How to clean dirty white tiles? I ordered a couple of tiles from bricklink.com, but they arrived a bit dirty. I'd like to make them look shining new before using them for my creation. Is there a quick and reliable way to do it?

Check out this previous question. There is a solution called "retr0brite" in which you make a chemical compound that you apply to the yellowed bricks, leave them exposed to light for a while, and the bricks will come out clean white. However, I have recently read (but cannot find the link right now) that this retr0brite method might not work forever, and that with reapplication the duration of the whitening reduces every time.


Can we program Nxt2 in C++ under Visual studio 2010? I'd like to know if it is possible to develop C++ software for NXT2 using Visual Studio 2010 as IDE. I know there are small online projects for NXT but I can't find nothing about NXT2.... Any suggestions would be more than welcomed
about libraries, software and firmware that is required to achieve this goal: C++ and Visual Studio for NXT2.

I think that all you might need is the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. The examples that I could find all refer to C#, VB.Net, or the included VPL languages but there isn't any reason you wouldn't be able to reference the same objects from managed C++.

It does look like there might not be a full set of services for all of the more recent parts judging from some of the comments in one of the examples that I saw, but the author of that article does have a few other notes elsewhere.

After installing and playing around with it a bit myself, I did find a link to the MSDN documentation for using NXT with MRDS that you can look through before you get started. (I wasn't able to give much of it a try yet because I'm out of batteries with my NXT brick.)

Beyond that a Google search for "mrds nxt" found the following likely useful items:

CodeProject example (C#) with a link to a previous article on the same site.
An MSDN tutorial.
A whole slew of examples on CodePlex


Castle Siege: Flaming arrows I'm trying to think of ways to defend my LEGO castle. Is there a way I can shoot some flaming arrows into the hearts of the invaders? Maybe some burning oil?

Burning oil is the easier of the two, since the basic flame elements

can connect into a realistically looking stream of liquid fire:

Depicting individual arrows is a lot harder due to the absence of a single arrow piece (aside from the proportionally way oversized harpoon piece), and adding a flame piece is even harder. Your best bet would probably be adding a flame piece, any of the several sizes available to a shield:

Or use a flame piece with a shaft as a combined arrow and flame:

But if 3rd party pieces are not out of question, you can get some convincing results, in this case with Brickarms arrows:


Are there more studs or "antistuds"? I was reflecting this morning about the recently introduced element Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on One Side and the fact that there is no real counterpart for it; that is, a 1x1 brick with a hollow cavity on one side (like the backside of our beloved Brick 1 x 1 with Headlight), and three other regular, flat, sides.

This led me to think that I've a feeling there are, in general, more studs on parts than there are "antistuds", that is, cavities to receive studs. Is this feeling accurate?

To verify, how should count antistuds? Should we consider, for example that a 2x4 bricks has 11 of them (the 8 standard ones and the 3 tubes)? That each hole of a Technic brick  counts for two? And if we settle on that, how could we get an actual count?

There are more antistuds based on your description, you have to account for the flat bricks that have no studs and any sloped bricks that have at minimum twice the number of anti studs. While there are the inverted sloped pieces the standard wider bottom are more prevalent and there are more variations in length and width. Also many of the flat wing pieces have more antistuds for overlapping purposes. Even counting those as 1/2 antistuds since they do not cover the entire stud, they still possess enough hold to keep the model together. With the more custom pieces used in the Star Wars and newer space kits to give the starfighters the smooth look there are many more antistuds on those pieces. That is not even counting the technic bricks.


Please Help Identify These Star Wars Sets I guess these are StarWars sets, please help to identify

1.Set# 75172 Y-Wing Starfighter.

2.Set# 75013 Umbaran MHC (Mobile Heavy Cannon).

3.Set# 75003 A-Wing Starfighter.

(Note: Canopy and gun turret on KETCHUP colored ship belongs on MUSTARD colored ship.)

See ya Fabian!


What is the name of the small pins that are used with small wheels / rims? I see that there are at least three different types of axles that can be used with LEGO wheels. I can name the first two — Technic axle and Technic pin — but I cannot name the third, which is like a Technic pin, but smaller.

Note that I've only seen it integrated into a larger part, such as a brick or plate, as shown in the image. I see that BrinkLink sometimes refers to parts like this as having "wheels holder" pins, but that seems to be a term that could apply to the first two types of axles as well.

Does a common and more precise name exist for this type of pin?

LEGO and others sometimes calls those pieces a "bearing element". This term however is not limited to just that axle.

LEGO's replacement parts service calls the holes they go into "HOLE Ø11" (possibly read "Hole Diameter 11"):

The width of the axle is roughly equivalent to the width of a "bar", like the 30374 piece used for Lightsabers as such.

None of these names are particularly satisfactory, but I'm not aware of any better names.


Quality issues with tan-colored Lego pieces? I recently bought an expensive Lego set with a large number of tan-colored pieces. I was very disappointed to find out that more than a dozen (isn't that a spectacularly large number?) of 1x1 bricks had significant cracks (see picture). As I've only had problems with tan pieces, this seems to me like a systematic quality problem.

The tan pieces generally feel weaker than other colors, and it seems probable even more cracks will emerge later.

Question: Is it true that Lego has systematic issues with tan-colored pieces?

Please contact LEGO customer service. They will send you new pieces, and even more importantly, they will make note about the quality issues. The following quote is from the LEGO Ambassador forum in regards to quality issues by Keith Severson, who is the senior manager for community support at LEGO. It is about recent quality problems with another LEGO element (32x32 baseplates), but the same steps apply in your case:

  "The only way quality and engineering review potential issues is through data that is gathered through customer service. Every time a customer (such as yourself) call in it is logged with the specific element. Once that element receives a certain about of issues they will review it. So the best thing you can do is have your LUG members to report this through the system."

In the USA you can call LEGO Customer Service at 1-800-835-4386 8am - 10pm (EST) Monday - Friday and 10am to 6pm (EST) on Saturday and Sunday. If you are in another country, you can check the official LEGO website for phone number and hours of operation.


Need help identifying some sets So I have a few LEGO sets that I bought at a garage sale. They didn't come with an instruction manual or anything but they are from 2011 and one of them has a white box that says 6049732 on it. Can anyone help me identify these sets or where I can go to identify them? Thanks. This is the first set.

I think you have bag #2 from this set: 60022 Cargo Terminal, based on the tan 4x6 base plates, the black 2x2 round plate with 4 arms and the red City minifig cap. I've also cross-checked the rim piece, the 2x3 Red plate and the 2x4 yellow brick.


What is the max current for the LEGO EV3 motors (pin 1-2)? The LEGO EV3 Hardware developer kit says that the first and second pin of output port provides a current of max of 700 mA with 1 A  but the motors appendixes don't have the maximum current that can I (safely) supply to the motor.
What is the max current that the motors can safely drain?

The amperage drawn by any motor depends on the voltage supplied and the resistance (load) on the axle. Even if you provide the motor with more ampers than it could safely take, it will only consume as much as the voltage and load require.
As for the maximum value that each motor can draw when supplied with 9V, potentially unlimited amperage and given an unlimited load to move (stalled), see the comprehensive component characteristics comparison compilation by Philo. Here we can see that when given 9V, the EV3 large and medium motors will consume 1.8 A and 780 mA respectively when stalled, so those are the maximum values they can draw from any 9V power supply.
See also this Q&A over at Electronics.SE about motors, the relevant values and their relations.


How would you make a good pivot-arm suspension? I once tried to make a 4 wheeled Lego robot using a pivot arm suspension system. The robot was motorized using 2 Mindstorm (2.0) motors (one one each side).  I can't find and original picture but it looked like this big black one:

I used a Lego Technic turntable as the single point of rotation between the two robot sides bu the robot sagged a lot and there was so much pressure on that piece that it would not rotate well.

Q: How would you build a 4 wheels rover pivot arm suspension system? Considering that it needs to be motorized thus adding the weight of two motors.

Note: The pivot arm design can be one of those two:

Edit 1: To give an idea of the size, I'm using this Technic wheels. The final model is about 20cm long and 20cm wide.

I got inspired by the idea of a vertical Slewing Bearing.  I made this “horrible”  prototype to demonstrate the principles.

One side of the assembly has a fixed wheel attached to it using multiple pins. The other side has multiple bearings.  The idea is that the vertical weight is shared between the bearings (on one side) and between the pins supporting the wheel  (on the other side).  This way, the axle supports only a part of the weight.  In the final design the axle should be much longer and use many bushes preventing the two sides from separating.


What are these mini figures? I have just brought these mini figures and was wondering if anyone could identify them?

1 - Kiteman from : 70903-1: The Riddler Riddle Racer
2 -  Captain Jack Sparrow
3 -  lor037: Fili the Dwarf
4 - hp108: Draco Malfoy, Dark Green and White Quidditch Uniform
5 - This torso (Darth Maul] - Torso SW Layered Shirt, White Undershirt, Waist Sash Pattern / Black Arms / Black Hands
6 - This torso; Torso LotR Gold Ruffled Shirt, Reddish Brown Layered Pattern / Pearl Gold Arms / Light Flesh Hands
7 - 71011-1: Farmer from Collectable MinifiguresSeries 15
8 - This torso; Torso LotR Cloak with Brown Collar and Straps Pattern (Legolas) / Olive Green Arms / Light Flesh Hands. The hair is from #3 Fili the Dwarf
9 - This torso; Torso Castle Knights Kingdom Plate Armor Gold and Silver Female Pattern / Black Arms / Yellow Hands
10 - 8831-10: Jungle Boy from Collectable Minifigures Series 07
11 - This torso; Torso LotR Tank Top over Dark Green Shirt Pattern / Dark Green Arms / Light Flesh Hands , Hair /head  Legolas Greenleaf
12 - 71010-3: Monster Scientist from Collectable Minifigures Series 14
13 - 71002-3: Pretzel Girl from Collectable Minifigures Series 11
14 - sh012: Lex Luthor from 6862-2: Superman vs. Power Armor Lex
15 - This torso; Torso SW Armor Clone Trooper Pattern / White Arms / Black Hands
16 - The head is from Zolm - Hassansin Leader
17 - 71011-5: Tribal Woman from Collectable Minifigures Series 15
18 - 8827-13: Intergalactic Girl from Collectable Minifigures Series 06
19 - This torso; Pirate Captain (5002147)
20 - 71010-14: Banshee from Collectable Minifigures Series 14
21 - This torso; Torso Harry Potter Quidditch Gryffindor Ribbed Pattern / Dark Red Arms / Reddish Brown Hands
22 - hp111: Hagrid, Dark Brown Topcoat with Buttons (Light Flesh Version with Moveable Hands) (wrong hair)
23 - 71011-7: Faun from Collectable Minifigures Series 15

The skate board is this one: Minifig, Utensil Skateboard with Trolley Wheel Holders with Minifig Skull on Star and Winged Heart Pattern

With thanks to Rin Rio-Oki


Giant LEGOs--that aren't QUATROs? We got a big tub of secondhand LEGO bricks, and included was a random pile of what appear to be giant LEGO bricks. They are a bit bigger than DUPLO bricks but smaller than QUATRO bricks and have an old style LEGO logo stamped into the studs. They're all the same size. What's the story of these bricks?

