Convert 3rd party NXT programming language code to NXT-G program?

No, there is no automated way to convert source files from other programming languages into un-compiled NXT-G code. The .rbt format is very complex, so writing a program to interpret programs written in other languages and generate a proper .rbt file with properly placed and configured blocks would be an incredibly time-consuming and tedious task that wouldn't be worth the effort. You'd be better off manually translating each program manually.

As for your second question, it is possible to make custom blocks for NXT-G, although not in any text-based languages. Custom blocks are made in LabView, a graphical programming language that has a wide variety of uses, including programming NXT robots. See this tutorial on creating custom NXT-G blocks if you're interested:

ftp://ftp.ni.com/evaluation/mindstorms/NXT_Creating_MINDSTORMS_Blocks.pdf


This isn't exactly sending direct commands to your robot, but LEGO Education recently released a python stack for the EV3 brick.

I haven't tried it; but as I understand it, it's an alternative firmware which should allow you to have python scripts running natively on your EV3 brick, allowing for full autonomous robots programmed in python.


Do you cut a LEGO knife to create an illusion of a minifigure getting stabbed?

Stop-motion animation builders often have to resort to tricks to make the animation work. For example, they will use wires or other fasteners to attach models in certain positions in order to hold them in place while they move them. Many purists would avoid such techniques in a normal build but for animators there are larger overriding concerns. Cutting elements would certainly fit within the possibilities.

Also many builders feel free to modify any elements they have, including cutting them or painting them. How that sits with you is up to you.


What is the difference between the two train motors 8866-1 and 88002-1?

Well the power cable is the main difference, as one motor was made for the short-lived 9V RC system while the other is the current PF one.

However, that doesn't mean the internals are the same. From Philo 's motor comparison page, you'll see that the PF motor is better, and that fortunately the performances are much improved [over the RC one], with an efficiency and power even exceeding the old 9V train motors.


Connecting EV3 with older motors using conversion cable

You'll be able to control the 9V motor as an unregulated motor with the similar named motor block, you'll be able to set the speed approximately, but any accurate RPM control is out of the question as there is no feedback pulse signal from the motor to the EV3 telling it how fast it is going.
Also there are some programming quirks with this cable and an EV3, like having to specify two motor blocks as the first one is ignored, but I don't recall the specifics.


Why doesn't LEGO bring back old series as they were "in the day"

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

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

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

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

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


How much heat can LEGO bricks withstand?

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

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

Plastic types are explained on this question.


Dan I open/repair this Duplo pullback motor?

Some Lego assemblies like this are welded together or otherwise permanently assembled. Usually the best you can do is cut them where there are seams, then glue them back together. Or, if that seems like too much work, buy a replacement on Bricklink


After cross-referencing Part 3039 with the crystal piece shown on the sticker, Part 52, in each shade of green, I found it: Clash of the Heroes from the Batman vs. Superman sets. The sticker itself is sheet 76044stk01b.


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


EV3 T-Rex we build keeps toppling over on step

I built a walking machine when I was a kid several (cough) decades ago, and it had a similar problem. We finally figured out that what I had built was very front-heavy. Weight has to be balanced equally, forward and backward, over the "hips" of the creation. Pick up the creature by the top of the hips and see which way it swings. I solved the problem by adding a longer tail. You might also try putting the head up in a higher position or moving a battery case rearward.


How can I make product suggestions to TLG?

There is the LEGO Ambassador program too: http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/lego-group/programs-and-visits/lego-ambassador

  The mission of the LEGO Ambassadors is to work together with the LEGO Group in all areas which concern the worldwide LEGO community and be the voice of their respective LEGO User Group towards the LEGO Group.

This means you should contact a LEGO User Group (preferably one in your area) and try to raise your suggestion to the group's Ambassador.


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 you identify this 3x4 black plate with studs only going down the middle?

You should be able to find this piece by looking up any of the collectible minifigures on Bricklink and looking at the set inventory.

This piece is the Tile, Modified 3 x 4 with 4 Studs in Center (88646).

It is classified on Bricklink under the category 'Tile, Modified'.


Why do some sets have two different numbers?

In some cases, there were different numbers for the USA and the rest of the world, but I don't know if that's the case with Ricky Racoon.

LEGO also extended from a 3-digit numbering to a 4-digit numbering around that time, so maybe some sets were renumbered. At the time, LEGO didn't seem to care that much about set numbers (and as you've noted, reused some).


Red 2x3 plate with triangle post part number?

These are train direction toggle posts from the old 4.5V train system. Part 3218 Train Direction Switch - 4.5V 2 x 3.


Scroll screen in EV3 Home Edition program

Using the mouse, you can click on the gray arrows on the edges of the screen (indicated with red arrows below). You will need to close the Content Editor to be able to see the one on the right clearly.

Another option using the mouse is to use the "pan" tool. Click on the tool icon that looks like a hand (circled in red below). Then use it to click and drag anywhere in the work area.

You can also use the keyboard arrow keys. First click on any blank white space to make sure that no blocks are selected, then press the arrow keys to scroll.


Where do I find thousands of blue & yellow bricks for an art project?

Try BrickLink.com, the Online LEGO Marketplace. It works like eBay, with buyers and sellers from all over the world. You can buy the exact pieces you need, in the quantity and condition you need.

Since you want a large bulk of parts, I would suggest that you post your request on the BrickLink Forum first, as there may be sellers who have a very large quantity of what you want, but haven't listed in their stores (sellers like to focus on listing their more expensive stock first).

Most BrickLink sellers are good people and they would be happy to help out with a project like yours and offer very reasonable prices. It is also beneficial for them, as they can get rid of a large quantity of their stock at one time (especially if you are happy with used elements). So it's a win-win for everyone involved.


I need help identifying pieces, wooden cart, yellow cylinders, dark green cylinders, and white and blue rocket stickers?

Yellow half cylinders + White, yellow & grey assemblies are from:

8037-1: Anakin's Y-wing Starfighter

Dark grey part + dark green assemblies are from:

7930-1: Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship

White panels + light grey part + red / white striped part + cone & red 1x1's are from:

7593-1: Buzz's Star Command Spaceship

The cart is from:

7195-1: Ambush In Cairo


The second gray piece in the bottom image (from left to right) is a TENTE piece.

Check this example set (look at the feet of the robot)


Is it possible to change the language in the EV3 Education software?

I see that you have the Education version of the EV3 software. I would suggest checking with the LEGO Education support. It may be different from the retail version in this regard.

For the retail version:

From the MINDSTORMS Support page:

  3.3 What languages are the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Home Edition Software available in?

  You can download the EV3 Software for free from LEGO.com/mindstorms in the following languages:

Chinese (Simplified)
Danish
Dutch
US English
French
German
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Spanish (ESSA)

These are available via the respective download pages. For example, the US English version is downloaded at http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/downloads/download-software. However, the installer is for the whole program. There are not "language packs" that contain just the languages.

To test, I installed the German version in addition to the English version and now I have two languages available on the Edit menu.


Need help identifying this non-Lego set - looks like a grey spaceship

Tl;dr: most likely parts from Sluban or Oxford.

Original Post
@Zhaph is right that the tail fin looks like the one on the Kre-O Starscream:
Yours:

Kre-O:

I started looking for other Kre-O sets that use the piece. I found the Toy & Game Instructions page which included sets with strikingly similar pieces.
The Kre-O Star Trek USS Vengeance - A4364 Instructions (PDF) cockpit is eight studs long while the cockpit in your photo looks to be about six studs long, but they have the same geometry.
Yours:

Kre-O:

The Kre-O Transformers Battle for Energon - 98812 (PDF) includes six-by-two stud sloped bricks that look like they could match the upside down brick in your photo.
Yours:

Kre-O:

Unfortunately, it looks like the Kre-O inverted slopes (at least in Kre-O Transformers Destruction Site Devestator - 36951 (PDF)) are closer to LEGO's inverted slopes than the ones in your photo.
Yours:

Kre-O:

Yours:

Kre-O:

It's hard to tell if your six-stud-long slopes are curved or not, but they look closer to LEGO Slope, Curved 6 x 1 than they do the ones from Kre-O (at least the ones from the USS Vengeance).
Yours:

LEGO:

Kre-O:

I did find another similar match and in the correct color: the Ultimate Soldier XD F-18 Fighter Jet (Ad Blocker Warning) as referenced in this forum post.

