JopieK

Well that looks really nice! Also nice video! So what would be the difference in sand (that it will not dig itself in like some other cars?!)

Some stickers like those of the hogwarts express also crumble. We make replacements for that. Johan

The emerald had strange problems indeed. Rest of the trains are just fine. Have fun choosing! Btw flex track isn't a winner but the normal track is very ok. The battery is expensive but works very well!

I guess it is possible but Will Cost a lot. Mauve you can Make a deal with another AFOL that has the possibilities to ship it to you?!

national geographic has a series on that (the dog for the police station), from real dog to sculpture, to mold, to LEGO dogs. series is called Mega factories I think. this is the first episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SjfIyQoZjc

Very nice job ZueriHB! I like the design and the colors. Will cost you quite some bricks and space though ;)

Interesting story and interesting build! I didn't know about those buoys at all! B.t.w. (for me an obvious question ;)) did you make the stickers yourself?

I do not agree at all to those that state that children don't like trains. As posted here, I am teacher of a group of high school students that built a train system in cooperation with teacher training students for primary school kids (a whole mouth full). But the effect: children love to see that LEGO trains can be so educational. We linked it also to high speed train control systems etc so we gave children more insight on sensors, micro controllers (we didn't call it that of course) and actuators. It works very well. LEGO is still one of the best selling toys in NL. When talking to children at LEGO world etc. it seems that stuff like Ninjago is much more temporary than trains. What lacks is LEGO having a versatile system of trains just like they did in the 12V era.

They actually have four wires: Link: http://www.philohome.com/pf/pf.htm Inner cables are for the turnouts, out cables for powering (so power from the battery goes through the outer cables, the motor cables are the inner two).

My students (high school Computer Science) did a project that we tested last Thursday in a Dutch primary school. The project was in cooperation with primary school teacher education students. Dutch: http://www.puntuit.n...reinen_1_656440 With Google Translate: http://translate.goo..._656440&act=url Enjoy! Technique: They replaced the IR stuff by Arduino's + RF24 remote radio controllers/ Note: in the article there are about 25 pictures :) We are working on a final version with nice and small circuit boards of the LEGO crossing just like in the old days of 12V: One of my high school students programming the level crossing. Primary school pupils with one of the two trains. The elevator is remotely controlled. The train is programmed by the pupils using colored tiles 2x2 or 2x4: Picture of primary school students

Of course with Arduino. Did you also notice the Adafruit Cuusoo project ;) http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/06/25/oled-lego-train-schedule/

Very nice! Would be nice to also bring it to LEGOWorld Zwolle!

Nice review! Nice primer also. Wonder what the difference is of V2. Did they change the IR protocol as well?! The motors look nice but I hope they will be nicely priced.

Very nice! In a year or two more of us will use 3D printing for LEGO, when e.g. the Ultimaker is getting a higher DPI!

Very nice idea indeed!!!

I would really like them to have sets of the show (like the cartoonshop, Howards' robotic NASA arm, etc.). This should at least be included: LEGO Nerd (maybe not with C:\ but with C++ or /root instead on the cup). @just2good: well it would be useful to pose it as a 'possible' theory, more pseudo-science than real science I think (read more on that here ;))

Very nice indeed! It just really gives one the look and feel of a robotics workshop.

For the touch sensors it is very easy, just connect resistors in between to make a voltage divider (wikipedia). For the light sensors it is more complex since they measure differently.

It should be possible. We use Arduino at my school to control the RC train, using just a simple IR LED. I think the RCX IR sender is using a different frequency but apart from that it should be doable.

Of course since the logic in it is 5V or it might even be 3.3V. It should be even more efficient than with 9V (although the LiPo is 7.something volts).

The 'exclusive' hobby train was in fact just that wasn't it?!!! Fortunately we now have lugbulk with often decent train parts.

I totally agree! But alas... LEGO and vision ;)

You could do that, but convert the voltage to a max of 4.5V. Alternative: use an Arduino with motor shield. Very easy if you put the whole system at 5V. IR receiver + Arduino is very easy (my high school students also manage to do that).

Of course I don't know where you are from but in Holland prices are also quite high compared to the US. Germany is a bit better so I now and then buy stuff there. Same with the track, I hope to order some packs with straight (and of course that horrible flex, nice to have some but not in bulk!) from Germany soon..

Alternative brands suck. We have discussed it here more often. So better invest in better LEGO brand stuff than that crap. In NL we have sluban. I was very disappointed by it. But it is nice that LEGO has competitors, that keeps them focussed and alert.