I need access to a 3D printer! If you love Legos, K'Nex and Tinkertoys, then you you have a similar need. The folks at F.A.T. Lab and Sy-Lab just developed items you can print out for free via your rapid prototyping 3D printer which allows these three building / construction toys to be interconnected. How cool is that?! Here is the link to download your designs / free universal construction kit!
If you have some engineering prototype designs in the queue for your 3D printer, they can wait. This is really important!
Post Update on April 13th: I'm investigating the online 3D Printing Service named Shapeways. I uploaded some of the models, but I need to find out if the design dimensions use metric or inches.
Wow! Fantastic! Superb! I really can not think of enough adjectives to complement French photographer Tanguy Louvigny, who created a time lapse video of the Normandy and Brittany country-side using High Dynamic Range photography (HDR Wikipedia Link). His movie incorporated 30 frames per second, that’s 90 exposures for each second of screen time (HDR takes each shot in triplicate using different exposure settings ... learn more from my prior post on HDR).
Equally amazing is the Legos camera / tracking system Mr. Louvigny built using Lego Mindstorms. Quoting Open Culture, which is the web site from which I first learned of this video: "To create the moving-camera effects, Louvigny designed and built his own robotic three-axis motion system using Tetrix motors and a LEGO Mindstorms control system, which he programmed in ROBOTC language. This allowed him to automate the tortoise-like dolly, pan and tilt movements."
Take some time to review the photographer's web site ... you'll find more equally fascinating creations. However, for the moment, relax, turn your computer's speakers on, and enjoy a trip through the French country-side from sunrise to sunset. Wow!
Back on Arpil 2nd, 2007, I asked my son, Erik, if I could blog about his search for the perfect undergraduate engineering college. Given an answer of "yes", it led to an interesting series of posts, which now finishes with Erik's senior year at Rose-Hulman. You could actually say, it all began with Legos! Thus, you really have to go back nine years when our Lego Robotics Team "Super Nerds In Pink (SNIP)" was formed (I was the coach); the end result will be Erik's graduation this Spring with his electrical engineering degree. Everyone else on that team has also pursued a technical degree!
Along the journey, there were such memorable posts as:
As a parent I am still pleased with Erik's choice. His engineering internships (GE and Oshkosh) provided good technical learning opportunities, and what can you say about a school which has been ranked #1 for engineering undergraduate programs for over a decade?! (Rose-Hulman: US News and World Report rankings for schools where the top degree awarded is a master's degree). Thus, if you are looking for a sharp young man (I'm biased), download Erik's resume. However, I warn you ... there is plenty of competition!
Erik Hoeg: Resume(job search completed! see below)
What a great Christmas present! New full-time job for both of my boys! This past holiday season (Christmas 2011) both of my sons entered the job market looking for their first full time job. Given the economy, like any parent, I was concerned, but believed in my boys. In the course of four weeks, both Carl (newly minted masters in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins) and Erik (will graduate this Spring with his BSEE) received great job offers. Particularily pleasing was they both had many different companies pursing them. Life is good!
In closing, lest you think our home always had a serious, academic focus ... enjoy this video of one or Erik's earlier robots: Cyrus the Cat vs. the Lego Synchro Drive Robot (121,676 views to date)
It's Saturday morning, and in case you're wondering what to do with your Lego Mindstorms, look no farther than your Android smartphone! Why not ditch the old controller and use MindDroid?! Of course you could build some Angry Birds out of Legos!
This is so very cool. The ancient Greeks developed a mechanical computer which they used to predict celestial events. All knowledge of their computing device was lost for over 2,000 years. In the year 1901, a shipwreck is discovered along with the Antikythera Mechanism. Fast forward a bit over 100 years and some Apple Computer engineers replicate and build a copy of the device using Legos! Read the full story in the magazine Nature. (video link)
I've been quiet with respect to Legos for much to long! However, as anyone who is involved with First Lego League knows, it's tournament time! It seems strange after all these years of coaching S.N.I.P (Super Nerds In Pink) to be a spectator on the sidelines ... however my boys are all off to engineering colleges around the USA. Thus, I decided it was time to do a few updates to my Google Custom Lego Educational Search Engine. After a few queries, I discovered that Google itself has finally caught the Lego bug. Here are the latest additions:
The Lego Engineering lecture was given by the folks at Tufts University, who first defined this domain. To learn and see more with respect to Lego Education, link to my special section of my Engineering Learning Wiki, or just try the custom Google Lego Search Engine which I created last year.
For years I have tried to make education (science and engineering) a bit more fun via my work with Lego League. Well, these folks from Ely, Minnesota ... make the Northstar Nerd proud. Read, watch (video link) and learn about Project Polar Bear (Hundred mile journey by dogsled and ski to Hudson Bay and Churchill ... but linked to the classroom):
I've been remiss in not posting upon one of my favorite subjects, Legos! After all ... it all began with Legos. As the former six year veteran coach of Super Nerds In Pink, I understand just how important Legos have been and will be to the future of America (and the world). My boys (not just my own children, but the team) have spread out to some of this country's top schools; most of them are majoring in engineering!
I can remember the days when my own children were between the ages of three and five. Dad and children would be down in the floor playing with Duplos. My son Carl and I built some great ferry boats. Karen introduced me to Legos and Barbie. Erik as he moved on in elementary school introduced me to Lego Mindstorms.
This relationship is now reviewed by a MIT professor, Sherry Turkle. She has written the book, "Falling for Science" (download a sample chapter). In the book she reviews what caused many of her former MIT students to becoame interested in science. While Legos are not the only reason her students got interested in science, it is a common theme. Take just a couple of minutes and listen to the National Public Radio Falling for Science Discussion. It's a fun discussion and makes you realize how important is the subject of intelligent play.
Just so you don't think that this topic is only being discussed on one side of the Atlantic Ocean. In February, the top engineering society in the United Kingdom had a similar discussion. Here is a link to my favorite article.
What got you interested in science? Post a comment and let the other readers know. There is no wrong answer to this question. In my own case, it involved my Legos, a Marble Machine Computer which calculated in Base 2, and Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
This post is an excellent way to ease into the new work year. If you want to keep current on the world of technology, subscribe via RSS to Google Tech Talks. However, for those of you with kids involved with First Lego League (or the big kid in you who still loves to program and create robots), link to this recent Google seminar:
