Why LEGO Technic is so great!

[Andy D]

This morining I had a 42009B Reacher Stacker on my build desk. A great model!

Build 42009A by MyPlasticBricks, on Flickr

This afternoon I have a plie of sorted and organized LEGO Bricks and pieces.

Build 42009A by MyPlasticBricks, on Flickr

They can be anything I can imagine. Right now I am imagineing a 42009 A Mobile Crane MK II.

So tommorrow I will start that.

You just have to use your imagination, of course an instruction book doesn't hurt.

Andy D

Edited May 24, 2016 by Andy D

[roppie11]

this is also why i like chemistry so much, imagine the possiblity with atoms, or even smaller particles

What i also like about lego technic, is that you can make stuff which actually does something.

you can accomplish so much with lego, the only thing you can't do is flying. so litteraly: the sky is the limit

[__________________________]

Why did you make a separate post for this?

[Blakbird]

this is also why i like chemistry so much, imagine the possiblity with atoms, or even smaller particles

You can make a lot of cool stuff with atoms. They are very versatile.

[Andy D]

Why did you make a separate post for this?

Just for fun. The imagination gag just didn't seem to gain legs.

Sorry if it bothered you.

Andy D

P.s. Mods feel free to do with this thread as you please, I was just hoping for a laugh.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Andy D

[suffocation]

Why did you make a separate post for this?

Crikey - what's wrong with sharing some genuine enthusiasm?

Back on topic, Lego helps me stay (relatively) sane whenever I'm translating some off-the-wall writer liker Burroughs.

[DrJB]

this is also why i like chemistry so much, imagine the possibility with atoms, or even smaller particles

Not to take this thread way off-course, but going beyond chemistry, how about biology?

It's growing/gardening season here in the US, and many stores offer starter plants that you buy and grow in your yard. My point is: have you ever stopped and thought how plants make fruits? ... very simple: out of thin air ... plants use water, air and the energy of the sun, to make fruits (and vegetables) that we all need.

I also often find myself wondering whether very complex machinery can be made with Lego bricks ... of course plastic by itself won't be abe to replace all the elements in the periodic table, but that's another discussion.

[Kman860]

You can make a lot of cool stuff with atoms. They are very versatile.

I think this is in the top 3 comments I've ever read on this site.

[MRP_]

Just for blackbird's remark about atoms I am prepared to saw off my own legs and donate them to this thread.

[Didumos69]

Just for blackbird's remark about atoms I am prepared to saw off my own legs and donate them to this thread.

Statler: The question is, will MRP_ saw off his own legs?

Waldorf: The question is, who cares?

[Didumos69]

...But seriously.

...how about biology?

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by the idea of building the most simple machine that can reproduce itself. We already have a machine that can print its parts, except for its electronics. But I want a machine that can put an instance of itself together. And I want it to build - and be build - from Lego pieces only.

Or maybe we should look better at biology and build two machines; one that can put together the other and vice versa. Or maybe a number of machines that can be placed in different arrangements to reproduce each of the individual machines. That should be doable. Maybe we'll find the key to life itself.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Didumos69

[Victor Imaginator]

Or maybe we should look better at biology and build two machines; one that can put together the other and vice versa. Or maybe a number of machines that can be placed in different arrangements to reproduce each of the individual machines. That should be doable. Maybe we'll find the key to life itself.

The matrix has you...

Just imagine all this human-planting fields builded from lego bricks.

[bonox]

But I want a machine that can put an instance of itself together. And I want it to build - and be build - from Lego pieces only.

that's actually pretty simple if you can feed that machine with a pile of suitable parts. I think people get messy in a point of difference between being able to assemble a copy of yourself from constituent parts versus having to create those parts as well as put them together.

There are close examples in lego - the self assembling space elevator one for example is probably half way there - but the true replicators are probably still science fiction in a machine sense, but actually do exist in a biological sense; We're already editing dna to get bacteria to do what you want and then they keep replicating themselves in the usual fashion, but with your modified 'payload' on board.

[DrJB]

I read somewhere, a long time back, that a measure of how advanced a civilization/technology is, is whether such civilization has produced a machine that can replicate itself ... It's like asking the StarTrek replicator to build its own copy. Though, in computer science, people have already written computer codes that when run, would 'replicate' themselves.

