What set did this assembly come from? What set did this assembly come from?

Any ideas? I'm inclined to think it's come from a Star Wars set.

I think I found it:

SW911617-1: Palpatine's Shuttle

it was apparently included in a Star Wars comic magazine in November 2016

How did I do it ?

I'm the author of pyrebrickable (Github page here), and by installing the python package rebrickable-data we can explore the rebrickable database directly (query it with SQL). Rebrickable contains a seemingly exhaustive set inventories with parts colors etc. In that case, I looked at 3 distinctive parts in your picture:

2540 # Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handle on Side - Free Ends
# thought it was white at first but it is in fact light bluish gray

60471 # Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers on Side
# in black

3023 # Plate 1 X 2
# in trans-clear

By searching in the database for sets that contain at least one of all these parts, I could narrow down to a handful of sets, and in it was that Palpatine shuttle from which we can easily recognize a part of the main ship body


LEGO Mindstorms EV3 crashes on OS X El Capitan I get the following problem details, can anyone help me?

Process:               MindstormsEV3 [595]
Path:                  /Applications/LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Home Edition.app/Contents/MacOS/MindstormsEV3
Identifier:            ___ev3.lego.com
Version:               1.0 (1)
Code Type:             X86 (Native)
Parent Process:        ??? [1]
Responsible:           MindstormsEV3 [595]
User ID:               501

Date/Time:             2016-01-02 19:49:06.678 +0100
OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.11.2 (15C50)
Report Version:        11
Anonymous UUID:        7C4B40A6-2FAA-BA7A-5740-01D0F51AF6AB

Time Awake Since Boot: 2100 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread:        0  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Application Specific Information:
abort() called

Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Logical CPU:     0
Error Code:      0x00080148
Trap Number:     132

Check if you have Silverlight plugin on your mac:

Access your hard drive
Double-click the hard drive icon on your desktop
Find the plugin
Navigate to your Internet Plug-Ins directory: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/

If installed:

Remove the plugin
Drag any of the following into your trash bin:

Silverlight.plugin

Then dowload and install the Silverlight plugin from here:

https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

If not ok remove and reinstall Mindstorms software.


How are these transparent stairs made? What techniques and bricks are used to support the transparent pieces? Can anyone work it out?

The steps are made of 4218: Garage Roller Door Section without Handle pieces in clear transparent.

They are inserted into 2420: Corner 2 x 2 Plate pieces.


Are COGO and LEGO bricks compatible? Is COGO compatible with LEGO sets, that is can I combine parts from both packages? My kid got a COGO set on his birthday recently, which we did not open because I think we can return and exchange (for a surcharge) it at toy store where it was bought, if they can not be used together with LEGO bricks that is.

Welcome! COGO is a clone brand, and hence not generally used around here. COGO bricks will work with LEGO, however, the quality, finish and fit of COGO bricks is significantly less than LEGO's, so I would advise to return the COGO set and buy a (smaller but) better quality LEGO set instead.


Where can I find 'Dolphin', the 3D model to LEGO software? It was created at the École Polytechique Fédérale de Lausanne.

But it seems it is no longer available for to download. Does anybody knows what happened?

You are probably looking for this: http://lgg.epfl.ch/publications/2013/lego/


I have a female fig black dress patterned slope only, long hair, intricate face I'm looking to identify a Female minifig she has an open slope decorated skirt (no legs), long brown hair, big eyes! I think the body is wrong as it's plain black with standard yellow hands.

Hair is Minifigure, Hair Long. In Dark Brown color this was used by just one minifigure, the Highland Battler.

Face seems to be one of two versions of Minifigure, Head Dual Sided Female, Dark Brown Eyebrows, Crow's Feet, Smile / Angry Pattern (HP Narcissa), with Blocked Open Stud OR with Hollow Stud.

Torso is unrecognizable as the picture isn't clear enough.

"Legs" are Slope 65 2 x 2 x 2 with Bottom Tube with Light Bluish Gray Inset Skirt Pattern which, originally, belong to Narcissa Malfoy.

Since half of elements for this minifigure come from Narcissa Malfoy it must have been used as a base for modifying it.


What is this long spiked black piece with rubbery orange tip piece used for? Missing instructions but it should stand out if you’ve ever seen it

This is part 61406pb04 Plate, Modified 1x2 with Angular Extension and Flexible Orange Tip, which comes in 2 sets:

8076 Deep Sea Striker

70135 Cragger’s Fire Striker


Comparing LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Core Set with LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Toy Robot Building Kit - 31313 LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Core Set is described briefly here EV3 Core Set
LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Toy Robot Building Kit - 31313 is described here Robot Building Set

As an adult who wants to experiment with robotics, I am interested in purchasing one or other of these. I want to compare what is in these sets in terms of components and relate that to price.
Despite having plenty of experience with online search generally, I'm having trouble doing a part-for-part comparison.  I have tried searching Bricklink but can only find entries for individual parts rather than  a complete parts list.
Question
I am not asking for someone to do all the work for me (although I wouldn't refuse!), I'd just like some guidance on how to find a complete list of parts for each of these sets - maybe a simple link to each.

Here is a parts list for  the CORE SET: https://brickset.com/sets/45544-1/Education-EV3-Core-Set
And here is a parts list for the Toy Robot Building Kit: https://brickset.com/sets/31313-1/Mindstorms-EV3
In the future, there is a good chance that Brickset has an inventory!


Can someone ID this part, a 1xY plate with an inverted slope? I am trying to ID this part. It is the upside down triangle part that seems to be linked to a tile.

I believe you are seeing one end of 2 of Part 52501 Slope, Inverted 45 6 x 1 Double with 1 x 4 Cutout in Dark Bluish Grey.


Can you identify this modified plate? A friend asked me to identify an element, but I have no idea either. Customary search on BrickLink modified bricks/plates/tiles categories didn't give results.
I do not have any additional information besides this picture.

This looks like
Plate, Modified 2 x 8 with Door Rail in yellow.

It's not easy to find because you would think it's a 1x8 plate modified rather than a 2x8.

Additional link: Plate, Modified 2 x 8 with Door Rail at rebrickable.


What's this weird blue 8-long thin hinge piece? I've spent several hours on BrickLink now trying to identify this mystery piece. It doesn't have a part number on it, only the Lego logo. It looks kind of like a hinge or something that might snap into a doorway, but I haven't found anything similar. Can you help me?

This is part 4218 Garage Roller Door Section without Handle:

As you might imagine from the name, these can be connected and used for garage doors as seen in Century Skyway, for example:


Is it safe to use a hot glue gun for Mega Bloks? I've just managed to secure a copy of the Mega Bloks StarCraft Battlecruiser set on eBay after they dropped significantly in value with Blizzard clearing out the last of the stock with their recent Black Friday sale. It's going to be here in about a week, and it's the first model of this magnitude that I've ever done. I figure that the actual process won't be any more difficult than usual, but considering the collectible nature of this item, I'd like to make sure that when I put it together, it's permanent.

Is it safe to use a hot glue gun? Naturally, I wouldn't want to try it and find the bricks melting under the heat. I would just test it on some more easily replaced pieces, but I currently don't have any Mega Bloks in my collection, only LEGO elements and Tyco.

It's probably not the best option to use no: according to Wikipedia, glue guns tend to operate at the following temperatures:

  Low-temperature glue guns operate at approximately 120°C (248°F) [...] High-temperature guns operate at approximately 190°C (374 °F)

LEGO and Mega Bloks' primary component, ABS, has a melting point around 105°C (221°F), which is a bit lower than the glue and it will have started to deform around 80°C (176°F).