Unfortunately again, the only details I can find about the brand (beyond the brick sets sold at Walmart and Amazon) seem to be about the figures, not building sets. There are a few sites archiving these figures if you're interested.

I would have thought that the turbine piece would have been the easiest to identify, but I haven't come across anything close. Do you have more pieces that might be unique enough to give a clue?

I'm curious to know if the molds from Kre-O's tailfin ended up being sold to someone else. That might explain both the nearly identical piece in the Ultimate Soldier sets (down to the injection sprue) and the obscurity of the set you're looking for.

Edit 1
According to the unsourced Wikipedia page for Ultimate Soldier, the Ultimate Soldier brand of die-cast figures was reintroduced as a line of military-themed building toys in 2014.
This forum thread contains conjecture about the acquisition of the die-cast tooling by either JSI or All-Go. No mention of the building toys.

JSI bought some of the 1/18 tooling, there are a couple of company's sniffing around the 1/32 molds, but on my friends last trip to China(he's been back about a week) the 1/32 molds are either crated up of sitting inside and outside :rolleyes: the plant :lol: while other projects have taken over the factories.
if they stay in weather to long they will be junk soon :huh:

For all intents and purposes, 21st Century is effectively gone. All-Go's attempt at resurrecting the line fell back into the mire it tried to spring from after reissuing the two 1/32 planes - the mistake they made there being twofold: they reissued paint schemes that had been done already (and at half the price) AND they no longer included a pilot figure. A lot of merchants dumped excess stock upon the failure of the planes to sell, and discounters like Tuesday Morning ended up with them.
JSI seems to possess the bulk of the 1/18 molds and have reissued several of 21C's vehicles in that scale.
As far as 1/32 goes, status remains unknown. Still a lot available on ebay, but obviously not at Wal-Mart prices. I have built several of the kits myself, and while plainly being more toy-like than your normal kit, they do clean up nice and if you get them at the right price are a bargain. I managed to snag a case of BF109F's for $20 a couple of years back.

If the date provided by the Wikipedia page is to be believed, then there must be another explanation for the identical parts. I doubt that Hasbro would be selling good molds in 2014 for a line of toys they were still producing in 2017.
So I checked who was actually making the toys for Hasbro. The Kre-O line is produced by the Oxford toy company in Korea. Their website is next to impossible to navigate in English, but with a little luck I came across this set with a familiar tailpiece.

I couldn't find any closer matches on their website, but Wikipedia mentions that they made a line of military-themed sets. Using Google Translate, I searched 옥스포드 군사 장난감 (oxford military toy) and found some sets that also contain pieces that appear to match the molds of your pieces.

There's your slope again (apologies for the poor quality):

They even have the square-shaped negatives in the bottoms of some pieces:

The Oxford military sets appear to be the source of the Ultimate Soldier sets still available on Amazon/Walmart. Just as they were rebranded "Kre-O" for Hasbro, it appears Oxford sets are/were rebranded "Ultimate Modern Soldier" for 21st Century Toys.
Oxford:

Ultimate Soldier (Amazon):

I'm still looking, but I'm nearly certain that your set was produced by Oxford. Either for one of their own lines or to be licensed by another company.

Edit 2
Completely by accident, I have stumbled on Sluban.
Turbine:

Tailfin:

Square recesses:

Cockpit:

Slope:


The distance from the bottom right corner of the brick in your image to the top of the plate-part is 67px, which for a plate is 3.2mm. The full distance from the bottom right corner of the brick in your image to the top of the brick is 609px, which equates to 28.78mm, close enough to the 28.8mm a 3 brick-high piece would be (3 * 9.6mm). Well spotted @rschulz

This is not LEGO. Searching for 1 x 4 x 3 on BrickLink does not bring up any Brick, Modifieds that have rounded corners on one side, let alone a bottom plate. Nor are there any 1 x 4 Plate, Modifieds that have an addition like the above.
While LEGO pieces are well served with publicly accessible and searchable parts databases, MegaBlocks and their ilk are not. Your best bet - assuming this is a MegaBlocks part, and the part was stickered in accordance with whatever instructions come with the set - is a laborious search of a MegaBlocks set database, looking for an image of a 2 on a blue part of the model depicted on the box art.


Selling sets on eBay - should I buy missing bricks and figures to complete a set?

Is it worth it to buy the missing figures - will we make back the money we spend or would it be more cost effective to sell it with the two figures missing ?

This boils down to the following:
SALE PRICE OF COMPLETE SET > SALE PRICE OF INCOMPLETE SET  +  BUY PRICE OF MISSING PIECES

If that is true, you stand to profit from completing the set, barring any other expenses (like transaction fess, currency conversion fees, shipping and handling costs, etc.)
So now to find the values of these items (you have already mentioned that it costs 16 GBP to replace the figures) we can turn to Bricklink's price estimates and lots for sale to see that used, complete lots are for sale for as low as 63€, and even new, sealed sets can be gotten for 70€, so your 100 GBP price is way over the market niveau. This brings our test to this state of completion:
63€ > SALE PRICE OF INCOMPLETE SET + 16 GBP

You don't specify which two of the four figures are missing, that will definitely affect the desirability of the incomplete set (for which I can't find any closer estimates), so lets find some lower and upper margins.
From Bricklink again we can see that Vader costs on average 15€, Tarkin 9€, and the generic pilot along with Sabine Wren 5€ each. So the savvy collector could buy the two missing figures (if they are interested in having them) for anywhere between 10 and 24€. This gives an approximation for the difference between the prices of a complete set and your incomplete one: the incomplete set would probably sell for about 39-53€, depending on which figures are missing.
By plugging the correct value into the inequation you can then get the answer for your question as stated, but I think the most important conclusion is to use Bricklink for such price analysis and the realization that your asking price is probably too high for most of the informed buyers.


Which set does this flywheel-like assembly belong to?

This assembly consist of two parts. Well, technically, four parts, as there are two Technic 2L pins in Black, but these come in multiple sets so out of interest.

Top one in Orange is Flywheel Fairing Lion Shape with Gold and Blue Feathers Pattern (70102)

And the bottom one is Flywheel Plate 2 x 8 with Metal Flywheel and Dark Azure Tire (Chima Rip Cord Base)

Top part was available only in 70102, CHI Waterfall set. And the bottom one was included in 22 sets.


If you are using the EV3 Sensors you should use the EV3 Color Sensor which can detect 8 colors (colorless, black, blue, green, yellow, red, white and brown). If you are using the NXT I would recommend the HiTechnic Color Sensor or HiTechnic Color Sensor V2... I hope I could help.


Can I use the WeDo USB hub with normal Linux distributions?

Lego's education catalog implies that the WeDo software is required for the hub to work. It states:

  The two-port hub controls motors and sensors, transmits power and data
  to and from the computer, and is automatically detected by the WeDo™
  Software when connected to the computer.

I found some info regarding WeDo software, the manual has this to say:

  Q: What is the full detailed information on the compatibility with different platforms?

  A: The WeDo™ software 1.1 is supported on Windows XP and Vista operating systems with the latest service packs. It is also supported
  on the Mac 10.5.xx operating system with Mac Intel processors. A
  minimum of 512 MB Ram is required and 300 MB of hard disc space. The
  WeDo software 1.2 is supported on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
  operating systems with the latest service packs, as well as the Mac
  10.5.xx and Mac 10.6.xx operating systems with Mac Intel processors.

In general, Lego software seems to be supported only on OS X and Windows XP, Vista, and 7. All of the software mentioned in the Lego catalog (Lego Mindstorm Education NXT Software) indicated support for OS X 10.4 or later, and Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Linux support was not mentioned.


Here are all the possible sets: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30382&in=S

To me, that piece looks dark blueish gray, which would suggest either set 4209 or set 8095.


How can I use more than three motors with one NXT brick?

There are electrical multiplexers as mentioned, however there are also many types of mechanical multiplexers. The idea behind this is to use fever motors to do more.
The advantage is the reduced weight and the disadvantage is the increased complexity and lower flexibility.

For example, you can control both tracks with one motor. However instead of one motor making the threads more forwards and backwards, you remove the 'backwards' function and replace it with 'right-turn'. So when the motor drives forward, the bot moves forward, when the motor drives backwards, it turns right. You can't drive backwards or turn left however. A simple (but poor) implementation can be found in the R.I.S. 2.0 instructions.

While this is restrictive, you can do other similar tasks without loosing important functionality. Another old trick is the 'grab and lift' mechanism which both grabs and lifts an object in one movement. When you lower it again and it reaches the bottom, the grabber opens up. While you can't open the grabber while it is lifted, it normally isn't important.
See The snatcher by Laurens as an example, which keeps two motors for the threads, but uses this technique to only use one motor for the arm.

Another prime example is with pneumatics, using a single motor to both pump and control a switch. See DiMastero's differential solution. It will pump no matter which direction the motor is turning, however turning it one way will push the switch in one direction, and the other when turning it the other way.
(It will pump while the switch is switched from one position to another, but again, this is a minor drawback considering the gains.)

While the previous examples are solutions to specific problems, they highlight the ideas:

Do different tasks under different situations. (Drive on clockwise, turn on counter-clockwise.)
Chain several tasks together. (First grip, then lift.)
Do several things at once. (Pump, while controlling the switch.)

The first point on the list, doing different tasks under different situations, is the most easy one to make a general implementation. You can split up the clockwise and counter-clockwise direction of the motors, to control two different tasks. While a bit restrictive, it is useful it certain situations.

A less restrictive solution is the 2 to n multiplexer. One motor gives the power, while another motor controls which task to transfer the power to. ('n' can be quite large, however something like 3 or 4 is more realistic in moc's.) I have come up with a few other versions, including some which allows controlling multiple motors at once (limited to same direction and speed).

Example to your specific problem

Use a 2 to 3 multiplexer. Output 1 and 2 controls the rotation and arm respectively. The threads are done using an adder/subtracter mechanism, use the last free motor to drive it and output 3 from the multiplexer to steer.

I would position the multiplexer above the turntable so that you just need to transfer the adder/subtracter axle through it.

Some more examples as requested.

Here is a more advanced version of driving and turning with tracks using one motor:

When the motor is turning counter-clockwise the mechanism will work like normal, driving both tracks forward. However when it turns clockwise, the yellow knob gear prevents one of the axles from moving, causing the last differential to stop and this causes both tracks to move in the opposite direction of each other, making it turn on the spot.

The knob gear is the crucial part, as it prevents action depending on the rotation direction. Here is a more generic version:

Depending on the direction of the input, only one axle will turn.

Moving on to the actual multiplexers, here is a mock-up of a 2 to n multiplexer:

Notice that the black gear can slide on the two axles, so that it can connect to both the light-gray and the dark-gray gear, depending on the position. You could have as many gears/outputs as you want in theory.
I used this to create a pneumatic control station, which had 4 outputs, each controlling one pneumatic switch.

Here is a 3 to 4 multiplexer which uses transmission parts:

The dark-gray axle is the input, and the 4 light-gray axles are the output. Depending on the position of the red sliders, a different output is chosen. The interesting aspect of this one is that you can have two outputs active at one time, which is not possible with the 2 to n multiplexer.

As a final note I would like to point out that I have used all of these methods in actual RCX/NXT projects in order to do more than what I could otherwise have done with just 3 motors. They are not just theoretical solutions.

I do not see the maximum of 3 motors as a disadvantage, but as a limitation which challenges me to find other solutions to the problem so it can be done with just 3 motors.


How do I make Victorian looking minifigures?

A number of the minifigs from the Adventures theme would fit the bill in terms of round glasses and facial hair, especially the Dr Kilroy character:

They also have versions with suits, etc.

There's also a "Detective" figure in the Minifigures Series 5 with the classic Deer Stalker hat that resembles the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

There are also top hats available in Series 1 with the Magician and Ringmaster.


How can I find the directions to this LEGO bag?

You can look for lego instructions at a couple of websites. Here are the links.

http://letsbuilditagain.com/

http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-instructions

http://lego.brickinstructions.com/


Creative Supplement Set No: 10693-1

Searched on the curved green slope (the tail)


Identify lego Set that includes a caravan

This is a small build, slightly altered, from set 4997 Transport Ferry from 2008.


How much do you think these Lego's are worth?

My answer to this kind of question is always "it's worth exactly as much as someone is willing to give you for it."

That said, one could look up prices on BrickLink (assuming there are any for sale there) and go from there. Failing that, put them on eBay with a reserve/starting bid of whatever minimum amount would make it ok for you to part with them.


Can you identify this robotic minifigure?

This is :
sp043 : UFO Droid - Blue (Techdroid 1)


Can anyone identify these two Lego parts? White ramp and yellow door

I don't know what the yellow piece is, but the big plate is an old 1955-69 garage floor plate, with the rectangular holes.

Garage Floor Plate (Old style)


There are 2 ways to get it tighter. First is to use the new worm gear part:
http://rebrickable.com/parts/15457/Technic-Worm-Gear-2-Axle-Holes

The other is to use an axle with stop. Have the stop on the end which has the worm gear pulling it in. Not sure which end that is, so experimenting would be your best bet.


I'm not sure why you say "are nowhere to be found around here" - perhaps you mean Brick & Mortar stores? Both these BIONICLE sets are available from the Norwegian shop.lego.com site:


Separating old 2 x 4 brick with wheel holder

I actually have one of these that comes apart easily (no idea where the internal tubes are).

It appears that the glue that used to hold them together gave out. You can still see where it used to be, around the edges of the clear piece, and at the tips of the 4 prongs on the clear piece.

If I were going to try to take one apart, I would probably try cutting the glue around the edge with a razor blade, and hope that the glue further in isn't strong enough to prevent pushing it out with a paperclip of something thought the axle holes.


There are many different types. You can find them here: Bricklink - Brick Modified

There are also Brackets: Bricklink - Brackets

And you could use some of these Bricklink - Plate Modified  or, of course, these Bricklink - Hinges


Averaged out, as of 2016, how many shapes has Lego introduced per year since brick 1?

The BrickLink catalog has this option. List all parts, then click on "Year summary". There are 45510 parts in total. The list starts in 1950 (8 parts!), everything before that year is year "0". 2002 was the first year with more than 1000 parts, 2016 saw an impressive number of 3490 parts.

EDIT:

As pointed out in a comment, the entries in the BrickLink catalog contain all kinds of variants of the same shape. One example:

Brick 1 x 2 with Yellow Left Arrow and Black Border Pattern
Brick 1 x 2 with Yellow Down Arrow and Black Border Pattern
Brick 1 x 2 with Yellow Grille Pattern
Brick 1 x 2 with Black Grille Pattern
Brick 1 x 2 with White Grille Pattern ... and so on

It turns out that part descriptions are structured like this:

<shape description> "with" or "without" <details>

So all above items are "Brick 1 x 2" shape. I wrote a script that takes the csv-formatted BrickLink catalog, deletes all part descriptions from "with" or "without" onwards, and then deletes all duplicate lines.

Result: from the 45510 parts of the catalog remain 17236 entries. Looking at this list, I would say that this number is an upper limit to the number of distict shapes that have been produced. Maybe 10% have to be subtracted to get a good estimate.

Example: There are 52 types of Bricks left. There are some transparent bricks and "solid studs" that are not a shape of its own.

Brick 10 x 10
Brick 10 x 20
Brick 10 x 20 - Undetermined Underside Type
Brick 12 x 24
Brick 1 x 1
Brick 1 x 10
Brick 1 x 12
Brick 1 x 16
Brick 1 x 1 Transparent
Brick 1 x 1 x 3
Brick 1 x 1 x 5
Brick 1 x 1 x 5 - Solid Stud
Brick 1 x 2
Brick 1 x 2 Transparent
Brick 1 x 2 x 2
Brick 1 x 2 x 3
Brick 1 x 2 x 5
Brick 1 x 3
Brick 1 x 3 Transparent
Brick 1 x 3 x 5
Brick 1 x 4
Brick 1 X 4
Brick 1 x 4 Transparent
Brick 1 x 4 x 1
Brick 1 x 6
Brick 1 x 6 Transparent
Brick 1 x 6 x 5
Brick 1 x 8
Brick 1 x 8 Transparent
Brick 2 x 10
Brick 2 x 12
Brick 2 x 14
Brick 2 x 2
Brick 2 x 2 Corner
Brick 2 x 2 Transparent
Brick 2 x 2 x 3
Brick 2 x 3
Brick 2 x 3 Transparent
Brick 2 x 4
Brick 2 x 4 special (special bricks, test bricks and/or prototypes)
Brick 2 x 4 Transparent
Brick 2 x 4 x 3
Brick 2 x 6
Brick 2 x 6 x 3
Brick 2 x 8
Brick 4 x 10
Brick 4 x 12
Brick 4 x 18
Brick 4 x 4 Corner
Brick 4 x 6
Brick 8 x 16
Brick 8 x 8

This exercise gave me some insight at how many parts exist. Did you know, that there are 64 "dog" shapes, but only 8 "cat"?

I hope this answer did help somehow.

This is the method to manipulate the catalog (Linux environment):

First, load catalog (tab-delimited list) into Excel, and export the column containing the part names to an ASCII file.

Now delete everything including "with" from the lines:

awk '{if (index($0," with") != 0) {print substr($0,1,index($0," with")-2)} else {print $0} }' parts.csv > temp.csv

Now sort and remove duplicate lines:

sort -u temp.csv > unique_shapes.csv

That's it. In Linux, there are 1000 ways to do this. I like to use commands that are easy to follow. Now one could refine the method and delete other items that don't qualify as shapes, e.g. cloth or the above mentioned "transparent" bricks. There are endless possibilities :)

P.S.: Reading the question, I just realize that I missed the "per year" part. But this topic is far from over, anyway.


Realistic Lego car sets containing gearboxes and engines?

LEGO sets
There are more than one set with such characteristics. While first four are from 20th century, I've included them anyway, since they are well-known and include characteristics you are interested in.
Let's begin with 8860 - Car Chassis from 1980. This model has steering, 4-cylinder engine, 3 speed transmission, adjustable seats, rear suspension, differential:

Second one is 8865 - Test Car with steering, V4 engine, 3-speed transmission, adjustable seats, 4 wheel suspension, differential,
retractable headlights:

Next is 8880 - Super Car from 1994 with 4 wheel steering, V8 engine,
4 speed synchronized transmission, 4 wheel independent suspension, 3 differentials, all wheel drive:

Then 8448 - Super Street Sensation from 1999 with steering, V8 engine, 5-speed synchronized transmission with reverse, suspension, differential:

Now moving forward to 21st century.
8466 - 4 X 4 Off-Roader is the first set from 2001 with steering, V8 engine, 5-speed synchronized transmission with reverse, suspension, 4 wheel drive:

42056 - Porsche 911 GT3 RS from 2016 has steering, rear flat 6 engine, rear wheel drive, 4-speed synchronized with reverse and paddle shifting, suspension:

42048 - Race Kart from 2016 is another, while small model, but still has 1 cylinder engine and 2-speed gearbox:

42083 - Bugatti Chiron from 2018 comes with steering, rear W16 engine, 8-speed gearbox with paddle shifting, suspension:

42110 - Land Rover Defender from 2019 with steering, in-line 6 engine, 4-speed sequential gearbox, suspension:

And the latest addition - 42115 - Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 from 2020. It has steering, V12 engine, 8-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifting, suspension:

LEGO MOCs
In case you are not limiting yourself to LEGO sets there is another option - MOCs produced by AFOLs. You can find them mostly on Rebrickable. There are a lot of creations based on real life vehicles with functions sometime (quite often for larger models) exceeding those you can find in LEGO sets. Not all of them are as sturdy as LEGO model, but that is a personal preference. Although all of them come with free/paid instructions. Here is an example of MOCs in Technic theme.

Features for sets from early days up to and including 8466 are sourced from Technicopedia. Here you can find animations and more details for each of those sets. Newer sets, sadly, have not been reviewed on Technicopedia.


Looking for instructions for this Mega Bloks Dragon Ship

Looks like Set #9895 - Dragons - Krystal Wars - Man O War.

Instructions: HERE.


To wire 2838 motor, you have to use one PF extension cable, one end connected to PF power source (either battery box or IR receiver), the other end has a 9V compatible plug on bottom. Unfortunately, 2838 also has its connector on bottom, so you also need a 9V cable (such as this one) to connect them.


The fact that certain coding blocks cannot be seen on certain devices (esp. mobile) is usual. Most people, including me, do not understand why these blocks are not shown on these devices. I believe that some of these missing blocks are the following:

•Loop Interrupt

•Custom My Blocks

•Messaging Block

•Timer

•NXT Sound Sensor

•And way more.

Because of this, you can only make simple programs on these devices. Trying to make the Mindstorms software think you're on a desktop when you're really on an iPhone would probably be too sophisticated for an average person. I can show you the screenshots of how limited you are to programming on my tablet, too:

https://pasteboard.co/J2khG1i.png

https://pasteboard.co/J2khY6Q.png

https://pasteboard.co/J2kikuo.png

It seems like Desktops are the only devices that have all the programming blocks.


Technic axle corrosion? What happened here?

It appears from the photo that there may be some "blooming" where the axles have changed color? You say you rinsed them, but I wonder if you noticed whether the axles felt oily or sticky at all beforehand?

This would be consistent with the kind of deterioration that is common with Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), a kind of plastic that was once common in toy manufacturing. I don't know for certain that these early axles were made from PVC, but I do know that LEGO did formerly use PVC for some non-brick pieces, and I have seen similar deterioration on other PVC items. This is a known problem with Barbie dolls, for example.

PVC typically has a plasticiser added to it to make it flexible, usually dibutyl phthalate. This plasticiser gradually "leaks" out of the plastic, leaving it discolored and vulnerable to deterioration and creating gasses (like hydrogen chloride) that will attack other PVC and hasten the process. Heat and light will accelerate the breakdown, and you indicate that these were stored together in a plastic bag. That might have contributed, as the gasses and plasticiser were trapped in contact with the pieces.

Phthalates are toxic and are now regulated in the US, EU, and many other countries. LEGO no longer uses PVC except in some limited applications like the insulation for electrical wiring. LEGO was one of the first companies to begin phasing out the use of PVC, in the 1990s.

To slow the deterioration of PVC, keeping it away from heat and light will help, as will keeping it ventilated to remove the harmful gasses produced by the plasticiser.


When and why were pieces 3651 and 3652 discontinued?

3652 Technic Engine Piston Square 2 x 2

This part was included in sets from 1977 until 1995, but it began to be replaced by 2851 starting in 1990:

The main advantage of the newer piston is that it allows more pistons to fit in a smaller area of space. The piston is able to fit into the 2850 2x2 cylinder:

The old piston required a brick-built 4x4 cylinder, so the new part allows for either smaller engines, or engines with more pistons in the same amount of space.