The other 'obvious' example is from biology, where the human being (or all beings for that matter) are able to re-create a copy of one-self. By such metric/token we are very far from being 'advanced', and I'm not sure the goal is ever attainable. Of course, this leads to creationism and other ideas ... not sure if those are suitable for this forum/thread though.

[MRP_]

Well it's definetely possible, but it would have to be huge, and even bigger if it's to do anything usefull alongside reproducing...

Also I made up my mind here ya go

Also can we please not make skynet/ultron

[Didumos69]

... not sure if those are suitable for this forum/thread though.

After Blakbird's legendary comment I think this thread should be prepared for anything philosophically substantial

Also I made up my mind here ya go

https://minifigsarea.com/1103-large_default/lego-yellow-legs.jpg

self- evidently philosophical

Edited May 31, 2016 by Didumos69

[roppie11]

Well it's definetely possible, but it would have to be huge, and even bigger if it's to do anything usefull alongside reproducing...

(...)

I think it would not be possible to build a self-reproducing machine from lego

because as you said, the machine would have to be very big.

Then it is more difficult to build itself so you need a bigger machine.

but then it gets even more difficult so you need a bigger machine

but then it gets even more difficult so you need a bigger machine

but then it gets even more difficult so you need a bigger machine

but then it gets even more difficult so you need a bigger machine

but then it gets even more difficult so you need a bigger machine

<repeats forever>

so it's impossible

[MRP_]

Well not nescesarily, if you made some machine that had kind of extendable legs, maybe you could make a machine that could stand up tall and build a machine down against the ground, that could then drive out from under it when finished, and stand up to build another? Like just have a machine that is just able to stand barely around itself in fully compacted form, instead of building inside itself. It would be more complicated, and still quite large, but it would be possible... In theory at least...

Wait no nvm I just understood what you said yeah it's impossible

[ctx1769]

if you drop a piece on the floor it don't hurt as much as normal bricks

[MRP_]

...

Or maybe we should look better at biology and build two machines; one that can put together the other and vice versa. Or maybe a number of machines that can be placed in different arrangements to reproduce each of the individual machines. That should be doable. Maybe we'll find the key to life itself. ...

I think you have the right idea though, maybe a system of machines that all build different pieces of eachother, and some that assemble them. I don't think it's a one man, er, robot job. Maybe like this it's possible. But to have a single machine able to make itself, It would become infinitely complicated, in order to make itself it would need precise tools, and to make those precise tools, it would need even more precise tools, and to make those etc etc etc, like roppie11 said

Also I changed my mind can I have my legs back I kind of underestimated how much I need them

Edited May 31, 2016 by MRP_

[Andy D]

Wow! Has this thread taken a turn. I was just trying to say that a B - model could become anything (with imagination) but my imagination went only as far as the A - model. I guess I'm just not funny.

But some of you are still having a good time with this thread, so all was not lost... After all, LEGO is all about fun.

Andy D

[roppie11]

I think you have the right idea though, maybe a system of machines that all build different pieces of eachother, and some that assemble them. I don't think it's a one man, er, robot job. Maybe like this it's possible. But to have a single machine able to make itself, It would become infinitely complicated, in order to make itself it would need precise tools, and to make those precise tools, it would need even more precise tools, and to make those etc etc etc, like roppie11 said

Also I changed my mind can I have my legs back I kind of underestimated how much I need them

i guess you would need at least two machines, since you need two humans to make another one

[Didumos69]

As for the self-reproducing machine(s) I see some interseting lines of thought passing by and that's Great! :thumbup:

It has been mentioned by bonox that there is a difference between being able to assemble a copy of yourself from constituent parts versus having to create those parts as well as put them together. Although I was actually aiming for the latter category - because the first category would imply creating Lego pieces with Lego pieces, which seems to be too high a goal for now - I would like to add a third category: a machine - build from Lego pieces - that can put itself together from constituent parts rather than reproduce itself (funny side note: the expression "put yourself together" gets a whole new meaning in this context ).

To start off with the 3rd (easiest) category, I think I have an idea of a simple machine that can put itself together. I will work it out in LDD and post an image in a minute...

Edited May 31, 2016 by Didumos69

[MRP_]

...

[Didumos69]

There are more configurations possible, but I think this is the most simple - yet intriguing - self-assembling machine possible. It has been built from a single piece and can put itself together in zero steps. . I wanted to test a real-life version, but I was affraid I would trigger some kind of unstoppable domino-effect

That's for the 3rd category, now back to the 2nd category... :wink:

Edited May 31, 2016 by Didumos69