Your best option would be to use a glue that "welds" the LEGO elements together, such as Plastic or Polystyrene Cement.


Does each LEGO set include a unique piece? If I had 100 lego sets would I be able to fully build a lego set that I didn't have? Or would it always be impossible due to each set having at least one unique piece?

To further clarify, let's say I own every LEGO set except for one. Does the set I don't own always contain at least one brick/piece that can't be found in all the sets I do own? Of course color doesn't matter.

Most of sets doesn't contain unique elements, however there are exceptions. This (uniqueness) is especially common with minifigures or limited edition/availability sets.

The easiest set (polybag) to confirm the fact that only some sets have unique parts is to take 624210, which consists of 6 pcs. of iconic 2 x 4 bricks in Red, which were available in numerous sets. Another option, of a boxed set, is to take any set consisting of basic bricks, like 5576. Parts included in 5576 are widely available and can be found in multiple sets.

However if you take something exclusive, like 41999. This set contains some unique parts available in this set only.


What is the range of the LEGO Powered Up remote control system? I'm curious how far I will be able get away from my creation before the remote and/or smart device is no longer able to control it.

Your mileage may vary, but according to LEGO, the range is about 10m (33ft) in open air.

  The Bluetooth signal distance is usually around 10 meters/33 feet in an open area, but it can vary, depending on a few things: Low batteries in the remote control, and obstacles – concrete walls, for example – may decrease the signal distance. Try to remove obstacles, or find another place to play with your train, if it seems like the distance is shorter than expected.


Are all the Magnet minifigs now glued on and how should I remove them? A couple of years ago (around 2010 I think), I bought a number of the Star Wars magnet sets, as they looked like a (slightly) economical way of buying a number of specialist characters (including the likes of Admiral Ackbar) without having to purchase the full (and often very expensive) sets:

However when I purchased the LEGO City Burglars Magnet Set in 2011 I was rather disappointed to discover that the legs were glued to the studs on the magnet block (but the accessories aren't glued on, etc.) - is this now standard across the range?

I was able to remove the legs from the stand with a knife, but haven't yet managed to remove the remnants of the studs from the legs - how should I go about this if this is a standard feature?

All new magnet sets introduced by LEGO will have the figures glued, as will any re-makes of existing sets.

History

In 2009 LEGO started producing sets of minifigures standing on magnetic bricks. At that time, the figures were removable, although some felt that they were of lower quality than the figs in regular LEGO sets.

In early 2011, however, LEGO started to produce Star Wars magnet sets where the minifigures were glued to the magnet. The problem was that LEGO Star Wars magnet sets violated a licensing agreement which said that LEGO could produce sets that contained Star Wars characters, but that they couldn't produce stand-alone figures. Apparently, one of the other big-name toy brands who was licences to produce stand-alone figures objected to the LEGO magnet products because they felt that the availability of LEGO Star Wars figures on magnets harmed their own sales figures. LEGO recognised that fans would be unhappy, but felt that it was in everyone's best interests to comply with requests to change their products.

To promote "a consistent consumer experience", all new LEGO minifigure magnet sets have had the minifigures permanently fixed on the magnet since that time, including the Pharaoh’s Quest sets launched the previous December.

This means that:

All sets that are new since January 2011 are glued.
Some sets that existed before January 2011 come in two versions - a glued version and a non-glued version. Confusingly, the sets have the same number and have been sold from LEGO shops simultaneously, and have similar packaging. Glued sets do have a note on the back saying that they are glued (in rather small print).
Any re-releases will be glued.
It might still be possible to buy non-glued sets. In December 2011 I was still able to buy certain non-glued sets from the online LEGO store in the UK. I assume that they were old stock.
Some parts are never glued - typically accessories like light sabres.

Some details for specific sets are available on TheBrickBlogger.com.

Incidentally, it is widely believed that one of the reasons that LEGO introduced the "Battle Packs" is to provide a way to buy minifigures that gets around the licensing issues.

Removing Minifigures

The most effective way to remove minifigures from the magnets is the "hot water process".

It turns out that LEGO does not actually "glue" the bricks, but uses a solvent that loosens the surface of the ABS plastic and allows the molecules to combine. The solvents are water soluble at certain temperatures, so hot water can weaken the seal between the bricks. Care must be taken not to overheat the water, however, as the melting point of ABS plastic is somewhat below boiling point.

Although the removal process does no damage to the LEGO, the places where the bricks were fused won't be smooth due to the fusion process itself.

Again, more details are to be found at TheBrickBlogger.com.

Disclaimer: I have not tried this myself.

Obtaining Minifigures

All this leaves us with several options for obtaining the minifigures we want:

Buy the sets that contain them (or figures that others have removed these sets). Battle packs and (for Star Wars) Advent Calendars are a good place to start.
Obtain old magnet sets that are not glued
Accept the rough edges left by the hot water method
Use parts from a combination of the above.

Response

The other thing we need to decide is how we respond to this change. My suggestions are:

Be happy that some sets were produced unglued.
Encourage LEGO to produce more battle packs by buying existing ones.
STOP buying the glued sets, and make LEGO aware that we don't like them.
Lobby LEGO to produce unglued magnet sets where licence restrictions don't exist.
Encourage LEGO to make statements about gluing more prominent on the glued sets.


Two-state clicker button For no particular good reason, I think it would be interesting to build a Lego button that behaves somewhat like the button on a click pen: as you press it, it alternates between a "down" state and an "up" state.

I've researched how pen buttons work and done a fair amount of Googling. I've experimented on my own. I haven't yet been able to figure out how to build such a thing. It's surely possible. Any advice?

Edit: OR I'd accept, as a solution, the official (Googlable) name for such a mechanism. If I can find a number of examples online I assume I can figure out the Lego version myself.

Ok, I have managed to build a working cam mechanism using LEGO Technic. Only thing missing is a big enough spring or elastic band to pull the entire assembly upwards - Still thinking through that part but sharing in the hopes that others can take my idea further (My current best thought is to have rubber bands on the outside of the mechanism pulling the "clicker" upwards.). Here is a demonstration of the mechanism at work (was difficult to demonstrate with just one hand as I haven't lined the walls of the vertical holder enough and sometimes the up/down motion goes under an angle): video on youtube.

Pictures:

The entire mechanism:

Clicker in the "up" position (i.e. retracted pen):

Clicker in the "down" position (i.e. pen out) - my hand is in the picture as there is no spring to provide pressure upwards:

The insert with the loop (I believe this is what is called a "cam"). There is a resting point on the top (the "down" position) as well as a resting point on the bottom (the "up" position):

The "ball" - in this case a simple Technic axle with 2 1/2-width bushings on it - is supported in this mechanism, which allows the black part to slide freely from left to right. This "ball" moves around the loop defined by the "cam" from the previous picture:


Running Power Functions Train Without IR Receiver/Remote I recently bought 10254 Winter Holiday Train and wanted to get it running around the provided circle of track. I was wondering if there is any way to do this without incorporating the IR receiver and speed remote? My understanding is that if I were to simply connect a battery box to the motor and switch it on it would run too fast and de-rail.

I suppose my question is ultimately; is there a way to limit the speed without using the speed remote? The train will only ever go around a perfect circle of track so I have no desire to alter the speed for straights/corners. I don't have a huge knowledge of electronics but can use a soldering iron and am willing to get my hands dirty.

I also understand that the rechargeable battery box has a variable speed output (which does sound ideal) but was wondering if there is a cheaper option?

There is a fairly easy and cheap way to do this since you don't want real variable speed control. As you noted, connecting the AAA battery box directly to the PF train motor technically works, but the motor runs too fast.