Imagine how much space it would take to build this V8 using the old style of piston:

3651 Technic Axle and Pin Connector

This part was technically available in sets from 1977 until 2003, but it was generally replaced by 32013 starting in 1997:

This was part of a general overhaul of Technic axle connectors that replaced 4273 with the angled family of connectors (32013, 32034, 32016, 32192, 32015, and 32014).


If you are you using ROBOTC 2 for RCX you need to install the separate driver for windows 32bit.  This driver is not included in the ROBOTC install (at least not with version 2.03).

It might also be a good thing to start with a fresh install of ROBOTC 2.03.


Lego filling boxes with random lego to meet law requirements

Not sure if this is a partial answer, but an example is quoted in the act to repeal parts of the Californian (USA) slack-fill legislation:

Toys.  Lego has been sued for slack fill on its "Aqua Zone" building sets.  The boxes which contain the sets are uniform in size, and contain from 29 to 33 pieces, depending on the set.  Each box contains an "actual size" representation of the pieces and a clear and conspicuous disclosure as to the number of pieces.

From:
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
BILL NO:  AB 1394
AUTHOR: Figueroa and Senator Richard G. Polanco,
Chairman      Escutia
As Amended:  9/4/97
HEARING DATE:  September 5, 1997
FISCAL:  Yes
SUBJECT:  Packaging and Labeling:  expansion of exemptions to slack fill laws.


Is it possible to retrive a text file from an NXT?

Using Mindstorms NXT software (NXT-G), you can transfer any file from NXT to computer. Open "NXT window" (NXT icon in the lower right corner of interface), then go to "memory" tab. Select a file in NXT and click on "upload" button.

Or - more convenient - you may use "NXT Explorer" feature of BricxCC (in the "tools" menu).


What is the history of the set numbers of Lego sets through time?

There is nice article on Brickset called "The history of 5-digit set numbers". While this article is not a historic information on transformation it is still quite interesting read since it is based on data collected by the website itself.


Is there an API for the Duplo 10874 train set?

There is now official documentation for the Bluetooth protocol used by the Powered Up product line:

https://github.com/LEGO/lego-ble-wireless-protocol-docs

The community has created some tools to interact directly with Powered Up and Boost hubs. Here is one example:

https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup

That tool supports basically every device using the Powered Up Bluetooth protocol, including the new Duplo trains.


One of the smallest pieces is the detachable handle on the 1 stud gear shift element.

The black part in this complete lever:


Does knolling help or is it just part of the fun?

Knolling is organizing objects by type, at right angles.

If you enjoy spending your time doing that, then by all means, do it.

However, logically, it is obvious that precisely organizing objects provides no benefit to anyone whose mind doesn't require strictly rectilinear organization of objects.

First, you have to sort all the objects (in our case, lego pieces) by type and colour.
You have to precisely arrange them.
Then, you build something, using up those pieces you just placed so precisely. Presumably you'll knock some askew: do you re-knoll? Do you have to move slowly and more carefully to avoid accidentally knocking them around?
By the time you're done, you're left with a creation, and a small number of knolled spare parts, now no longer in any kind of suitable arrangement (due to most of the parts being put on the model.

Or, consider the other scenario:
 1. You just open the bags of parts and pick from the bags (or, as I do, you dump the bags into shallow containers, so that it's easier to see and grab parts, but you don't mix all the bags together.
 2. When you're done you have a bunch of empty containers.

The advantage to the 2nd way is that you don't have to spend any time categorizing and sorting parts. You just grab what you need.

The only practical advantage to knolling is that you can easily see where parts are, and grab the appropriate ones. You can even count them and compare against the set's inventory to see if any are missing. However, you can achieve the sorting goal without knolling, but rather just by separating the parts by type and colour. This is faster, because you don't waste time fastidiously placing things at right angles.

For most Lego kits, I'd argue that even sorting the parts is a waste of time, because the parts are generally not randomly placed in bags. Even if the kit doesn't have numbered bags for different stages of the build, the pieces are not randomly distributed between bags and so you can still easily find things. (If someone else is sorting for you as you build, THAT can save time, but it requires two people, and thus doesn't really save time overall).

When building from your collection, if your collection is sorted (as mine is), knolling or otherwise arranging parts is a big waste of time. It's fastest if each bin of your collection has one type and colour of part and the bin is large enough to hold the pieces loosely. If (as I do) you run out of space for loose parts, you can save space by attaching the pieces together, or fitting them in tightly like a puzzle. This takes an enormous amount of time and, furthermore, wastes time later when you take the parts out to build. The only reason I put up with it is that I don't have unlimited budget and storage space to buy the bins I use for storage.

TL,DR: knolling is organization taken to extremes. It's based on aesthetic principles and not efficiency. What efficiency it gains can be had for lower cost by simpler organization methods. If you enjoy knolling, go ahead, but it certainly isn't really helping. If you can't stop knolling, you might be OCD.


What is the difference between 8T gears "Type 1" (3647) and "Type 2" (10928)?

I don't believe there is any significant functional difference between these parts in terms of what can be built with them. The 10928 variant is simply a reinforced version of the original.

This gear is widely used, but because of its small size, it has always had problems with breaking under high torque. It looks like this new variation is attempting to address this by reinforcing the teeth so that they don't snap off as easily.

Similar minor strengthening changes have been made to other gears as well. Here's the 16 tooth reinforcement for example:

TLG has been known to make this type of structural change to lots of other parts as well. The most prolific example is probably the 1x1 plate with vertical clip that has seen a number of changes to address structural issues:


Torso and legs with different LEGO logos. Are they genuine?

Both rounded shoulder and sharp shoulder LEGO torsos are genuine (as long as the LEGO logo is on the neck-stud). They are just manufactured at different facilities. Most people never even notice the difference, but once you do, it's hard to un-see it. ;)

The arms with stamps were mostly seen on the early LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series, but later they were made the same as other minifigs with no stamps on the arms. This is likely because of the complaints from LEGO fans that they didn't like the unsightly stamps on the arms.

The legs are also genuine. Different orientation of the LEGO logo on them is very common, and also just means they made at different facilities.

Changing the orientation, placement, and even size of the logo is very common, and LEGO elements with these different variations are popular items to collect by those who are really into LEGO's history and unique elements.


Can anyone identify these 1x1 round tapered pieces?

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.


From what LEGO set is this plastic bag of parts?

This is Hidden Side Newbury Haunted High School 70425

Found looking for Plant Stem, Curved with 2 Thorns and 2 Swirls in Trans-Neon Green on Bricklink (only one with more than 3)


Mindstorms Chromebook app Stuck in Zoomed-Out Position

SHORT ANSWER:

Look in upper right hand corner of your project page and find the icon that looks like this [1:1] and click it.  It will center and reset the zoom of your program.

Isn't two finger zooming an Apple touch screen thing, like we do on an iPhone?  So, unless you're used to doing this on your Apple tablet at home, the two finger slide technique won't work on the class Chromebook.

LONGER ANSWER:

A few disclaimers first, I don't have a Chromebook, or any LEGO Mindstorms sets... (yet), so I can't be totally sure of what you mean or every detail I say.  So, with that said, let's dance!

So, I watched a video of cool teacher Mr. Hino, downloading the Windows version of this app on his class Chromebook.

So, to understand your question further, I downloaded the same Windows version app on to my PC, and have installed/launched the program.

Assuming your app is the same as my app, I took some screen shots to point out where the Zoom In/Out stuff is.

1) So, this picture is the Lobby/Row of Robots when we start up the program.

2) We need to get to a "Project".  Located in upper left hand corner. Click to pull down the menu.

3) We'll either choose to start a "New Project", or if we have one saved,   "Open Project" that already exists.

4) This picture is where you're zoom-stuck.

5) Look in the upper right hand corner and you'll see some icons in a row.

6) You'll see magnifying glasses with "-" sign, "+" sign, and "1:1" zoom reset.

