Why isn't the new LEGO CV joint available on Bricklink or Brickowl? In the new 4x4 X-treme Off-Roader set 42099 there are 2 new, sturdier CV joint pieces that I would like to have. If I search for 42099 on Bricklink I don't see a list of pieces included in the set. I usually use a website called "Brickowl" (https://www.brickowl.com/) and there is a button that reads "inventory" so I can see all the pieces that come with the set. There doesn't seem to be such a button on Bricklink and on Brickowl I can't see the piece at all. Any info on why the CV is not there or how to access the inventory on Bricklink would be very much appreciated.

The sellers on bricklink/brickowl doesn't have ways to get elements before they become generally available.

As 42099 is brand new, pieces that are (currently) unique to that set probably hasn't made it to those sites yet. Have some patience, they will likely be there shortly.

Those sites rely on users submitting inventories so until somebody submits one, there won't be one (bricklink actually shows: "Inventory Pending Approval", so it probably won't be long).


Installing Linux on my NXT I have an old NXT laying around and I want to set it up with my printer so I can connect it to the cloud. In order to do this I need to install Linux on the NXT and connect the NXT's USB port to the OS. How can I do this?

There is no Linux firmware for the NXT. The NXT has very limited resources, so running Linux is probably not a possibility.


Mindstorms EV3 3D building instructions no longer working in Chrome Lego Mindstorms EV3 building instructions in 3D (so that one can rotate the model around and stuff) are available. This used to work fine on my machine in Google Chrome. However, I can no longer get it to work; when I click on any of the links, it says "Looks like our 3D view does not work in your browser. Try to use a different browser or download the PDF instead.". I followed instructions to make sure webgl is enabled in my browser, and I also verified that webgl indeed does work. What do I need to do to get the Lego Mindstorms EV3 building instructions in 3D to work in Chrome (version 45.0.2454.85 m)?

Google deprecated support for NPAPI in April this year, and removed it completely this month in Chrome 45.

LEGO has historically used Unity Web Player for a number of their online 3D games which has certainly been impacted by this change, and while this is not specifically the case here (the building instructions are "Powered by Autodesk Technology", possibly a variant of A360), it's probable that the underlying cause is the same - the plugin uses the older technology that Google is removing.

They do still work in Firefox if that helps.


Brick Compendium: BIONICLE LEGO Is there a comprehensive compendium of the old Bionicle pieces?

For example, what is the part name for:

Tahu Mata's flame sword?
Lewa Nuva's twin blades?
The Zamor Sphere's holder, as used by the Toa Ignika?
The Midak Skyblaster?
The zipcord whirly-peg thing for the spinners?

You will find most LEGO pieces, including those that are specific to the Bionicle theme on Peeron.
For example here are your particular mentions:

Technic Bionicle Weapon Flame Sword 2 x 12
Technic Bionicle Weapon Blade 12L
Technic Bionicle Toa Inika Zamor Sphere Magazine
Technic Bionicle Weapon Midak Skyblaster with Black Housing
Technic Bionicle Rhotuka Spinner Ripcord 12L with Hand Grip


How can I order an Ev3 gyro in Europe I just bought the Ev3 kit, knowing that the gyro sensor is not included. I obviously want a gyro sensor, perhaps also the ultrasonic sensor. Is there any official channel to order them in Europe? All I can find is US-delivery-only and schools-only sites.

The EV3 Gyro Sensor now appears to be on "general release" and available in both US and UK stores:
http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/EV3-Gyro-Sensor-45505 - these seem to be available in most EU countries the LEGO Shop ships to.

You can order the gyro sensor from the UK Lego Education site http://education.lego.com/en-gb/lego-education-product-database/mindstorms-ev3/45505-gyro-sensor.

OR

If you look at the shipping options in the US Educational site, it will ask you a series of questions to determine if the item can be shipped to your area. If no other options are available, they will ship to you for a fee and ask you to approve the shipping fee before they send it out. It looks like you can get the parts from Lego if you want them bad enough.


What are the new elements released via the LEGO Friends sets? What new elements did the release of the Friends sets add to the LEGO element parts palette?

As well as the new colours (two new shades each of blue, purple and green), there are actually quite a few new parts in the friends sets. I think this is the complete list, but it's possible I missed one or two. (Let me know of any corrections. It's a big list!)

Accessories (44)

Friends Accessories Cupcake Holder
Friends Accessories Cutlery Fork
Friends Accessories Cutlery Knife
Friends Accessories Dish, Rectangular
Friends Accessories Dish, Round
Friends Accessories Frying Pan
Friends Accessories Hand Mixer
Friends Accessories Measuring Jug
Friends Accessories Spatula with Holes
Friends Accessories Comb with Handle and 3 Hearts
Friends Accessories Glasses, Heart Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Glasses, Oval Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Brush with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Bow with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Butterfly with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Serrated Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Smooth Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Heart with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Star with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Tiara with 5 Points and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Dryer
Friends Accessories Hand Mirror with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Basket
Friends Accessories Lipstick with Light Bluish Gray Handle
Friends Accessories Bag Round with Bright Pink Ruffle
Friends Accessories Medical Clipboard
Friends Accessories Medical Feeding Bottle
Friends Accessories Medical Ice Pack
Friends Accessories Medical Nurse Hat
Friends Accessories Medical Otoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Pen
Friends Accessories Medical Spoon
Friends Accessories Medical Stethoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Syringe
Friends Accessories Medical Thermometer
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 1
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 2
Friends Accessories Bow
Friends Accessories Bow with Heart
Friends Accessories Brush Oval, Large
Friends Accessories Brush Round, Small
Friends Accessories Comb, Small with Heart
Friends Accessories Sponge
Friends Accessories Spray Bottle with Heart

Animals (9)

Bird, Sparrow with Red Beak Pattern
Cat Standing, Looking Left with Light Green Eyes, Dark Pink Nose and Mouth and Dark Bluish Gray Stripes Pattern
Dog Small Standing with Blue Eyes, Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Dog Small Standing with Patch over Eye and Spots Pattern
Dog Small Walking with Blue Eyes and Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Horse with 2 x 2 Cutout, Blue Eyes and White Blaze Pattern
Hedgehog with Reddish Brown Spines Pattern
Rabbit Sitting with Blue Eyes and Pink Nose and Mouth Pattern

Flower/Fauna (5)

Friends Accessories Beetle / Ladybug with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Butterfly with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Flower Rose with Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 6 Rounded Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 7 Thin Petals and Pin

Other Parts (2)

Door 1 x 5 x 3 with 3 Studs and Handle
Panel 1 x 2 x 1 with Rounded Corners and Central Divider
Minifig, Utensil Handlebars with Angular Handles

Printed Parts (11)

Slope 45 2 x 2 with Red Cash Register and '+15' Pattern
Brick 1 x 1 with Oranges Pattern (Juice Carton)
Brick 1 x 1 with Cow and Flower Pattern (Milk Carton)
Tile 1 x 2 with Cell Phone / Music Player Pattern
Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Brown Paw Pattern
Brick, Round 1 x 1 Open Stud with Paws and Heart Pattern
Tile 2 x 4 with 'Andrea' and Music Notes Pattern
Tile 1 x 4 Lights with CD and Speakers on Light Aqua Background Pattern
Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Blackboard Pattern
Tile 1 x 6 with Ruler Pattern
Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Clothes Design and Swatches Pattern

Total: 71, (non-printed parts): 60


LEGO bionicle identification We randomly saw this creature on a Google search for "vahki" creatures. but we can't find it again and we didn't click through and find a number.

Can anyone identify this being?

Not an official LEGO set, that's for sure. As far as I can tell, it's an inspirational model for a building contest a few years back, constructed by John Ho.


How to make an exact 16 degree turn? Does anyone know how to make an exact 16 degree turn with a LEGO robot?

This is actually a surprisingly difficult task. If you search for similar questions over on the Robotics stack exchange, you will find very smart people who can't even get it right with thousand-dollar localization solutions and graduate-level control theory.

If you have a Gyro sensor like Michael suggested, you're on the right track. You can probably get close to 16 degrees with that.

If you don't have a Gyro sensor, you can use the motors' built-in rotation sensors. If you drive the motors in opposite directions, the robot rotates around the point halfway between the wheels, and the formula is:

Where:

r_wheel  is the radius of your robot's wheels
theta_wheel  is the angle the wheel has to move
r_robot  is the radius of the robot (half of the distance between the two wheels)
theta_robot  is the angle you want the entire robot to turn, in this case 16 degrees.

So measure the radius of the wheel and the robot, plug in 16 degrees for theta_robot, and solve for theta_wheel. Then drive one motor forward theta_wheel degrees, and one motor backward theta_wheel degrees (simultaneously).

Bonus points if you make a MyBlock to have the EV3 do the calculation itself, for any desired theta_robot.

Actually even if you do have the gyro I would recommend trying both to see which gives better results for your specific situation.


Lego RCX to NXT converter cables not working properly with EV3 I recently got some of these cables(see picture below) to control an old RCX motor. Some things to note before reading on. I tried both the medium and large motor blocks and played around with power, rotations, seconds, and even just on, but to no avail. If I program the EV3 to make the RCX motor spin counterclockwise, it does so on any setting without any issues. However, if I program the EV3 to spin the motor clockwise, it only spins for about a third of a second before the motor stops. The EV3 brick doesn’t shut down, just the motor. This happens on any setting. Why is this happening and how do I fix it? Is it some kind of over current or under current protection?

Credit: Bartneck.de
Edit: Just tried the unregulated motor block and that didn’t fix it either.

These cable don't have anything connected to pins 5 or 6. This causes the software running on the EV3 that detects which type of motor is connected to think that there is nothing connected. Since it thinks nothing is connected, it periodically resets the output port which turns off the motor.
To work around this, the unregulated motor block needs to be called in a loop with two different speeds (e.g. 100 and 99) to keep the motor running. Each time the requested speed changes, it resets the device detection timer that would stop the motor.
Some people who don't mind cutting the cables have added resistors to the wires connected to pins 5 and 6 to simulate what a real EV3 motor looks like. This allows the unregulated motor block to able to be used as expected.
Here is an example of how to do that. (Although I would wire it up more like the actual EV3 motor schematic using 3.3kΩ resistors. Pin 5 to pin 4 via resistor and pin 6 to pin 4 via resistor. But if the other method is known to work...)


Set identification - Movie set I have a set that could be a partial set and, to make things even more difficult, include parts of a different set.

It looks to me like a movie set, with a director and an aide. There are some other guys that could be movie actors or just part of a different set (a red herring).

I never got any kind of instructions when I acquired this set, and now my oldest kid an I are trying to put together all our sets (many of which were in pieces or were cannibalized to make other creations), and I would love to know if this is a complete set and I can do something with it.

There are multiple sets indeed.

First and last minifigures are part of 1356 Stuntman Catapult set. Stuntman is unique to this set.

Looks like the second and third minifigures, camera as well as most of the parts are from 1355 Temple of Gloom

This leaves us with some bits as well as last minifigure - fourth from left is Baron Von Barron with Pith Helmet and White Epaulettes, also appears in 11 sets. This minifigure as well as baby dinosaur, including some leftovers after first two sets indicate these could be from 5914 Baby T-Rex Trap.


Lego 7670 has two different box designs? Does Lego 7670 (Hailfire Droid and Spider Droid) have two different colored boxes? I am seeing two different boxes on Ebay and other sites. One is a white clone wars box, and the other is a dark red and black Darth Vader box. Why are there two boxes? Also I saw that on Ebay, that the white ones were cheaper and used, but the black ones are usually New and if they are used, they Don't have boxes. Is one more valuable than the other?

Indeed it seems there are two different boxes for 7670 Hailfire Droid & Spider Droid, but it seems the box is the only difference, so if you just want the pieces ignore which box they're selling and buy the cheapest. :)


Problem with the range for controlling Sunset Cruiser 8676 Does anyone know why the Sunset Cruiser 8676 only works when the antennas are about 12" or closer together? Any farther apart and it doesn't run.

It has fresh batteries. Any help would be appreciated.

I had a 8378-1: Red Beast RC (which is practically the same hardware aside from running on a different frequency) that developed a similar problem shortly after I got it. One day the receiver only worked if the remote's antenna was about 2 inches away from the receiver's antenna.

I got it replaced, and it was indeed the receiver and not the remote with the problem. I later tried taking the busted one apart to see if it was something obvious I could re-connect, but nothing stood out as being broken.

Unfortunately, I think your problem is hardware failure. I don't know of any easy fixes, but would love to be proven wrong on that.


How to integrate hardware/embedded button with LEGO? I have two different buttons B3F-1000 and  3a250vac switch which i want to integrate into a lego "machine" which i'm powering with an arduino. Since the rest is integrated into lego plates, i also want the same for buttons, which means they need to be covered in lego, but still fit with the rest, which means no glue.
Looking for suggestions on how to attach lego parts in a way so the user pushes a lego part and it is registered by the button.  Its a very tiny range of press, so it doesnt need to move much in the press, and its not a toggle button, which means every press will feel the same.
Picture with two common parts for scale.

For the first switch I bent the legs of the button and splayed them out just a little bit.

Next I stripped off the caps of two Dupont connectors, ran them through the headlight bricks and connected the button upside down.

An axle will trigger the button. Either one with a stud on one end (and a 1x1 tile) or a regular one with a half bush.

A 2x2 brick on top serves as a button.

The second switch is a hacked light brick. They're very inexpensive on bricklink.

I took out the batteries and the LED (they're not soldered as they're meant to come apart) and replaced the one on the right with a metal contact.
For that I took a paper fastener, cut off one of its legs and bent it in an e shape.


How can odors be removed from bricks? I recently purchased some used bricks. They currently smell like cigarette smoke. What is the best way to clean these parts to remove the odor?

Background info:

I recently started collecting Duplo blocks to build toys for our sugar gliders (small, exotic marsupials); I've also got some regular Lego blocks in the mix that my boyfriend's had for who knows how long.  To get the most for my money (especially when it comes to avoiding figurines and random pieces that don't suit my purpose), I've been buying large lots of Duplos off of e-bay (all of them are specifically Lego brand - you couldn't pay me to use Mega Bloks or other crummy knock-offs, lol).

Our gliders are our babies and on top of that, I've got high-end breeding pair (ie rare colorings/genetics) and a "pet only" pair that cost a combined total of $1800 - in other words, their safety is a HUGE concern for me and I'm adamant about cleaning and sanitizing any Duplo blocks I buy as soon as they arrive.  Also, gliders can't be potty-trained and inevitably use my Duplo creations as toilets... meaning pee sometimes gets in the crevices between blocks.  To top it off, they scent-mark everything.  As a result, I've got to disassemble the toys I've built and re-wash them 1-2x a week to keep things sanitary.

Like toddlers, gliders tend to "taste test" their toys at times (and even if they don't, they walk all over the Duplo blocks and then eat with their hands and groom themselves with their tongues).  That means I have to use cleaning products that are very safe, yet still effective (particularly when it comes to odor control, as gliders really do stink things up!).

My cleaning method:

The way I've been washing the Lego Duplo and regular Lego blocks is to fill a clean kitchen sink with a 50/50ish mixture of hot water (hottest the tap can provide, that is) and white vinegar, then add the blocks.  I soak them for a few hours or possibly overnight, then scoop them into a large colander*, rinse them thoroughly with warm-to-hot water (iirc 104F+ is "unsafe" for Legos; hence why I mix the really hot water and the vinegar together before adding the Legos) and lay them out on towels to dry (inside, with a box fan blowing across them, flipping them over every few hours until they're totally dry).  If anything is particularly soiled, I use the soft (ie non-scrub-pad) side of a clean sponge to give the blocks a gentle scrubbing as they soak in the warm vinegar water; for anything stuck in difficult-to-clean crevices, I use a baby bottle brush and/or q-tips.

*Based on a recommendation I saw on this site, I ordered a salad spinner to spin-dry my Duplos and regular Legos (and bunny veggies and dinner salads)... best thing ever - I LOVE it.  GET ONE!

Vinegar is very popular as an odor eliminator for a WIDE variety of odors.  It was the first and only cleaning method I tried because - despite all the pet odor eliminators and pet cage/habitat cleansers on the market - the vast majority of glider owners stick to a simple 50/50 blend of water and vinegar.  It's very effective for removing urine, feces, scent marking oils, stuck-on (sugary) foods, etc. and all the related odors from glider toys and cages (not to mention bunny and cat litter boxes)... plus it's dirt cheap, gentle, pet (and child) safe and doesn't leave residue behind.

Because I haven't actually had to get cigarette smoke odor off of Legos and wanted to see if I could find some info to back up my hunch that it would work on that as well, I just did a cursory Google search for "remove cigarette smell with vinegar" and got a ton of hits confirming that it's very effective.  I then searched specifically for info about using vinegar on Legos and found an article that provides some great tips and additional information on using vinegar to clean/deodorize Legos (and the article really focuses on difficult-to-remove cigarette odors) - http://www.brickwarrior.com/?p=1


Where can I buy big quantity of the same block? I have a decoration project and for that I need almost 10.000 2x4 blocks (same color or not according what I would find).

Do you know how/where I can buy such a quantity ?

News  or 2d hand... I do not mind :)

I got on BrickLink, but I did not find it very easy to use.

If you want specific quantities of specific parts your only two real choices are BrickLink or Lego.com's Pick-A-Brick.

Searching for any color of 2x4 brick in quantities of at least 10,000 on Bricklink you can start from the following URL: http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?pg=1&itemID=264&sz=50&searchSort=P

You'll then need to click the "Show More Filter Options" link and put "10000" into the "Min Qty" field and then click the "Go" button. You'll probably see the same result I did, which is that the only sellers who have that kind of stock are in Europe, which might not be an issue for you, at a minimum price of ~$0.13USD.

Checking Pick-A-Brick (http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme) the price per part direct from LEGO for the 2x4 in most colors is currently $0.30USD.

Those really are pretty much the two simplest options. However, for a quantity like that you might want to consider contacting some of the larger BrickLink sellers directly. They can often be very helpful when trying to run down this kind of an order since BL requires that they list their inventory by color, but they may be able to do a quick calculation to determine if they have enough on-hand from the various colors to be able to make a bulk deal and maybe, if you're lucky, maybe even get a deal on it.


Lego Batman Figures In Picture Unknown? Please Help I missed this purchase by seconds; I was devastated and so was my son; probably me more so. Secretly I am a massive fan.

There are some unusual Batman figures that I haven't seen before. I was wondering if someone is able to identify these so I can search again. Chances of the same bunch coming up are very unlikely. Will buy them individually if that's what it takes.

First off let me apologize for fueling your future addiction to Batman LEGO minifigures.

Bricklink finds me 211 minifigures searching for "batman"

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/search.page?q=batman#T=M

Many of these are related characters and not Batman himself, but there are a lot of Batman minifigures, including some really odd ones:

I can also confirm that some of the ones shown in your picture are not Batman and are assembled incorrectly, the middle far right figure appears to be a Nightwing body with a different head and an added cape and batman cowl (original Nightwing shown below), also upper right is clearly superman wearing a bat cowl, if the picture was better you could tell it was dark blue and not black.


When did piece markings change from DUPLO to LEGO? I've looked at some of the DUPLO bricks I grew up with, and compared them to newer ones. I've noticed that the knobs on the older bricks say DUPLO, while the newer ones say LEGO.

When did this change?

On the back of the yellow brick (not pictured) you can see writing "LEGO group"

According to Wikipedia:

  In 1975, Duplo became its own product brand, with five sets made up
  exclusively of Duplo bricks.

  ...

  In 1977, the Duplo name was dropped in favor of Lego Preschool.

  ...

  The name Duplo was brought back in 1979, along with a new reworked
  logo.

Although I haven't found this information yet (most people likely see this detail as unimportant), it is possible that LEGO started with putting DUPLO on the bricks either when they first came out (in 1969) or in 1975 when DUPLO became its own "product brand". They likely changed it in either in 1977 (when LEGO called it LEGO Preschool) or in 1979 (when they brought back the name DUPLO).

According to Brickipedia:

  In the Preschool range, new DUPLO bricks were introduced, including arches and the first DUPLO figures, which did not have movable limbs.

Considering the above quote, it is possible that with the new bricks the DUPLO on the "knobs" (as you call them, however the proper name is a "stud") was changed to "LEGO"; this was in 1977 on.

Source(s):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Duplo#History
http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/DUPLO#Start_of_the_theme_.281975-1980.29


What is an Erling brick? I have seen people refer to the "Erling brick" or "headlight brick" on LEGO forums. What kind of brick are they talking about?

I definitely know them as the headlight brick, and they look like this:

HoMa's world of bricks has a nice page dedicated to this brick!

http://www.holgermatthes.de/bricks/en/lampenstein.php

LEGO's Pick a Brick lists this as an "Angular Brick 1x1", Design ID 4070 (equivalent to the piece/part id).


What do factory markings on the inside of DUPLO pieces mean? In addition to LEGO and DUPLO names embossed inside the pieces of early DUPLO figures, there are a variety of number formats (one to three digits, some hyphenated) and in the case of 1977, the year.

Is there an explanation for what these numbers mean - and can they then be associated with a particular set and/or year?

The markings are the Batch number and element id.


Can you help me identify this set? (Emergency vehicles maybe?) Bags are numbered 1-3. It looks like it maybe is some sort of emergency vehicle set? Bag 3 looks like a fire truck and bag 1 maybe a police car?

Thank you!

Looks like Set# 60060-1 Auto Transporter.


What are the practical bounds of a minifigure? I want to make some minifigure-scale vehicles and devices, but I am wondering what the smallest possible minifigure enclosure might be.

I know minifigures are not perfectly square. Their arms and heads keep them from fitting in a standard 4x1x5 shaped hole while standing upright (not that I would imagine that looking very good in a model). When in recline with the back of their legs connected to studs, they cannot lie totally flat and must lie at a certain angle.

What I would like to know is the practical bounds of a minifigure with NO equipment(hats, parkas, backpacks, ect.):

In a fully upright position
In a fully seated position.
In recline.

It would also be a bonus if anyone would also give the bounds for a minifigure in these positions but with the maximum amount of equipment.

Standing

The smallest area you can enclose a standing minifig in is just about 4x4x4 2/3 with the roof on:

To reach this limit, you need to use the panels and windows to make room for the arms and more importantly the head, which is larger than a 1x1 brick.

Seated

To enclose a seated minifig in the smallest space, you will need to ensure that you've tilted the body completely forward (i.e. over 90°), and again use panels to enclose the arms to achieve a 4x4x4 box:

Note that I've had to use two plates to lift the roof above the stud on the head - you can cheat a bit and lower it one plate if you use a roof with a hole in the correct place - in the photos I'm using a 3x4 tile with 4 studs that comes with the collectable Minifigures, and the head stud fits into one of the cylinders underneath, but the edge of the 2x3 plate won't fit.

Reclined

For a reclined minifig, I used a Slope brick, 33° 3x2 to provide some support, and the smallest space I could fit that into was 4x7x2 1/3, however over the legs it's only 1 1/3 (I don't have all the parts to hand to photo this one I'm afraid, but I have proved the concept with some bricks):

With Accessories

Picking the Wizards Hat and Air Tanks, I was able to enclose the minifig within a 5x4x5 2/3 (one deeper and one one higher than the standing minifig):

Again the minifig is angled to fit in this space so that the rim is horizontal, and once again there's judicious use of panels: 1x2x3, 1x2x1 and 1x1x1 Corners.


Looking for older conducting train tracks I have an old 9V era (1991-2006) train set that has conducting tracks. Is there a place that I can buy conducting tracks? Obviously I have trolled eBay, Amazon and internet without success.
I can buy unconnected tracks and glue aluminum foil on the tracks for conduction. Will it work ?
Any help in securing more conducted tracks or guidance re: modifying new tracks will be greatly appreciated.

Such place indeed exist and it is called Bricklink, a website dedicated to trading LEGO items. It has extensive history and great catalog of LEGO items found on the internet. Prices and quality are, usually, far better than you would find on eBay. And as an extra bonus, there are sellers from all over the world, so you are not limited to you own region.
As Dan noted in the comments Bricklink catalog contain all types of 9V train tracks you are interested in for sale both in Dark Gray (older) and Dark Bluish Gray (newer) colors.
Edit. Upon further investigation decided to clarify situation in terms of custom tracks. While there are few 3rd party companies producing LEGO-compatible non-9V train tracks there aren't as much options with 9V ones. ME-Models used to produced some, but the company is gone now. FxBricks has shared their plans to introduce 9V tracks at some point the future.


Any build instructions for vertical Technic/Lego conveyor belts? I'm trying to figure out how to continuously lift a stream of incoming pieces up vertically, at least 10cm. This is my first real custom build attempt, so I'm very much at a loss on how to go about it. Are there books or sites or other resource likely to contain part lists and build instructions for a vertical conveyor belt?
Only thing I've found so far is this absolutely delightful video of The Great Ball Contraption, but while providing lots of inspiration, I don't know enough to reverse engineer it or even really figure out which parts are which.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=jxMMtIxDrGk
I'm starting from scratch on parts, aside from the Educational Mindstorms EV3 base set.

You're in luck! Jason at JK BrickWorks has put his instructions online. There are others I've used; I'll hunt for those links, too. He's made multiple Ideas sets, so this might be how Lego officially makes a marble run set, which would be fantastic.
Here we go: I've built Brian Alano's wheel lift and Bryan Bonahoom's stackable lift and enjoyed great success with both.
On EuroBricks, there has been a lot of work posted on recreating Akiyuki's modules.


How to build a car that stops at a certain distance? I want to build a small car that is about 200 grams. I want it to run the following course and stop at exactly or about the finish line. I can't use any controlling devices or electronics.

I've an idea to count the number of revolution the wheels make to pass the finish line and the next time I stop it when it hit's it last wheel revolution.

Is there a device that can stop a wheel after a certain amount of turns? It must be mechanical and it doesn't have to be supplied by Lego either.

Here's the simplest way that I can think of to stop the vehicle at the finish line. You'll need basic LEGO Technic parts and a good length of lightweight string or thread.

Create two reels for the string. One should be connected to the wheels and the other may turn freely. Wind all the string onto the reel which can spin freely and attach the other end securely to the reel on the wheels so that it will wind up the string as the vehicle moves.

This mechanism should prevent the axle from turning after the vehicle has traveled the desired distance as long as you measure the string appropriately.

Here's an example:

Here's a similar model built in LDD showing exactly how this is put together:

The reel on the back axle will pull all of the string off of the center axle and then stop when the string runs out. If you wanted to be fancy, you could use some math to calculate how much string you need, or you could just test it to find out.


Please help identify this LEGO set Got it from bulk, please help identify the set.

This is Yoda's hut from Set # 4502-1: X-wing Fighter

key part: Tan Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2 Curved Top


How to disassemble LEGO train engine base part# 28743? I have one of the new Bluetooth engines (part 28743, but in the bottom it says Hub No 5 model) that has started to under-perform and make some noises, I think that it need some maintenance (maybe due to cat hair) and I need to disassemble it.

The thing is that I can't see the screws properly. I think they are Torx ones but I don't know what size they are. Can someone provide the size and model of the key I need to acquire to take it apart? Any other advice is welcome, Google was not helpful.

Here are some disassembly pictures and tips.

Tools needed:

Either a precision flat-head or Philips screwdriver: There are two flat-head/Phillips hybrid screws that hold the the battery cover down. These two screws do not come completely out the battery cover.
T9 Star Key: There are six T9 star screws.  Four on the corners of the housing and two hidden inside the battery box.
Magnets:  Not required but helpful to keep the screws from getting lost.

The train has a headlight construction with two floating pieces that will fall out.  There is a proper way these pieces go back in, so it's possible not to notice their right orientation.

The clear transparent piece has a "wave" that swells up to encompass and sit directly on the light element. So, the "wave swell" humping up is the top of this piece.

The white headlight diffuse has two squared off "vampire fang" tabs.  Those tabs are the bottom of this piece.

Note: When reassembling, the white diffuse piece and the clear transparent piece have to be together FIRST, then TOGETHER, they are dropped directly down into it's spot.  I found it difficult to put them in separately.

Wheel inspection: I would start with the heavier, but easier to access back wheels.

The positive and negative wires are still tethered to the board, but...

... it just flips up and out for an easy looky-look.

Now to get at the floating front wheels, first we need to flip up the circular speaker.

There's a green rubber button that sits in there too.  See the top lip of the green thing?  That top lip sits on top of the wheel's axle bar. When putting the wheel and axle back in, it's easy to poke it around reposition it back in it's place, so don't worry too much about it, just don't lose it.

Now it's time to gingerly pry up the green circuit board.  When I was taking this apart, it seemed like there were two black tabs holding the board down, but I think those tabs are there to just keep it in place.

The two big (+) positive and (-) negative globs of solder seem to be doing double duty, both as electrical terminal points and as screws to keep the thing in place.

Now be careful.  Look at the above picture.  See the angle I pried up? Just enough to squeeze the wheels and axle out.  Look again at those metal diode stalks coming down from the board at a 90 degree angle.  Those are the bulbs for the train's light/color readers.

This next picture shows how those light/color readers look from underneath next to Mr. Green rubber button.


Return a robot to its start position? I have a LEGO NXT robot, and after some movements I would like it to return back where it started. After some research, it looks like my best option is to revert the motors. To decode their movements but I couldn't find any examples for it, could someone give me a hand? I'm using leJOS for programming.

You can read the tacho count and rotate a negative amount of degrees. Or you may want to use the Navigation class and create a path while you move, then you just need to follow the path back.

But unless the robot is perfectly calibrated it will fail miserably. I explain it all here http://thetechnicgear.com/2014/06/howto-calibrate-differential-drive-robot/


Where can I learn how to program an NXT using C#? I've been toying around with my NXT 2.0 set for a few years now and I would like to learn how to program it using C# language. I have no experience in coding and I am definitely not a computer geek. Are there any tutorials that can give me a headstart in this thing?

You could start here for example: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Tutorials Overview

For a generic C# introduction see here: C# Tutorials or The complete C# Tutorial or C# Tutorial or just do a Google search for "C# tutorial".


What are these numbers for this element name? I have a part inventory for a set and it has some axles with numbers next to them. This is not a technic set, but I imagine the numbers are the same as in this question - LEGO Technic part Numbers

But one of the axles has two numbers (5,5) - is this a comma because of the locale in which it was purchased uses the comma as the USA would use a (dot) for a decimal? Or does it have something to do with the fact that the collar on the axle isn't at the end?

Bricklink lists it as

  Technic, Axle 5.5 with stop

The blue number is the length of the axle. It is mentioned in the part list to distinguish axles of different lengths in a set.

In this case, the length is 5.5, so yes, it is written as 5,5 because of the locale.


What is this model number please? I don't have the instructions for this and I have no idea what model number this is.

Can anyone identify it?

It appears to be a partially-constructed 8242-1 Slammer Turbo


Is this gray clip hook an original LEGO part? Is the gray "hook" an original LEGO item? Please see the red plate for size comparison.

This looks to be Arm Piece with Towball and Clip.

There are quite a lot of copycats these days. So there is always a chance it is clone piece. To confirm this is genuine LEGO piece best thing would be to look for LEGO logo, but it is not always available on small pieces. Alternatively you can look for "30082" which is a part number.


Remote Control option NXT Mindstorms I bought the NXT Mindstorms education software v2.1 along with a Mindstorms kit (which I don't know the version of).

I am trying to remote control a robot I made using bluetooth between my mac and brick. So far, I have connected both devices with bluetooth successfully. I have watched a couple of videos of people remote controlling their Mindstorms bricks and they show the whole process of them connecting the devices and everything (which I have already done), but the last step of remote control process is selecting the option of "remote control" in the top left corner in the "tools" tab in the menu bar.

I do not have that option in the menu. Instead, when I open up the tools tab, a drop down menu opens giving only the options of Calibrate sensors, Update NXT firmware, Block import and export wizard. There was no "remote control" option and I am trying find out where that option is so I can finally start working on controlling my robot.

I am not sure if it is because I need to have the 2.0 software instead of the 2.1 software. If this is the case, I just want to confirm this before I buy something that I might not need.

We had the same problem.  The current version of the Kit ships with version 2.1 of the software which does not have the "remote control" item on the Tools menu.

We uninstalled this version, downloaded version 2.0 from the below link... and bam...  the "remote control" option is there and it even works great through our laptop's Bluetooth connection.

Where can I download the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 IDE?


Trying to identify old 2x4 plate Another odd-ball in my endless sorting and cleaning: a basic 2x4 black plate, but with two raised hollow tubes, larger than a stud. No part number. Here's a picture of it:

This 2x4 plate belongs to the

housing of an old 4.5V train motor.

There are some scratches on the edge of your plate, most likely from an attempt to pry it off with a screwdriver.


What set are these bags? Detectives wanted I just bought this collection of LEGO parts. I am mostly curious about the sealed bags. Most are numbered 2011.

More detailed pictures: http://imgur.com/a/ebkvz

The bags with orange parts and some of the pieces in the box are from Arctic Base Camp (60036):

As Bill pointed out, the lime bag is from Titanium Command Rig (8964):

The others have been repackaged, so it's tough to know exactly what sets they come from.

Construction site (7633) obviously has at least a few pieces present in the box:

The base to the tow truck from Garage (7642) is also in the box:

Some of the elements from Drawbridge Defense (7079) are still assembled in the box:

At least the nose from Police Pontoon Plane (7723) is also present in the box:

The base from Woody and Buzz to the Rescue (7590) is also in there:

The top from Republic Attack Shuttle (8019) is in the box as well:


Is there a list of colours currently in production? Is there a list anywhere of colours currently being used by Lego for new sets? There seem to be lots of comprehensive lists of all colours released ever, but few that relate to in-use colours, for instance only including the new blue-greys rather than the old greys.

I'd also be interested to know if any colours are limited to certain themes only (e.g. Friends) - or whether all colours are open to designers of all themes.

As I answered on another question, LEGO officially released its internal palette in 2010. It showed 51 colours in use, although their company profile spoke about 58.

This is the Palette LEGO used in 2010, meaning that only these colours were in production then. Unfortunately, LEGO doesn't release this info on a regular basis (I'm frankly quite surprised they did in the first place), and I don't know if it has been updated since. On the other hand, LEGO has learned not to change their palette too often, so it's likely there hasn't been much change since then.

Edit: I was optimistic in thinking there would be little change in two years time. As you ask, there are two Friends colours "Medium Azur" and "Medium Lavender" which new for 2012 and are thus not present on the list.

The list of colours on BrickLink has date information which you'll certainly find useful; for example "Olive Green" is of course new too (and is bound to become extremely popular), "Spring Yellowish Green" and "Light Glow" are also new; and "Aqua" ("Light Aqua" on BrickLink) , "Dark Azur" and "Lavender" all appear to have been introduced in 2011.

You could also try to see which colours have been phased out, but since the BrickLink list appears to be based on the year in which a set is first introduced, it's probably not too reliable. For example, the "Light Stone Grey" used in mindstorms (or "Very light Bluish Grey" on BrickLink) is stated as last seen in 2010, but since the NXT 2.0 kit is still sold, it's possible it's still produced. So trying to know whether a colour is out or not is at this stage a guess, although I would at least venture to guess that "Phosph.Green" is out - since there's a new "glow in the dark" effect.

As for availability to designers, I don't see why some colours would be limited to specific themes, even though of course specific themes are designed around specific main colours. So Friends sets may have more purple and pink, but that doesn't mean they can't use other colours, or that other sets can't use purple and pink.

Now that you mention it, it would make sense however to lower the entry cost for specific colours in specific themes to make sure designers aren't penalized. What I mean is, if a Friends designer needs a specific part in pink, there's less reason to deny it to him than there would be for, say, a Technic Designer. Usually producing an existing part in a new colour bears a cost for the set designer, but there could be different rules depending on the theme. It's pure speculation, though; and it's as likely that the theme doesn't do any difference at all.

In any case, once production has been decided for a specific part in a specific colour, it's certainly available for all other designers. The only exception would be part-specific (for example, a city designer is probably not allowed to use a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet), but I see no reason for having such restrictions on specific colours.


Spik3r wheels move but the spik3r itself doesn't Our Spik3r's wheels move but the Spik3r itself does not move. Please see the picture of the back of the vehicle - is it somehow incorrectly built?

You just need to flip the small motor the other way!


Is this a fleur-de-lis hood ornament, or something else? I came across this interesting piece:

Now, I'm not sure it is a hood ornament, but I would like to know what it is. Any help would be appreciated.

Looks like a minifigure headgear accessory, specifically a feathered headdress plume (no. 6029b):

It's appeared in a number of sets, most with pirate, castle, or western themes and sometimes as an extra part. It's sometimes packaged in a "Plume Wheel" (i.e. still in a circular runner with some cattle horns), and is typically used for islander minifigs:


Under what conditions are the LEGO boardgame dice unfair, and by how much? For LEGO's board game line, they have moulded a LEGO die, with a 2x2 stud pattern on each side.

Obviously, weight distribution is going to be thrown off if you use a full studless plate on one side and four 1x1 studless plates on another because of the kerf.

Experimentally (by constructing different dice and rolling hundreds of times) or analytically (by analyzing the weight distribution of different plate configurations), how unfair can this die be assuming all studs are covered by a studless plate? What can be done to minimize the unfairness?

Conditions for unfairness:

Different shaped tiles applied to each side resulting in different weight wich maked the dice "biased."

Example:

The maximum difference in weight (when all studs get covered) is one side using a 2x2 tile, and another side is using 4 1x1 tiles. the weight difference in this case is calculated based on using these measurements. To show the difference:

X X X X X X X X X X
X       . .       X
X       . .       X
X       . .       X
X . . . . . . . . X
X . . . . . . . . X
X       . .       X
X       . .       X
X       . .       X
X X X X X X X X X X

X = borders
. = border from the 1x1 tiles that are missing using a 2x2 tile

So there are ~ 28 legounits³ = 44.8 mm³ difference in material used. ABS, the material used for LEGO bricks has a density of between 1.04 and 1.12 g/cm³ so 44.8 mm³ have a maximum height of:

1.12g/cm³ / 1000mm³ * 44.8mm³ = 0.050176g

0.05 g would be way too much for a precision-dice used in a casino, but for a "toy" it's almost nothing (it's less than 1% of the die's total weight - I'd like to calculate that, but I can't find information about its weight), so I won't expect anyone to notice the LEGO-dice is "unfair".

EDIT:
Found the dice on bricklink. weight: 8.02 g, so the 0.05 g are just ~ 0.6 % of the total weight.


Any TV news pieces/stickers? I'm looking for pieces to make a TV transmitting news. I looked on Bricklink "News" sets but only found 2 existed. Does anyone know of any set that contains a news anchor on TV piece or sticker?

There are a few that I'm aware of.

Here's one from the 7208 Fire Station:

And another from the 7288 Mobile Police Unit:

This TV element from the 7639 Camper may also work for you:

These are all very affordable on Bricklink. Note that they are stickered parts. I'm not aware of printed parts with this pattern, but perhaps someone else here knows of some.


Are there any AFOL clubs in the Atlanta area? Are there any AFOL clubs in the Atlanta area? If so, do they have current contact information? I did some Googling but the results were inconclusive and I thought I'd shoot this out to the community.

Sorry if it's too specific or localized, but that's good I guess.

There may not be anything aside from the North Georgia LEGO Train Club, but it looks like you could start one from the Waiting List - AFOL there also appears to have been a newsgroup lugnet.loc.us.ga.atl.


Is there a rock wall generator? In Lego store, and on many photos on the Internet, I've seen vertical "rocky" walls made of slopes and simple 2x1 bricks. For example this one.

Is there a software that would take wall length and generate a semi-random rocky-looking wall? Something similar to sphere generators we all know and love?

Designing such wall by hand in LDD is a time consuming and not really funny task, and I'd like to avoid it, if possible.

Note: I tried dropping models from Thingiverse to Brickify, but  Brickify does not use slopes and there is problem with scale.

I was able to integrate this into a research project applying context free grammars:

This is not a polished software package, and the design is a bit esoteric given that I started with the goal of applying context free grammars to a practical problem. Hopefully there's something in there that may be useful to someone. :)


How to straighten 32L axles? I have a number of the 32L technic axles, but most of them have some bend to them.  Is there a straight-forward way to straighten these?  Trying to bend them by hand has not seemed to change anything, and I'm afraid I'm going to snap them if I try harder.

I'd suggest storing them straightened up for a while, if possible in 32 adjoining 1x2 bricks with cross hole, and add a few layers of bricks to hold them in place. At least it's a pure LEGO solution, but I'm not sure how efficient.


Can anyone identify these 1x1 round tapered pieces? Can anyone identify these pieces?

Source: http://bsg.deckdesigns.de/minis/raptor/raptor.htm

Source: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/26424

The first piece is 424 Technic Hub / Handle 1 x 1:

It's actually pretty rare, only appearing in 9 sets from 1995-2006, and likely to stay that way as it has a similar newer counterpart, 18654 Technic, Pin Connector Round 1L which probably replaces it.

I cannot identify what those bottom black inverted slopes are though. It looks kinda like Wedge 6 x 4 Triple Inverted Curved, but without the middle 2 studs up front.


Are all of these police minifigs from LEGO? While I'm glad LEGO is taking a principled stand on recent events, I've seen this set of police minifigs circulating on social media portraying the evolution of LEGO Police through time:

I don't have any trouble believing the 3 minifigs on the left are legitimate minifigs from LEGO sets, but the fourth one looks much more militaristic than I imagine LEGO would put into a set. Can anyone identify this minifig or confidently rule out it being a LEGO minifig? If anybody wants to identify the first three, that would be cool too.

My first guess was that the long gun was from BrickArms, but I didn't see anything there that has a scope and a forward handgrip. Can you identify the assault rifle?

As pointed out by others, the first three minifigures are genuine LEGO (with the second having perhaps a few custom accessories). The fourth is not a LEGO minifig. It may include some genuine LEGO elements (legs, hands, etc), but the militaristic accessories are not LEGO elements. This appears to be a custom minifig sold at one time by Modern Brick Warfare.

Not only does LEGO not include guns in their City sets, they also have much better lighting for their minifig photos than this.


Is there a way to strengthen individual pieces? Is there a way to strengthen fragile parts? Say for example the lime green socket joints from 2007? Or the 2008-2010 socket joints? I would like to know if there is a possible way to do so?

I am interested in preventing the breakage of a piece, while still keeping the ability to pose the figure

Those joints are based solely on friction, which comes from:

the "bite" of the socket - how rigid the containing socket is
the rigidity = non-elasticity of the ball
the shape of the ball
the relative friction between the two surfaces

The old plastic gets weaker with time, which rules out fixing the first two causes.

The shape of the ball would be pretty hard to fix; also the shape is not likely to have changed much.

This leaves the friction itself. So what you could do:

spray an adhesive on the ball to make it tackier
glue the joint in place (KRAGLE!!)


Which part is this grey pillar? I am wondering which set this part is from. I'm trying to make a set complete and this part clearly doesn't belong to it when I check the sets parts list.

This is a Lightsaber hilt (Minifigure weapon) part# 64567. The color looks like light-bluish gray in the picture, which was in 201 different sets.  You can look through the many sets on Bricklink:  (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=64567#T=C&C=86)

These are very common parts in many Star Wars sets, but come in quite a variety of different themes.


EV3 Error and VM Program Instruction Break I'm making a program which is very complex and large but it does not contain any Arrays in it. Weird thing is, last night it worked fine but today when I downloaded the exactly same thing into the EV3 it shows a triangle with exclamation mark symbol with orange status light.

This happens halfway when it tries to run a switch with a Logic Variable. Occasionally I would get a "VM Program Instruction Break". Any idea how can I solve this?

UPDATE: It turns out there was a compiler issue in the EV3 desktop programming software. LEGO has released a fix in v1.2.2 of both the Home and Education versions. Upgrading your software will fix this problem.

Read more about the problem and the fix in this pdf from the Seshan Brothers.

ORIGINAL ANSWER:

Some suggestions from the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Facebook group:

Too many named loops in your code
Too many blocks in a loop
Try to avoid using too many loop interrupts
A problem with the copy/paste - delete the pasted portion of the program and make it from scratch


How can I control nxt 2.0 robot with a Wiimote in labview? I am building a robot with Labview for LEGO Mindstorms and I have wanted to hook up the robot to move based on a Wiimote or Wii remote.  However, I have not found a file to download to enable me to do so.  Does anyone have any free files that they have found that come with instructions?  If this is any help I am only using lego education sets and my NXT version is a 2.0.

The Wiimote uses 2 forms of communication: Bluetooth 4, and IR for the pointing controls. You'd probably be using bluetooth.

The main problem with the NXT bluetooth is that the NXT is a slave device, not a master device, while the wiimote itself is a slave device as well. For advanced reading on the interfacing methods, the wiibrew community has set up a great page over here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiimote

The next concern is that you may have to modify your wiimote a tiny bit for bluetooth data transmission. right now, most of the homebrewers are hard-shorting wires to trigger events.

As far as files for the NXT, I'm afraid that you will likely find little to no files, as the problems stated above are somewhat above what most NXT users are trying to do.

Best of luck on your project!


Is it possible to build simple logic gates with LEGO mechanics? I built a simple bitshifter in Minecraft yesterday. I wondered if something like this could be built with LEGO?

Maybe there is a possibility to build gates with rubber bands and those movable mechanic stuff. Did anyone of you do something like this?

Various people have done this - however most of the links seem to point to a [then defunct] blog by Martin Howard (Randomwraith) from 2004.

A more recent, and available, post on this, using newer pieces can be seen here:

  LEGO Logic by Keshav Saharia

Based on a lack of gears and rack and pinion elements, Keshav decided to rebuild the logic gates using an approach based around levers. Extra care was taken to ensure that the movements were uniform so that the outputs moved the same distance as the inputs.

Starting with the simplest gate, a NOT Gate was built:

Then going back to first principles, a NOR Gate:

Combining a NOR with two NOTs gives an AND Gate:

Finally Keshav built the XOR Gate out of 3 NORs and 2 NOTs (or 2 NORs and an AND):

All images used with permission


Does the LEGO Group condone war toys? What is the LEGO Group's position on war toys? Other brands make tanks and army stuff. I noticed LEGO sets include more realistic guns in the Star Wars range than they used to. What's up with that?

Kind of.

From the LEGO Group's Corporate Responsibility report:

  Guideline for weapons and conflict in LEGO experiences

  A large number of LEGO minifigures use weapons, and are – assumedly – regularly being charged by each others’ weapons as part of children’s role play. In the LEGO Group, we acknowledge that conflict in play is especially prevalent among 4-9-year-old boys.
  An inner drive and a need to experiment with their own aggressive feelings in order to learn about other people’s aggressions exist in most children. This in turn enables them to handle and recognize conflict in non-play scenarios. As such, the LEGO Group sees
  conflict play as perfectly acceptable, and an integral part of children’s development.

  We also acknowledge children’s well-proven ability to tell play from reality. however, to make sure to maintain the right balance between play and conflict, we have adhered to a set of unwritten rules for several years. In 2010, we have formalized these rules in a guideline for the use of conflict and weapons in LEGO products. The basic aim is to avoid realistic weapons and military equipment that children may recognize from hot spots around the world and to refrain from showing violent or frightening situations when communicating about LEGO products. At the same time, the purpose is for the LEGO brand not to be associated with issues that glorify conflicts and unethical or harmful behavior.

Page 26 of the 2010 report.


How to make NXT bricks communicate information? Is it possible to connect, in some way, two NXT bricks that has program functions running on both. For example, Brick one would tell brick two that it is okay to start a program. Are there any sensors that could facilitate this type of communication?

You can use the Bluetooth mailbox feature to pass messages back and forth between 2 NXTs.

If you want to use sensors, you could use the HiTechnic NXT IRLink Sensor (NIL1046) and NXT IRReceiver Sensor (NIR1032).


What set are these parts from? Tan walls and arches with green shutters? Can you help me identify this Lego set? I don't know what set it is or how to build it!!

That looks like bag five of the Friends "Summer Riding Camp" from a few years back. I'd guess it's the stable to the left hand side of this picture:

The combination of the dark green shutters and medium lavender plates were my driving clues.


Which buildings in the LEGO Island video game were based on real-world sets? The Wikipedia article for Lego Island mentions  'Most of these buildings are based on real Lego sets in circulation at the time of release for the game.' I haven't played the game in a long time but the 6350 Pizzeria set reminds me of the Pizzeria in-game.

The jail cell looks like something out of a set whilst the bridge and beach hut don't.

While a few are indeed sets there are some I can't recall seeing (such as the Information Center, which was probably too specalised to deserve it's own set).

As already pointed out the Pizzeria set is very similar to the one in-game.

The set "6598 Metro PD Station" was the in-game police station, incuding jail. The helicopter could be build during in a minigame in the police station. Accessories like the box of donuts and flaming pizza were not included in the set.

The set "6334 Wave Jump Racers" was the beach lookout where you could start the jet-ski race around the island.

The Lego race cars in the game were similar to these sets: 1477, 1990, 1517 and 1612. I can't find the racetrack start itself but it was in keeping of the Octan branding that was used.

I thought the ambulance was set 6666 but I was wrong, the one in-game had a much longer sloped roof.

The Bank (which was always closed?) I can't really remember anything along the lines of, and I think the houses up on the hill were just generic lego houses.


Is 32013 a drop-in replacement for 3651? In my old sets there are many 3651 parts that are broken.

As far as I remember, these sets do not use studs on the piece. Per this answer, new piece with the same function is 32013:

Can I just buy some of 32013 and use it everywhere instructions tell me to use 3651? Is it supposed to just fit? I could try to build 3651 but I'm afraid I'll   break it  again.

Dimensions are, respectively:

3651 - 0.8cm x 1.6cm x 1.1cm
32013 - 0.8cm x 1.6cm x 0.8cm

Distance between one axle and end of another also did not change. So for most builds it should work.

Incompatibilities include:

Obvious lack of studs
Use as in Lego Technic Universal Set 8034 as a locking mechanism for lift system, as seen on the box:

This answer was posted as Community Wiki, please add incompatibilities if you know them


Two Mindstorms touch sensors: how to determine which sensor was pressed? I'm trying do make simple program. Two motors, two touch sensors. Sensor one increases speed, sensor two decreases.

The whole program works very well but only with one sensor. When I put some logic that has "Wait for sensor two" brick it just fools around.

The algorithm is very simple:

Variable i - counts times sensors being pressed
Variable Znak (eng. sign) causes variable i to decrease if negative or increase if positive.
Motor speed is calculated by multiplying i by 10.

How can I solve this kind of problem?

I found an answer. I read in a book that I can't fork in a loop. But I can do up to 4 separate threads. So I did 3 threads:

Running/changing motors speed based on a variable "i" which is changed in other threads.
Waiting for a touch sensor A being bumped and increasing var "i".
Waiting for a touch sensor B being bumped and decreasing var "i".


How do you repair yellowed or faded Lego blocks? In particular, I've had white blocks that have yellowed in places. Can the colour consistency be restored? Or at least improved?

I'd be more interested in people's actual experiences rather than simple suggestions.

When I first got my kids some Lego I did it by bulk buying 25 kilo bags of used bricks off the Internet. Now these bricks had obviously been in outdoor sandpits, chewed by dogs, hidden under carpets - you name it.

We successfully restored almost all of them by by washing them in a bath full of a Milton solution, scrubbing each one with an old toothbrush and then leaving them to dry on a towel.

This cleared up some yellowing that we had thought was sun damage and fading, however there were some (especially some black pieces) that just looked off-grey and no scrubbing sorted them.

I would suggest trying this method, but if it is sun damage that is more than the outer surface I think you might not have any success.


EV3 IR Beacon/Remote Programmability Can the EV3 IR Beacon/Remote be programmed to emit other IR signals, like for triggering a camera?

I'd like to use the Mindstorms EV3 kit for building a hyperlapse photography rover where it moves, waits X seconds, triggers the camera, then repeats.

No, the EV3 IR remote (which uses the same protocol as Power Functions remote) is not programmable. The simplest way of doing your timelapse photography is to press the button of your camera remote with a cam on an EV3 motor...


LDD lacks almost all functionality I have installed LDD on my Windows 10 today, and after installing the application it automatically opened up. But I realized that when using the Desktop shortcut, the app can't be found. Here's the given error:

So I used the installer again, and it said that LDD was already installed. But I couldn't find the files anywhere, only the shortcut. So I reinstalled anyway and stored them in a directory I recognized, yet after installing when I checked the directory, it wasn't there. Once again I tried this process, but the problem persisted. I also notice that any LXF file I try to open doesn't do anything and LDD doesn't detect the file when I open it from the application itself. So LDD is quite crippled, tbh.

How do I solve this??

As Phil B commented - you'd probably be better off with Studio now. This was originally developed by a team at BrickLink, and when they were acquired by The LEGO Group made the following statement:

  What about Studio and LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) – what will happen with the two digital building experiences since they’re quite similar?
  The LEGO Group is planning to support and evolve Studio and will review opportunities for both services following the closing of the deal.

So going forwards, Studio is the supported option. If you feel you really must stick with LDD, please also ensure that you use the last-but-one version, as the very latest version is missing a number of elements.

Finally, ensure that you download the installer from official sources (such as the LEGO CDN as linked in that answer), rather than "free software" sites, which might have tampered with the package.


Lego Adventurers set with bridge, board with mountains? I'm looking to identify a Lego Adventurers set. At least I'm pretty sure it's adventurers, or a similar theme like Orient Express.

The set has a mountain board, with a river underneath. (If you own a LEGO curved road board, it's similar, except it has a river in place of the road and 3-dimensional mountains.) It's a very unusual piece, though it broke apart quite quickly unfortunately.

The piece also included a rope bridge.

The box had an adventurer wearing a hat swinging from a rope (?)

I don't have pix - it's a set I remember from my childhood and would love to re-buy.

How 'bout Set #5986 Amazon Ancient Ruins?


Where to use the dark gray 1x4 flat pieces in Lego Hidden Side Ghost Train Express 70424 I got two out of three pieces left of these after finished the building and I am now asking where they are supposed to be?

The instructions can be viewed here if anyone cares to help and search.
https://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego_instructions/set/70424/Ghost_Train_Express

Step 115 needs all three 1 x 4 Plates in Dark Bluish Gray [BL]/Dark Stone Grey [TLG].

You've probably skipped sub-step 7 of step 115, where both parts need to be added:


Instructions for the LEGO Star Wars Holiday X-Wing (4002019)? The 2019 LEGO Employee Gift 4002019 is a holiday-style Star Wars X-Wing Fighter which is a pretty similar build to the current LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Fighter.

Are the instructions for this set available in a digital format anywhere (note that in past years, LEGO has not made these instructions available like they do for publicly released sets)?

I found a YouTube video which has pictures for each page in the instruction booklets. The quality is pretty good and each step is readable.


Where can I get parts lists from sets by numbered bag? I have a hodge podge of LEGO pieces that I am trying to organize into sets. I have most of the boxes so it hasn’t been too difficult, just time consuming. Anyway, I’m currently working on set 75093. Bags 1, 2, 4, and 5 are open. Bags 3 and 6 are still sealed. I’d like to not open them, if possible. Problem is I can’t see all the parts in the bags and I’d like a list of parts by bag number. Is there such a thing? My concern is I may be duplicating/using pieces that might belong to other sets trying to complete this set.

I'm afraid there's no registry keeping records of elements included in each numbered part.
Instructions for 75093 set show which parts of a set could be assembled from each numbered bag, including parts for each step. You can then collect elements listed under each step to combine into numbered bags of your own. Getting all extra pieces might be a little hard, since you cannot check what is included in sealed bags. However you can guess which ones should have been included in opened bags. You can check which Extra parts come at the bottom on Bricklink's page for 75093 set.


Is this translucent blue ramp-like brick from an old Space Explorer set? Is this brick from an old Space Explorer set? I cannot seem to find a number on it. Any help to link this brick to a particular LEGO set would be much appreciated.

No. It's older than that.
This element has been in 9 sets, in trans-dark blue (as pictured) it has been in 4:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=4228&colorID=14&in=A
that bricklink says came out in 1981 and 1983


Minifigure holding a cookie tray I'd like to build a chef holding a flat tray to put cookies on.  Is there a way to get a hand to clip to a large tile or something like that?

You could use this Serving Tray

Minifigure, Utensil Serving Tray, Rectangle


Is the LEGO BOOST kit compatible with EV3 or PowerFunctions motors and sensors? I'm curious if I can use my existing EV3 and/or PowerFunctions motors to extend the functionality of my LEGO BOOST set. Is this possible?

While LEGO BOOST is compatible with the bricks from other sets, the motor, distance sensor, and Move Hub are not electrically compatible with current EV3 or PowerFunctions components. BOOST uses the same six pin connector as WeDo 2.0 from the Education line:

So, the bad news is that you can't easily use PF or EV3 motors with BOOST. However, LEGO plans to use this connector for PowerFunctions in the future and possibly for the successor to EV3 as well, so there may be more compatible components down the line. Here's how it's explained in the WeDo 2.0 FAQs:

Is this a new plug system?
Yes, this is the new LEGO Power Functions plug that has been optimized also to meet potential future needs.
What does that mean for the existing plug systems on other Power Function and MINDSTORMS products? Will they also be changed?
Yes, eventually we will convert to the new plug system after a transition period. The exact timing of this transition has not been determined.


Identify which set this bag of trunk and leaf pieces belongs to Please help me identify which set this belongs to! Looks like pieces to a tree maybe? Inside the big bag there is a mini bag with some flame pieces and more green and brown pieces. The front of the bag says "2", 2011, and "135149".

This is bag # 2 of Set # 4209-1: Fire Plane

Based on the Trans-Orange Wave Rounded with Base Rim (Castle Dragon Flame, Seaweed, Water)
and the Green Wedge, Plate 3 x 6 Cut Corners


Is it possible to build a working 100% LEGO glider with the Technic Catamaran sails? In the past I've tried to make working LEGO gliders but since all the LEGO sails were either too small or the wrong shape the only thing that ever kinda worked was using paper over Technic beams (in which case it's really the paper that's gliding, not the LEGO pieces).
Recently, LEGO has come out with some rather large plastic sails in their 42105 Technic Catamaran set, and I'm interested in trying to revive my old MOC idea.

Using the sails in the LEGO Technic Catamaran set, is it possible to make a 100% LEGO glider that really works?

As it turns out, the answer is yes! Even though the wings are flat and can't generate much lift, I was able to get up to about 15ft of distance on a 10ft drop.
click to watch the video
Here's how I did it:
First, you're going to need 2 of the set, or at-least two copies of the sails and some common Technic pieces. This is because the sails in the set are two different sizes (and I wasn't able to get a two-wing design to balance anyway).
the plastic sail sheet
Then you just build a really minimal and light-weight frame, with adjustable wing angles. Here's how I built mine, using only the parts from two copies of the set (click the images to view them larger):
glider top
glider bottom
You'll notice how this frame isn't very sturdy. Since the wings can't really generate lift anyway, there's no advantage to being able to throw it like a wooden or foam glider, and a stronger frame would just be dead weight.
The most-important thing about this design is being able to adjust the angle of the wings. Here's roughly the pitch that gave me the best results.
adjustable wing pitch
I gotta say, I didn't have high hopes for this project going into it, but ultimately I was pleasantly surprised with the results!


How to cross reference multiple parts in sets? I use BrickSet.com to easily find all sets containing a specific part e.g. http://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-374726. Is there a way on that site or any other to find all the sets containing two specific parts?

Although clunky you could consider using Microsoft Excel to do most of the work for you.

On Brickset search for the first part
On the top bar click CSV or (comma separated values)
Copy the text
Open Excel (I'm using 2010)
Select Cell A1
In the top right corner click the arrow bellow paste and select "Import Text Wizard..." (depending on the version this option may be in another place)
Selected Delimited and click next
On the following page select "Comma" click next
Select each row that is not "SetID" and select "Do Not Import" click finish (alternatively you can manually delete the extra rows after finish)
Repeat steps for the second part you are looking for. However Select Cell B1 instead of A1. You'll end up with two rows of SetIDs
Finally highlight both columns of SetIDs and select "Conditional Formatting", >"Highlight Cell Rules"> "Duplicate Values"

The cells that are highlighted will be the sets that contain both parts.


Large blue windscreen with shuttle decal Can someone help me identify this part, I got it in a bulk lot and want to know what sets are in there.

This is a Windscreen 8 x 6 x 3 Wedge with Space Port Pattern on Top and Sides (Stickers) - Set 6453.


Can you identify what sets this partial build and bag of LEGO elements come from? We got this big box of Lego bricks, and we don't have the manuals, please help!

Welcome to Bricks.SE! The bag numbered 2 is from set 9494 Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor.

This is all based on the included Windscreen 10 x 6 x 3 Bubble Canopy Double Tapered with Light Bluish Gray Jedi Starfighter Pattern which only appears in this set (there is an older version of this piece but it is too old to have been included in the bag pictured, which LEGO didn’t start using until 2011).

The second picture contains a child’s own creation out of various pieces, including a Windscreen 6 x 6 x 3 Canopy Half Sphere with Dual 2 Fingers and SW Tie-Fighter Pattern.

This piece also comes only in one set, namely set 9492 TIE Fighter. Both sets are from 2012.


6x6x6 cube with smooth plates on bottom? Adult, returning to Legoland and the world of LEGO.

I'm interested in building a static 6x6x6 cube that is smooth on all six sides. I can see how to get the top smooth, using an appropriate build up with blocks and plates, and capped with smooth tiles.

The sides are easy, of course, just being the sides of blocks and other pieces.

But what about the bottom? What works for reversing the studs, so that smooth tiles can be used for the final finish on the bottom?

I would like the final build to be rock solid, exactly 6x6x6 -- no movement like a rubik's cube needed at all.

Just interested in best techniques for a smooth bottom, before I order parts for my bigger build. Want to limit pieces to standard blocks, plates, and smooth tiles.

Suggestions, threads to review, links to solutions?

PS: Sorry I couldn't post tags like: "6x6x6 cube tiles smooth"; suggestions welcome.

While there could be various approaches building studless the easiest one would be with Tile, Modified 2 x 2 Inverted. These modified tiles have studs on one side, which fit under bricks and plates, and smooth surface on the other side.

Here is a prototype which features equal 6-stud (or 30 modules) long sides. Parts can be changed upon availability, but it gives the idea how high you need to go to reach 6-stud height. Red parts are modified tiles mentioned above.


What are these Technic "Zapfen" ("stoppers") called in English? What are these pieces called in English? Google translator doesn't help in this case...

The LEGO Pick A Brick store lists them as connector pegs (or, more simply, pegs) although they are more commonly known as pins in the fan community1.

The black ones have added friction for holding things together, while the light gray and beige ones are smoother and allow pieces to rotate, for example tires or beams.

1 BrickLink, Peeron


Strongest Vertical LEGO beam In the LEGO house episode of James May's Toy Stories, the engineers built the beams with studs facing upwards: around 9.5 mins into http://youtube.com/watch?v=mEFPhXl3QQY

How much stronger would it have been (if at all), if they had built them staggered with studs sideways, as below, with the same number of bricks?

How much stronger still, if they had used large plates instead of bricks?

If it is any better, why did they not do that (did they just not think of it, or was there an instruction from LEGO or the producers that studs must be on top)?

Depends very much what you mean by "strong".

Vertical crush resistance would be highest as the Lego house people did it because that gives a continuous vertical wall down the edge of each stack of bricks. Offsetting as you suggest means that the edges of each brick are resting on the flat top of the brick below. If they needed to link the bricks horizontally they would either use a row of 2xN bricks or a later of plates. Plates would be heavier and more expensive but somewhat stronger, if wall spreading was an issue (which it did not seem to be in the show).

For beams layered plates would be ideal, possibly in a traditional C or I beam shape, with something to hold the layers of plates together. The easy option there is a layer of Technic bricks top and bottom with Technic liftarms or beams linking them.

For catenary members (like suspension bridge "cables") I'd follow the teams in Australia who have obviously done a lot of research and experimentation, and go with Technic liftarms joined with half-width liftarms and axles.

If instead you're looking at a MythBusters-style giant Lego ball and you want that to stay intact as it rolls then many layers of plates would be useful (the MythBusters ball was made of big Lego-brick bricks, IIRC about 24x48 studs and perhaps 10 or 12 layers tall. It fell apart quickly (and so did not do much damage to anything). For that you would probably also want to use some technic bricks with axles linking them to make internal 3D tension members to hold it together. But you will end up with a tonne of Lego rolling down a hill in that case... not necessarily a good idea.


Set 3368 Space Centre missing one 4211805 I've just bought a second hand 3368 Space Centre and I think there is a mistake in the instructions. According to the inventory there should only be one 4211805 in the pack

but the step looks like it requires two

The set was listed as complete so my question is, did Lego make a mistake and ship these sets with only one 4211805, or did the seller just go by the inventory and therefore leave out one of the 4211805s that came in the original box?

This looks like an oversight in the inventory printed in the instructions. Your interpretation of the instruction step requiring two of these is certainly correct.

The Bricklink inventory shows 2 of these, so that's what would have been included in the box. The replacement parts page on LEGO.com also indicates that this set should include 2 of the 7M axles.

It's likely that the seller just checked against the printed inventory and didn't include the second axle due to the misprint.


Obtaining LEGO blocks In the olden days, it was possible to go to the hobby store and get a box of specific capability.  Now adays, I basically see lego blocks sold as part of "action" sets.

Question: Is it still possible to get blocks of a specific type in a specific quantity?

There are a few things I can think of.

1. Bricklink

Bricklink is a reputable online site. You can buy any pieces ever made by LEGO across the globe. Their site may seem hard to navigate at first, but it doesn't take much to get used to. Also, if you have any questions you can ask here.

2. Pick a Brick

If you live near a LEGO store you can find yourself a variety of parts. The prices are decent. Don't be afraid to fill the cup a little more than full. They have tape just for that purpose. The selection changes as they run out of parts.

3. Local LEGO Shops

There may be a small locally owned LEGO establishment near you. I am not talking about a supermarket like Target or Walmart. I refer to small "holes in the wall" that may have a pick a brick much like LEGO Stores.

4. Bricks and Pieces

This is a suggestion that I myself have not used personally. Apparently you can order any parts they allow in production in your desired quantity. I am not sure of the price, but the reliability should be there since it is from LEGO.


IDE recommendations for EV3 programming Does anybody have any recommendations for non-GUI programming of the EV3 unit?

I'm impressed by the LabVIEW software, but as a professional C# and VB.Net programmer (with C, C++ experience), I find it slow and difficult to implement complex mathematical formula.

In particular, I love the ability of LabVIEW to transfer and run (and effectively debug) programs directly into the block with BlueTooth, so an IDE with that capability would be ideal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Since you are a C# pro, I would recommend MonoBrick. I know they have a plugin for Xamarin Studio/MonoDevelop that lets you do remote debugging. Not sure if they have one for Visual Studio yet.

There is also EV3Basic, which is an IDE that lets you program the EV3 using the BASIC programming language. Unlike most other 3rd party programming languages this one actually uses the official EV3 firmware.


Is it possible to use DUPLO bricks in LDD? Is there a way to import DUPLO bricks to Lego Digital Designer? Or is there another way to make DUPLO build instructions?

LDD is a closed world where people can't add its own parts. If you want to create Duplo building instructions you should use LDraw that has many Duplo parts in its library, and allows you to create the missing ones if needed.


Opera house 10234 book 2 instruction 20 left hand side and then 22 has got me stumped. Can't figure out how these pieces fit. Please help Opera house 10234 book 2 instruction 20 left hand side and then instruction 22 has got me stumped. I am not sure whether there is a space between the "high 2 and the blue 4. Please help

There is indeed 1 stud between both parts.

The gray 2x1 is on the yellow 1x1 and 1 stud of the brown 6x1, than there is 1 free stud on the brown piece. The blue brick is on the remaining 4 studs of the 6x1


Found a bag of pieces. Most unique to this bag is a cloth of yellow and gold stripes Most unique piece in this bag is a cloth of yellow and gold stripes. It has a hole in each of four corners. A number on the box that held this piece is 653999. What set does this go with?

Based on the description on the cloth piece, the set should be the #31052 LEGO Creator Vacation Gateways https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=26243pb01&in=S


What is "micro-scale" building? I have seen references to "micro-scale" building in LEGO documentation. How is this different than the "normal" LEGO building scale?

It refers to building items at a much smaller scale than the usual "mini-fig" scale.

For example the "Micro" Star Destroyer:

 4492 Mini Star Destroyer

Edit to add:

Officially however, when bought as a set they are usually referred to as "Mini-scale".


How can I make custom LEGO packaging? How can I print high-quality custom packaging for a custom-made model?

I am aware of DesignByMe. But as many of you know, the pieces for that are limited, as are the options for making your own box.

If I have six images that I can apply to each face, what techniques can I use for getting the images on a real box, and where do you recommend getting a box most like those sold by LEGO?

Maybe a search for custom box design although I doubt they'd make small volumes either. It would look very professional, though.

What I've seen fans selling custom kits doing is using simple white boxes with stickers on them. Usually the buyers are more interested in the contents anyway. Sticker printing shouldn't be a problem (as it's going to be put on cardboard a simple inkjet-sticker sheet should do), and I assume plain white boxes shouldn't be too hard to find.

An laternative would be to print your images on cardboard which you can fold yourself, but then you'll need to think properly about placement of images. If the cardboard is thin, you can use it as an outer shell for an inner white box which would be more solid. 3mm cardboard may be overkill, but that's the general idea.


EV3 color sensor strangeness I've run across something very strange with my color sensor when using multiple sensors and multiple nested loops for a sumobot. I have 4 separate loops continuously monitoring the "optical", "ultrasonic" and two touch sensors ("touch1" and "touch4"). The main program of nested loops controls the motors in response to the sensors breaking different nested loops. I have attached a simple version that I removed the motor blocks from so you can follow it easier.  When the program starts, it defaults to the "search" loop (innermost loop in main program). The optical sensor is looking for reflected light greater than 20 (white color). The first time I put a white paper over the optical sensor, it breaks the "search" and "charge" loops and proceeds to the "color" loop, as it should. However, it only works the first time! All the other sensors work as they should, all the time. Sometimes after multiple attempts, the color sensor will work again. Mostly it doesn't.

Here is where things get strange. If I remove any of the other 3 sensor loops, the optical sensor works perfectly. Another thing- If I change the color sensor in the "optical" loop from "compare reflected" to "change reflected-either direction" (keeping the value it is looking for the same), it works perfectly with all of the other sensor loops running. Also, using "change reflected- increase" or "decrease" doesn't fix it, only the "both directions" setting fixes the problem. Does anyone have an explanation of why this is happening? My only thought is that the multiple instances of the "wait for-color sensor" blocks are conflicting... but that should happen no matter how many other sensor loops I have running. It's driving me crazy helping kids troubleshoot why the optical sensor craps out. Any input greatly appreciated.

