DLuders

@ Jurgen Krooshoop: I too have built your "Little Devil", and it's a great Technic model. In regards to mixtil's observations about the Building Instructions, I have these comments: "part 2, pages 24-25: there is no instructions for the yellow pieces" -- These are the two yellow Technic 1 x 3 Liftarms on the front nose of the car. No big deal. "part 1, page 41 N°2: wrong pieces 'description'" -- I don't see any error in the quantities or identification of the parts shown in the Number 2 box. Mixtil, what do you mean when you say that there are "wrong pieces"? "part 2, page 39 N° 2 and 3 : mix of pieces 'description'" -- I believe that mixtil is talking about the lack of instructions to make the second, "mirror image" of the wheel kingpin assemblies. "part 3, page 6 N° 2: I have changed one axle 4 for a axle (red) 2, because otherwise I couldn't fix this pieces in the car" -- I used two 4L axles with no problems. I don't know why mixtil had to use one 2L red Technic Axle instead. "part 3, page 43: I have removed and change 4 pieces to adjust the 2 soft axle 19 otherwise this axles are too big (perhaps my mistake)" -- Yes, I too had this problem. If one inserts both ends of these four Soft Axles into their "sockets", the entire rear bumper assembly is pushed off the back end of the car. I just left one end of each Soft Axle unattached -- it still looks OK. There aren't any substitute Soft Axles of a different length. I suppose one could SUPERGLUE the Soft Axles or the rear bumper assembly , but the "Lego purists" out there wouldn't like that.... I know how time-consuming it is to produce instructions. Jurgen's Technic Corner has a lot of neat stuff to build!

@ dolittle: Using LDD Manager, the Bricklink Parts List reveals that the big rear wheel (in the LDD .lxf file) is the 2573 "Wheel Hard Plastic Giant (71mm D. x 47mm)". It represents the 32296pb01 "Tire Technic Racing Large with 'TECHNIC RACING' White Pattern" tire (which is not in the LDD parts pallette) mounted on a 22969 "Wheel 62mm D. x 46mm Technic Racing Large". It is "Match #286" on Bricklink's "Tire On Wheel" Relationships page.

Yes, the "Extra Virgin" Olive Oil is good to use on the Linear Actuators. Take your pick:

@ BondemandClausen: Welcome to Eurobricks! This is an excellent model to introduce your talents! My wife grew up on a wheat farm, and she instantly recognized the Massey Ferguson:

Again, the bottom line is that Rien's motors and Power Functions Infrared Receiver have not suffered any apparent ill effects. There must be a "factor of safety" built into the rated capacities of these elements, just like there are factors of safety in the design of buildings. There is a difference between what the PF elements are DESIGNED to do, and what they CAN do. I like Rien's "thinking outside of the box", where he has used a non-Lego battery to improve the performance of the model. Consider that a BMW with a (more powerful, replacement) battery is still considered a BMW, so why should Lego be any different? TLG doesn't even make any 1.5V AA batteries for their standard Power Functions battery box, yet I don't hear anybody complaining that the standard 8043 Motorized Excavator set is not 100% Lego.

Wow, Jernej, this is fantastic! I have never seen a self-balancing Lego Technic chopper moving with Power Functions! Thanks for the LDD Building Instructions -- I'm sure lots of folks will be making this! I like the radical-looking motorcycle rider too!

I really don't know what to do at this point. Perhaps other AFOLs out there with Android cell phones can assist.

@ danim: Scroll all the way down this webpage ( http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5427 ) to do the "invoke solution". Hope it helps.

