DLuders

Nice -- your model is a great representation of the real Fatboy!

I know that several members of this Eurobricks forum are attending the BrickMagic convention (May 19-20, 2012 in Raleigh, North Carolina USA). I'm hoping that they will add to this topic when they get back. By looking at various Flickr photosets, I found these preliminary images: Brickapolis' picture of dhc6twinotter at The Lego Store (with a big grin on his face): Picture by Joe Architect of Paul Boratko's Technic display: From Brickapolis: From Legoboy Productions:

@ 88high: I can see all of your images fine -- thanks for your review. I don't yet own the Lego 9391 set, so I'm curious to see if it's a "good value" for the parts included. The reviews on Brickset were complimentary too. This Bricklink parts inventory says that this set has 66 of the 3873 "Technic, Link Tread" parts. The Bricklink Average Price for NEW links (sold in the last 6 months) are USD $0.21, so (66 x USD $0.21) = USD $13.86 for the links (about 70% of the total USD $19.99 price you paid for the entire set).

I like Sariel's Monorail Mk5: Intercity MOC. Some of the 100 different minifigures on the loading platform are SCARY-looking dudes!

@ tommywonka: If you want to join the club , do you have copies of Yoshihito Isogawa's three Lego books from No Starch Press? Perhaps the Japanese camp got their project ideas from them:

@ grohl: Nice to see your SPOT-55 in action! By the way, I like the soundtrack on your YouTube video above -- Jimi Hendrix's [Let Me Stand Next To Your] "Fire"!

[bUMP] On MOCpages, Sparra McNamara posted this Lego Mindstorms NXT Forklift Truck. He wrote, "I've been working on building my contribution to the May 2012, NXTLog Competition. Part of my project needs a method to transport models of the large open top pallet type bins used to transport vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbages and pumpkins. I decided on a 'Line Following Forklift Truck' to do the job. "The LEGO® Mindstorms NXT Forklift Truck shown above is compact, and quick and easy to build. You will need quite a number of extra LEGO® Technic Parts, in order to build it. At the end of the On-line Forklift Instructions on my Blog is the complete parts list. I suggest you head to BrickLink to purchase the extra parts. "The Mindstorms NXT Forklift Truck uses two NXT Motors to dive the Left and right front wheels. The Rear Wheels in the CAD Drawing of the forklift show above in red, are actually Rotacaster Omni-wheels. [NOTE: You can order these from HiTechnic here.] With the Rotacaster Omni-wheels fitted, the Forklift has a very small turning circle. In fact it can turn in it's own length. "The third NXT Motor drives the 2x Black Technic, Liftarms Thick (32348), which raise and lower the Forklift's Yellow Forks shown at the front. At the end of the 2x Black Technic, Liftarms is the Latching Mechanism that grips hold of the Vegetable Bin, stopping it sliding off the forks during transportation. "For Full Project Details, Visit http://www.rjmcnamara.com/2012/05/nxt-forklift-truck/ ." View Instructions [with complete parts list at the end]: Forklift Download [Lego Digital Designer (LDD) .lxf Building] Instructions: Forklift Truck

Sariel posted these pictures of his Kenworth Road Train NXT on MOCpages:

Nice -- "Lego Technic Backhoe loader (original from Jurgen Krooshoop). Full PF with 7 M motor and one XL motor. 2 PF lights, 4 IR receivers, gearbox changing two function - front loader and rear backhoe":

Jolly good!

Whoa -- twin V12 mills for power! Are you planning on making LDD Building Instructions for the Sidewinder?

With some publicity (and support) on TechnicBRICKS , the "MinuteBot Base for LEGO Mindstorms enabled robotics" has garnered 135 financial backers and has achieved the $11,000 threshhold! See this Kickstarter webpage to read that "This project will be funded on Monday May 21, 1:38pm EDT." Congratulations, MinuteBot! Your "Homeless Hole" is cute!