Here's a picture of them. I've put a DUPLO in the picture for scale ;-)

I think these are LEGO Jumbo Bricks from Samsonite.

Left to right: normal brick, duplo brick, Jumbo brick and Quatro brick.


Is Technic compatible with Mindstorms? My wife bought me a Mindstorms NXT 2.0 for my birthday. I've been reading up on it from as many sources as possible however apart from the 9695 Education Resource Set which adds some additional bricks to the set, is the Mindstorms compatible with any other Lego sets, specifically the Technics?

If so, where can I get more information on how these sets are interchanged?

Yes.

The current Mindstorms sets are completely Technic orientated and use the Technic pins (i.e. [part:3673:7]) to connect to the newer Technic Beams (i.e. [part:32316:7]) as well as the original Technic Bricks (i.e. [part:3894:7])

The various different size pins and axles are the way to interchange between these.


Can you extract a program from the EV3 brick to the computer? As part of an assignment, I made a program for my EV3, but however my computer automatically restarted, so I lost that program. I need to show the program!  However, the program is still in my brick. So, I was wondering, is there any way to extract a program from a brick to my computer? And if there is, what would I need? (extra software, Bluetooth, connection cable)? Thanks

Update:

There is a tool at http://ev3treevis.azurewebsites.net/ that can be use to create a new .ev3 file from a .rbf file recovered from an EV3 brick. Some information will be lost, but at least simple programs should be able to be recovered.

Original answer:

You can extract the compiled program from the EV3. Compiled programs have a .rbf file extension. However, these files only contain EV3 VM bytecodes and cannot be converted back to the EV3-G project file format (.ev3p file extension).

Details about extracting the program from the brick and what you can do with it has already been answered here.


Differences between EV3 Gyro and Hitechnic Gyro I understand that the Hitechnic Gyro was made for NXT but are there any advantages of using it over the normal lego gyro in EV3??

IMO there are no advantages of the old Hitech gyro:
The most fundamental difference is that the Hitechnic Gyro is a analog (ADC) device while the EV3 Gyro is digital (serial). This makes the Hitechnic Gyro badly suffer from drift and oscillating offsets (both at stand still and by changing output voltages caused by electricity consumers such as motors switched on/off) which has to be filtered off. Digital sensors like the new Lego gyro are not affected by these interferences - basically - at all.


EV3 education brick doesn't work as is should I have the EV3 education kit.

When I create a program and upload it to the brick and run it, the first time it runs very well and the robot goes in a straight line, then makes a 90 degree turn. But when I run it again it does not move the same way: it does not go in a straight line and turns 95 degrees or 86 degrees.

Can anybody help me find why?

Contrary to the previous answer, I don't believe that the problem is EV3.

I do believe that your problem is a hardware issue. I have personally run a test or two on this, and my conclusion is that the wheels are set off kilter on their axles.

The answer is bushings. Bushings are the little doodads that keep a gear or wheel in place on the axle. Put one on either side of a wheel, and the result is that those 90-degree turns, which produce torque on the wheel, relieved by movement along the cross-axle, will no longer set your wheel out of place. If this doesn't work, I would do as the commentators and other answer-er suggest, and make sure that your unit can hold a charge.

Measure this by telling just one motor with your EV3 unit to turn. Measure the amount of rotation. Now run the program again. You don't need anything attached on the motor, so as not to throw it off, and when the next turn program is run, you will have your answer based on the amount of rotation.

If it is lower, your EV3 doesn't hold charge anymore, and you need a new one. Sorry.

If it is the same, it is a structural problem, and you just need to make sure that nothing is moving noticeably out of place when running it.


What happened to "LEGO Service"? In the 1990s, besides the main sets, there were some supplementary sets that were basically just parts collections. At least in Germany, these were offered under the name "LEGO Service", and listed in a small separate catalogue not included in the main catalogue.

An example of such a catalogue can be found here.

These parts collections sets were usually sold in small plastic bags rather than boxes (as opposed to any other LEGO set over here).

What happened to this product line?

Does it still exist, maybe under a different name? (Obviously, looking for "lego service" brings up many false positives.)
Is what is currently named LEGO Xtra the successor (even though Xtra seems to have just a tiny number of sets available, some of which aren't even parts, but playmats, and the rest are not just individual parts but actually form (tiny) models such as lamp posts)?
Was it (mostly) discontinued because of more advanced (read: flexible and probably automated at that) ways of ordering individual bricks?

On brickset, the sets I am thinking of seem to be listed as a "Service Packs" theme, which appears to have existed until 1999, but it's not clear whether or to what extent it was superseded by something else.

As I am not a LEGO employee I can only guess, but I would say the LEGO Service line got replaced with LEGO Pick-a-Brick (and LEGO Service’s Bricks & Pieces) as a way for customers to get their hands on quantities of specific pieces. The LEGO Store Pick-a-Brick wall serves a similar purpose.


Issues connecting the EV3 on Windows 8.1 64bit I have got a computer with Windows 8.1 64 bit and I have installed LEGO Mindstorms EV3 software Home edition and tried to connect the EV3 brick to the computer, but the brick didn´t connect to the computer. Where is the problem?

I'm going to assume this is a Bluetooth connectivity issue because connecting the cable is trivial, and I've found connecting with Bluetooth quite tricky.  This may not be the only way, however it has worked for me.  The main issue is that you first need to "pair" the EV3 with your computer.

Setup (you have Bluetooth, and it is turned on):

Make sure the computer has Bluetooth turned on.  On my Win8 computer, there is a Bluetooth icon on the task bar when it is active.  If you don't see that icon, or don't know if Bluetooth is on, go to: PC Settings > PC and Devices > Bluetooth (also under: Network > Airplane Mode.  If you can't find it, try searching for Bluetooth on the computer)
set the EV3 to have Bluetooth Visibility checked true.  This is under the tools tab (far right) on the EV3.  Move the cursor to the Bluetooth line, and click on that to see the Bluetooth details.  Both "Visibility" and "Bluetooth" need to be checked on boxes on the right (ignore the icons on the left, they look like radio buttons but are not).  Once those are checked, the EV3 will be visible to the computer's Bluetooth.

Once you've confirmed that visibility is on, and Bluetooth is working, there are a few different ways you can pair your computer with the EV3.

from the computer's Bluetooth software
under the Control Panel > Devices and Printers, you can "Add a Device"
from the Bluetooth Icon on the task bar ("Add a Bluetooth Device").

No method is better, whichever you find first.  Once it starts scanning, it should display the EV3 within a minute or two.   When the EV3 when is found, choose "pair" or "connect".   Now, switch to the EV3 which should display:

"Connect? (your computer's name)"

Move the cursor to the check box (default is on the "x" as in "No"), then you will be shown the passkey: 1234.  No need to change that.  Click that check box too.

Now, switch back to your computer, where you'll be prompted for the passkey.  Enter 1234, and it should complete the pairing.   If you are interrupted (I believe you have 2 minutes) it'll lose the connection and you'll need to start again.

After all of that, you should be able to start the Mindstorm software, open a project, and in the lower right, choose "Available Bricks" tab, and see your EV3 (if not, click the "refresh" button in that window and it should show up).  Once there is a check box for your EV3, click that box to finally connect.

The hard part is the pairing.  Once paired, it is simple to connect in the future.  I just make sure the EV3 is on before the Mindstorm software is started.  If the EV3 is turned off, I have to click that "refresh" button telling the computer to find it again, then check the box to connect.

Final note: on the Bluetooth menu of the EV3 (where you check Visibility), there is another item "Connections."  This isn't merely a title.  Click on this, and it will display all computers that it has paired with in the past.  You can click on these and have them removed.  I've had to do this occasionally to re-establish connection with a computer.  This is how you would remove old connections too, if you wanted to clean things up, or just want to make sure there aren't any left-overs from earlier connection attempts.


Are NXT Light sensors compatible with EV3? I would like to use the NXT light sensors with my EV3 brick. I don't have enough light sensors as I need 2 for each robot (per set) and it only comes with one. However, I have a lot of NXT sensors. Will the EV3 be able to use the NXT light snesor and is the NXT light sensor as accurate as the EV3 light sensor?

NXT Color Sensors are supported directly by EV3-G, the EV3 software running on the PC or MAC.
NXT Light Sensors are not.

To use Light sensors requires a bit of trickery.  EV3-G has a Raw Sensor block that provides access to the Light sensor values.  The raw sensor returns values from 0-1023, which is very different than the 0-100 of the NXT-G Light Sensor block.

Setting up the Light sensor to use ambient or reflected light is also solved with a bit of trickery.  Use the Sound Sensor Block and toggle the dB setting.

Once that much is tested and working, create a set of MyBlocks to mimic existing Color Sensor blocks.


Can anyone identify these minifigures? I was searching Bricklink for info about the marked minifigures, but I can't find anything.

I want to know if these minifigures are fake or if these minifigs are in someone set that I can't find.

The figure holding the lightsaber is composed of the head and hair of Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars series:

the torso of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Knight:

and a pair of dark gray legs on medium gray hips:

The clone figure has the torso of a shock trooper from Ep 3.:

But I couldn't find the helmet.


Why does my NXT colour sensor not recognise colour on my iPhone? If I point the colour sensor to my iPhone it does not recognise it, but if I point it to a piece of paper, it does.

Does anyone know if there is a solution for this?
I found some documentation online, and saw this video, he's doing pretty much what I want.

The robot in the video has a custom light sensor, a more advanced HiTechnic color sensor V2 which can detect an extended range of 15 colours. The stand colour sensor can detect six (white, black, red, blue, green and yellow).