From 2-T Toys in The Netherlands, here's a closer look:

Conchas has just posted details about the TechnicBRICKS "TechReverse Challenge"! "In collaboration with the LEGO Technic product line, we decided to bring one of the 1H2011 models into contest. As you are probably already guessing, the challenge will consist in reverse-build one of the new small models. The model to choose should not include any new element, out of the element assortment available in 2010 (new colors for already existing elements may however apply). So the set selection for the current TechREVERSE Challenge issue is the 8066 (SUV). Challenge Goal: •Reverse engineer and reproduce into a LDraw file format, the Challenge proposed model. •The reproduction should be exact (model complete assembly, parts color and parts list)." Deadline is Tuesday, December 7th, 2400 hrs. Central European Time (CET). Be sure to read all the details!

On his Flickr photostream, Konajra posted 21 pictures of a large shovel excavator and said "my model of the P&H 4100 xpc is finished. estimated amount of bricks = 7000. building time 3.5 months." From the P&H Mining Equipment website, "The P&H 4100XPC provides a 115 ton (104.3 metric ton) nominal payload capacity specifically designed to operate in mines for high production loading of 240 ton to 400 ton (218 metric ton to 363 metric ton) haul trucks and larger. The 4100XPC stands alone as the preferred ultra-class shovel choice for high production mines around the world." A member of LowLUG, the progress of this MOC is chronicled on this English translation of the LowLUG Dutch posts. Here are two YouTube videos of the creation: Konajra has pictures of these other beautiful MOCs on Flickr too: Liebherr 996: Komatsu D575a -- "A 1:40 scale model of the worlds largest buldozer driven by 2 old 9 volt motors. 1 rechargable battery and pneumatics for the raising and lowering the blade":

Lesley Hisgen (hisgen01) just posted this of "A Lego technic F1 racecar wth power functions. Remote driving, steering and shifting between two gears! Two motors to drive the rear wheels through a 2-gear-transmission, controlled by the remote controller. The steering mechanism is based on a return-to-centre principle that allows the steeringmotor to keep on turning while the wheels are in a maximum steering position. The transmission is sprayed with an anti-friction-oil, to make sure it spins smouth."The Lego Speed Computer shows the car doing 10.35 kph in the parking lot!

DxtrIndustries posted several YouTube videos of a new Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor for the Lego Mindstorms NXT brick: "Now your robots can know exactly where in the world they are! The Dexter Industries GPS Sensor provides GPS coordinate information to your robot and calculates navigation information. The sensor provides latitude, longitude, time, speed and heading to your robot. It also has powerful navigational calculators that can be used to navigate to target coordinates. "The Dexter Industries GPS Sensor can be used for any robot that needs to know where it is or where it’s going. You can do everything from track road trips on Google Maps to build a satellite-guided robot. The sensor hooks directly into any of the four sensor ports on the NXT and can be programmed in NXT-G, RobotC, and Lejos. User Guide - Download the GPS Sensor user-guide here (1.9 MB): http://www.dexterindustries.com/files/DI_GPS_User_Guide.pdf . Googlemaps Tutorial - A tutorial on how to gather GPS data with the NXT and publish it on GoogleMaps (500 kB): http://www.dexterindustries.com/files/DI_GPS_Sensor_and_Google_Maps.pdf ." See the NXT-G blocks, example programs, and more at http://www.dexterindustries.com/dGPS.html .

You could make an airboat, like the ones used in the Florida Everglades:

Yee-hah! What a fun vehicle! Davidsfarm is in Lucan, Ontario, Canada (not the USA), according to this source. Here's the real thing in action (from YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVAhqVqjpE

On , ale0794/ Furius posted his "Lego Technic 8292 Cherry Picker Reborn" creation. It has 3 ea. XL Power Functions (PF) motors, 4 ea. PF M-motors, 2 ea. PF battery boxes, and free rotation of the lifting platform. There are 9 pictures on his Brickshelf gallery. The normal 8292 set uses only one PF M-motor and one PF battery box.