@ Rob Klingberg: There is another option. Instead of using the (expensive) Lego 8878 Rechargeable Power Functions (PF) Battery Box (shown on the left below), you could use the (less expensive), similarly-sized 88000 Power Functions AAA Battery Box shown on the right. You could use regular Alkaline AAA batteries, or rechargeable ones. The AAA PF Battery Box does not have internal shutoff circuitry. The only drawback is that the AAA Battery Box + AAA batteries WEIGH MORE than the LiPo 8878 Rechargeable PF Battery Box. If you don't mind having an electrical cord plugged into your lights, you could use a 2868b "Electric, Train Speed Regulator 9V" with a transformer suited for your country. You will also need an 8871 Power Functions Extension Wire (to enable you to connect to your Power Functions elements.

Yes, Blakbird does excellent renders! Did he use LDRAW, SR3D, or POVray for the render above?

Philo has this "Color Sensors Showdown" article on his website.

@ Gijserman: Did you consider making your Lego Rollercoaster with the Lego 8867 Flexible Train Tracks, twisted in 3 dimensions?

Well, if you get a good reading on the the reflectivity of the brown BASKETBALLS, you could program the NXT to move ANY OTHER BALLS to another location. The soccer balls are MOSTLY white, so they would give off much higher reflectivity than the brown basketballs. You could program the NXT to recognize an "Either/Or" situation: if the Color Sensor "sees" either a WHITE or a BLACK color, it will move the soccer balls to one side. If it reads something else (like the BROWN basketballs), it moves those balls to another side.

There are 25 articles on Lego Tatra models on BrickTruckTrial.com . In April 2010, Sariel made this Tatra T815 model. The independent suspension can be seen in these two YouTube videos:

Sorting? What's that mean?

Yes, it has been done. There is a clue on the that accompanied the images below. The key paragraph in MrKamikazeTV's description says: "Program: Original had a colour sensor, i don't have it, so the program found in the internet didn't work either, i made myself one. it is really simple actually, switch-(light sensor switch)- true and false, one ball had about ~32% of reflected light(white), and blue one ~60% (dont remember then exactly.) but yeah, if it is under ~50% reflected light then it turned right and put the white ball to right, if it was more than 50% then turned left..." You can see many more examples on these YouTube search results for "Lego Ball Sorter."

In this TechnicBRICKS article, Conchas (Fernando Correia) wrote, "An undesired feature, from AFOLs perspective I would say, is a built-in power-off timer which actuates after 2h without any interaction with the battery (speed change command or charging). Any of these actions will immediately reset the timer and are the ways to make it run longer without interruption, which is of particular importance at exhibition displays." In another TechnicBRICKS article, Conchas discussed the work of Philo (Phillippe Hurbain) in dissecting the inside of the Lego 8878 Power Functions Rechargeable Battery. More appears on Philo's Brickshelf folder. Conchas wrote, "•Modifying the electronics board to override the 2h time-out function, seems now a vanished dream since all the control might be inside the Chip-on-Board circuitry (the black kind of a bubble in the PCB left side)."

@ 88high: Nice I-beam suspension! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzE1Ttdd1TI

@ tommywonka: That "Return-to-Center Steering" design (which you found on Brickshelf) is definitely one that has been used in many Lego Technic vehicles. The (orange) x928cx1 "Hockey Spring" part ("Technic, Axle Connector Rectangular Triple Spring-Loaded") is getting a bit rare and expensive: One could perhaps mount the Power Functions Medium motor VERTICALLY (instead of horizontally), and use a bevel-gear setup to go 90 degrees. You may be able to save some interior room that way. Do you want to "motorize" your Lego Technic 9395 Pickup exactly like carzzzz9999 did on this , or just motorize the steering?

@ Gijserman: Very nice -- I like how Lego have taken over the entire house!

Whoa! This truck has a great blend of various Lego genres (Technic, Mindstorms, and System):