  The sensors are based on different principles. LEGO sensor uses a RGB
  LED, and successively shines red, green and blue light on the object.
  Reflected light is collected by a light sensor sensitive to all
  wavelength. HiTechnic one has a white LED, and a specialized color
  sensitive chip. This chip has three sensitive areas covered by red,
  green and blue filters. An added advantage of HiTechnic method is that
  it can detect the color of light sent on it (in passive mode, with the
  white LED shut off).

[Source]

A direct LED light against an iPhone's screen will reflect the light back into the sensor, making it difficult for the sensor to detect colour.


Does the LEGO "Power Functions Extension Wire" (8886) work in both directions between old 9V and new Power Functions devices? Here is the LEGO "LEGO® Power Functions Extension Wire" (8886):

We can see that the left connector can connect to old 9V electric bricks or wires and the right connector can be plugged to the new Power Functions connectors.

The LEGO website gives this description:

  Power up your LEGO® Power Functions creations with this 8" extension
  wire. Make your models bigger, better, and more mechanized than ever
  before!

  Allows you to connect your LEGO 9V electric systems to the new Power Functions!
  Extension Wire is 8" (20cm) long

(emphasis mine)

Does this cable work in both directions?

Can it power a new Power Functions motor from an old battery box?
Can it power an old motor from a new Power Functions battery box?

Do switches like the old one or new one let you control new and old motors respectively?

According to Customer reviews on the official website, this cable enable powering motors in both ways between old and new power functions versions:

  This cable allows you to power the new 9v motors from the old 9v system or vise versa..

Author: heavyD.

But there is an incompatibility between the old battery boxes and the IR receivers:

  This cable also powers new motors from the old battery box, but it cannot power an IR receiver, which requires the new battery box and all 4 wires of the new cable. (This cable only converts the 2 motor-powering wires.)

Author: Technic010.


LEGO Digital Designer Alternatives I am been using LDD (LEGO Digital Designer) for my latest NXT project and noticed a major delay in building and making instructions for my Projects (My Mindstorm projects contain well over 500 pieces) and the instructions look all weird for my big projects. And LDD is discontinued so I doubt LEGO will make an EV3 update.

I am curious if you guys know any paid or free software that allows you to make projects for LEGO (Mindstorm). I am looking for something fast, (optional) that will work for Mac and PC, have animation to present my projects, and finally make instructions for my projects.

There are several editors which are based on the open LDraw part database.

I believe that the most popular are MLCAD and LeoCAD. I personally use LDD, so I can't speak to the quality of the instruction generation from these tools, but they do at least offer the ability to create instructions.

LeoCAD is probably your best bet for doing animations, and it is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

BrickLink has recently released Stud.io in open beta, and it appears to combine the best of LDD and LDraw - it works with the LDraw part database but will import LDD models and offers a similar interface to LDD as well as collaboration and integration with the BrickLink shops for purchasing the elements for your models.


Why do official Lego sets sometimes use 1 large part when several would work just as well? One of the things that makes Lego so great is the ability to rebuild sets into something new and different. However, I know that sometimes TLG uses large pieces to lower costs and/or build complexity. Some examples:

54092cx1 - Plane nose
30295 - Large car base
6082 - BURP

It seems to me that some part choices are quite strange. For example, 7346 - Seaside House contains 2 1x2x2 bricks and 28 regular 1x2 bricks in medium blue. It doesn't seem like the double height bricks provide a much simpler or sturdier build, and the part is less reusable. I would have rather seen 1x2 bricks used throughout, especially since this is a Creator set, which focuses on being rebuildable.

I also found it strange that they chose to use 1x2x2 bricks in two places, but kept 1x1 bricks stacked 5+ high in others. It seems that if the goal is to create a sturdier model, replacing these stacks with 1x1x5 bricks would have been a good place to start.

So, I guess my question is: what goes into the decision of which specific parts to use in a production Lego model?

Some of the reasons (including some you've mentioned):

To make building easier / sturdier, so that the set is more suitable for its intended age range
The larger pieces are sometimes cheaper than the component pieces would be
The component parts may not be part of the current inventory of parts available to designers
To make the build interesting
To provide an interesting variety of parts

In the case of the set you mention (and this is pure speculation) it is possible that 1x1x5 bricks are more expensive to make or that they were unavailable in the right colour at the time the set was designed. At the same time, the designers might have felt that the 1x2x2 bricks reduced the part count to the extent that the set was viable for the intended market.


How should I model a Heroica scale castle bedroom? My son has requested that we add a bedroom to our Heroica castle. I'm looking for some advice on the creation of the bed area.

The Microfig characters are 1x1x2, and the rooms are generally designed to sit on a 6x6 or 8x8 plate, and will have path elements (Tile 2x2 with 1 stud [Part:87580]) on it for the characters and treasure to be placed.

Here is my attempt on a 6x6 plate. I built only one wall for the image clarity, but maybe you'd prefer one opposite wall as well.

If you don't have the tile with the pillow, replace it with a 1 x 2 slope or something.

Construction details if it's not clear enough:


Who are these Figures? Does anyone recognise the two larger LEGO figures? They are from sets released in the 80’s and I am trying to find out what sets they’re from so I can hopefully build the sets with my son. One is a fireman and came with a fire engine. They fit perfectly between Duplo and LEGO but I can’t seem to find any trace of them, the closest similar product I’ve found is Fabuland which is all animals but the same size figures.

These are Basic Figures

fab13a  : Basic Figure Human Boy Blue, Black Legs, Brown Hair

from 390-1: Helicopter

and
- fab13c : Basic Figure Human, Black Legs, White Hat

from 392-2: Fire Engine


Connecting LEGO WeDo USB hub to portable Power Bank Is it possible to connect the LEGO usb hub from education WeDo series to a portable power bank for power?

WeDo USB Hub

Portable Power Bank

Yes, it uses a standard USB charging configuration. These are designed to be universal, making power distribution easier and cheaper.


EV3 Programme won't load to brick I have installed EV3 on my PC and am trying to load a program into an NXT 1 Brick.
When I click the down load button on the EV3 screen the Brick beeps twice and the program does not load.
What am I doing wrong?

EV3 software can be used with the NXT brick. It may require a firmware update. I think firmware 1.31 is the minimum.


Help finding Star Wars set, 8x8 grey cone with white end Bought a bulk lot of LEGO with no instructions. I have one piece I can't locate the set for - any help would be great.

Based on the one picture that did come through, you have set 9490 - Droid Escape from 2012.


Linear Actuator Clicking I have just finished working on a mock-up landing gear deployment mechanism, keeping it as simple as possible of course.

However one thing that I cannot seem to get rid of, is the small linear actuator's built-in overload protector from clicking.

I have tried to add a white clutch gear meshed to an 8 tooth gear in either 3:1 or 1:3 ratios but it still clicks.

If I use a 3:1 ratio the clicking and vibrations are obviously much more rapid than otherwise.

To save space, I insisted on having a fixed, almost parallel LA rather than the typical design where the LA is also pivoting like a lift-arm.

The wheels must be retracted by 90 degrees (you'll see this if you build it/watch the video)

Does anyone have any ideas on how to eliminate this whilst keeping it simple? I tried replacing the 2 x 4 bent lift-arms with a what equates to 1.5 length lift-arms so that the LA does not fully retract and start clicking but then it does not do a full 90 degrees of movement and starts bending parts if I force it.

Here is an .LXF file and below is a video showing what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOmrNr0WwWI

I'll be able to shorten or remove some beams soon to make it less clunky.

As both the LXF file and the video are unavailable, I can only guess at the problem you are facing. But if the linear actuator is clicking, it means the built-in clutch is engaging, as the forces keeping the actuator from moving are too large. This can't be solved by adding a clutch gear (even with gearing), as if the newly added clutch gear is rated to slip at a lower force, it will slip before the linear actuator, and if it starts to slip at a larger force, the linear actuator will still start clicking first.
The best way would be to redesign the linkage to require less force to operate, but it might not be possible in your case:

To save space, I insisted on having a fixed, almost parallel LA

This rules out another possible solution: doubling the linear actuators involved, as two parallel linear actuators will start clicking at a doubled force.
The only remaining advice I can give is to reduce the forces involved, either by attempting to redesign the linkage, or incorporating other means to provide force to assist the linear actuator, like springs, rubber bands, torsion bars, flexible elements, pulleys or even counterweights.


Which set did this assembly came from? Does anyone know which set did this came from? I got a bundle without instructions, some of it's partially built. I have no idea how to finish it for my kids.

Looks like a custom build, so no instructions.

I'm basing this answer off two parts in the pic:

Part #6046 - Brown Bar 9 x 13 Grille, appears in six sets with this color, and none of the sets seem to have a sub-build of this prison.

and

Part #2431px5 - Tile 1 x 4 with 'KEEP OUT' Pattern, appears in three sets with none of them resembling a hidden sub-build of this cage design.


Build-A-Bricks Building Set When I was a boy - 1940's-50's - I had a plastic building set called, Build-A-Bricks, or some such. It was for modeling brick houses. The pieces were similar to LEGO but larger and there were cardboard windows, doors and roof elements. Does anyone remember such a product? Are there any such products on the market now?

Yes, maybe called Bilda-Brix.

I was given set for Christmas when I was 4.5. This would have to have been 1951.

Don’t remember any instructions, just used my imagination to build houses, towns and even battle ships! They were mostly red, some white hence I could have opposing battle ships. LEGO with its kits to build a specific thing has always seemed to me to demand less of the imagination.


How many sealed bags are there in the LEGO set 4504 Millennium Falcon? I'm not sure if this is the correct site for this question. I'm new to LEGO and just acquired an older LEGO Star War Set 4504 Millennium Falcon. The box was open and the sealed bags are not numbered.

I was wondering if anyone knew how many sealed bags there should be in this set.

I had a look at the instructions, video/picture reviews of the set and eBay listings that could potentially show how many bags are missing.

The only solution I could think of would be to place all the bags back in the box, with the instructions and any other parts that were included and weigh the box.

If the weight is noticeably less than what it should be, you may be missing a bag. According to Brickset the Millennium Falcon should weigh 1.83Kg (4.03 lb).

Aside from opening the bags and trying to build the set, you could follow the instructions whilst the bags are sealed and check that you have all the parts as you go along, although this may be quite time consuming.


What is LEGO Cuusoo? Can anyone explain the origins of LEGO Cuusoo project? There isn't a lot of information on the site. It seems to have started in Japan as a way of suggesting ideas for sets but is officially recognised by the LEGO company as some of the ideas have apparently been made into purchasable sets. Does anyone have any more information?

In 2008 The LEGO Group partnered with the Cuusoo Social Creation Platform as a way for (initially) the Japanese market to suggest new LEGO sets for development and sale in that region.

This resulted in two products making it into production - The Shinkai 6500 and The Hayabusa.

In October 2011 the site was opened out to the rest of the world, and it looks like the next set or even theme to come into production through this site is going to be based on Minecraft which achieved the requisite 10,000 votes and has now passed LEGO review.

Unlike previous sets that were designed by fans, or sets created through Design byME, LEGO Cuusoo offers a 1% royalty to the designer for sets that are produced through the scheme - full guidelines are available.

When voting on a suggestion, users are also asked to suggest a price range they'd be willing to spend on sets based on the project.

CUUSOO, which means 'imagination' or sometimes ‘wish’ in Japanese, has been developed with CUUSOO SYSTEM, a subsidiary of Japan-based Elephant Design that has worked with open innovation and crowd sourcing for more than 10 years.

The first two models only required 1,000 votes to get into the review stage while the site was limited to Japan, and took 420 and 57 days to reach the threshold. When the site moved into the global beta the threshold was raised to 10,000 votes. The Minecraft project took just 48 hours to reach that goal.


What part # is this? (Is it even LEGO?) I have a bunch of these little curved yellow pins with a ball at the end. Are they LEGO? If so, what part are they?

(2x2 Orange brick for size comparison)

This looks like the arm of a Minion minifigure by Mega Bloks / Mega Construx without the hand.


Can you tell me what Star Wars vehicle these are from? Not sure what those round grey parts are. They have a blue "light" on them. My son has almost exclusively Star Wars sets but we can’t figure out what these are from.

Welcome to Bricks.SE, Laura! These pieces are not very rare, and hence finding the set they come from is going to be pretty hard. With your hint that your son only has Star Wars sets, I think this is from 75166 First Order Transport Speeder Battle Pack, where these parts form the engine outlets of the small vehicle.


Identifying a set with brown curved top and circular gray pieces on the sides Came partially assembled with a bulk used lot. The color scheme makes me think it could be from a Star Wars set. It doesn't have any minifigs but I found other loose pieces with imperial logo.

I think this is from

LEGO Star Wars Set 9491-1 , Geonosian Cannon.


Help identifying a Megabloks set - grey and black mass Could you help me work out what this set could be? Tried searching through Google Images, etc. and can’t find it.

That is the fuselage of 9962 Supersonic Fighter:

However, it appears that the stickers haven’t been applied.


How did this 1x4 plate look like before modifying? As you can see someone modified this 1x4 plate. Can you tell me which brick this was originally?

My guess is that it was a Hinge Vehicle Roof Holder 1 x 4, but there are probably several pieces you could have modified to look like that.


usage of ev3 ultrasonic sensor in lejos behavior based programming I'm using ev3 ultrasonic sensor. And I'm writing a behavior based lejos code. I want to do some tasks when the ultrasonic sensor detects an object which is not further than 30 cm's. And this is my code:

public UltrasonicSensor(Port port)
    {
        sonar = new EV3UltrasonicSensor(port);
        sonar.getDistanceMode().fetchSample(value, 0);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean takeControl() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        return value[0] < 0.3;

    public void action() {
        ....
    }

    @Override
    public void suppress() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        suppressed = true;
    }

But I think it is not the right way. How can I implement it in the right way?

Thanks for help,

You can use the lejos.ev3.robotics.RangeFinder abstraction class:

EV3UltrasonicSensor sensorUS;
RangeFinder sonar;

public UltrasonicSensor(Port port) {
    sensorUS = new EV3UltrasonicSensor(port);
    sonar = new RangeFinder(sensorUS);
}

@Override
public boolean takeControl() {
    return sonar.getRange() < 0.3;
}

Use the float getRange()  method to retrieve the distance to the nearest object.


Sets with the most zombies My kids love LEGO or compatible brands sets with zombies (e.g. Monster Fighters from LEGO and Cityville Invasion from Kre-O).

I was wondering which LEGO or compatible brand set has the most zombies included, in the sense of mini-figurines.

For instance, the LEGO 850487-1 set is very cool, but only has one zombie.

Searching Zombies Minifigs on Bricklink I find 22 official Lego zombies, including the Monster Fighters, Minecraft, Scooby Doo, Ghostbusters, Pirates of the Caribbean, and several Mini figures from the collections.

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/search.page?q=zombie#T=M

Most of them are one offs in the set.

The most I found was three zombies in a set.  There were two sets:

Pirates of the Caribbean 4195-1 Queen Annes Revenge: Has three zombie pirates and a skeleton which I'm not counting as a zombie:

Monster Fighters 9465-1 The Zombies Set has Three Zombies, a zombie bride, a zombie groom, and a zombie driver:


How to use printed bricks from set 850425 into LDD? I would like to know if it is possible to use the printed tiles (those with letters) from the 850425 set into the Lego Digital Designer (LDD)?

And if it is possible, the next question is "how" of course. :)

No. It is not possible to add printed tiles in LDD. The closest you can get is just putting plates into the design and adding stickers.


Is it possible to connect an RCX to an iOS device? I have an RCX and want to know if it's possible to connect it to an iOS device. If this is possible, how do I do it?

Communication with the RCX Brick was via the Infra Red tower (or IR Remote Control) which connected to the computer with either a serial or USB cable.

As neither iPhone nor iPad have an IR port, there's no way to connect directly between the two.

You might be able to do something with a docked iOs device, but that strikes me as somewhat pointless.


What is a normal range of reading of the Light Sensor using EV3 Raw Sensor block? EV3 software does not support the Light Sensor. It does support the Color Sensor.

The solution is to use the Raw Sensor Block.

What is "normal" for raw sensor block readings?

I'm getting readings between 450 and 700, with brighter readings at the lower end of the range.  I expected brighter to be the larger number.  Is there an expected range of values?

Is it because the software is running on an NXT brick?

My FLL team wrote a light sensor myblock that converts the raw value to a number between 0 and 100. They run it on the EV3 so they can use their existing NXT light sensors. It should work on the NXT brick as well. Here is the video they posted to explain how it works.

http://youtu.be/I7Bqvk-uMLk


How can I assemble 2 opposing gears so that the axle rotations are perfectly parallel? Due to the way all the modern LEGO gears are perfectly quarter-turn symmetrical, there doesn't appear to be any way to assembly 2 opposing gears such that I get a 2 perfectly parallel axles.

This image illustrates the problem:

When one gear it perfectly centered, the other gear is rotated half a tooth.

How can I get 2 opposing gear's axles to be perfectly parallel? Are there any older or special gears that are useful here? Otherwise, are there any good workarounds?

How can I get 2 opposing gear's axles to be perfectly parallel? Are there any good workarounds?

You could use an idler gear. It will even out the offset.

Yet, at the same time, it (or any odd number of idler gears) will cause both axles to spin in one direction.

On the other hand, two (or any even number of) idler gears will not affect the asynchrony of the axles, but will bring back the offset.

Then again, placing a single idler gear crosswise will compensate the offset without changing the desired clockwise/ counterclockwise movement.

Besides, here's two 8 tooth idler gears in line. Both axles seem to be perfectly in parallel to each other.

Unfortunately, that's actually because of the large amount of play involved. So this solution just benefits from the wiggle and does not run too reliably.

Edit:

  Are there any older or special gears that are useful here?

At least theoretically.

Having an uneven number of teeth, these nowadays obsolete gears from the early 70s would work as well.

As you can tell from the overlapping grey gears, the axles are quite parallel (minus some backlash).


EV3 as master and NXT2 as slave? Will it be possible to daisy chain a NXT brick as a slave of a new EV3 brick ?

As per This LEGO education FAQ, it is not possible to use the USB cable the same way it's done between multiple EV3 bricks:

  Can I connect my NXT Intelligent Brick to the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Intelligent Brick?
  No. It is not possible to daisy chain with the NXT brick.

However, keep in mind this is valid within the scope of official software; it could be that someone later makes the necessary hacks for it to work in some way.

Also, other communication methods such as bluetooth are available which you can likely use to control the NXT brick from an EV3 one, rpovided you program the NXT brick accordingly. It probably won't be as simple, but definitely doable.


EV3 additional build instructions - PDF download or print possible? The EV3 retail edition comes with printed instructions to build only one of the possible robots and it appears you have to use the software to view the build instructions of the other models.

My question is: is it possible to download or export/print these additional model instructions?

I have attempted to find both downloads (Lego's PDF search function returns nothing) and an export/print option to no avail.

Edit to add:

PDF downloads are now available from the LEGO Site:

  3D Building Instructions

The images used for building instructions are available (jpeg images) in folder C:\Program Files\LEGO Software\LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Home Edition\Resources\ContentPacks\Retail\nonlocalized\LEGO\pack0\projects (more or less, depends on OS and installation choices). Take care not to modify anything there, as you might need to reinstall the software!

It's a bit more complex for .ev3 project files containing building instructions (eg. downloadable bonus models):

Open the ev3 project file as if it is a zip archive.
Inside you'll find a file named ActivityAssets.laz. Open this one as
a zip archive too,
it contains all the images for building instructions. You can
extract those images to a separate location
then you can print those images or build a PDFfile, you can put that on your tablet...
take care not to modify the project files!

Remember that these images are the property of their owner (LEGO or model builder), use them for you own personal needs only!


How to make a Lego continuous conveyor belt So I need to make a continuously working conveyor belt transporting blocks.
I have seen this post, but additionally, as already said, I have to make it work continuously transporting blocks,so I have thought about this:

There are two problems I foresee:

Can conveyor belts be stacked one on top of the other? (they therefore would be slightly uphill)
How could I deal with turns?

For problem 2 I have imagined something like in this video:

LEGO Great Ball Contraption (GBC) Layout 2012.9

in which each ball (bricks in my idea) are stored into "tubs".

Alternatively if nothing else works I will have to fall back on seemingly easier to do rails. But rails are not conveyor belts. That is totally different.

Thank you in advance for any help.

If you want the belts to operating in a single plane, you could try having an angled blockage across the corner which diverts the blocks onto the next belt, like this.

If you don't mind them going slightly up hill then all you need to do is make the one it is dropping off finish up high and have the next one be underneath it. In your diagram the dark green belt runs right into the wall, in my diagram below the dark greening finishes mid-air and the block and drop onto the cyan one.


Can you identify this axle coupling? Can you identify this piece. It can be used to join 2 axles together and I'd like to order more.  I've also seen some without the cross shape inside which I think can join bars together.

side view

top view

Looks like Part #6538c - Technic, Axle Connector 2L (Smooth with x Hole + Orientation).


Chima Speedorz game -- how to play? Lego Chima Speedorz sets include cryptic instructions on how to play the game, but I'm unable to fully understand them. I'm looking for a comprehensive answer or guide that details the game rules.

I think this might help you, its a pretty nice writeup on how to play:
http://thebrickblogger.com/2013/01/lego-legends-of-chima-speedorz-game/


Need help identifying a couple of Lego sets, grey tank with 4 short legs, and ship with long wings with lime green tiles Do you recognize either of the below Lego sets?

We received them as a hand-me-down gift with no instructions.

Thanks for any help!

Top set is number 75013, Umbaran MHC (Mobile Heavy Cannon). I think the previous owner modified the cannon, because the actual set looks vastly different up there. I don't recognize the bottom set, but it looks like some star wars set.


What set do these stickers belong to? I have searched for these stickers in several places but I can't seem to find what sets they go to.

For the top item, I have found this to come from set 6338 Hurricane Harbor. Here is a photo of the sticker sheet that came with this set:

As for the bottom, please see comment to the question.


How can I build a human-scale Lego gun? I would like to build Lego projectile weapons. Are there any designs available? Can one make an amunition magazine and self-reloading mechanism? Should I use rubberbands as ammunition or are there designs that fire Lego bricks?

There are some Books available that include building-instructions (i don't own one of these, but i would choose the most current):

The BrickGun Book (Book released in 2013, site has occasional updates as of December 2018 with more instructions)
Badass LEGO Guns (December 2010)
Weapons for LEGO Lovers (February 2009)
as Joubarc said the at least 4 years old Forbidden LEGO (July 2007)

to answer your question about magazines/reloading mechanisms: see this youtube-video that shows such a mechanism in detail (although it's a bit hard to perceive details).

in addition the book about LEGO Technic Simple Mechanics might also be interesting for you, if you want to try building a own gun instead of just "copying" from a detailed instruction.


Can I write programs for the LEGO RCX 2.0 in Java/C++? Is there a library which makes it possible to write LEGO Mindstorms programs for RCX 2.0 in Java or C++? With the LEGO software it takes so much time to write good programs.

I was looking into this just recently. There are libraries and also it seems there are other firmwares offering alternative operating systems you can embed on the Mindstorm.

For C++ you could try:

nxtOSEK is an alternative OS offering a C++ api
BrickOS is an alternative OS with a C/C++ development environment
NXT++ is a C++ lib for controlling the original Mindstorm with a C++ API (through BlueTooth or USB)

For java solutions might be:

leJOS an alternative OS with a JVM
The NXTComm Processing Library


Why are they called "minifigs"? Were larger-scale LEGO figures the standard at some point in the past? It just seems odd to me that they're called "mini" when they're basically the only kind of LEGO figures available (not counting vastly larger figures that are themselves models.)

The minifigure is so-called because the original LEGO "Family" figures that were released in 1974 where somewhat larger, with bodies made from 2x2 Bricks, and arms made from hinged tubes.

There's a bit more of a condensed history in the minifigure tag wiki, and there is a bit more information about the minifigure as we know it today in the Company Profile


Going to Legoland Denmark with my family, what should I do/get? Hello fellow LEGO lovers! I know this question is not entirely what this site is for but I figured I'd ask because I want to hear what you have to say.

I have been wanting to go to the original Denmark Legoland for 40 years and I finally have my chance. This August I will be going to Copenhagen for a few weeks with my family (kids 7 & 4) and will be spending several days at Legoland.

My questions for you are:

What activities and exhibits are unique to this Legoland that I should be sure of seeing? Obviously every Legoland's features are different but since this will likely be the only time I ever go there, I want to focus on what I know I can get nowhere else.
I will likely be bringing an extra bag just to fill with LEGO. Are there sets, parts, or other LEGO related items for sale there and nowhere else? I'd consider buying things in areas I don't normally focus on if its the only place I can get them. What about pricing, is it better there because its closer to their Denmark factory?

Thanks everyone!

Sorry to disappoint you sir.

But first of all LEGOLAND in Denmark is about 3 hour drive from Copenhagen, I am from Denmark and I would say that the Danish LEGOLAND is not that great, they do not have any really special stuff that you cannot get anywhere else, in fact when I was in Florida LEGOLAND I found that they had a lot more unique stuff then the Danish one.

They do have a website for the danish LEGOLAND http://www.legoland.dk/en/Explore/

The best things I like about the Danish LEGOLAND and the thing I would advise one to look at in there are:

Their models, they have made some beautiful models of different stuff in there only made out of LEGO.
Their workshop, they have a nice workshop where they show young children what you are able to do with LEGO Mindstorms and help them make some small programs.
See if you can be there while they have one of their events.

Good luck and have a nice vacation :)


How to unplug black friction pin connectors Black friction pin without slots connectors are common in older Technic sets. Note that these were quickly replaced by the current version with slots that is much easier to remove.

 vs

Especially in older sets, it is not uncommon for these connectors to get completely stuck (as if glued) in bricks with holes. I have to resort to pincers and brute force. This typically results in the connector being damaged.

The orange brick separator is often not tough enough to do the job.

So, how can you separate these things?

Take your cross axle:

And push it into the hole where your pin connector had stuck


Do all Technic bushes (3713) have the LEGO label on them? I have just found out that many of my Technic bushes (3713) do not have "LEGO" printed on them. Does this mean they are fake?

I know that many parts were produced in several variations.

Technic bushes didn't always have LEGO stamped on them.

I don't remember exactly when I first noticed this, but some years back they started stamping LEGO onto a bunch of different pieces that didn't previously have it.

I suspect they did this because people were knocking off more and more of their pieces.


Absolute position regulation NXC I am trying to position the LEGO NXT motor exactly at a certain absolute angle:

PosRegEnable (OUT_A);
PosRegSetAngle (OUT_A, 0);
Wait (500);                  // to read sensor value
PosRegSetAngle (OUT_A, 90);
Wait (500);                  // to read sensor value
PosRegSetAngle (OUT_A, 180);
Wait (500);                  // to read sensor value

My Brick has V1.31 firmware.

When I load this program and run it, it doesn't display any error but the motor doesn't run.

Has someone experienced this before?

According to the docs (emphasis added):

  Warning

  This function requires the enhanced NBC/NXC firmware version 1.31+

Make sure you are using the enhanced firmware provided with NXC and not the official firmware from LEGO.


Neutralize brick scent I store some used Lego sets in household plastic boxes originally used for candy. I thought they were ideal, but now I found out the bricks have caught an unpleasant candy scent -- despite cleaning the boxes thoroughly.

After having washed the pieces several times with water and mild detergents, the same smell is still there. What can I do?

I've read that vinegar or baking soda (but not both at the same time!) can remove scents. If I were you I'd start trying with the baking soda, since the vinegar itself has some odor.

Activated charcoal is used in industrial scale to filter and purify, you could try that too, it is less trivial to get hold of and probably stains the bricks but it can be washed off by water.

A friend of mine used to clean her LEGO bricks by sewing them tightly in a blanket and putting them in the washing machine with the appropriate amount of detergent. If you choose this method, make sure to always stay clear of the melting point of ABS (80°C or 176F), leaving a margin for security. 50°C or lower shouldn't cause any problems

The simplest solution though is probably to allow the bricks to let out their smell by exposing them to fresh air, maybe accelerated by a fan or such. Beware though, if the candy smell implicates sugar residue it can attract insects.


Which set is this 2 x 6 slope with holes from? I picked up a bag of loose LEGO at a thrift shop and cannot identify which set this piece comes from:

The holes pass all the way through the slope but have small details inside that prevent a standard technic axle from going through:

If anyone has seen it before, knows which set it comes from or what its purpose is, please let me know. Thanks.

You have a Fabuland Roof Support Slope, 6 x 2.

If it's like the similar ones I've seen in Duplo, it probably came pre-assembled into one of these:

Fabuland Roof Support with Gray Roof Slope without Chimney Hole

Fabuland Roof Support with Red Roof Slope with Chimney Hole

Fabuland Roof Support with Red Roof Slope without Chimney Hole


Downloading EV3 programs: Error code 0 When I download some programs to my EV3, the application gives me an error as shown below.

Error downloading Projects/SUP3RCAR/ResetSteer.rbf during deployment. Error code:0

Can somebody tell me why this error occurs and how to solve it?

Yeah... It happened to me this very day...

SOLUTION:

One of the following always does it (listed in descending order of effectiveness):

Relaunch the EV3 Software (Be sure to save your work!)
Use a Download Cable instead of Bluetooth
The EV3 Software messes up on Windows 10; try using an older PC.
Restart the brick.
Restart the computer.
Try turning bluetooth on and off


What LEGO set is this? White pieces, brick separator, and blue pilot Clone Trooper? I can't identify this.  What does this build?

The minifigure  is  501st Clone Pilot (75004)

So it should be this set

Z-95 Headhunter


What is the quality of LEGO replicas on Aliexpress? Aliexpress sells a lot of LEGO replicas, has anyone here bought one? I am wanting to know how the quality compares to LEGO?

Example products: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20190815025633&SearchText=lego&switch_new_app=y

I'm sure it shouldn't be stored with regular LEGO bricks, but if these are treated as a separate product, can these replicas be used without any issues?

Edit: I have found an example of comparison in this YouTube video.

You might be interested in the excellent, hilarious and comprehensive Communist LEGO report. It tells you all you can expect, from the good brands to the bad brands. At a minimum, it'll get you rolling of your chair with laughter.
A summary taken from the document:

Brand List 2015
LEGO is a global brand and has been the subject of many copies over the years. The US company Tyco were the first with ‘Super Blocks’ in 1984, after LEGO’s brick patent expired in 1983. Almost every attempt at cloning has been inferior, mainly due to production costs being lower resulting in inferior grade materials and poor fitting pieces. Set design has generally varied from mediocre to rubbish. However, the recently invigorated factories of China have begun to churn out various LEGO clones. It’s worth noting that the potential Chinese domestic market is far, far larger than that of Europe and America combined. There are many Chinese companies making LEGO copies, with new ones starting up at an astounding rate. Minifig copying seems to be endemic, taking advantage of enormous demand for collectable box sets that LEGO cannot do due to contractual reasons. A brief trawl of the AliExpress export website finds a list of 50 companies making plastic building blocks, with probably at least half doing LEGO clones. Most if not all are based in Chenghai, the toy capital of China. Some companies appear to source their products from each other and subcontract, so working out exactly who makes which branded kits is not always straightforward. Many are of random quality and there is a lot of chaff and little wheat. The following is an incomplete list of some of the more actively promoted brands. By the time you read this, there will probably be more. It is interesting to note that many Far East websites list the keyword ‘Enlighten’ above ‘LEGO’.

Net: Some knock-off brands are getting really good and compare in quality with LEGO. Some are absolutely horrific. Some are complete cloners (and will likely disappear soon when the LEGO lawyers swoop in), some have found a niche that LEGO doesn't cover and will likely stay around.


"The type or namespace name "Brick" could not be found" Xamarin Studio with MonoBrick I managed to establish a wifi connection with the Ev3 Brick via WinSCD and am programming the Ev3 with XamarinStudio/Mono Develop(http://xamarin.com/studio "XamarinStudio"). My problem is that "The type or namespace name 'Brick' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)"
The Code is:

var ev3 = new Brick <TouchSensor, IRSensor, ColorSensor, ColorSensor>("wifi");

as you can see at the screenshot below...

You need to be using the standard MonoBrick Communication Library if you want to connect remotely to the EV3.

You would then need to have the following using statement at the top of your code:

using MonoBrick.Ev3

I believe you are referencing the MonoBrick EV3 Firmware which doesn't need to connect to the brick as it is the brick.


How to motorize a LEGO Pneumatic valve? I am working on a project that requires remotely switched LEGO valves, and I tried many designs I found, and none of them worked due to the valve causing too much resistance. Does anyone have a remotely switched valve design that fulfills the conditions below?

It must be tested and work.
It must use only PF motors.
It must not use 32449.

I tried many designs I found

A quick Google search resulted in the following designs. Have you tried them all?

Sariel's Autovalve:

Philo's pneumatic valve:

Sariel's Servo Valve:

Tamas Juhasz's small autovalve with compressor:

Technic-Dragon's Compact Pneumatic Autovalve:

Bonus entries, not using exclusively PF motors, but could be adapted to:

Conchas' Micromotor valve:

Pneumatically controlled valve from the B model of 8868-1: Air Tech Claw Rig


Can anyone ID this torso? White torso with electronics and tubing printed Looks to be a Star Wars pilot torso, but I tried many different keywords on BrickLink and could not find this torso!! I found many very similar torsos, but not this one. Would appreciate any help in finding this part ID, thanks!

It is 973pb0270c02 Torso SW AT-AT Driver Pattern / Dark Bluish Gray Arms / White Hands.

Comes from three possible sets: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=973pb0270c02&in=S


LEGO Enclosure Clasp I'm working on refining my first MOC design for a LEGO dice tower with a landing area that can also be used as storage for dice and possibly some miscellaneous other table-top gaming "goodies". To accomplish this, I've added some hinged panels to cover both the landing area and the top of the tower itself.

I've been using a fantastic online LEGO CAD system called MecaBricks. You can view the current iteration of my dice tower on the MecaBricks site (yes, I know the colors are garish). I have the design almost where I want it except for one small detail. I'd like to include a sort of "latch" or "clasp" for the cover panels so they won't come open by themselves. I'd prefer the latching mechanism to be on the interior of the landing area without taking up too much of the interior space. At the same time, it isn't a "deal-breaker" if I have to use a solution that involves a latch on the outside as that might be better in the long run.

Regardless, I'm having difficulty determining exactly how to accomplish this and could really use some recommendations. I was thinking of using one of the pin connectors that has the "towball" at the end so that it wasn't quite so "stiff" of a connection. I thought I remembered seeing a rubber piece that looks similar to the LEGO Technic Flexible Rubber Axle Connector (45590) (on BrickLink) but with a female connection that would accept the ball instead of the axle "cross", but I can't seem to find it anywhere now.

I've also looked at the Pop-Up Book Clasp Tutorial and Other Mods. A variation of the "clasp" used there may be my eventual solution, but I wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions before I traveled too far down that road.

I believe I may have found a workable solution and the "best" solution based on the criteria:

I still wasn't able to find the rubber Technic connector part I wanted, so I kept looking at other connectors and how they fit together, taking special care to note how much space they would take up.

I looked more closely into the "Pop-Up Book Clasp" option (in the question), but that seemed like it would require a complete redesign of a majority of the tower (at least the landing area, anyway). The actual latches in use for that require a very specific spacing, and I couldn't achieve that with the existing layout. Not to mention, those changes would make certain "features" virtually impossible to implement as I intended.

Because the landing area is intended to double as a storage area, I wanted to keep it as clutter-free as possible, but I also want a "clean" look so it doesn't look thrown together. The piece(s) I finally came up with to implement the "latch" for the covers are  the 1x2 plate with vertical holder (60470) combined with the 1x2 plate with stick Ø3.18 (48336). I managed to conceal most of it in the design, and it should operate as expected.

I'm still open to suggestions or alternatives, and it may be a little while before I get all the LEGO I need together to actually try this as a physical build but, for now, I believe this will get me where I want to be. If you want to look at the changes, here's the link to the 3D version of my v1.3 dice tower model on MecaBricks, and here's a static screenshot.


Which program do I use to program my rcx 1.0 or 1.5 I am getting an RCX and I know it is ether a 1.0 or a 1.5. Which program do I use to program my RCX?

You really have two major choices:

Try to acquire, install, and run the official Lego software for the RCX.
Use some third-party tool to develop programs that can be uploaded and run on the brick.

(1) is getting harder and harder to do on modern computers. Personally, I would not bother trying.

(2) means choosing some third-party tooling. The other answer that refers to BricxCC falls into this category. (You should check out the "RCX" section at that link for more information.) Many of the third-party tools for the RCX brick are pretty much no longer under active development.

But this does not mean that they don't work, or aren't useful.

Some decisions you need to make are: do you need an IDE? Are you comfortable at the command line? What platform will you be hosting the development tools on? Do you want to use the default firmware, or use a third-party that replaces the default firmware?

For example, there is a tool called NQC which is a C-like language and brick API with a facility for uploading compiled brick programs and firmwares to all RCX bricks. It can also set the clock, launch specific programs stored on the brick, and even use the brick as a datalogger. It requires an RCX 1.0, 1.5 or 2.x compatible firmware.

LeJOS is a tiny Java compiler and runtime that needs its own firmware which it loads onto the brick. I think people have figured out how to use Eclipse as an IDE for LeJOS.

Full disclosure: I maintain my own fork for NQC on GitHub, and I'm pretty sure it is the only fork under semi-active development. If you need official firmwares for the RCX brick, I've included them in this project as a convenience. Remember that you can use any compatible firmware on a 1.0 or 1.5 brick. That is, if you want a 2.x brick, just install the 2.x firmware.


Can you identify the set from these two LEGO bags? Can someone please help identify this LEGO set? I’m not certain the 2 bags go together.

Left Plate W. Angle 3X12 only comes in Bright Red in 6 sets. Only 1 set also contains this piece in White.
31047-1: Propeller Plane

This set also contains:

403224: Plate 2X2 Round in Bright Yellow
4560179: Flat Tile 2X4 in Bright Red
4211440: Technic Brick 1X2, Ø4.9  in Medium Stone Grey
6083620: Cross Axle 4M With End Stop in Dark Stone Grey

So both bags are from the same set.


What's the purpose of the clutch gear in Power Functions set? I have just bought this set and wonder the purpose of the white gear in the middle:

How can you use it in your Lego Technic projects? Is it available in other sets?

When your function (such as an extending crane boom) gets to one limit or the other, this clutch gear ratchets instead of binding up the motor and all the gears in between.

ETA: Forgot the second question. It has appeared in many sets, most recently the Fairground Mixer.


What is the largest jump in LEGO instructions? What is the largest gap in LEGO instructions in terms of build time needed to complete a step? For example, Skyline (5526) includes this step:

That is quite a leap between steps 14 and 15. I'm curious to know if any sets leave more up to the builder than this.

I saw this over on Reddit and thought it might be interesting to get answers over here.

Car Chassis 8860 gets my vote for complexity of a single step.

The instructions are laid out so that you have two pages like this on top of each other.  I was building this model with my 11 year old son recently, and at almost every step on the last couple of pages we found we had missed something from the previous step.


NXT motor power accuracy When turning the motors, how precise is the speed parameter? I am programming in the NXC language (standard firmware) and wishing to know how many decimal points will be taken, if any, and whether the input speed will be truncated, rounded or neither.

From the page you linked to we can see that the NXC OnFwd method has the following parameters:

void OnFwd (byte outputs, char pwr)

The power or speed parameter is listed as a char type, and looking around elsewhere on the site we find the definition of the char to be:

  In NXC the char type is a signed 8-bit value. This type can store values from SCHAR_MIN to SCHAR_MAX.

This means it can hold an integer value between -128 and 127.

It cannot take any decimal values.

I assume that a char was used over an int as they only need to support values between -100 and 100 in this method.


Lego Part identification needed (x4) Four different parts that I'm struggling to load onto Rebrickable.
Any help gratefully received.

Part A is a 1x1 round plate with a open stud and a horizontal bar.
I'm not convinced that it is actual Lego, but would be happy to be proven wrong.

Part B is a 1x2 brick with no studs as it is split into two hollow channels that work as stud holders from either side. Again, probably not Lego I'm guessing.

Part C is a 2x2 cone (1 brick tall) with an open stud and four oval mouldings on the side.

Part D is a pylon of sorts. It sits on a 2x2 base and is 3 bricks tall and is slightly swept back, rather than being completely vertical. The top stud is open, but the 2 studs on the 'branches' are hollow with the Lego logo in each of them. However, the underside of the base doesn't look like what you would usually expect Lego to look like from that angle.

The last part is 4289 Boat Mast 2 x 2 x 3 Inclined with Stud on Top and Two Sides:

I believe you are correct that the others are not LEGO elements.


