NXT Wall-E Transform Video

I saw this on thenxtstep.blogspot.com and thought I would share.  Cool Lego NXT Wall-e transforming robot.

Tetris anyone?

This is cool;
There are two things that are universally true about Tetris: that Russian-style theme music is impossible to get out of your head, and everybody loves Tetris. Which is why we had to take a moment to highlight the Tetris-Bot, a simple PC gaming robot patched together from a digital evaluation module (EVM), a web cam and a Lego Mindstorms robot kit.
The cam is positioned in front of the screen, where it gathers visual data that it feeds to the EVM. The EVM -- the brains of the operation -- puts those data inputs through a series of algorithms, providing an output command to the Mindstorm assembly positioned over the keyboard. It's not perfect, but who's ever played a perfect game of Tetris?

FLL 2009 robot test 2

We are coaching a FIRST Lego League (FLL) team this year. The team has named themselves the 'Brick Breakers'. They are testing some robot bases and decided to video it. This was test two.

FLL 2009 robot test 1

We are coaching a FIRST Lego League (FLL) team this year. The team has named themselves the 'Brick Breakers'. They are testing some robot bases and decided to video it. This was test one.

Little Black NXT

This is SOOOOOOOOOOO cool. It is cheaper on Amazon than at the Lego store. Black is the new beige.

Lego NXT Motor Calibration

This is one of those things that if you don't know what the title means, move on. The link takes you to Techbrick, a FLL team from MD, and the organizer keeps a very informative page.

http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/TechBrick/TechTips/NXTCalibration/

FLL 2010 Topic

Short but sweet.
http://www.usfirst.org/community/fll/content.aspx?id=12726

"2010 Season Topic
We have chosen the topic for the 2010 Challenge...BIOMEDICAL. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information."

What did you expect, trumpets? So as they say, stay tuned.

Dream Job

Now this is a job I would enjoy. Lego Builder, Brick Master is just a cool title.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7661211.stm

FLL Missions With Note

This is the mission videos for FLL (FIRST LEGO League). (The FLL videos can be seen and downloaded here.) Our two eldest are in FLL this year. These 19 missions equal to about 7 seconds for each objective to be completed. Note the correction on insulating the house. In the Video it shows the blocks stacked. That is incorrect, both blocks must be touching the mat to score.

I will post more about FLL and how the team does in the future.

Kids Lego Movie

Our youngest daughter made this video.

FLL and Lego Robotics

Last year, our eldest daughter was part of a team of four 9-14 year old kids that competed in First Lego League (FLL), an international competition that uses Lego robotics pieces. The competition is three-part:

• Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme.
• Present their research and solutions.
• Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts.

This year our 2 oldest children will be joining the team, Lemony will be assisting with the project, and I will be mentoring, as last year. Our youngest would love to join too, but he will have to wait a few more years.

It is a lot of commitment, but I feel it teaches many important lessons that you just can't get most places. I look forward to the working with everyone on the team.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will answer any serious posts.

They grow up so fast

Our eldest daughter was complaining today about doing her Math. Months ago, we had taken all the kids' Nintendo DS systems with the understanding that they needed to finish their Math books to get them back. At this point our eldest had only two pages left in her book, but was still in tears on sitting down and finishing it.
Well today we received a few boxes of Lego robotics, and extra parts for the upcoming FLL (First Lego League) Robotics competitions. (I will post on this later; our older two are both in FLL this year.) All three kids were very excited about opening the boxes, but they were told they had to do their math before opening the boxes. You would of thought we asked the eldest to kill her cat.
Long story short, eight hours latter, (not exaggerating) things had settled down. Most of the Math was done, tears were dried and everyone was getting ready for bed. Our eldest comes down and asks:
"When I finish my Math book tomorrow, can we open the Lego boxes?"
"Yes, after your Math is done."
"What else do I get when I get when I finish my book?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What else do I get for finishing?"
"Knowledge."
"What else?"
"We stop yelling at you."
"No Dad, what do I get?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What else?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." After this goes on for a few more minutes, I finally got it.
"I now know you are growing into a woman; you are speaking in hints. If you want to ask for something, just ask for it."
She finally got to the point and said in an exaggerated voice, "Can I have my DS back after I am done with my Math book?"
I said what any good dad would say. "No, go to bed."

The Hug

The kids and I have been talking about doing a Lego movie. This is a test video I did to show them the concept. Be sure to turn on your speakers and whistle along.