Jim

I almost got that one too. Yup. Or simply shoot RAW and correct in Lightroom (or your preferred software).

TECHNIC AIRCRAFT CONTEST - INFORMATION TOPIC After discussing several contest ideas, we figured this was the most popular idea for the next contest....flying stuff! "The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who...looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space...on the infinite highway of the air." DESCRIPTION Build a LEGO Technic Aircraft. Obviously, your model doesn't have to be able to fly. This is not a wacky competition so we are looking for realistic vehicles. It doesn't have to be an existing vehicle or a model of an existing vehicle, but it needs to be something we could potentially see in real life. You can come up with your own concept design (like the B-model of the BMW Motor Bike), but we are not looking for futuristic unrealistic scifi designs. No spaceships either. Drones, jetpacks, balloons, zeppelins, planes, helicopters, etc are some of the potential models that come to mind. Here is a list of vehicles for which it wasn't very clear whether they are allowed: Kites, yes Gliders, yes Spacecraft, no Spaceshuttles/Orbiters, yes Rockets, yes SSTOs are Single Stage To Orbit-Spacecrafts , yes Ground Effect Vehicles, yes Hovercrafts, no DEADLINE Deadline date is Monday the 17th of February 2019. Contest will be closed on Tuesday the 18th of February, OR LATER. Disclaimer: I will close the contest when I see fit and when I have the time to process the results. This can be later than the deadline date. Please don't complain about this not being fair and all. RULES AND REGULATIONS The following section describes the contest specific and general rules and regulations. But before that, please take notice of a simple motto regarding the Eurobricks Contests: CONTESTS ARE FOR FUN! Of course there's competition, but at the end of the day, LEGO is just a hobby and the main goal for each of us is to have fun! CONTEST SPECIFIC RULES AND REGULATIONS Each entry needs to have a name (no name, no entry). Model Team style building is not permitted. You can use system parts, but keep it mainly Technic. Mindstorms and LEGO Electronics are permitted. SBrick and Buwizz are permitted. 3rd party Strings, Hoses and Rubber Bands are permitted. 3rd party tires are not permitted. Other 3rd party parts are not permitted. There is no size limit. GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS The contest is open to all EB members (also new members). Members can be banned from voting (when vote rigging is suspected). Voting rules will be explained later in the voting topic. One entry per member. Entries need to be new (never posted anywhere previously or shown at an event/LUG meeting). Only physical builds, so no LDD or other virtual entry. If you have any doubts about the suitability of your entry contact me, or Milan. All entries are to include only real LEGO. No clone brands, 3rd party parts, or digital entries allowed. Custom stickers are allowed. No cutting, sculpting or modifying parts. Entries are to be placed in the entry topic in this forum. Entries not in the entry topic are not eligible for voting. The entry post may be edited at any time up to the end of the contest, so feel free to make improvements if you wish. The contest might be closed later than the deadline. Don't complain about this not being fair. You have enough time to build. Don't ask for more time. We reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not follow these rules. These rules can be changed whenever we see fit to ensure that people follow the intent of the contest. Jury members are not eligible to participate. WHAT DO I NEED TO ENTER? All participant need to create a discussion topic and create a post in the entry topic. DISCUSSION TOPIC A discussion topic starting with [TC15]. A discussion topic needs to show some actual progress (i.e. pictures of the build in progress) and should NOT be used to "reserve an idea". ENTRY POST The entry post in the entry topic should contain: Entry name. One or more pictures (max 3 of max 1024x1024). Embedded video (mandatory). Link to the discussion topic. VOTING Voting scheme will be public voting only, but only by members who have 50 posts or more. If you have less posts, you can vote, but your votes will be automatically excluded from the tally. Voting criteria are (in no particular order): Originality. Looks (shape, color scheme etc). Quality of the build. Functionality. PRIZES Three wonderful prizes can be picked from the five sets below. For the prizes we define two categories of contestants: Mortals (contestants who haven't won any medals in previous contests) and Immortals (contestants who have won one or more medals in previous contests). Top-3 winners will get medals as usual, regardless of the category. 1st PRIZE: WINNER OF THE CONTEST The winner of the contest calls dibs on one of the five sets. 2nd PRIZE: RUNNER UP OR FIRST MORTAL The second prize goes to: Highest ranked mortal, if the contest winner is an immortal (already has a medal) The person who ended second (actual runner up), if the contest winner is a mortal (has no medal yet) So, in theory both prizes can go to mortals, but I'm sure the immortals will do their best to prevent that 3rd PRIZE: RAFFLE PRIZE The third prize will be raffled among contestants who have created a discussion topic (early on), are actively showing progress and providing value to the community. @Milan and myself will decide who gets this prize. No discussion. The raffle winner can choose one of the three remaining sets.

