to recreating childhood Mindstorms robots.
- Yen 2y agoFor what it's worth, it seems like "lego spike prime" is effectively equivalent to mindstorms, in that it includes a programmable brick that can connect to multiple motors, sensors, and can be programmed in a scratch-like environment. I don't know why there was a branding change, but the capabilities seem pretty similar to the RCX I had as a child. Though programming over bluetooth is likely to be more reliable than the IR adapter.
- vliedel 2y agoAll the current motors are very controllable (absolute position, speed, etc). They can be hooked up to: - A battery box, with simple buttons. - A hub, controlled via bluetooth (protocol is documented, and there are some libraries). - A hub that can be programmed (spike). - A raspberry pi, with an official hat (build hat). This also comes with a python library. I'm actually pretty happy with these motors. The only downside is that the technic sets are meant to be controlled with an app.
- supermatt 2y agoAbout half-way in they encounter problems with the barrel jamming, which reminded me of this interesting challenge wintergaten had with his ball separator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83I8mLKufo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83I8mLKufo
- testfrequency 2y agoThe camera angles and editing on this video is so satisfying. Great work.
- causi 2y agoI'm going to hell, because my first thought was "LEGO airliners".
- auto 2y agoFor the climber, I thought the final solution was going to end up being rails that just pushed a weight further out from center mass at the top of the tower. The ball pendulum was cool nonetheless!
- rightbyte 2y agoReally impressive. I wonder how much time each design takes? The video makes it look like it is easy for the author.