Can someone please help me identify this antenna/rod part? It attaches to the bottom of a brick These red antenna-like pieces have four flanges at the base.  The base does NOT fit on top of a stud, but rather it will fit the underside/bottom side of brick.  The two pieces can also be connected to each other to extend the length and fit in lego people's hands.

These bars are not referenced as Lego bricks by BrickLink, neither by Brickset.

The complete list of existing bars is available on the BrickLink
catalogue for example;
Brickset proposes a list of all Signs, Flags, and Poles since the last 27 years and that bar is not included.

Therefore I believe these particular bars are not from Lego.


Will LEGO Caboose (10014) work with LEGO Cargo Train (7939)? Will the older LEGO Caboose (10014) work with the LEGO Cargo Train (7939)? I wonder if it will fit the newer track and if the magnet couplers will still work?

Track

As  a general rule, the rolling stock from all LEGO trains will work with all types of LEGO track. So, the Caboose you've mentioned will work perfectly with the track supplied with the Cargo Train.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule:

Duplo track isn't the same gauge as LEGO track, so you shouldn't expect it to work (although you can usually get away with it anyway).
There are now two gauges of LEGO track, the traditional "L-Gauge" track and a newer narrow gauge. They are, obviously, incompatible.
Trains that were not designed to run on rails obviously won't run on rails. Sadly, this includes the unmodified Ghost Train (9467).

Electrical components are a different matter. Trains that need a powered rails obviously won't work unless they're running on compatible track. So, the old mains-powered 4.5V, 12V and 9V engines won't work on modern track unless you replace the motor (which can be non-trivial).

Most battery powered trains will be fine on all types of track, although the very early trains had small teeth on their wheels to give them traction against corresponding notches in early track. Although they'll certainly fit the modern track, you might find that they don't run very well unless you swap the wheels.

Couplings

The couplings on LEGO trains have always been at the same height, so there are no problems there. The bottom line, then, is that the couplings on the Caboose will work well with the Cargo Train.

The magnetic couplings are generally compatible with each other, so you won't have any problem there, either. The first magnetic couplings were polarised - north and south (red and blue) - so you had to make sure the wagons were the right way around on the track. 9V era trains had magnets that flip round, so they would work whichever way around they were, and were completely compatible with older polarized couplings. The very latest couplings don't swivel in the same way, but are reportedly backward-compatible with all older couplings.

(Of course, the early non-magnetic couplings are incompatible with the magnetic ones, but can usually be replaced with a magnetic coupling without too much difficulty.)

The one problem that some people have encountered with magnetic couplings is that they don't always hold together if the wagons are too heavy. This can happen if your train is too long, for example.

TL;DR

The Caboose will work well with the Cargo Train.


How do they decide when to remove an element from production, and what happens to the molds when they are retired? We all know certain LEGO elements are no longer being produced. How do they decide when to remove an element from production, and what happens to the molds when they are retired?

I can't find a link to substantiate this, but a quality assurance representative from LEGO mentioned at a BrickWorld presentation a few years ago that worn out molds are buried on the factory property in Denmark in concrete. If anyone else can find substantiation for that, I'd love to see it.


Are These Minifig Helmet, Hair, and Stingray Accessories Official LEGO Parts? I bought some minifigures on the internet, but these helmet, hair, and animal parts only have NUMBERS on them, but no LEGO logo.

They feel like LEGO, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know a way?

Welcome to BRICKS!

These are the four official LEGO parts you questioned.

Cross check their part numbers with the ones you've got on hand.

If they match, then they're good.

See ya!

Part# 61189pb03.

Part# 15083pb01.

Part# 30084.

Part# 43753.


On what plane is 6912 Super Soarer based? The set 6912, Super Soarer, features a yellow jet plane. My first thoughts were towards the Harrier, but it has exhausts on the tail, which the Harrier doesn't have.

On what plane, if any, is it based?

I would go for another British aircraft: Sepecat Jaguar

It's twin-engine also.


Do any concave slopes or curves exist? Any brand Do you know if anyone has ever made any concave slope pieces? Looking for multiple lengths (2/3/4/5/6 stud lengths). Basically the opposite of this style:
I would also be looking for the same concave shapes, which would go underneath, similar to this:
The first example is a graduated curve, the bottom seems to be more of a constant curve. I would prefer graduated if possible, but in the concave direction, with the shallower slope at the bottom, steepening towards the top.
If not, does anyone know anybody that makes custom shapes or pieces?

Part 18653 Brick, Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted

Brick, Arch 1 x 5 x 4 Inverted

And a few other inverted arches


Can You Identify These Black Studless 2x4 Brick With Train Wheels? I found a bunch of Pat Pend LEGO in a thrift shop. Among all the goodies there are two black smooth 2x4 bricks with train wheels attached to them.

Their characteristics are as followed:

They are studless.
Have a closed bottom.
On one of the long sides there is a half moon like cut-out with a
sort of flat hook thing.
On the short sides there are detachable train wheels with ten spokes.
The wheel axles are made of yellow brass.
The logo on top is the old LEGO logo with the letter "O" being open.
The logo is quite large.

Can anyone help me identify these parts?

Hey, there Happy Dog!  These train pieces?

Part #BB37 - Train Brick 2 x 4 x 1 1/3 Sliding Block with Wheels
Holder.
Part #Wheel2A - Wheel Spoked for Motor.

Together they appear in these LEGO sets.

See ya!


Please identify this figure/build I would like to know from what set this figure/build is? It looks like a tiger/human hybrid.

That is Tiger, Standing (Tygurah) from 7411 set


Is it acceptable practice to finish an incomplete set and sell it as complete? I found a vintage LEGO set from the early 1980s, with box. It is missing 25% of the pieces. If I purchase the rest of the pieces separately, is it acceptable practice to sell that as a "complete set"?

New bricks of the same kind often comes from a slightly different mold. And pieces from different year will look different, especially white ones. So there is a high chance that difference will be seen.

Most ethical thing to do is to sell it as complete set, but in description clearly state what bricks was replaced.


Can anyone identify these parts? They're round and like a platform.  On the bottom are three steel balls.  When you place down or tap, the red LED lights blink.  One has a skull and fire on its sides.

With thanks to Uli,
Mega Bloks Skylanders Battle Portals


Are DUPLO gears compatible with LEGO gears? Can I make a transmission from DUPLO gear (Early Simple Machines Set 9656) to regular-sized gear?

To the best of my knowledge, the gears are not compatible in any way. The teeth on the DUPLO gears appear to be far too large.

One option could be to use one of the included DUPLO pulleys and create a connection to the Technic system that way:


What is the difference between train motors 88002 and 10153? I want to motorize my Santa Fe Super Chief.
Its original instruction mentions 5300 but it's marked obsolete on BS.com and now re-released as 10153.

In the same time 88002 costs few times less, e.g. $15 on Lego.com vs $55 on eBay.

So does it make sense to acquire more expensive 10153, or can just go for 88002? Are they compatible? What is the difference?

Update: Is the key difference in the way how does engine receive electricity? From metal tracks or inner engine (like Red Cargo train does)?

5300 and 10153 are from the former 9V train system and drew power from the metal tracks. They were controlled using a transformer attached to the tracks.

88002 runs on battery power from an onboard battery box. Trains with this kind of motor can run at a set speed, or can be controlled by adding IR remote controllers.

Regarding compatibility, the 5300 and 10153 require powered 9V track. They will not run on the new plastic tracks. The 88002 is the same gauge as these 9V motors, so it will fit and run on the 9V tracks.

LEGO is no longer making 9V train components.


LEGO games for grown-ups? Are all LEGO Boardgames more or less for children, or are some of them suitable for grown-up, more expert players? (Everybody likes relaxing with a simple game, but are any of the games a bit more challenging?)

The most obvious answer is probably the LEGO Heroica range, especially when played in "Campaign" mode; for more details see our Heroica tag wiki.

There are also a few examples of "Expert" rules that others have come up with, including our very own Joe Wreschnig's set on his dedicated site.

  Advanced Heroica PDF by Jason Glover/GreyGnomeGames (archived page)

Both of these make the ruleset more complicated and can encourage more of a team play than the usual competitive play that my kids make it.

LEGO Creationary is another game where the modelling requirements make it a slightly less child friendly game than some of the others.


Identification please I got hold of a lot of loose LEGO; included were three closed packages without assembly instructions. Two of these were numbered as 7 and 8 respectively, the third one is without numbering.

I attach pictures of the parts and would be very grateful, if someone could identify them so I can download instructions before my little grandson comes to visit in a few weeks :)

Package "7"

Package "8"

Unknown Package

Given the size of the set (indicated by the fact that there are at least 8 bags), the occurrence of the Item 2584c003 - winch with reel and the Item 41539 - 8x8 light bluish gray plates in package "7", it looks like you have parts of set 60004 Fire Station in your hands, specifically one of the upper floors of the building, together with parts of the emergency pole.

Package "8" is also part of set 60004 Fire Station, specifically parts of one the two main garages next to the office tower part of the Fire Station, the roof of the garage and some of the sidewalk.


Alternative for Technic, Gear Rack 1 x 7 with Axle and Pin Holes? We are trying to build a MOC which requires Technic, Gear Rack 1 x 7 with Axle and Pin Holes and we don't have that. Could we build it? Or are there any alternatives?

FYI we do have Technic Gear Rack 1 x 4 and 6630 - Technic, Gear Rack 1 x 8 with Holes

If it's your own creation, you should be able to adapt your model to fit the rack you have. One tricky problem I can see is if your construction is built as most studless models are nowadays and features uneven dimensions - which means a 7 rack is indeed easier than a 8.

You can of course build something around the old 1x4 rack place but it might get awkward depending how you want your model to work. Something like this might already work fine:

Also, I wouldn't discount the worm screw, as it can work as a rack as well:

Of course, this is just an example; with this solution you have a lot of freedom as to what you will connect at the ends of the axle, as well as to the length of it. Again, depending on your model, you'll surely be able to find something that suits your needs.


