Lego

Here you'll find pictures and information on my Lego robots.

Marble Sorter: This was my very first generic robot. The basic idea behind it is to sort different colored marble into separate containers. I did this by using a light sensor to see how reflective the marbles were. That may not tell the color of the marble, but it tells if the marble is solid or transparent. The motor system works like this: motor A does two jobs, both of which need to only go one direction. Motor A's job is to let one marble out at a time and move the marbles after being scanned by the light sensor. I accomplished this by using a differential. I made it that when the motor goes one direction it moves the left axle and not the right axle, and when it goes the other direction it moves the right and not the left. One axle move the marble separator, a 40 tooth gear with small beams on it, and the other moved the marbles away from the light sensor to the second tread. The second motor, motor B, has a job of putting the marbles in their respective containers by moving a tread either forward or backward. I used treads to move the marbles from the light sensor to their container. I also put a touch sensor in each container to tell the RCX when to release the next marble.

Biped II: This robot was originally designed by JP Brown, I just used the building instruction that he had and made it myself. This is probably the biggest robot I have ever made, though it's not my favorite. I don't really see why I should say a lot about this robot when I didn't make. I understand how it works, but it's just a replica of the better original design.

Heater and Fan controler: This robot is made up three major parts the heater controller, fan controller, and the temperate tower. The heater controller sat beside a small space heater and turned it on and off by turning the knob. Luckily the knob fit inside one of my Lego turntables making it easier to control. I had to gear down the motor that moved the turntable to get enough power for it to move the knob. The fan controller was a different story, I had to gear it down then turn it 90 degrees down so it could reach the speed dial. I had to make a frame to fix around the dial so the turntable could move it. I also had to anchor the robot onto the back of fan since it didn't rest well on top. The last part in very simple, but very important. It's a tower of Logos with a temperate sensor on top

The program for this robot was simple; it starts by checking the temperate. Then it checks if this temperate is cold or warm. If it's cold it will turn on the heater controller and if it's warm it will turn on the fan controller. In the program I told the RCX to check for temperatures ranging from 70 Cº to 85 Cº. I also put a rotation sensor on each condoler to tell them when to stop turning.

Rovers: I have made several basic rover bots, though only two are worth making again Goliath implemented two pairs of treads, one pair in the back and the other in the front. This wasn't a very good design, since I only used two motors to power both pairs. It couldn't ever turn very well on a wood floor, let alone carpet.

Another rover that I made was built for speed, hence the name Mercury. Again there were problems with turning, since the wheels were so big and it wasn't designed very well. The only why to get Mercury to work was to plug it into the wall with the AC adapter, then it sill had problems. Both Goliath and Mercury were prototypes.

The best two rover aren't really my design, but instead came from Lego sets. I did modify them in several ways so they would they could use rotation sensors and so I could put treads on one. Tri, the rover with triangular treads, is a lot faster then Six, the six wheeled rover, but isn't as powerful. Six can drive over objects very well and it can also travel up slopes greater then 45 degrees. I usually use my keyboard and a program on my computer to control the rovers remotely.

Lego Boat I: This boat is very simple and I took several risks when I put it in water. The weight from the RCX's batteries and the two motors I used made the boat almost sink. I was very cautious and didn't put much water in the bath tub. I also raised the RCX and motors so that any water that did get inside wouldn't damage them. I used two motors with two propellers on each side making a total of four propellers. To keep the motors from getting wet I used flex-axles so they could stay inside the boat. Flex-axle are bendable axles that can be bent in just about any direction, however, they do have their limits. I put two touch sensors on the front of the boat so it could turn around when it hit a wall. One of the best things about this boat is that it's 100% Lego. Most other Lego boats that are motorized have something like a garbage bag to help it float. I may make a better boat sometime in the future.

Safe: I don't have any picture of the safe since I didn't have a way of taking any. This safe was a successful failure, it worked yet it didn't. I used four motors, two to held "keys" behind sliding doors; one holds the hidden item and the last one was used for the dial lock. The dial lock used a rotation sensor to tell the RCX when it's in the correct position. The "keys" were just Lego plates of different color so they would reflect different amounts of light when in front of the light sensor. The safe used three sensors a light to tell which key is which and a rotation sensor to tell where the dial is and a touch sensor to tell the RCX when to check the other two sensors. To tell the truth I don't remember much else about the Safe. I'm going to make a better safe some time soon.

Any problems, comments, or questions click Contact and drop me a note.