Skip to main content

Brickworld 2011 - postscript

By
The definition of a good LEGO convention is one with amazing MOCs, great events & contests, fun friendly people, and innovative ideas at every turn.

The definition of a great LEGO convention is all the above, with a lot less sleep.

Brickworld 2011 has come and gone, and I wasn't able to blog from the event, because to be honest there was just too many other interesting things going on. There was a huge model of The Love Boat (with hidden scenes from other movies... like Jaws, Snakes on a Plane, and The Poseidon Adventure), Shep's amazing Flex-Picker, many other amazing constructions large and small... and, of course, robots.

We had Monster Chess there again, as well as a preview of a future project, a LEGO robot based version of RoboRally (even bigger than Monster Chess). The NXT-based Space Shuttle was there, robots like PackBot (kids played with it all day long), a huge number of sumo robots (around 70+... we had a multi-hour teach-in for people new to it), a bunch of entries for a "Build-On-The-Spot" (B.O.T.S.) challenge, and boat races again. I've got a bunch of pictures I need to get up, but so far I've only put together one video, a collection of clips of the LEGO boat race (including underwater):


(yes, I'm finally actually in a video... mostly getting wet).

Really, the amazing thing about this event isn't even the LEGO (although have you ever watched a guy dressed in a pure LEGO version of Halo's Master Chief walk through a 7' tall wall of 1x8 bricks? There's a LOT of LEGO there too)... it's the people. The interactions. The interplay that you get when you put several hundred of the best LEGO builders in one hotel, and leave them alone (while sometimes throwing food at them) for a long weekend. It's not just the number of things to passively look at that inspire you, but the conversations you can have in that sort of environment. As just one example, Shep noticed a small occasional problem with his amazing Flex-picker... which then ended up being a couple hours of troubleshooting with about half a dozen Mindstorms builders. Did it work better afterward? Slightly... but the bulk of the joy we all got was just getting a chance to work together on an interesting problem.

Hopefully, I'll post some more on Brickworld 2011 later (the sumo event was great).

Popular posts from this blog

ROBOTMAK3RS Review: LEGO River Steamboat

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
I thought the LEGO River Steamboat would be an interesting set for a ROBOTMAK3R review for a few reasons. First, the LEGO designer of the model is Marina Stampoli, a long-time collaborator of the late ROBOTMAK3R Vassilis Chryssanthakopoulo s. From earlier collaborations with Vassilis, I  knew Marina was incredibly talented, with an eye for aesthetics and functionality. Her background in architecture is particularly useful for her relatively new position at LEGO. Her other sets include the Magic of Disney (21352), Message Board (41839), and Red London Telephone Box (21347). Second, watching Marina's reveal video  and reading her designer interview made this set even more tempting to build. The gearing mechanisms running through the model gave way to many opportunities for automation using LEGO robotics elements. Since ROBOTMAK3RS is all about adding interactivity and automation to LEGO brick, I thought it would be fun to see where and how LEGO robotics could be added to this s...
Read more

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by  Coder Shah  in our  MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity.  1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT...
Read more

Ghostbusters R.T.V Remix

By Asha Seshan - ROBOTMAK3R
Nino Guba is from Torrance, California, USA. He played with LEGO as a kid, but growing up in the Philippines, it wasn’t something he had easy access to. He only got reintroduced to LEGO when he moved to the US and had kids of his own. When his sons were younger, they received LEGO sets as gifts, but as they grew older, the sets got put into storage as their interest faded. Fast forward a few years, he started coming up with his own product ideas and thought about how he could quickly prototype them. That’s when he discovered LEGO MINDSTORMS—and was hooked! He raided his kids’ old collection, got everything organized, and now he's designing and building his own creations, blending his coding skills with LEGO robotics to bring ideas to life. Tell us about your Ghostbusters Remote Trap Vehicle (R.T.V) project. This project is a LEGO Technic adaptation of the Ghostbusters R.T.V.—a ghost trap converted into a remote-controlled vehicle. Its companion build is a prop replica of the Futaba...
Read more