The default AAA battery box provides 9v from 6 AAA cells. Lowering this voltage will lower the speed of your motor. If you'd like to get your hands dirty, you can modify the AAA battery box or buy a battery box that supplies another voltage and connect this up to the C0 and C1 lines of your motor.

However, the simplest solution I can think of is to purchase (or possibly build) AAA dummy batteries and use a few of these in the AAA battery box in conjunction with regular batteries. These look like AAA batteries, but are actually just metal conductors internally. By using a number of these in the battery box, you can have it provide 1.5v, 3v, 4.5v, 6v, 7.5v, or 9v.

Philo has a nice breakdown of speed vs voltage for PF train motors:

3V = 135 rpm (2 AAA batteries, 4 dummies)
4.5V = 468  rpm (3 AAA batteries, 3 dummies)
6V = 792 rpm (4 AAA batteries, 2 dummies)
7.5V = 1107 rpm (5 AAA batteries, 1 dummies)
9V = 1458 rpm (6 AAA batteries, 0 dummies)

You can make adjustments in 1.5 volt increments by adding or removing batteries from your setup to hopefully find a speed that works for you.

It's a bit more complicated/expensive to get proper variable speed control, but if you just want a constant speed that is slower than the default PF full speed, this is the simplest method I can think of.


Are there LEGO Hygrometer sensors? Currently, there are light, ultrasonic, touch and sound Mindstorms sensors, but is there a hygrometer sensor from LEGO?

There is not one made by LEGO. However, there are a number of 3rd-party options:

Fatcatlab makes a Humidity Sensor (EV3 only).
Vernier makes a relative humidity sensor that can be used with the Vernier sensor adapter (EV3 and NXT).
There are also several temperature and humidity sensors from Grove that can be used with the mindsensors.com Grove sensor adapter (EV3 and NXT).


Which LEGO vehicle set do I have here? 6 wheels and orange bricks Can anyone help identify this kit? I received it in a bag with the number 5 on the outside and the year 2011. I'm really keen to build it but need some help identifying it so that I can get the instructions.

Thanks for your help.

Set 4635 - Fun with Vehicles. Specifically the tow truck pictured top center.


Power Functions battery box and receiver limits What combination of motor/Receiver/battery boxes are possible/supported?

example: 2x XL motors, 1x M Motor, 1 light using 1 receiver and 1 battery box.

The present line of battery boxes all provide 800mA of current and have overload protection to ensure that this level is not exceeded. Here's what the LEGO website has to say about powering motors:

  As a rule of thumb, you can drive 2 Power Functions XL-Motors, 3 Power Functions Train Motors or 4 Power Functions M-Motors at the same time from one Power Functions Battery Box.

That's the basic high-level view. LEGO provides more details about each motor. You can check these out on the element specs page. Here's a list providing the current consumption for each motor type under "normal conditions":

Servo - 150mA
M - 150mA
L - 225mA
XL - 300mA
Train - 225mA
Lights - Negligible ("You can generally power as many as you need in addition to the motors")

So, in order to stay within TLG's recommendations, you shouldn't be running anything totalling more than 800mA from the above list off of a single battery box. Also be aware that if you are doing things which require a lot of mechanical power, such as heavy lifting, your motors will draw additional power. A stalled XL motor will overload the battery box by itself, for example.

As far as I know, overloading the battery box doesn't cause any long term problems, so there isn't an issue with testing your configuration to see if the battery box can handle it.


Where can I find icons of LEGO bricks? I'm looking for a set of icons - maybe as SVG or something like that - for available bricks to use to label sorting boxes (non-commercial use)

Are the official brick icons used e.g. in build instructions somewhere available from LEGO or are there alternative sets available?

Rebrickable

For non-commercial use, the parts library used by Rebrickable is fairly extensive. More importantly the images have a very consistent presentation.

If you already know the part ID you can replace the use the URL below to get a direct link to the image. Just replace the X with your part ID.

https://img.rebrickable.com/img/pieces/elements/X.jpg

This won't work for parts that have alternative designs and some other exceptions.

LEGO Pick A Brick

LEGO's official Pick A Brick service has a relatively small collection of common pieces that are still in production. The images are of a consistently good quality although quite small.


The most amount of pieces [ever] per set Which set number had the most

Standard LEGO elements to date?
Technic LEGO elements to date?

The largest LEGO set by piece count is :
31203: World Map (2021)
Piece count : 11695
Second:
10276-1: Colosseum (2020)
Piece count : 9035
Followed by :
75192-1: Millennium Falcon (2017)
Piece count: 7541

Largest Techic set :
42100-1: Liebherr R 9800 (2019)
Piece count : 4108
Second :
42082-1: Rough Terrain Crane (2018)
Piece count : 4057


How can I use System and Bionicle elements together? I have a small collection of Bionicle elements that I would like to incorporate into my System builds but I am a little unsure how to use them.

What are the different ways to use these two types of bricks together?

since the bionicle-pieces only have holes for technic-connections and no studs to use then directly with bricks, you'll have two possibilities:

build some kind of "adapter" using technic-pieces. you could use pegs to connect the bionicle-piece with some kind of technic-brick.
put the studs of your system-bricks into the bionicle-pieces technic-holes - which may not be the best idea

I'd prefer the first option - it's easy, more robust, not controversial and just need two or three pieces in most cases. for example a brick with axle-hole and a small axle or a brick with hole and a simple peg is all you need to get started.


EV3 isn't showing up in programming software after pairing on Windows XP Running Windows XP x32.

I've connected, paired, connected, paired, paired, and connected, but I just can't get the EV3 software to recognize my EV3!

I've used this EV3 before on a different PC over bluetooth (and it worked), my drivers aren't screwed up, etc.

When I go to the software and try to connect to it, it doesn't show. I've refreshed about 50 times.

My EV3 Brick is running firmware V1.09H and is a model from Chrismas 2015, shown as Hardware version V0.60 in the settings panel.

The key is to make sure the driver works with MS's bluetooth stack, and doesn't just use it's own stack.

Press Win+R, type bthprops.cpl (or maybe irprops.cpl, it's been a while), hit enter.  Check the Hardware tab to make sure your device actually shows up.  If not, try different drivers/manually installing the driver using the "Have disk" method.  3rd party bluetooth stacks may disable the MS one seeing the device, even if the device/driver supports the MS stack.


Mega Bloks vs LEGO bases Are Mega Bloks compatible with LEGO bases? Do they sell larger LEGO bases for them? I am making a table but want to use the correct base.

LEGO Bases work with Mega Bloks, as the bricks are the same dimensions. However, certain Mega Bloks pieces, like specialized items and weapons, may not fit optimally with LEGO minifigures.

Certain bricks (including the maxi and DUPLO-sized bricks) are on a larger scale. They produce bricks that will work with DUPLO plates and such. This is probably the most produced size.


Identify this uniformed figure with four yellow buttons and a grey belt My son recently got a huge box of figures and pieces (from what I can tell an original spaceship with figure too) and I can't figure out what set is from or how old this figure is.

He has four yellow buttons and a silver/greyish belt on a black sticker on his chest. Body and legs are black and no other discerning features about him.

Looks like a 1980's Fireman.  Found an example from the 620 lego set:


Any good alternatives to BrickLink? I'm trying to find certain bricks online, and of course, came across BrickLink. But it's so darn hard to use it; search is absolutely useless, and I can't figure out how to use the catalog for the life of me. Are there any good alternatives out there?

(I've skimmed through peeron.com and BrickOwl, but haven't had time to really investigate -- can anyone vouch for them?)