What's the exact opacity and translucency of transparent bricks? As answered in this question, transparent bricks are made of PC (polycarbonate) and as listed in this answer and on Brickipedia there are fourteen transparent colors:

40  Transparent (clear)
41  Transparent Red
42  Transparent Light Blue
43  Transparent Blue
44  Transparent Yellow
47  Transparent Fluorescent Reddish-Orange (Transparent Dark Orange)
48  Transparent Green
49  Transparent Fluorescent Green (Transparent Neon Green)
111 Transparent Brown (Smoke)
113 Transparent Medium Reddish-Violet
126 Transparent Bright Bluish-Violet
143 Transparent Fluorescent Blue
182 Transparent Bright Orange
311 Transparent Bright Green

I am interested in the exact optical properties Transparency and translucency of this colors. How much percentage of light is absorbed? Has anyone measured with a prism which wavelength gets filtered out for each color?

P.S.: Why do I want to know? I want to put different kinds of LEDs in transparent bricks and like to know how the light is influenced. There are LEDs in different colours (light temperature) and one can calculate the luminosity at specific voltage and current. I'd like to calculate the luminosity as modified by the polycarbonate which the LEDs are put into.

I have a couple friends in the LEGO company, so I asked one of the guys behind piece creation about this. It turns out that TLC itself doesn't have this information.

The problem is,  lab-testing the exact opacity and light absorption depends on certain ideal conditions. These conditions, like for any test, require the material to be identical in every way to the other materials except for the tested variable.

But there is no piece that comes in every color! And even worse, each batch varies slightly from the others. TLC's QA department is good, but not that good.

So while this is certainly a worthy concept to test, you will likely find that your own results will be the most thorough ones you can get. I recommend that you personally do whatever you need to find your answer, and maybe tell us in a comment or on chat what you found!


Is it possible to build a decimal to binary converter (binary counter) with LEGO? I have seen many papers on logic gates built with LEGO, but I want to make a decimal to binary converter. There should be a counter as an input, with each press of the counter, the output 8 block shelve changes its configuration giving a binary conversion of the count.

Please help me as to how can this be achieved or at least how should I start the project given that I am new in logic and boolean algebra!

Yes, of course, you can

As jncraton mentioned in a comment:

  The answer to whether this is possible is definitely "yes". NAND gates can be built, and the required logic can be implemented using NAND gates. The questions is primarily about how this can be achieved.

Logic gates in LEGO

As you can see here folks have put extensive work into creating logic gates in LEGO.  The article referenced has AND and NOT gates.  You would need to put those together to get the aforementioned NAND gate.  If you're not familiar with logic gates it may be surprising that NAND gates can do it all.

Binary counters

As this articles shows you can build a binary counter out of flip-flops and NAND's.  And as wikipedia shows you can make a variety of flip-flops out of logic gates.

Now put it together

I'm sorry there aren't LEGO-level instructions for making all of this happen, but hopefully those are enough leads for you to figure it out.  Good luck.  I hope you put this together and turn it into a lovely youtube video or article to show us all how you did it.  You'd probably be a hit too on the LEGO convention circuit.  You can do it.


Inventory website/app/software? I have several Lego sets, and I wanted to see if there was any app/software/website that I could enter the set number, and it would automatically inventory the bricks that I have. It would also be great if it had a catalog of builds that it could cross reference across my inventory, and show me things I could build now/could build if I purchased a few more bricks.

Does anything like this currently exist?

Rebrickeable does what you are looking for. You can create an account and upload all of your sets by entering the set numbers. The website will automatically inventory all of your sets, and check what other sets and even custom models created by the community you could build with the parts you have. Here is the link to the website: https://rebrickable.com/

If you don't want to upload your entire collection but just want to quickly check what else you can build from parts of a few sets, you can check the combination of parts from up to three sets and see what you else you can build with it. This feature is under the BUILD tab: https://rebrickable.com/build/


How do I remove programs from my Lego Mindstorms EV3 project? The title says it all. But to be more specific, I find it annoying that I have to download one single program to the EV3 Brick but then all the others in the project end up in the brick too, therefore I have to look in the EV3 storage to remove the specific programs I don't want. I bet there is a way to permanently delete certain programs from a project, but how??

If you click the little wrench button, you can see your programs, images, sounds and more. You just have to click on the program you do not want and delete it. Alternatively, you can hide it.

Hope it helped.

Sorry my handwriting is terrible with a mouse.


Is the LEGO Space theme discontinued? I really liked Space when I was a kid. And now is the time when my friends have kids old enough to play, and I'm old enough to admit I like to play. But I can't see any space sets except realistic City ones, and Star Wars.

Is there any official or trustworthy unofficial source that says if Lego own Space series are officially over, or will reappear in future? Note, I'm not asking you to guess, I'm asking about possibly existing sources.

At this time, there has been no announcement of a scheduled unlicensed LEGO Space theme. LEGO is not going to make an announcement that "We forever and ever retired LEGO Space, and it will never-ever come back." It's just not going to happen. In addition, they don't reveal what they are working on, until it is time for an official announcement - usually about six months or less before release.

However, there is no need to wait and hope that LEGO Space will come back soon. You can still buy all the previously released LEGO Space sets on the secondary market like eBay and BrickLink. You can buy them brand new in the box, or used, or anything in between. Many of the sets sell for very reasonable prices - especially those from recently retired LEGO Space themes like Alien Conquest, Galaxy Squad, Space Police, etc. I would suggest first checking the BrickLink Catalog to familiarize yourself with all the unlicensed LEGO Space sets ever released on this page.

Also check the going prices for the sets you would like both in new and used condition (all of this is listed in the BrickLink Catalog). Besides buying individual sets on eBay or BrickLink, once you get a sense of what LEGO Space themes you would like to focus on, you can also check on eBay for bulk lots. These will likely be in used condition, and there may be some parts missing, so make sure you read the description carefully. Bulk lots can be great starters for a kid's collection.


LEGO cleaning techniques and tools Previously I've used toothbrushes but maybe these would eventually scratch the surface. What have you used? And was it easy?

As well as cleaning, what about drying and buffing? Has anyone tried polishing LEGO bricks?

For drying, I've used a salad spinner to remove the excess moisture:


Distance Learning Mindstorms web-based software I am a Technology education teacher from NJ and I use Lego Mindstorms for my 8th-grade robotics class. Since we are doing distance learning (teaching from home) my students have not been able to continue their curriculum as the software and robots are at school. Is there a web-based program where the students can code with block-based coding (not scratch) like in the normal downloadable software and run virtual tests of their code? Kind of like the virtual brick or virtual world software you can purchase but a web-based version so my students can still learn how and explore Mindstorms like we would in the classroom. Any suggestions?

Here's Microsoft Makecode. It is full of tutorials for the EV3, such as:

• Example programs

• How certain sensors work

• How certain code blocks work

• Instructions for EV3 robots

• And much more.

Is this what you're looking for?


Why are there scratches on new bricks? When I assembled the new bought "Old Fishing Store, Item No: 21310-1" I noticed a very unusual imperfection of parts. On every one of the 43 tiles "1 x 8, reddish brown, Item No: 4162" I found scratches on both ends. Also the injection points I think are much more visible than normal. I contacted Lego and they sent me 43 new tiles. Great, but still the same mistake. I contacted them again and, Lego service being Lego service, again they sent me 43 new tiles. Great again, but still the same phenomena again. So I ended up with 86 additional bricks that I found not fitting to the Lego quality standards that I'm used to. There was also no explanation or comment from Lego service.

My question is what is causing this strange scratches? The appearance is not consistent. They are not straight and appear in different strength's and lengths.

I have seen this happen with parts originating from older Lego part molds (dies) (like the 16L studded Technic beams in the 42009 Mk2 crane truck). My take is that the molds have been scratched during a maintenance operation but that the mold damage is still within tolerance for Lego.

Creating a new mold (die) is very expensive.


Which sets are these parts from? White and brown cycles with no wheel? Any ideas about these half assembled pieces that were given to me in a big star wars LEGO box?

Thank you!

These are from a number of different Star Wars Battle Packs:

Clone Troop Battle Pack (7913):

Endor Rebel Trooper and Imperial Trooper Battle Pack (9489):

Snow Trooper Battle Pack (8084):


Is it safe to try different firmwares on EV3? I have prepared a SD card to run Lejos on EV3, as said on Lejos Sourceforge page and I'm about to test it. What worries me - will I still be able to go back to original Firmware if something goes wrong or I'd like to go back to this original Lego visual building software?
Will removing SD card be sufficient?

Thanks for any information.

I tried Lejos and removing the SD card and rebooting was enough to go back to original firmware.


What technic vehicles are built to scale for 75114 First Order Stormtrooper? From what I have, 42036 Street Motorcycle is a bit too big but still looks rideable. What other technic sets can be used together with 75114? Can you put it inside 42056 Porsche 911 GTR?

Obviously The Lego Group has not released any sets specifically designed for the constraction figures, but some sets would still be reasonably sized. I've never asked a storm trooper, but let's assume he is 6 feet tall, or 72 inches. According to Brickset's information, 75114 is "over 9 inches tall" That makes the scale for the figure about 1:8.

Now bringing in the Lego Porsche 911 GTR, we find from its description that it is "22 inches long" The actual car's specs put its total length at 178.94 inches, which I have rounded to 179. So the car's scale is 1:8.14, which would mean that it is "to scale."

Now I don't have either set, so perhaps another user can provide photos of whether this figure actually fits in the car. I suspect it would not, which doesn't upset the reality of this situation. I'm not sure that John Boyega would fit in a $175,000 car in full storm trooper attire.

If the scale still bothers you, we might work with this actor's height at 5' 9" or 69 inches. That makes the scale for 75114 1:7.7 This would definitely make the scale believable enough if all you wanted a photo of the figure leaning up on the technic model.

Additional info: 42021 and 42022 are not to scale; 42029 is close; 8070 is also worth looking into....

That gets you back to 2011. I may have missed some so please comment below if you see any I missed!


Repeat until sensor value is accepted does not work. I am trying to create a robot that follows a line. I want the robot to turn on its vertical axis ("move-tank") until it finds the line again and then keep going straight. My problem is that the "repeat turning until color sensor value is less than 20" loop does not stop although the sensor value meets the criteria (i.e. less than 20).

This is my code:

Any ideas what am I doing wrong?

The logic inside the loop 02 is that it turns tank-left (-10,10) for 0.5, then it turns tank-right (-1 x -10, -1 x 10) for 0.5 + 0.3 seconds, etc until it finds the line (sensor value < 20).

The loop does stop but you can not see it: You should add a brake block after the loop that runs until colour sensor<20 otherwise there is no visible indication that the loop has stopped. Hope this helped.