TECHNIC AIRCRAFT CONTEST - ENTRY TOPIC CONTEST INFORMATION More information about the contest can be found in the general discussion topic. WHAT DO I NEED TO ENTER? Please take a careful look at the rules before posting in this topic. Each participant is obliged to create a post in this entry topic. Posts need to follow the rules stated below. Posts not following the rules will be disqualified so please read them carefully. ENTRY POST The entry post in this topic needs to contain: Entry name One or more images (max 3). You can have combined pictures (4 in 1) as long as the picture isn't bigger than 1024x1024. Embedded video (mandatory) Link to your discussion topic IMPORTANT This topic should be used for entries only, so commenting is prohibited. Please use the general discussion topic for...well, general discussion on the contest, and individual discussion topics to comment on the individual entries.

Nice work! I will move this to Star Wars. You will probably get more love over there

Having a portfolio with interesting projects is always helpful. Wise choice. I use Azure DevOps with Git.

Cool. No worries about not being around every day. There are nine Technic sets underway for review, so I will take a detour (from Robotics) the next couple of weeks anyway. I will surely take a look at your Git repository and check out your project. And I know where to find you Edit: some interesting stuff on your Git page

You are a genius! What made you think of this solution?

This is exactly why I created this forum. A place for people doing interesting stuff...because we can Thanks for the MQTT pointer. These are the things that are really helping me out. I appreciate that a lot. Please stick around In the future I would like to do face recognition with a camera on my robot. Maybe you have ideas for that too.

I have ordered this rechargeable battery pack. Provides 5V, 9V and 12V....exactly what I need. And it has a nice casing, so I can put it somewhere in my robot https://nl.aliexpress.com/store/product/15000mAH-DC-5V-9V-12V-USB-High-Capacity-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery-Pack-Charger/3871001_32867193291.html

Where we are going we don't need roads....or reasons to access Web Api's from EV3 robots

Because I can! Actually, I am/was working on a .Net Core Web Api for serving high scores for my mobile games (another hobby I have). So, I wondered if I could let my bots communicate with the Api. If I can send and retrieve info to and from an Api, I can do a lot of stuff. But it is mainly a proof of concept for now. One thing would be to enter commands online, which the robot will polll and execute. Even better would be to be able to send commands directly from a website (or mobile phone) to the device, via Websockets or something similar. Basically, I am trying out different communication scenarios. Works like a charm! Thanks I am a Windows guy myself and I have never touched Python, until last week. I am totally in love with the EV3, VS Code and Python combo. Next stop is socket communication, so two bricks communicating via a LAN.

Hi David, First of all, welcome to EB. Second, thanks for the tip. I was wondering about installing packages and how it would effect the brick and the solution. Your insights are very useful. I am new to Python, but I do have .Net experience, so I know how (nuget) packages can make or break a solution, when not handled correctly. I am in the midst of flashing two new Micro SD Cards for two of my bricks, so I will try to use the 'sudo apt' commands and see how it goes.

Fair point It's more like a bush than a connector. Actually, I sometimes think about organizing a building weekend and make it a joined review effort. However, usually building the models (I do have some help) and taking pictures only takes up a bit of my time. But it definitely crossed my mind, and I will keep it in mind. Sorry, bit off-topic.

A better looking spacer indeed. I will probably have some help building the smaller sets, so some building will be done simultaneously. I will probably focus on the Porsche to be the main/first review. I need to look into other formats for the smallers sets. Pullbacks probably just some pics and a summary.

Hehe, will be a big pot of coffee. Aesthetics. I really like it.

Thanks! I was on that page yesterday, but I missed the tech specs. I will take a look and create a topic if I need more info

I have found that one. I even listed it in the first post. Thanks I will give some feedback.

Who knows?! They will probably be sent next week  There is an embargo date, but I am not sure whether I can share the date.

@MajorAlvega What are the power supply specs for the BrickPi? I know the Raspberry can be powered with 5V USB and the BrickPi needs 12V (8x AA battery). But can I also use a rechargeable battery pack with 12V and 4.4A? What is the allowed amperage (is this an English word?)? I would love to a rechargeable battery pack, so any info (or links) is appreciated. Hypothetically, I need to power the Raspberry, four BrickPi's (with a lot of motors and sensors), a 7 inch LCD screen, a camera and a 12V LED strip. Any thought on powering this monstrosity? (I do have enough space for batteries)

Who knows?! They will probably be on sale by the time I publish my reviews I don't have this kind of information. I only know that the sets will be available for review.

Technic sets confirmed for review! Nine sets in total, so I need to come up with a battle plan.

If you are interested in Mindstorms and/or Robotics, there are some interesting topics about programming your robot with Python and ev3dev, which I can highly recommend, even if you have zero experience with either of them (like me). And more interesting topics about Raspberry Pi and BrickPi. So, head over to the Mindstorms and Robotics forum and join the fun!

I have created a separate topic for BrickPi General Discussion.

PROOFS OF CONCEPT This section contains links to useful proofs of concept (POCs) POCS Controlling LED strips using Mindstorms EV3

Looking forward to seeing this happening!