There was a recent (Aug 2010) post about the "Max Voltage for Power Functions": http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45289 . The bottom line is that, if rien's Power Functions equipment has not burned up and he has a lot of PF motors to experiment with, then his findings are useful in possibly IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE of not only the 8043 Motorized Excavator, but also other motorized Technic models as well. Here is rien's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXid6Nrdnqo "'>YouTube video showing how it functions:

The 8865 Test Car set has 909 pieces, so (naturally) it has fewer steps. It is not clear what the target age group is, since it's not written on the box. The 8053 Mobile Crane/ Harbor Crane set is targeted to 11-16 year olds. It has 1,289 parts, so it will have more steps than the 8865. The Lego Group (TLG) tests out its building instructions with local Danish kids, to make sure that they can easily build the model. Lego Technic models sometimes has black-on-black parts, which makes it difficult to see if the instructions are printed too small. The closeup shots (showing just a FEW Lego Technic parts per page) is what kids prefer. Adults can handle more complexity.

2LegoOrNot2Lego (Ingmar Spimkhoven) posted this YouTube video of his "Lego MOC of an US style 4 axle heavy duty truck with LEGO Power Functions. Like with all my models this one is also in scale 1:17,5 and it features: solid axle suspension on all axles, power of both XL motors is transmitted independently to both rear axles, Ackermann geometry, Lego Power Functions including 4 sets of lights, liftable 2nd axle and winch. For pictures visit http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=442982 ." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfYT8v7qCkc

On his Brickshelf gallery, Jovel posted images on how to conduct the Allround Car Competition (ACC) events: Oscarverbeek posted these two YouTube videos of the LowLUG ACC fun:

Jovel/ Jovlem posted a of his Lego Rodeo Ride made with Technic pieces. Oh his Flickr photostream, he wrote that "It uses two motors for speed control, one for turning. Can you beat it?"

On Flickr, Mahjqa (Peer Kreuger) posted a RealPlayer video of a "minifigure scale tractor with a huge trailer. The frame of the tractor's finished now, it's about the same scale as http://www.flickr.com/photos/9229859@N02/4515751758/ ." It uses a 2986 "Electric, Motor 9V Micromotor 2 x 2"

On his Flickr photostream, Americo Verde posted images of the Lego TECHNIC and Model Team creations below. Did you travel to Koeln (Cologne), Germany to attend this FanWelt 2010 event? It's not too late to go: "The LEGO® Fanwelt is open from 18th to 21st November 2010. Opening hours are from 9am to 6pm daily, except sunday from 9am to 5pm. It is part of the model train fair, called "Modellbahn - the international exhibition for model trains and accessories, toys and hobby" and is located in Hall 5.1 of the Cologne fair." It looks like there is another full-size truck made out of Lego pieces:

I believe you are correct -- there are 6 bonus models now available on the Lego Mindstorms Support website. The original three models for the 8527 Lego NXT 2.0 set are shown on this webpage: Classic Clock: Alpha Rex: Music Player: THE SIX BONUS MODELS (go to this webpage to download the Building Instructions): It is interesting that The Lego Group (TLG) has selected these Bonus Models designed by non-TLG employees. "Philo" (Phillippe Hurbain) designed Bonus Model #4. Why doesn't TLG do the same thing with "Bonus Models" designed by Lego TECHNIC AFOLs for TECHNIC sets? Grohl and others have made many "Alternate Models" of Technic sets....

From the website https://www.bigplay.co.uk/buzz/ : "THE BIG BUZZ AUCTION" "A once in a Lightyear chance to win our 5ft LEGO Buzz. It took a team of LEGO experts nearly 150 hours and 32,890 pieces to build. At 157cm tall, our life-size Buzz Lightyear is as big as he is unique - and this is your chance to take him home. And beyond. Yes, we're auctioning Buzz off to the highest bidder in our online silent auction. And just like the star of Toy Story 3, our Buzz is looking to help out those in need, with all the proceeds being split between the Teenage Cancer Trust and the National Autistic Society . Closing Date: 24th December, 2010." See the webpage to see a big picture of Buzz! It appears to be similar to this one: