Bringing Bricks to Life: Inspiration from JK Brickworks

Combining a LEGO set with LEGO electronics is the fundamental part of a "ROBOTMAK3R Remix". This blog post focuses on the work of Jason Alleman (aka JK Brickworks), who has a tremendous knack for automating traditional LEGO sets and "bringing bricks to life." We hope this blog and the sample projects discussed serve as an inspiration to readers to try their hand at automating LEGO sets.

Option 1: Adding gears and a crank

Take, for example, the Shark from Deep Sea Creatures (31088). Alleman transforms this simple 3-in-1 Creator Set into a kinetic sculpture. Building instructions are provided here. Another similar remix was made with the Majectic Tiger set (31129) which Alleman use to create a kinetic sculpture koi fish. Adding a motor and hub (PoweredUp or SPIKE Essential) can easily transform these models from crank-based to motorized with LEGO robotics.

Option 2: Adding motors

As you build your sets, think about how you might create movement in them. For instance, using Hedwig (75979) and a Power Functions M-Motor, Alleman does a beautiful job making Hedwig flap its wings. Alleman pays special attention to the details. Notice the wing movements at the joints.

Alleman's Motorized Command Center Base is also a creative alteration of a LEGO Set. Alleman begins with set 40786 and uses Circuit Cubes to motorize the set. While he doesn't use LEGO robotics components, this model might provide some inspiration for builders who want to creatively add LEGO robotics components to their sets.

Image Credits: Jason Allemann

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 3

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these Fall and Winter remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Braill3 by Jerry Nicholls Braill3 is an EV3-based LEGO Braille bricks reader. This robot uses its fingertip, made from three touch switches, to read messages written using the LEGO Braille bricks and will speak out what it detected. If it sees a simple maths problem it will attempt to solve it and give the answer as well. To learn more about the process of creating this machine, read Jerry's blog . Braill3 can be viewed here . Set Review: The Braille Bricks set is well thought out. The ratios of the letters is suitable for general use and the addition of some punctuation and arithmetic operators is excellent. There is a card showing what bricks there are and their quantities, but no form of sort...

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 2

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these summer and fall remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Remote controlled material handle r by Jozua van Ravenhorst (aka Mr Jo) This remix combines the LEGO Technic Material Handler (42144) with MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313) It uses the power of pneumatic cylinders to move objects around. By using a bluetooth remote control, very precise movements can be made with this model. Touch sensors in the base chassis prevent the turret twisting the cables that go through the turntable to much. The program has several protections to prevent over pressurizing the system for each of the 3 individual pumps and valves that control the 2 booms and claws. The real version of this machine is mostly used in waste material sites to bring the material to machines that sort and...

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

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...

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