guandul

Wow, huge and amazing. It looks like a medieval theme parks.

Amazing work. I love the floor textures. I'd like to see how it look beside a modular model, the french restaurant, perhaps.

Amazing trees. Autumn is coming.

I really like how you made the mechanical arm. I don't know about the functionality.

Those rocks look amazing. I'm not sure if they are done with bricks or are what it's called "BUR". Anyway, amazing work. I specially like landscape made with lego and they are not easy to find.

It looks really pretty. It also seems very well designed. Maybe a motor output, so you can use a single motor for two modules?

Sure. Here's the program: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/dagupa/Mindstorms-Machines/Colour-Sorter-V2/colour_sorter_2.ev3 Let me know if you can make it more efficient, like less movements.

Hello to everyone. This is my first Topic. I created this page to post optimized versions of the robots from Mindstorms Education and Mindstorms Home. There is a lot of room to improve the robots designed by Lego, especially the ones from the home edition. Basically, most of the improvements can be done by optimizing the software, although I consider that some mechanical advantage can be achieved if we import some of the building technics that fans have developed. Colour Sorter from the Mindstorms Education Core Set. This machine is used to scan objects and the place them in the right place according to their color. When I first built this model I realized that the way it was built was extremely inefficient. The operator has to manually scan every object and then place them in the tray. That was a little disappointing since there is no way to connect this machine to a supply chain. Original model: Then I turned on the machine and things just you kept getting worse. The “sorter” (the part that deal with moving and placing the objects) uses a very obsolete algorithm to know the exact position where a piece should be unload: After unloading a piece, it has to return to the left side so it can star moving to the next unloading position. I ask myself why. Well, because the sorter does not keep track of its movements, so it doesn’t know its location. To correct those problems I rewrote the program aiming for two thing: 1) Making placing and scanning a single movement. 2) Including odometry in the algorithm, so the sorter can know its position by keeping track of its movements. Modified version: I made two changes in the mechanical design: 1) I relocated the sensor so it’s now over the tray 2) I moved the Intelligent Brick 4 studs to the left so I could free the 50cm cable to be use with the now moving sensor. This is the result: Let me know if you want instructions or the ev3 file. Thank You

Beams have a big mechanical advantage: They are symmetrical. With technic bricks you have to deal with the studs: Where to face them, when not in use? With Technic models you usually find yourself building in four directions; you build from the center to the edge. Studs are designed to build from the floor to the top, usually one direction: UP What I would like to see it’s a little more technic bricks in Technic sets, they are useful and right now it’s easier to find them in Creator/other sets that in Technic sets. Just take a look at The Tumbler (a lot of useful technic bricks).

I hope it is motorized. I could not realized where the motor is.

Absolutely true. Actually, Lego has a very limited production capacity considering how many different pieces/colors they produced. So, internally, the cost of a piece may be different due to production date, inventory, color and season. Although all toys are made with the same pieces, Lego manufacturing process and inventory control is very complex and by complex I mean a lot of engineering and math (simulation, optimization and flow controls)

Good review, thank you. I'm not totally convinced yet, mainly because it's just a one floor building. But, I guess it's not about the building, it's about the details.

Looks amazing. It seems like a big and complex project. I hope you meet your own expectation. Hope to see the final model soon :)

Love the face expression of the blonde guy; very creative. Their hands looks a little scary, like skeleton hands.

This Guinea pig deserves to be a set.I Like how you model the face.

Model looks great. It has a good combination of studs and flat surfaces. No mechanical functions but I don’t think that is what this model is about. As a technic fan I consider this set a good source of non-technic pieces that are very helpful to model cabin details in trucks, for example. The 10x 6x8 technic bricks are always useful. I really do not like that the instructions come in 5 think booklets, this set deserve a better quality book; the same for the printed sticker with the tumbler specifications. It’s a bit expensive set, I guess because it’s a licensed product but Lego is an expensive brand, anyway.

Looks amazing. Thanks for the details about how the magic happens.

Thanks for sharing these instructions. I did not know the work of this talented builder until I saw your version. This model represents a lot of work from both of you. I am thinking about modifying it to make it more technic since those are the kind of pieces that I have. If I succeed, I’ll make a post –I’m guessing that’s gonna take a los of weeks.

Finally I got the two versions of the software and this is my impression: Education version comes with a clear and nice lobby. It’s a screen where all the tools and contend are organized so you know what can you do and where to go. The home version does not come with this, when you star the software it immediately displays the robots for the home edition. So, you click on any of the robots to get the instructions or you open a project to create your own program, that’s all. The education version comes with a section called Robot Educator that is a helpful tutorial that explains the basics of programming including how to use sensors and program modules like loops, logic and flow controls. It also comes with a basic explanation about math, sound and strings modules. No advanced modules are explained. With this tutorial you get all you need to star programming by yourself. Although the tutorial and clean interfaz are definitely a plus, I am not sure if they are worth US$100 About the robots: It contains instruction for four robots that can be build with the core set and 4 more robot that need the expansion set (The Spinner Factory requires two core sets and one expansion sets). The building instructions for robots are easy and you can find them on the Internet or you can easily recreate them, but the programs that control every robot are not as easy to find. But there are good news, the programs are basic and simple, nothing complex at all, so if you have some experience programming Mindstorms you are more than capable of writing your owns. The tricky part: The coolest robot, The Gyro Boy, is not easy at all to program, but you can find a program in the FLL forum (There’s actually a link in another reply of this post.) From the core set robots the only ones that are worth building are the Remote Control and the GyroBoy, the Dog is lame, the Robot Arm very simple and the Colour Sorter very inefficient. In conclusion if you are new with Mindstorms, this software is and excellent tool and a very good start. If you have some experience then you do not need the tutorial and may not want to spend 100 bucks on it, and probably you are more than capable to recreate all the robots for yourself with the exception of the Gyro Boy. Note1: I have not tried the data logging software, which it’s probably the main characteristic of the Education Version. Note2: The two versions do not run at the same time in Mac OS 10

It looks amazing. It has a lot of panels. I really wanna see it shooting water. Expecting the video.

Hello. I have a question for BrickDaddy. I’m planning to buy the education version of the Mindstorms ev3 because I like its demonstration robots better that the ones from the home version. So, my question is: Are the programs for these robots (I mean the ones for the core set and the expansion set) only available in the education software, or they are separated downloads that I can use with the home version software? As sometimes I cannot explain myself: Do I have to buy the education software to build the demonstration robots for the education version? -I know the building instructions are easy, but I’m not sure about the programming. Thank in advanced. I apologize for my English.