BrickLink is by far the best place to buy LEGO. It is also very easy to use. Once you get how it works, you will never look back. There are several very helpful videos on YouTube showing you how to use BrickLink most efficiently. Here is one: http://youtu.be/Cyat8aFVk_k

I have also put together a detailed written guide on how to use BrickLink here: http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/02/shopping-on-bricklink/


What set do these LEGO parts belong to? Star Wars-type patterns, Bionicle connectors Please help identify these Lego sets:

The round grey printed discs, the tan gears, the grey worm screw, the boat studs and the black rope in the first photo, the 6x4 and 6x12 grey plates from the third and fourth photo are found together in 10178: Motorised Walking AT-AT:  (Thanks to Chronocidal for the additional info)

The blue sloped piece with the hexagonal sticker motif in the second photo could be from 7667: Imperial Dropship:

The white Bionicle pieces on the third photo are definitely from 8747: Visorak Suukorak:

I believe the rest of the pieces are way too generic and could have come from many different sets, but somebody will definitely correct me if I'm wrong.

There are a few non-LEGO pieces as well:

And


How does the DUPLO Action Bricks work? Does anybody knows what is the technology the DUPLO Action Bricks are based on?It is not any RFID or NFC because I printed out the white one on normal white paper which turns lights on/off. The symbol on brick is not important - even white paper with symbol of printed rain drop turns the light on/off.
I'm not able to make coloured ones - blue, red, green or yellow. Is the exact color shade so important? If so, then how to make own Action Bricks?

It is about color and length

The Duplo action brick uses a color sensor, so you want to use the correct colors
and it needs the length of the brick for the sensor to determine the color.

paper replacement (youtube)

How to 3d print your own


What are the exact dimensions of a DUPLO brick? The dimensions of LEGO brick are documented well, but what about DUPLO bricks? If have only found the general statements that DUPLO is twice as large as LEGO but no exact numbers. What about the thickness of walls and the space that must be subtracted at each side (0.2mm for LEGO), is it also just doubled?. If you compare the bottom of a LEGO 2x4 brick and a DUPLO 2x4 brick, there are also additional small walls that I have not found documented.

Update: Some dimensions of a DUPLO brick can be derived from the dimensions of a LEGO brick, which have been documented by Robert Cailliau among
others:

Above and below a DUPLO 2x2 brick one can put two LEGO 2x4 bricks (or four 2x2 LEGO bricks). The outer walls of such stack seem to align perfectly, so the width and length of a DUPLO 2x2 brick is equal to the width of a LEGO 2x4 brick, which is 31.8mm (32mm-0.2mm). By putting DUPLO and LEGO side by side, one can also see that the DUPLO height without studs is twice of the size in LEGO (19.2mm). The LEGO studs below the DUPLO brick touch DUPLO walls, so DUPLO wall thickness is the same as LEGO wall thickness (either before spline walls were introduced to LEGO bricks or LEGO wall thickness plus the length of LEGO splines), which is 1.5mm. The DUPLO tube height is the height of the brick minus the height of a LEGO stud (which is somewhere between 1.6mm and 1.8mm). I'd better use the larger value, so the tubes start 1.8mm above the floor of the brick. From the top, LEGO tubes fit into DUPLO studs, so the stud inner diameter should equal to 6.51mm (8*√2 - 4.8$). But if you carefully look inside a DUPLO stud, this fitting is only achieved by four additional lugs that give a minimal inner diameter around 6mm to facilitate snapping into.

The remaining dimension include:

stud outer diameter
stud height
tube inner diameter (but DUPLO tubes are not fully circular inside
on a closer look!)
tube outer diameter (also occurs at some other elements for instance as stem at #6510)
spline length

Spline length can be derived from wall width and stud outer diameter. Tube
outer diameter and stud outer diameter can also be computed from each other. So basically three dimensions are left to be explained. Comments and insights are welcome how more of the remaning dimensions can be
derived from standard LEGO/DUPLO dimensions.

For the short answer, Duplo studs are indeed taller than twice the height of a Lego stud.  And don't rely too heavily on measurements you get from ldraw (and not just for Duplo).

For a really long-winded history on this...

First, note that when I authored the original Duplo parts I never actually measured them with a ruler or calipers, as there was no need.  The ldraw system assumes "perfect" dimensions in terms of other ldraw parts, so you typically measure parts by comparing them to other Lego pieces.  By this measurement, Duplo in ldraw (not counting the studs) is exactly twice the size of Lego.  In real life, any part is slightly smaller than the nominal measurement so that you can slide two parts next to each other without them hanging up on each other.  Duplo parts seem to be about twice as tolerant in this way, so I'd guess that in real life also the outer dimensions are very close to twice the size.

Some time in the 1990's, Duplo studs were changed.  They were made taller, and the inner hole got larger (making the stud walls thinner).  They also added bumps to the inside of the stud hole.  The ldraw Duplo stud has the taller height of the new stud and the perfect roundness and dimensions of the old stud hole.

Regular Lego bricks used to have smooth internal walls, and the ldraw bricks still look like this.  Duplo bricks always had "splines" that run vertically along the inside walls for Duplo studs to clutch.  Regular Lego studs clutch against the outer wall of the Duplo brick instead.  This is how studs of different sizes can both fit into the underside of a Duplo brick.  Around (2003?) Lego started making the walls of regular Lego look like Duplo bricks.  I assume this is a cost-cutting measure where they now use less plastic to mold the walls, but now have splines like Duplo so that the walls are the old thickness in the places where studs need to clutch.

So... Duplo wall thickness is the same as Lego wall thickness from before 2003 or so.  It's 4 LDU (ldraw units) if that helps.  For reference, a plate is 8 LDU high without the stud, and a 1x1x1 brick is 20x20x24 LDU without the stud.  Studs in ldraw are 4 LDU high, but that is totally inaccurate.  Non-hollow studs are clearly more than half the height of a plate, and the real height of regular studs should be more like 4.25 LDU.

Be very wary of the measurements that you get from parts converted from ldraw format to POV-Ray.  L3P scales each part down just a little bit to let POV-Ray show edge lines.

There is no simple real-world conversion from ldraw units to inches or centimeters.  For more info on that, see my lugnet post from 2001: http://news.lugnet.com/cad/?n=5284.

Primo is another story...


What does taking Raw value for EV3 Colour sensor do? I participate in Robotics competitions like the WRO and I want to know if using EV3 colour sensor raw values helps in line follow.

When you take a Raw value from any sensor, the EV3 brick passes on the reading as reported directly from the sensor, without doing any processing. Especially for the color sensor, where you have several modes such as Reflection and Color Number, the EV3 brain does do post-processing on the input value to make the output easier to understand and/or use. By getting the raw value you are likely get a higher resolution signal than in any of the other modes, at the expense of potential error correction.


How to connect fire to Lord Business' Coffee Mugs? So, we have Lord Business' Evil Lair (70809-1), and we also have some two-tone flames from another set.
How can the flames be attached to Lord Biz' coffee mugs (as seen in The LEGO Movie)?

 +
The flame shaft can be connected to plenty of parts, such as a "Round 1 x 1 with Open Stud".
However...the mug part has an unusual inner diameter that studs don't fit into. So I'm wondering how this was constructed for the film - or if the animators didn't actually make a construction but just placed the flames for the shot, is there some way they can be connected to at least approximate the way they appear in the film?
(I mean, without having to resort to... the Kragle!)

They might have cheated in the movie, but an old 8 toothed gear fits snugly in the hole.


When I connect my Samantha Module to my NXT, the NXT shows the wrench icon When I connect my Samantha module to my NXT, it shows the wrench icon instead of the USB icon.

I have tried updating the firmware, to no avail.

The blue light does not turn on. It sees the WiFi network just fine, the white light flashes, but it will not connect to the NXT.

Any ideas?

You can try http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2006/06/nxt-problems-post-problems-and.html Some of the info is a little old, but the site appears to be active.


EV3 and HiTechnic Color Sensor Block Can I use the Hitechnic Color Sensor with my EV3?
At the HiTechnic web site I cannot find the necessary files for importing the Hitechnic Color Sensor Block into the EV3 software.

Yes there is

On the HiTechnic website: => download
http://www.hitechnic.com/downloadnew.php?category=38

This is preliminary release of the HiTechnic EV3 Color Sensor Block.  Note that this block only supports the EV3 and will not work with the NXT.  Zip file includes both the Color Sensor block and a sample program that shows the color sensor values on the EV3 screen.  See instructions at top of this downloads page for installation instructions.


Can I push the train of 60052 We more like to push trains with hand. There were old ones, like the train of set 2741, where when pushing the engine, the contact became loose between the axis and the cog wheel.
Can I count some similar damage, if we push the engine of 60051 (and 60052)?

I would not recommend pushing the motorized train base for extended periods of times. When you turn the motor, it will generate electricity. Unless that energy has somewhere to go, it will turn into heat. It's probably not an issue to do this a little bit for short periods of time, but I wouldn't do it a lot.

If you wish to make your train a push train, you could replace the base with another non-motorized base.


Large LEGO Minifig Styles I'm pretty sure the LEGO figure on the right is the daughter from a 1977 set Nurse and Child. But what about this style of jumbo minifig on the left with arms and legs that bend? When was that from? It might be from a LEGO Basic set? What different styles of minifigs has LEGO produced over the years?

The figure on the left is generally referred to as a Fabuland figure, although I believe that the entire Fabuland line actually featured animals. There were a few basic sets released in the 80s that included human Fabuland-style figures. That one is probably from this fire engine:

Before the introduction of the Minifig in 1978, there was the Maxifig that you noted in your question:

The precursor to the modern minifig was added in 1975:

LEGO released a history of the minifig that you might find interesting.

In addition to the traditional minifig, you may also come across Technic figures which were around for a time.

There were also the Creator figures that were only around briefly in the early 2000s:


9398 4x4 Crawler front wheels rotate in the opposite direction to the rear wheel We've just finished 9398 4x4 Crawler. Everything looks good, the motors work but the front wheels rotate in the opposite direction to the rear wheels, they also turn in opposite directions. What could be the problem?

Likely you'll have the differential gears oriented wrong in the front or back section.

The differential gear is this piece:

Please check the instructions carefully and see if the orientation of this piece in the instruction book matches your build.


Legal free NXT-G download Where can I get a legal, free copy of NXT-G for mac?
I lost my disk when I bought my NXT, and I need to get a new program.

LEGO has recenlty made this easier to find:

http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/downloads/software/nxt-software/


Identification for harness/hose/pipe + wings I'm still trying to follow the instructions mentioned in my last question, and I came upon this image:
.

Does anybody know what piece/pieces that/those are on the right? (I know the # for the pistols.)

Also: the wings on the right:
.
All the wings I found either had holes for pins or were too big.

It's 30191 Strap 12 M:

This is listed as x169 on Bricklink and Peeron, and is also called a stretcher holder, as that was it's original use when it was first created in 1998:

Edit: It's acceptable and even preferred to post new questions to identify new parts. With that said, the wing part in your updated question is 15082 Animal Wing with Shaft:


What parts make up this mini-figure? I need a little help in identifying the parts on this figure.

Here is what I need help with:

The Hat/plume
The Torso
The Cape (though it looks like it might be made of two capes instead of one).
The part that is holding the sword.

Hope the group can give me some help.

Pirate hat: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2528#T=C

Plume: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4502c#T=C

Torso: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973pb0665c01#T=C&C=11

Capes (appear to be two standard capes): https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=522#T=C

Scabbard: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=95348#T=C


What different bricks exist with studs on the sides? (Partially inspired by this question.)

I have been wondering recently just how many different LEGO bricks there are with studs on the side.

Which LEGO bricks have studs specifically on the sides?

Note: I am asking about bricks, not plates and/or other types of elements.

There are a lot of elements shown (together with other possibilities and SNOT-techniques) at holgermatthes.de, where there are pieces that are really bricks with side-studs (excluding all the other possibilities for SNOT-building) are those (+ the headlight/erling-brick and the big gray blocks you can see here, which are not shown in the following image):


What is the best way to rebuild Lego sets? My six year old son loves to build with LEGO bricks and has quite a few LEGO sets. Over time they have been disassembled, so we decided to try to rebuild some of them. We have the original instructions.

In order to make it easier to find the correct bricks, we sorted the LEGO into boxes of one or two colours (different blues in one, green and brown in one, etc.). The next step is to start building, but it seems like a lot of work to find the right bricks. Does anyone have some good advice or ideas on how to do it most effectively (and still fun for a six years old boy).

Sorting by color is the first thing any LEGO collector will do, but soon you will find out that finding that one specific piece in a whole box of black pieces is quite difficult, and your sorting method will further differentiate between plates and bricks, SNOT pieces etc. Check out this post for more tips and details.

For your particular problem I would do the following: get as many large ziploc bags as you have sets (or if there are big sets, use multiple bags). When your son is in bed or at school, look at the back page(s) of the set instructions - there is a list of all elements and their counts.

Pick all the pieces for a given set based on this list. The lists are already sorted by color, so if you have your son's collection sorted by color this means you need to look only at one box at a time - a handy bonus! Put the pieces in a ziploc bag and mark the bag with the set name or set number (or print a picture of the set on adhesive paper and attach it - go to http://www.brickset.com for good pictures of new and old sets). Now, once it is time for your son to rebuild, he just takes the bag he needs and builds the set.

After he is done with playing with the set (and when it has slowly degraded into a million pieces, as is the case with the way my kids play with their LEGO) you can first do a quick clean-up by again sorting the pieces into the color-coded boxes, and then once redo the filling of the ziploc bag based on the instructions.


Is it safe to drink from Pick A Brick cups? I have a habit of drinking from the Lego Pick A Brick cups.  I sent an email to Lego to ask if they were rated safe for drinking from, and they refused to endorse any use of Lego products that wasn't originally intended.

They did point out that the bricks were made from ABS, but a PAB cup is not a brick, nor did they say if ABS was rated safe for food use.

Has anyone tested the plastic in the PAB cups to see what they are, or if they are safe for food use?

The Pick-a-Brick cups are made from polypropylene, as evidenced by the #5 resin identification code on the bottom. Polypropylene is widely considered a safe plastic for storing food and drink, and it is stable at very high temperatures (i.e., temperatures higher than your dishwasher). I would feel comfortable drinking out of one of the cups.


What are the dimensions of LEGO 10221 Super Star Destroyer? What is the length, width, and height of the 10221 Super Star Destroyer set, fully built, including its stand?

I'm trying to make a display case for one.

So the box says 49 inches long, the official description says "under 50 inches long".
I just measured the width (about 13.25 inches) and height (about 9.5 inches) on my assembled set.

So a rough minimum inner size box would be 50"L x 13.5"W x 10"H.


What is the Travis Brick? This question uses the term "Travis Brick", but I've never heard it before. What is it, and where does the term come from?

The Travis Brick is the 1×1 brick with studs on four sides.

The nickname arose amongst LEGO Space builders. It was nicknamed The Travis after talented Space builder Travis Kunce. He liked the part so much he had a tattoo of it.

The brick is especially useful in SNOT techniques as it has studs on all but the bottom surface.


Can you identify the parts for this red wizard? Can anyone identify the hair, head, or the sapphire gem in this photo?

Hair :

Part # 16691pb01

Minifigure, Hair Long with Nougat Headband Pattern

Head :

Part # 3626cpb0931

Minifigure, Head Dual Sided Black Eyebrows, Cheek Lines, Chin Dimple, Determined / Bared Teeth with Red Eyes Pattern (Superman) - Hollow Stud

Gem:

Part # 30153

Rock 1 x 1 Jewel 24 Facet
in Transred


How much does the full-size LEGO Bugatti cost? I read that the LEGO developers have built a real driving Bugatti from Lego Bricks.

Did they only use original LEGO parts? Which ones and how many? Which sets does one need to buy and how many? And how much would that cost?

And bonus question, is there a "legal" (LEGO only) way to make it faster?

From Top gear's article on it:

  This was laid over a steel frame; one of three ‘parts’ that aren’t actually Lego (the others being the real Chiron wheels and a steel roll cage).

So no, not only original LEGO parts. I don't think (and can't see why they should have) kept track of which parts they used, so noone can really answer the rest of your questions, but from the figures we know (for instance from the linked article):
- 1 million Technic pieces
- 1,5 tonne
- 2304 motors

we can estimate the price. As a significant part of the pieces are probably in the expensive end (an average weight of 1,5 gram matches that), 1/3€ is probably not completely off as an average piece price. Motors are significantly more expensive, they haven't said (or I haven't read it at least) what kind of LEGO motors they use, but they cost 10-20€ a piece, giving a total for the motors of at least 20.000€, so in total the car might only (compared to a real Bugatti Chiron) cost ~350.000€, and then there's the "13,500 man hours", salaries vary a lot, and if you were to replicate it you would actually have to pay it, just spend the time, and it is more than 1,5 year (working 24 hours/day).

Edit: I forgot the bonus question. The 2304 motors they used take up a bit of space, and typically LEGO motors aren't manufactured to have a very precise speed, so when connecting more I would think a differential would be need for each (except the first), they also take up space. If you could fit more motors (and differentials) in there, you would theoretically increase its power, as things are I think (but the physics is not really my area) it's hard to tell if it would manifest itself as more speed and if such how much, but it wouldn't be impressive. I don't see any other ways to increase the speed than adding more motors.


Lego death star problems I have recently got the death star but my han solo and ben kenobi mini figures have white parts in their eyes (a newer edition of the mini figure) why them and only them.

I don't have the Death Star, and haven't kept up with the latest figure development trends, so I can't be sure about this, but:

Lego frequently updates parts. The new parts are sometimes considered new, and the old parts retired, but often the new parts are considered equivalent to the old parts. Lego then uses these new parts arbitrarily, wherever is most convenient. This leads, sometimes, to a set containing a mix of old and new parts, depending on the sources of those parts during manufacturing. So if, say, they replaced a certain piece with another, nearly identical piece, any set you buy during the transition period could conceivably contain both, if the parts bags in your set came from two different parts of the factory.

If Lego updated the Solo and Kenobi head designs, for use all across the Star Wars line, those head designs may show up in new copies of older sets. Similarly, if there is still stock left of older designs, those designs may also appear in newer sets. When Lego considers the parts to be equivalent, there is no guarantee of which you'll get during the transition.


How do I change the color of a brick? I have a uniquely-shaped brick that I would like to make a darker shade of gray (it's currently blue).

What media is the best in terms of durability for continued use (i.e. re-use, re-configuration)?
I assume a spray media would work well, is there a particular type of paint to use that would have a harder surface and be less prone to scratching, sticking?

I don't think that spray paint would be very durable.  Even if you used a primer specifically designed for plastic the paint would scratch off fairly easily.  Also, spray paint would add a noticeable amount of thickness to the brick and could interfere when trying to mate the brick up with others.


Why doesn't LEGO bring back old series as they were "in the day" As many of you probably can tell, LEGO has been rehashing old series and giving them a new twist (eg. Rock Raiders -> Power Miners, or whatever its called). Why doesn't LEGO actually make some of those old sets again, without modification (or very little)?

The sheer amount of nostalgia that would come from that would be insane.

First, LEGO did at some point reissue some sets (the "legends" series), but then stopped doing so, and it's likely they found out it was not really that interesting to do.

The reasons why would be pure speculation, but at the very least building techniques and available parts do evolve in a way that older sets wouldn't be able to compete with recent ones. As Zhaph mentionned, horses are a very good example.

Also, don't forget that LEGO is producing toys and that kids are their main target audience. Ask a kid what's cooler, the new Kingdoms Joust or the yellow castle? Or even any cool castle set of the eighties? Why do all minifigs have the same stupid fixed smile? Why don't they have alternate faces on the back of their heads? Where are the animals? Granted, it's a bit of an exageration, but still.

They do take adults into account now, yes, but the "sheer amount of nostalgia" generated by re-issuing older sets may not be that big a market as we would believe. Even adults tend to be more in awe at newer sets (modular houses). I did buy the re-issue of the USS Constellation, and to be honest... I find nostalgia to be a bit overrated.

Then there's the whole problem of parts which are simply not in production any longer, and for which the cost of reproducing them would offset the potential benefits of reissuing sets. (In other words, don't expect monorails to be reissued ever).


Lego Technic 42048 with LEGO 8293 I have seen a YouTube Video that claims the motorization of LEGO Technic 42048 using LEGO 8293. However, the LEGO support site does not state such compatibility.

I am not able to get my hands on a physical box of 42048 to see whether the power functions symbol is on it.

Appreciate if anyone could share whether LEGO Technic 42048 can be motorized with LEGO 8293 straightaway, or if there are any special tweaks or pieces required?

Well the thing with LEGO, (Technic, Classic, Mindstorms or whichever category you talk about) is that it is customizable. You might not get instructions to combine Power Functions with this kit but you can figure out a way or look at other people who have done it. No, you cannot straightaway attach Power Functions with the 42048 set. There are sets (at higher prices) which have been designed to contain the PF elements. So no the power functions symbol is not there on the 42048 box.

However I encourage you to go ahead and try to attach the 8293 PF elements to any Technic set you have since you probably can fit the parts into most sets.


What pieces are used to create this Djembe MOC? I sent an E-mail to the creator but haven't heard back. Any thoughts on the part numbers on the Lego djembe? Trying to build one for Christmas gift :-)

From the looks of it, the base is made out of a 4x4 red plate (#3031) and a 1x4 red plate (#3710).
On top, you have 3 1x4 red tiles (#2431) arranged in a U shape within the center of the U 3 1x2 tiles with center stud (red - #3794) and 1 regular 1x2 tile (#3069), like so:

________
|_______|
| |_o_| |
| |___| |
| |.|.| |
|_|_|_|_|

The seat is a hinge piece (#3938 on #3937), sitting on 2 of the 1x2 tiles with center stud, whereas the djembe itself is a 1x1 cone (#4589b), an inverted 2x2 round disc (radar - #4740), a 2x2 round disc with X hole in center (#4032) and then the finishing 2x2 round tile (with optional pattern - variants of #4150).

The cone, inverted disc and 2x2 round pieces are attached together using a Lego Friends magic wand #87994pb01 or a Bar 3L (#87994), though I don't have access to such a bar and hence wasn't able to try it out in my draft build, but I did test out a Bar 4L (#30374) and know that that works if trimmed down to about 3L. Alternatively you can use a tool screwdriver (#6246a), but this doesn't secure the top 2 round pieces very well.

Here are step-by-step instructions :) :


How to check the missing pieces of a given set? I have a collection of LEGO sets, from which only the B model is assembled and the remaining pieces have been lost.

What is the easiest way to figure out which pieces are missing from these sets?

You can use the Compare Sets function on Rebrickable for that (if the B model is an official model or a MOC on Rebrickable).

Here an example for both official models from the 42069 set.


Removable glue for LEGO models I want to glue my 4-year-old's LEGO bricks, but I want to be able to remove the glue when he is older. What is the best glue to use that is removable and okay to use on LEGO bricks?

Officially, LEGO Group doesn't recommend any adhesive on the toys. It can lead to corrosion or warping chemically, warping physically (the glue puts pressure on the pieces), and the removal of the adhesive also carries these risks. Plus, you'd be killing not only the the monetary value of the set, but the ability of those pieces to be active stimuli for creativity and motor skills.

The LEGO Movie clearly shows that using glue on the toys is what the villain does.


Can using a hex key to disassemble LEGO Technic pieces cause damage? Does using the right size hex key (Allen key) to speed up the disassembly process cause damage to the LEGO Technic pieces?

Yes
A hex key, being tough metal, is inherently a danger to ABS plastic. Using it to push axles and pop connections will eventually scratch and wear down your parts, something you don't want with technic pieces.


How to import Rebrickable.com parts lists to LDraw? I have exported all of the parts that I have entered into Rebrickable as a .pbg file. I also have a .xml file from Rebrickable that is for BrickLink.
I was told that I could just import the document into LDraw and then I could build projects just using the parts that I already owned.

I have LDCad and MLCad installed from the LDraw AIOI.

Is there any way to import these files as an LDraw parts list?

I don't think you "import the document into LDraw" since I don't think there is an LDraw program; it's a library of all parts.  CAD programs manipulate those parts.

I tried various CAD programs over the years and recently found that LDCad (which you say you recently installed) works for me.  So what you want to do is to import your Rebrickable parts list into LDCad as a parts library.  Then, indeed, it's much easier to play with LDCad when you don't have to paw through the entire LDraw library looking for parts; you just go through your subset of parts.

Two years ago when I found LDCad I wanted a parts library restricted to just the parts in a specific LEGO kit so I kept notes and posted my experience.  I still use it.


How do you convert the ev3p program files and assets back into an ev3 project file? I edited the ev3p file, and I want to see the changes by opening it in the ev3 IDE. How do I convert all of the files back into an ev3 project file?

I've figured it out. To anyone who wants to know, the reason why the ev3 IDE wouldn't work is because I made a zip file with the folder with the all of the items instead of compressing the items themselves.


Restoring valuable minifigures I recently purchased a lot of LEGO minifigures. Included in the lot was a first issue green goblin. The figure is in great condition aside from having a permanent marker line on the torso. Is there a way that I can remove the marker without damaging the print on the figure? My son and I collect together and have been looking for the green goblin fig to go with our collection.

First off be very careful of the printing on the minifigure, the plastic is quite durable but the printing can wipe off rather easily. I list a few different methods to remove permanent marker all have their varying degrees of risk. They are listed in the order I'd try them in.

Dry erase marker?! Just cover over the permanent marker with a dry erase marker then wipe it off. yes it works.
Aerosol hairspray, body spray, Rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol), etc. Like JohnnyB suggested alcohol is a good cleaner for permanent marker, especially on plastic. Just be careful of the printing any alcohol biased cleaner can and will remove the printing.
Nail polish remover. Be very careful with this one, nail polish remover's active ingredient is acetone. Acetone with enough time will dissolve ABS (and rubber tires very quickly) but long before that happens it will remove the printing :( I'd only try acetone as a last resort.
Toothpaste I'd recommend skipping this social media craze, it may work (on lego) but there are better ways. On the plus side I doubt the toothpaste it will hurt the minifig, however all the scrubbing necessary to remove the marker that is another story...


Controlling EV3 motors within VC++ I've got an application within some VC++ software (BCI2000). This is running on Windows 7. Although BCI2000 can run elsewhere, I'd like to stay on Windows.

I've got an EV3 whose motors I'd like to manipulate within my existing application. I don't mind using bluetooth, wifi, or a wired connection, whatever is easiest.

What would be the best way to go about doing this? I've read about ev3ev and ev3 sources, both look feasible. I also stumbled upon this post detailing control of the motors using just xcode with nothing installed on the brick. That looks ideal to me but my attempts at just injecting that code into my VC++ project have persistent dependency failures that I'm trying to fix here.

Any recommendations on how I could go about this?

You can run C++ programs directly on the EV3 (Stackoverflow). An Eclipse plugin is also available.

If you want to run the C++ program on Windows and connect to the EV3 remotely you can use c4ev3's ev3duder, to establish a connection to the device and then keep sending direct messages to the motors over that connection. Check out moveEv3.pl for an example.


Pattern for oscillation with LEGO Technic I would like to simulate an oscillation movement of 120/100 degrees around a fixed point.

Something like this one:

Basically, I want to rotate a gear around its axis, but only have a partial rotation and then have it return back.

What you're looking for is reciprocal motion, or to convert rotation motion into linear motion (and then back to a limited rotation).

Building out the key parts of the fan head you have the following setup (using fairly standard technic pieces:

Drive the smaller cog normally, this will rotate 360° as normal.
The driving rod will only move as far as the limits of the smaller cog - from the side you can see that this appears to be only going forwards and backwards.
The larger cog will be driven forwards a few degrees and then be pulled backwards as the driving rod is pulled back in return.

Adjust the distance between the gears and the size of the gears as you require. If you need a larger gear in (3) you could replace the gear with one of the liftarms with an axle hole rather than circles, etc.


How to visually search for specific parts in a 3D model? For a missed/loose piece that needs to be reattached, I plan to check all the steps where the piece was used. If I can also get an overview of the possible piece locations from the existing 3D models, that should speed things up as well. However, I don't see any option to filter/show by piece in Mecabricks or LDD. Is there any other way?

Okay Bro, here we go.  I still use LEGO Digital Designer.  Open it, and you'll be using a combination of a few tools to filter out the exact piece locations in your model's 3 dimensional space.

Below we'll use pictures of Bowser as an example for a few selections.

The "Selection" tool sub tools:

(1) Single Selection: Pick one piece you want to move.

(2) Multiple Selection: Pick multiple pieces you want to move. Shortcut Key:  Hold down control button to to select multiple pieces.

(3) Connected Selection: Move the pieces that interlock in a continuous cluster. (VERY USEFUL FOR ME!)

(4) Color: Pick a specific color.

(5) Shape: Pick a specific shape REGARDLESS of color.

(6) Color and Shape: Pick a specific shape and color.

A combination of two other tools that will bring it all together is the "Invert" Selection Tool and the "Hide" Section tool.

Connected + Hide Example:

In this example of "Connected" Selection, look at Bowser's toes.  They're not highlighted, which means they are not connected, but after we hit the "Hide" button we see a green piece of Bowser's chest just a floatin' too.

Connected.

Hidden.

Multiple Shape + Invert + Hide + Shape and Color Example:

I buy my models on Bricklink.com but have to upload them through Stud.io, but Stud.io doesn't recognize which 1x1 tiles LEGO Digital Designer is using.  So, I have to filter them out regardless of color, and figure out how many of each color I need to manually add them to my purchase later.