7) Click "1:1" Zoom Reset.

8) FRIGGEN-FIXED!

EXTRA CREDIT ANSWER:

There are keyboard combinations called shortcuts that make life hella-easier.

The most common are:

"CTRL + C" = Copy.

"CTRL + X" = Cut.

"CTRL + V" = Paste.

Don't know if your Chromebook has a mouse wheel, but...

"CTRL + Mouse wheel UP" = Zoom IN.

"CTRL + Mouse wheel DOWN" = Zoom OUT.


Purchase of large blocks in South Africa

There are some BrickLink stores that operate in South Africa. You should be able to get from them whatever you need. Here is the list of stores:  http://www.bricklink.com/browseStores.asp?countryID=ZA


I can't tell much about sensors since the EV3 Hardware Development Kit has not yet been released, but the existing motors have the same precision specifications and are completely interchangeable between NXT and EV3. And yes, hopefully, with the better bandwidth we can expect more sophisticated sensors!
See also http://robotsquare.com/2013/07/16/ev3-nxt-compatibility/


Tough job.
You can try using some nail polish remover to try to start breaking down the glue.
From Removing Super Glue, which they give for advice for people that accidentally glue their fingers together, this procedure might also work for the bricks.

...even though Super Glue is incredibly strong, it has one weakness: acetone.
Acetone is often found in household nail polish remover, and a small amount on the end of a Q-tip or cotton swab applied directly to the glue should dissolve the bond without damaging the skin.

A lot will depend obviously on how much glue was used inside the bricks, but perhaps a little crack and a small screw driver to help pry them apart and keep applying the acetone to the reachable edges can help break them apart.
I don't know if acetone will do something to the brick's color or structure, so proceed carefully.
Good luck.


First question;  yes. as long as they are your CAD models you can do that , for example on Brickshelf
Second question: In  LDraw , A CAD program for Lego they have monorail parts, here

this may also be usefull
Monorail Network Planner Tool


The main show that Lego release new sets at every year is the Spielwarenmesse fair in Nürnberg (Nuremberg, Germany). If you watch the various forums, especially www.EuroBricks.com, you'll see excited posts like this one about Star Wars around the time of the fair. Lego also announce sets at the New York equivalent show.

Models made by fans are usually displayed at Lego fan events rather than big trade fairs. The trade fairs are about marketing and showing things off to retailers. There's a bunch of jargon you might find handy, the main terms being AFOL = adult fan of Lego, and MOC = my own creation. Both defined on this site:

What does "AFOL" mean?

What does the acronym MOC stand for?


Spik3r wheels move but the spik3r itself doesn't

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


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

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


Is it possible to access the RGB values of the EV3 Light Sensor?

Green does tend to be tricky on the LEGO EV3 Color sensor. Example

Here are some suggestions:

Build a shroud to eliminate ambient light. I have seen people use electrical tape for this or build something from LEGO parts.
Using the raw RGB values, convert to HSV (there is a link in Example 1 for this).
Use the algorithm for the NXT color sensor from the EV3 source code. It will probably have to be adjusted a bit for differences in the sensors.


EV3 Unregulated Motor - different plus/minus power behavior

The answer is basically the same as the LED question that you linked. On the EV3 output ports, pin 2 is internally connected to pin 6. So, when you tell a motor to go in reverse (negative power value), pin 2 is powered, which in turn raises the voltage on pin 6. Both pins 5 and 6 are used for automatically detecting when a motor is connected.

So, when you use a negative power setting, most of the time (but not 100% of the time), it it will trick the EV3 into thinking there is a motor connected and the motor will stay powered. However, when you use a positive power setting, pin 1 is powered instead of pin 2, so the EV3 thinks that there is no motor connected (because nothing happens to pin 5 or pin 6). So, in this case, the device connection manager in the EV3 software takes over and resets the motor port, which causes it to stop sending power to the motor.

I attached an oscilloscope to pins 1 and 2, to see what is going on.

As you can see, the output is only turned on for 380ms, then it turns itself off. The motor was instructed to run indefinitely, but in reality, this is not what happens.

Since your test involved running the motor for 1s but it really only runs for 380ms, one would expect the car to run 38% of the distance as in the reverse case. You observation was 33% (one track length vs. 3), so that is quite close to what is expected.

As a workaround, you can Use the Unregulated motor block in a loop like this...

It is important to use two different "power" values. Each time you change the value, it turns on the output port again. If you use the same value, the software won't update the motor port and the device connection manager will take over and turn off the output.


Trying to find piece ID on instructions w/ no ID

This is the ID 4211760 which in the LEGO movie sets holds the piece of resistance in place on Emmet's back. See for example instructions of set 70801 (Melting Room).

Bricklink lists it as "Minifig, Neck Bracket with Back Stud" (42446).


Is there a listing of the Types of LEGO blocks?

There are lots of sites that document all the LEGO bricks, and indeed other items they make.

Two oft-cited examples are:

https://www.bricklink.com
https://brickset.com


Which official LEGO stores have the largest selection of bricks in their PAB wall?

I cannot seem to find the official press release for Berlin flagship store re-opening in 2017, however various sources1, 2 state at that time it had the Europe’s largest ”Pick & Build“ wall. Latest news I could find related to this particular shop wall is couple of months old (in German). There's a picture representing all parts available for PAB with 144 parts/bins.
I've also found following picture on Imgur via Reddit post, showing the size of PAB wall


These parts belong to 42060 set.

Identified by unique combination of Technic, Liftarm 1 x 3 Thick with Black '40 1977 - 2017' and 24 Tooth Gear Pattern

and Technic, Panel Fairing # 2 Small Smooth Short, Side B in Orange


How can you remove a minifig from its key chain?

There is also a third method, using a cheap and readily available soldering-iron. The benefit is that it is a much faster and more reliable method than trying to pull the pin out by sheer force, which may or may not work depending on how strong you are. With a soldering-iron the pin just pulls out within a couple of seconds, no force required. See tutorial and video here: http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/01/lego-keychain-removal/


Identify minifig head with large glasses and grey torso with red hands?

The head is proper LEGO too: 3626bpb0126 Minifigure, Head Female Glasses with Orange Goggles, Dimples around Lips Pattern - Blocked Open Stud

This head appeared in 4 sets, all from 2002-2003

I haven’t been able to identify the torso yet though ....


Why can't I reproduce this SD card box in LDD?

The issue here is that the hole in a Technic brick isn't at exactly the same height as the stud on the side of a System brick. Here's a slide from a great presentation which explains the details:

This difference is barely noticable when building, especially in your scenario because the hinge adds some additional play, but I believe that LDD won't allow these to connect because they are actually off by .12mm.

I tried to take a few pictures to demonstrate what I mean, but they didn't turn out very well. Here's a System brick (tan) connected to a Technic brick (blue). You can just barely see the .12mm difference at the top:

The difference becomes more obvious when more bricks are added so that the error is allowed to compound:


If you subscribe to the Lego Club (availability depends on your location) you will receive the official Lego Magazine and often a free poster is included. The March/April 2014 edition contained a reversible poster with the Lego City theme on one side and the Disney Princess theme on the other side.

Occasionally, you may receive promotional Lego posters with some purchases at the Lego Shops (or online shop). Brickset lists a few of these here.

Bricklinks is place where you could purchase posters that are no more available from Lego. Here is a list of all posters on Bricklink.


The good news is: This Minifig is still available (as of March 2017)! The bad news is, he's only in two sets and they're both quite expensive. He's Nadakhan, the captain of the Sky Pirates in the Ninjago range. There is also General Kozu, but his set is even more expensive.

Misfortune's Keep
The Lighthouse Siege
Samurai X Cave Chaos

As Kevin points out in the comments, Lord Garmadon appears three times in the LEGO Ninjago Minifigures series (Garmadon, Volcano Garmadon (pyjamas), and Flashback Garmadon (suit and tie)), so it's possible the part is now more widely available.