Perhaps you need to add some hysteresis in your sensor loops. Each loop waits for a condition to be met, but then repeats infinity as long as that condition is met. Hysteresis means waiting for another condition to indicate that the sensor has returned to the original state and usually includes a deadband (meaning the positive trigger is not the same as the negative trigger) to filter out noise.

For example, wait for the color sensor to detect black again before repeating the loop with a deadband of 10%:


What are the differences between the NXT and the RCX? What are the differences between the NXT and the RCX? I know that the NXT is newer, but what features does it have that the RCX doesn't have, and vice versa (if the RCX has features that the NXT doesn't)?

NXT
RCX

3 motor and 4 sensor ports
3 motor and 3 sensor ports

Has encoders integrated in its motors so that they can be used as servos
Would need an additional rotation sensor on a sensor port to use as servos

Uses RJ12 connectors with the latch offset to one side
Uses regular 9V connectors (2x2 with metal in studs)

Uses a direct USB cable or Bluetooth for connection
Uses infrared to communicate with PC via an IR tower connected by a serial (1.0, 1.1) or USB (2.0)

Graphical 100X64 matrix display
Small numerical display with many limits

Technic oriented - uses technic pieces (no studs)
System oriented (studs) with small amount of technic

Uses graphical programming language with many features1
Uses a limited graphical programming language (apparently can't even run on XP)

Can play 8Khz wav files
Can play simple tones

Uses 6 AA batteries very quickly
Uses batteries more slowly

256 KB of flash memory that can hold a max. of 64 files of varying types
32 KB of RAM that can store up to only 5 programs

The original 1.0 version of RCX Brick had a 10v connection plug, but this was dropped from the later versions included in the Robotics Invention System 1.5. The NXT can use a rechargeable battery in place of the six AA batteries, and the rechargeable batteries also have a 10v transformer plug.

RCX retains its memory (including firmware) for a very limited time when not powered, just enough to change batteries. NXT uses flash memory and keeps it all when not powered.

1: Note that even powerful computers have trouble running big programs, and can easily mess them up. There exist many third-party systems for both RCX and NXT. Full list on Wikipedia.


Simple optical switch? I have built a conveyor belt for my son out of Lego Technic. Now, I would like to add a simple optical switch, so that the belt stops when an object arrives at the end of the belt... However, I am not sure about which part I should use for that.

I'm assuming from your question that you are currently using Power Functions parts to control your conveyor. In order to achieve the sort of electrical automation that you are talking about, you'll need something like LEGO Mindstorms. The current line is called EV3. You'll need at minimum the Intelligent Brick, a light sensor, a motor, and a few cables. You can also buy the complete EV3 kit.

If that seems too pricey for you, you could try searching for used NXT (previous version), or even RCX (first version) Mindstorms kits.

Once you have the Mindstorms parts that you need, you'll just need to program the brick to do what you want using software on your computer.


Can anyone identify this Lego set please? I have these parts mixed in with other Lego Bricks, but no instructions. I would like to be able to download the instructions, but I don’t know the set number. Any help to identify the set is greatly appreciated!

That's V-19 Torrent (7674). Instructions are available from LEGO to download or from Bricklink to purchase.

Identified by Trans-Clear Technic, Shock Absorber 10L Damped - No Spring, which is available in this set only.


RGB sensor HOWTO use? I've got an RGB sensor (this one with the three LED thingies) and wonder how to access it using NXC.

I know I can SetSensorColorFull(IN_1); and then access it using ReadSensorColorEx or, for simplicity, ReadSensorColorRaw, but I'm a bit stumped wrt. the return values.

I know normal 24-bit (3x8bit) RGB colour codes. I know normal NXC return values (0/1, 0‥100, 0‥255). But I don't know how the values here work.

I've toyed around with i = ReadSensorColorRaw(IN_1, r); where unsigned int r[4];, and got values: i was always 1 (even if the cable was unplugged), and the r[INPUT_RED] aka r[0] values were somewhat usable, and about 0‥60 were black in general, and I got up to 1023 (when holding the sensor towards light), but if I hold the RGB sensor towards anything yellow, green or blue, the values are somewhat off. Also, I found no docs whatsoever as to what r[INPUT_BLANK] is supposed to be.

When unplugging the sensor, I got r = { x, 0, x, 0 } (where x was roughly 120) in my test program just using NumOut to debug the sensors, so I assume that the sensor return values are biased somewhat?

Would using ReadSensorColorEx give somewhat better usable values, or anything else I can use? Do I need to calibrate them first, and if yes, how? To clarify, I don't want the functions that just give back “it's red”, “it's green”, etc. but I want somewhat usable R/G/B colour tuples (and would take Intensity as bonus, although I'm using light sensors for them normally, or SetSensorColorRed if must be).

I'm using NXT Firmware 1.29, and exclusively Open Source tools. If there's anything else needed, information wise, just comment.

To understand how to use the data, it help to understand how the color sensor works. Let's take a step back for a minute and have a look. The sensitive electrical component here is just a photodiode or phototransistor that lets us measure light intensity.

If we turn all of the LEDs off we are just measuring ambient light. If we turn on just one of the LEDs and hold the sensor close to a surface, we are measuring mostly the reflected light from that one LED (and some ambient light).

When we switch to color mode, it looks like all 3 LEDs are on at the same time, but what is actually happening is that they are being switched in sequence very rapidly. off-red-green-blue-off-red-green-blue-... and so on.

This means the mysterious 4th value, INPUT_BLANK, is the off part of the cycle - it is just measuring ambient light.

You said that you would take intensity as a bonus, but actually that is all you are getting. If you hold the sensor close to a white surface, you should get high values for all 3 colors. If you move the sensor even closer (but not too close), the values will increase. This is because the reflected intensity is getting strong, not because the surface is getting whiter.

This means the RGB values are not like the ones on your computer screen. If you do a web search for robotic vision systems, you will find that RGB just doesn't work. The common practice is to convert the values to HSV (hue-saturation-value). The HSV values can more easily deal with changes in ambient light allowing you to more accurately determine colors.

I am not sure how the normalized and scaled values are calculated in ReadSensorColorEx, but you can play around with them and see if they give you better results for whatever it is that you are trying to do.


I bought a LEGO set from a yardsale and have no instructions, box or date I want to find out what LEGO set I have so I can get some instructions for it. I'll add some pictures of the pieces as that's about all I can do.

I hope this is enough for someone to be to figure out which set this is.

If the boat is dark blue then the set is almost certain to be set 60069-1 Swamp Police Station since according to Bricklink it is the only occurrence of the boat (part 62812 Boat, Rubber Raft, Large) in dark blue.

The presence of the bars (parts 92586 and 60621) with white frame[s] (part 60596) and light bluish gray radar disk thingy (part 4285b) confirm this theory.

However, I was unable to identify the large black piece near the top-left of your picture, or find something similar to it in the set's inventory.  Is this a single piece?  If so it is probably not part of the rest of the set.


Can you identify this truck with spikey wheels? I would like to know what set this partially put-together truck belongs to.

Legends of Chima 70004-1: Wakz' Pack Tracker


Java BufferedImage with Lejos NXT: Java Heap Space I'm trying to write a program for my Lego Mindstorm NXT, the program is simple, drawing some lines and saving the image in a .png file. So, I thought I'd use BufferedImage and use getGraphics to draw on it, the thing is; if I write the code:

import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;

import lejos.nxt.Button;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Test\n");
        BufferedImage bimg = new BufferedImage(300,300, BufferedImage.TYPE_3BYTE_BGR);
        Button.waitForAnyPress();

    }
}

When I run the program, it freezes for a while in "Linking..." and gives me the following:

Java Heap Space
Java.Lang.OutOfMemory

So the question is this: How can I use BufferedImage with Lejos without having this problem? And if there's another method of drawing lines and saving the image on a file, it would be very helpful.

EDIT:
The Java Heap Space is caused by the line

BufferedImage bimg = new BufferedImage(300,300, BufferedImage.TYPE_3BYTE_BGR);

I've also tried using ImageIO:

import javax.microedition.lcdui.Image;
*
*
Image img = Image.createImage(300, 300);
ImageIO.write((RenderedImage) img, "png", monFichier);

It gives me the same thing. I don't know but maybe this isn't the right way to create an image with Lejos. What do you think?

I'm a little puzzled by how you are getting these results, but I am assuming you are getting an error when you run the equivalent of nxjc and nxjlink on a supported platform. i.e., you are probably invoking nxj -r ...

Furthermore, I am assuming you are basing these commands on a recent Java compiler from Oracle; version 7 or 8.

First of all, it is my understanding that java.awt.image.* is not even present. The example showed here should not even compile because the only AWT classes we have access to are java.awt.Point and java.awt.Rectangle.

Furthermore, only some of the javax.microedition.lcdui API is implemented, so you should check the documentation to see if Image is supported in the manner you want. So, for example, ImageIO is not present.

So, the example programs you show here are not going to even compile (never mind link) with the as-shipped latest version of leJOS NXJ.

At any rate, the size of the heap for leJOS is basically all of the RAM on the brick, but it is shared with the stack and static RW memory. But I'm not convinced the message you are seeing is related to the leJOS VM runtime heap, but rather the heap of the thing that is trying to create the classes and link them into the "TinyVM" before sending them to the brick.

We don't know because you have not described exactly how you are getting this message, with what command(s), with the full output of the exception(s)!

So, if you want to solve this, we need:

The platform you are running leJOS on.
The output of %LEJOS_NXT_JAVA_HOME%\bin\javac -version (assuming Windows; you know what to do for OS X or Linux)
For that matter, what is %LEJOS_NXT_JAVA_HOME% or ${LEJOS_NXT_JAVA_HOME} set to?
The output from the command you are running. Try capturing what comes out of nxj -v -r Main
The version of leJOS NXJ you are running

Place this in the body of your question, please.


Is there a list of the most common Lego Technic parts? I searched the internet for this and I found a list of complete sets. But I am looking for a list of the most common (and in some sense the most important or most helpful) individual Lego Technic parts. Is this available somewhere?

On Brickset, you can browse parts in the technic subcategory and you can  sort by "Set count", i.e. the number of sets the element appears in.

https://brickset.com/parts/category-Technic

So that would take care of your "most common" requirement. I'm afraid that "most important" or "helpful" is rather subjective and hence difficult to quantify and have lists sorted by those measures...