Selection of 1x1 tile regardless of color.

Invert Selection.

Hide non 1x1 tiles.

Specific Color and Shape for PINK.  Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

Specific Color and Shape for GREEN.  Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

Specific Color and Shape for TAN.  Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

With these combinations you should be able quickly see and fix your shit!  Good luck and Later!


Identify Floor tiles on the great pyramid of meereen Can anyone identify the floor tiles used in The Great Pyramid of Meereen. I looked at all the 2x2 decorated tiles on bricklink and couldn't find them.

They are indeed quite beautiful tiles but unfortunately not official LEGO decals.
I believe they are his own original custom designs, as in another MOC for Portal 2 which can be seen at LEGO IDEAS he does confirm that he uses his own custom decals.

I based my design on the amazing 2012 Lego Cuusoo “Thinking with
Portals” by Brickthing. I took his original design and added elements
from Lego Dimensions and my own twist with custom decals and details
from the Portal games.

There seem to be many more examples on that Flickr account.


How much heat can LEGO bricks withstand? I was thinking on making a decorative LEGO candle holder. It would be made out of regular ABS LEGO bricks, but also transparent ones. Because there will be an open flame involved, I want to make sure my LEGO bricks don't melt.

How much heat can LEGO bricks withstand?

ABS maximum temperature is 80°C (176°F) and melt at 105°C (221°F)
Polycarbonate plastic used for transparent bricks melt at 267°C (512.6°F)

Since a candle flame has a temperature in excess of 1000°C (1832°F). I would advise against making a candle holder of LEGO bricks.

Plastic types are explained on this question.


Bugatti Chiron - loose connection to wheels I’m currently building this set and I notice that the connection to the front wheels often falls out. This is the small red line between the wheel and ball joint.

It depends on the angle. It is almost certain to come apart of you pull the wheel away from the body.

Is this resolved and held in place later in the build, or have I missed something?
[![enter image description here][2]][2]

[2]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/GmFXM.jpg

I see a gap between the grey part and the black part. They should be flush picture 1. Normally it take some force to assemble these hub parts.

If you look to the back side of the "back" side you must see the clip of the grey as
picture 2.

The grey part must rotate freely so if you apply some force to if and have it slow down if its own it must continue to rotate for some seconds until it stops


How to dump the firmware from the SPIKE Prime (and Mindstorms v4)? I'm interested in tinkering with the micropython filesystem and/or firmware in the SPIKE Prime hub and was wondering:

How to dump the firmware from the SPIKE Prime hub?
Is there an online resource somewhere to download old firmwares for the SPIKE Prime hub?

Using the micropython REPL interface of the hub I've managed to dump the firmware using the built in tools. This was after I'd updated to v1.0.03.0034-c3879ab. The commands on the hub to achieve this are:
import firmware
firmware.flash_read(BYTE_NUMBER)

This will output a 32 bytes of the firmware starting at location BYTE_NUMBER which can be saved to a file. By calling this function repetitively, starting at BYTE_NUMBER=0 and going until the function returns false, the entire firmware can be dumped. I couldn't find a way of getting the current firmware length so dumps will contain the full memory of the board (~1Mbyte).
I've not found any online resources for old versions of the firmware of the SPIKE Prime hub.
However, the latest firmware seems to be inside the current version of the windows application [SPIKE-PRIME_Full_1.2.0_Global_Win10]. This can be extracted by:

Installing the SPIKE Prime Windows 10 application.
Navigating to the resources directory inside the installed directory: [C:/Program Files/SPIKE/resources]
Creating a directory to hold the extracted source code of the electron application. (E.g. Output)
Extracting the app.asar file using the asar tool and the command asar extract app.asar Output.
Navigating to the firmware directory found inside the extracted code Output/app/renderer/flipper-hub/firmware/
There you should find a *.bin where its name is the md5 of its contents. (E.g 09c1f4564bd22832993332820540d8c1.bin

I compared the firmware I dumped from my hub to the one I found in the SPIKE Prime Windows 10 application and they matched exactly up to the size of the found firmware (it was smaller).  I've uploaded the firmware to my github please feel free to PR more versions.


Are these LEGO windows? I have had these windows in my LEGO collection since the 80's and my mum bought them second hand. They look and feel like Lego but don't have the word LEGO stamped inside the hollow circles on top.

These look like "Blue-Box" , a construction toy from Singapore
From inverso.pt

Blue Box basic elements with a 2X4 LEGO brick on the right

The inside of a "Blue-Box" construction set


I am looking for building instructions for the Megabloks Viking Ship 9604 I have parts of the Megabloks set 9604 Viking Ship but can not find the building instructions for it. The goal is to be able to complete this set.


What is the difference between these two Technic half bushings? While randomly browsing some LEGO sites, I came across a weird (to me anyway) looking bushing. Its part 4265c. Below is one of the images describing it and the left one I recognize, but the right one I have never seen. It looks like there is some built-in play to the axis.

So my questions:

Are the two bushings on the image interchangeable?
Are they both really referred to by the same id (4265c)?
Is there any practical difference between the two?
Are there any specific use cases where the second would be preferred over the first one?

They both appear to have the same part ID despite being quite different.

Sariel answers most of your questions in The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide.

  toothed half bush with a cutout

  The second variant, the toothed half bush with a cutout, is exactly
  what its name implies: a copy of the previous version with part of the
  axle hole cut out, which makes the axle hole large (see Figure 4-13).

  This modification was introduced to make it easier for children to
  take half bushes on and off the axles, and that's exactly what makes
  it much less popular with builders: These bushes are more likely to
  shift when stressed than the first variant.

  Other than that, it has every quality of the original toothed half
  bush except that, having been introduced a few years later, it's newer
  and thus made of strong material.

  (Chapter 4. Page 36.)

Pawel "Sariel" Kmiec, 2012. The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide. 1 Edition. No Starch Press.


System files deleted somehow I think my son accidentally deleted all the system sound/image files, etc. I have tried loading the firmware but that does NOT restore the files. Is there not a way to just upload the system sound and image files to the brick? They are so easy to delete, you'd think there would be a way to put them back....

Sadly, my friend, this is less of a LEGO problem, and more of an issue with the kind of basic tech EV3 runs on. It can't afford to have a backup, it needs to be compact. You'll have to put them back on file by file.


What are the differences between NiMH and Alkaline batteries for the EV3? Currently I am using six rechargeable batteries for my Lego Mindstorms EV3.

A few seconds after I start a motor the EV3 gives a notification that that the battery is low.

I know that good batteries are alkaline ones. However, personally I want to avoid using them because I will need to throw them away after use.

NiMH batteries only provide 1.2V per cell whereas Alkaline batteries provide 1.5V (nominal values). This means that new/fully charged batteries will provide a total of 9V for Alkaline and 7.2V for NiMH. The EV3 is programmed to show low battery somewhere around 6.2V and turn itself off around 5.5V. There is no option a available to tell the EV3 the difference between these two types of batteries. The EV3 was designed for Alkaline batteries. You won't get good performance from NiMH with the EV3.

LEGO also makes a rechargeable Li-ion battery pack. Being designed for the EV3, this battery is properly sized for comparable performance to Alkaline batteries. Be aware though, that this battery pack makes the EV3 one LEGO beam width taller, which could require some models to need to be adjusted to accommodate the extra size. Also, when you remove the batteries from the EV3, you will notice a small black circle in the battery compartment. This is actually a button that lets the EV3 know that the battery pack is installed rather than regular Alkaline batteries. This lets it adjust the battery gauge and low battery alarm for the slightly different voltages of the rechargeable battery pack.