The key part from Nadakhan's body you need is:

  Torso, Modified Short with Armour Breastplate...

Or there are some other options from earlier Ninjago sets available as well.

Which accepts a standard neck post and has holes for the arms.


Trying to 3D print a birdhouse but need to identify plates

The floor and ceiling aren’t one piece. They’re made of four 30357: Black Plate, Round Corner 3 x 3 each with an assortment of other square/rectangular plates to fill in the gaps.
It looks like there are 20 studs between the corner pieces on each side. The second image you posted shows a layer of tiles holding the floor together. Presumably there is another layer of offset plates holding the ceiling together from the bottom.

Edit:
Which pieces you select for the center of the floor/ceiling will come down to two factors:

Price, or how expensive they are to get (assuming you don't already have them).
Strength, or how easy it is to make a sturdy structure (assuming you aren't planning to glue them together).

Here's one possible tiling that favors strength:

And a layer of plates you could place on the underside to hold everything together:

In these examples, every joint on the first layer is overlapped by at least two studs on both sides by the second layer.
Here's the parts list for this tiling, along with the cheapest price on bricklink if you're buying each part from one buyer:

(4 x $0.02) Plate 1 x 3
(4 x $0.01) Plate 1 x 6
(4 x $0.01) Plate 2 x 3
(2 x $0.01) Plate 2 x 6
(1 x $0.11) Plate 2 x 14
(4 x $0.03) Plate, Round Corner 3 x 3
(4 x $0.04) Plate 4 x 8
(1 x $0.03) Plate 6 x 6
(4 x $0.10) Plate 6 x 10
(8 x $0.73) Plate 6 x 12

Total: $6.84
Remember to double this if you're building both the floor and ceiling with the same layout.


I think you are looking in perspective at a digital render of a tower base that has 1x2 blue bricks on each side (1 wide) with a 2x2 lime brick in the center. It only appears to be 1/3-1/3-1/3, but is in fact 1/4-1/2-1/4. You can see this best if you zoom in on the base plate and look at how the studs line up with the lowest tier of the base.


What different bricks exist with studs on the sides?

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


Are LEGO Clikits elements compatible with the brick system?

According to this review on The Brick Blogger, yes, BUT...

After watching this video by Maniac4Bricks, it seems the compatibility is very limited.


I would start by breaking down the problem into a few simple checks:

Take the battery pack out of the engine of the train and press the green button. Does the green LED light turn on? If no, there is likely a problem with either the batteries or the battery housing itself. You might want to take all the batteries out and reinsert them, or rotate the batteries a bit when they are inserted (I have found that this sometimes improves the contact they make).
Put the battery pack back in the train, and connect the train motor directly to the battery pack (i.e. do NOT connect the IR receiver in between the motor and the battery pack). If you press the green button on the battery pack, do the wheels of the train spin? If yes, do they spin fast? If the battery pack refuses to turn the wheels, there might be a problem with the train motor (but there could also be a problem with the charge level of the batteries).
Assuming both the battery pack and the motor work fine, now connect the IR receiver between the battery pack and the motor. Look closely onto which of the two connectors you put the motor connector (red or blue).
Check the remote and make sure it has batteries inserted and that the batteries are inserted in the correct direction. Press one of the red buttons on the remote. This should make the green LED light in the middle of the remote light up. If it doesn't, you have either not inserted the batteries right, or they have come loose, or the remote control is broken.
Using the remote, turn the control knob of either the red or blue control section (depending on where in step 3 you connected the wires) and see if this makes the motor turn. If it does not, try turning the knob further. Also, make sure that the receiver is in direct line of sight from the remote control (you should be able to see the black curved top of the IR receiver from where you are standing with your remote control)
If the wheels still do not turn, check the channel setting of the remote and the IR receiver - they should be the same. Try again to turn the knob once you set them both to the same channel. If that still does not work, try different channel settings (e.g. both on Channel 2, both on Channel 3 etc) - you might have some interference from another IR source.
If after all this the wheels on the train still do not turn, you have a defective motor (it might have burned through because of too much resistance etc.). Try calling LEGO Customer Service (in the US, their number is 1 (800) 835-4386) or visit them online. If you have a LEGO store nearby, you could ask them to assist as well, though all they can do is do an exchange which they may or may not do depending on the state of the unpacked set.

Good luck and let us know what happens ...


What Lego set has the most unique colours?

I have no idea where to find any sources for an answer, but I can offer a guess.

When it came out 70620 Ninjago City was the set with the most different elements ever made (That wasn't hard to verify, if I can remember how, I'll check later if it still is, and if any other contenders offer more colours), a guess is that they will come in many different colours. And they do, if I counted correctly there's 51 different colours in that set, quite a bit more than the 20 @Joubarc mentioned in a comment.


How do I make instructions from my .ldr/.lxf files on OSX?

LDD will produce printable instructions on its own.  You can print these into PDF files.  Do you not like the LDD-produced instructions?


The parts you are looking for are Technic Rotation Joint Disk with Pin Hole and 3L Liftarm Thick and Technic Rotation Joint Disk with Pin and 3L Liftarm Thick.


Identify this uniformed figure with four yellow buttons and a grey belt

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


Technic Medium Hub - What is the difference between Voltage L and S?

L and S very probably refer to load and supply voltage.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_load for details.
Experimentally, I have not observed any significant differences between these values in use (possibly because the source resistance is small).


Does repeated flashing cause degradation NXT

LEGO Mindstorms all use flash storage which does have a limited number of write cycles, so the answer is technically yes in some capacity, but it's probably not something you need to worry about.

A LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 uses a Atmel AT91SAM7S256 microcontroller. This board has 256 KB flash memory, which is roughly the size of the latest firmware image.

According to the datasheet for this board, it should be good for 10,000 write cycles.

  256 Kbytes of Internal High-speed Flash, Organized in 1024 Pages of 256 Bytes

  Single Cycle Access at Up to 30 MHz in Worst Case Conditions
  Prefetch Buffer Optimizing Thumb Instruction Execution at Maximum Speed
  Page Programming Time: 4 ms, Including Page Auto-erase, Full Erase Time: 10 ms
  10,000 Write Cycles, 10-year Data Retention Capability, Sector Lock Capabilities, Flash Security Bit
  Fast Flash Programming Interface for High Volume Production

10,000 is actually quite a bit, and would take a very long time to reach intentionally, even if you automated it to run 24/7.

I'm not sure how fast you physically can flash the firmware, but if you did it once every 10 minutes 24/7, it would take you almost 70 days to reach that limit.

If you flashed it a still-unrealistic 10 times per-day, it would take you 1000 days to reach that limit.

And of-course, if you did it once per-day, it would take you over 27 years.

In practice, I think it's much more likely some other hardware component will fail first.


Yes, it is possible. Have a look at the "Comm module functions" section of the NXT help file. For example, since the touch sensor status is a boolean value, you could use the SendRemoteBool and ReceiveRemoteBool functions. You can communicate wirelessly using the Bluetooth functions (BT*) or you can have a wired connection using RS485 by connecting input port 4 on each brick to each other.


Can you identify the set from these two LEGO bags?

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

This set also contains:

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

So both bags are from the same set.


Cost. If you look at any set with electric motors, etc. you will see a significant increase in the price of these sets.  They have marketing research groups and accountants that somewhat dictate the price range of the sets they release.  Any engineer with good experience can tell you of the headaches of dealing with keeping production cost down.  Since the cost of the motorized sets are inflated by including expensive to produce/source parts, they will only allow so many to be produced/released each year.

Most customers take things at face value.  They see that you "get less (pieces)" for your money in these sets and are less likely to buy them as often. The Lego company's targeted demographic has been stated as 8-12 year old boys from various sources.  I tend to believe this claim based on the amount of sets released with those ages listed on them.  This would also suggest that the majority of their marketing research is dedicated to this specific group, and has shown that electric components aren't a big selling point. I can confirm this to be accurate based on my own children and their friends.

