So finally, after more than twenty years, my two favorite illusions cross again: LEGO and The Simpsons. Of course we already know about The Simpsons house and the Minifigures. But now we are going to have a Simpsons Episode made of LEGO. Well, they go the CG path and not stop animation, but that is fine with me.
Author: Christoph Bartneck
3D Printing Robot in the news
Eduardo and Tim, who have been working on 3D printing an inMoov robot have been interviewed by Radio New Zealand. They did an excellent job at explaining the project.
Gigapixel Panorama of the University of Canterbury Central Library
This is a first attempt of shooting gigapixel panoramas. We decided for the central library since it offers good lighting conditions and there is always something interesting going on. Here is the photo hosted at gigapan:
Color Discovery With Flags And Logos
Mitchell Adair, our genius film making student, created an excellent video about the results of our paper “Semi-Automatic Color Analysis For Brand Logos“. Enjoy.
Spirograph Automaton made with LEGO Mindstorms EV3
This Spirograph Automaton is a LEGO drawing machine based on the the popular toy and the ideas of PG52. This version extends previous designs by using LEGO Mindstorms EV3. The Spirograph Automaton knows when the pattern is complete and lifts the pen at the right time. You no longer have to observe the machine to stop it when the drawing is complete. The gears are optimized to give fast results so that the children do not have to wait too long. I also build a coin detector that triggers the Spirograph Automaton.
The building instructions are available.
spirograph-automaton-bartneck-smallPlease notice that the instructions do not include the three Mindsensors’ GlideWheel-AS sensors. They are not part of the LDD library. And neither is the part 14720 (Technic, Liftarm 3 X 5 Perpendicular H-Shape Thick) of which you will need two. You will also need four rubber bands, may it be from LEGO or otherwise. You can also consider using the Technic Changeover Plate (6631) for a better gear shifting experience. The complete parts list is available at ReRrickable.
The required software is available here. You need to run the program “calibrate” before running the program “draw”. Otherwise you will get a file reading error.