Study on the emotional facial expression of LEGO Minifigures

Today the media picked up on one of our studies on the emotional expressions of LEGO Minifigure faces. Some of it is a dramatization, so here is the full text of study for your consideration. The paper received a honorable mention at the upcoming First International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (iHAI 2013).

Video of LEGO Mindstorms EV3 R2-D2 Robot

I finally got my act together to finish up my EV3 R2D2. I had to order two additional head pieces and install the latest beta build. The new programming software is pretty sweet. The new “Move Steering” and “Move Tank” make it super easy to put together a line follower.

ev3-software-development-tool-mindstorms

Here is a video of this software in action. It has obstacle avoidance, line following, random beeps, random head turns and some flashing lights:

Crocodile

Crocodile is a robust off road LEGO car that has four wheel drive and four wheel steering. It’s frame is very compact and rigid. It drives fast over obstacles and its independent suspension system makes sure that all wheels touch the ground at all times. I also spread some of my “wisdom” on how to build a well designed LEGO off road car.

RACE2 – Super fast LEGO RC off road car

RACE2 is the fastest LEGO off road car. The 4WD RC car can get over rocks and obstacles fast. It is an improved version of my original RACE car. The building instructions are available as well as the LEGO Digital Designer file (LXF). It is a simplified and more robust version of the original RACE car.

Here is the 3D model in Sketchfab exported from Stud.io. Unfortunately Stud.io does not yet have the L-motor (88003) in their parts list, so you have to use your imagination to fill the gaps.