University of Canterbury, New Zealand
The response of the media to our LEGO Minifigure study has been overwhelming. Not only did the New Zealand Herald report, but also Die Welt, Tagesschau. There has also been an interview on the Australian’s ABC radio:
And I also gave a TV interview today for TV3 News. You can watch it below:
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).
While exhibiting at the Auckland LEGO show last weekend, I also took a time lapse movie of the event. Of course I used Mindstorms for the motorized camera head. The iPhone camera did a good job, but its memory got filled completely. So it is only a 270 degree pan. Still, pretty neat.
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.
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 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.