I know from an engineering standpoint that the more components something has, and how "specialized" they are, the more expensive it is to produce. Because of this many parts are outsourced from companies that specialize it certain components. Electronics are good example of this as many of the internal components are manufactured from different companies. So not only are these individual pieces bought from several different places, but then they have to be assembled.  All this equals "cost of production".

One last note: I often come across sets for sale (Bricklink, Ebay, etc.) without the electronic components.  I have come to the conclusion that these people are buying the sets just for the motors, etc. and selling the rest to recover some of the cost.  This works out well for sets like trains where adding additional cars is a common desire. This is option you might consider.

Related: How much does an average LEGO brick cost to produce?

Another possible aspect that I have no knowledge of is if there are any additional costs to import/export products that fall under "electronics".


Large trap door - alternative to door with frame 4595708

This hinge combined with a technic pin lets you easily make large trap doors. You can see a train-track-sized trap door in this model using two of these parts. In this model the trap door falls down when you retract an axle that normally holds it up. Other arrangements are possible.

The beauty of this particular hinge is that it is symmetrical, so there aren't two different halves to keep track of, and you can use any kind of technic pin you want. The relatively long plate on it makes it sturdier than some of the older variants like this one.


What are these Technic "Zapfen" ("stoppers") called in English?

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


This part is 6047220: Plate W. Bow 2X2X2/3. You can get it from Bricklink, but first try the official LEGO replacement parts service. They will most probably send you a free replacement part and with your report you are contributing to the quality assurance project of LEGO, helping them avoid such cases in the future.

P.S. Still before, check the box, the bags, the building area and any partially completed builds for mistakes (like using it instead of a Plate W. Bow 1X2X2/3). There is a non-negligible chance your part is hiding somewhere, and everybody is much better off if you find it before you take the other steps.


Any way to track a light source in 1 dimension using one color sensor?

Yes this is doable.

The typical use is with a robot, a lamp/light placed some distance away, with the goal being: navigate towards the light.

Assuming a robot that can spin (turn in place without moving forward or backward);
mount a light sensor in a tunnel that shield the sensor from most of the light except light coming from straight forward.

Spin the robot until the light sensor sees the light (anything above 80% is reasonable).

Drive forward while the bright light is visible, when it isn't stop, spin until it is visible.

The color sensor has an ambient light setting, use that.

There are a number of line-following algorithms that can be modified to handle moving toward a point of light.


Is there an alternative replacement motor piece for 4.5 V Trains?

First, check the assembly is correctly greased - they can throw a lot of sqeak out if they are needing a little grease even if the motor is fine!

I have looked in to this myself, but the cost and trouble just isn't worth it - you can buy a used working unit for around £8 to £12 from a used / vintage Lego parts site.

These motors are really good quality and almost last forever if looked after, so chances are you will get your £8 - £12 worth from a quality used one - regular off-the-shelf motors cost anywhere from £4 - £8 and that's if you can get a perfect size and voltage match not to mention getting the drive gear to fit it etc. Stick with buying a using original motor/full assembly and check it is suitably greased and looked after it

I have lots of Lego train sets and that was my answer to non-working motors. I look after them well, and they just keep going!


Do regular Lego trains fit onto Duplo tracks?

The answer is kind of.

I own the Emerald Night and a bunch of Thomas Duplo track.  The wheelbase of the Emerald Night is wide enough that the "rails" fit inside the wheels.  In fact, the passenger car fits perfectly on the track.  Unfortunately, neither the engine nor the tender fit as well, due to the fact that both have pieces on the bottom that are too low to allow them to sit properly with the rails inside the wheels.

This means that the engine will not move on its own.  In fact, I have my doubts it would move well even if the wheels reached the track, as it would require the flanges of the wheels to have enough traction to pull the train.


Cannot comment on LeoCAD as I've never used that, but LDCad is far superior over MLCad and it works well on Linux natively. LDCad uses same part library format as MLCad - LDraw. You cand find LDRaw file documentation here.

It is not clear from your question if you wish to create your own parts or just add the ones not currently available in official LDRaw package. If you are interested in the later - there is a guide. It can be easily adapted to Linux.

In case your intention is to create your own parts LDraw contains a nice documentation explaining the file format. The process of adding a newly created part into the library is the same as explained in the section above. Just make sure to put your file for the new part into the /Unofficial/parts directory under your LDRaw package installation directory and make sure to run make-list to include the newly added files in the list of available bricks to build with.


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.


Which block manufacturer made this type of person in the 80s

He's made by Tyco as part of their "Super Blocks" range

You can see the guy on the label.


Help identifying set from 3 sealed bags with Star Wars figs

Welcome to Bricks.SE! Based on the 10 x 3 Wedges and your description, these bags likely belong to 75100 First Order Snowspeeder:

The instructions for this set are available here:

https://www.lego.com/biassets/bi/6136428.pdf


I just purchased a used LEGO Studios set and had some extra pieces that don't belong

It's tough to predict where such a small number of pieces came from, but some are likely from the Hydronauts theme, specifically Hydro Crystallisation Station (6199):

This set includes the chromed headgear with studs on the back as well as the printed tile that is already attached to the back of yours.

The minifig utensils are likely from Mobile Outpost (6520):

Here are links to the sets that these parts appear in if you'd like to explore this more:

3069 - Tile 1 x 2 with Copper and White Circuitry, Red Rectangle and 4 Squares Pattern
71598 - Chrome Blue Minifig, Headgear Helmet with 2 Studs on Back
6041 - Trans-Neon Green Propeller 3 Blade 3 Diameter
2569 - Trans-Neon Green Antenna Whip 8H
6040 - Black Propeller Housing
30193 - Dark Gray Minifig, Utensil Ice Pick
3837 - Dark Gray Minifig, Utensil Shovel (Round Stem End)


Unknown sticker on a dark grey 1x2 tile, black lines, printed handled?


Quality issues with tan-colored Lego pieces?

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

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

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


Need help identifying this Star Wars set from about 2005, white and dark red triangle ship?

It's a dusty 7143 from 2002, but the minifigure is not there.


Is it possible to use a LEGO NXT ultrasonic sensor for a LEGO train crossing?

As you suspected, you cannot use the Ultrasonic sensor without an "Intelligent Brick" (EV3 or NXT). MINDSTROMS would be a great way to automate your train if you are willing to make the investment.

For more ideas on how to use LEGO MINDSTORMS with LEGO trains, check out Sioux.NET.


Did you use in program the same motors as you check via View? For example, maybe you view A and B motors, but in program uses C and D?
If you have the following behaviour:

  You check motors via View, then create a program and it works. After
  that you substitute NXT brick for another one, check the same motors
  via View but that same program doesn't work.

In that case I'd suggest to refresh firmware.


How can I loosen my Minifigures arms and legs?

Both arms and legs are held in place through a fairly simple compression pin.
A small dab of washing up liquid applied to the joint should lubricate it quite well - avoid oils as they can cause discolouration of the plastic.
If that doesn't work for you, then you could try physically loosening the pins - gently pull the arms out of the sockets and the legs off the hips and replace them a couple of times - this is usually enough to compress the arms of the pin enough while still maintaining a grip on the part. Going further you can obviously compress the pins manually and fairly permanently - however this will likely make the joints too loose for your needs - I've certainly got some older minifigs with very wobbly hip joints that can no longer stand up on their own.


Can I use the NXT 2.0 programming software with my educational set?

Yes, you can - I have done so on numerous occasions, and actually prefer to use the retail software over the education version even when working with the education kit.

The NXT bricks in the two sets are exactly identical. You might need to update the NXT's firmware before using the brick with the retail software, however.


You clearly are thinking of Roaring Roadsters.


Old lego set 1950s or 60s? TABAC and/or BAKEREI (from Europe)

The set(s) in question are likely two versions of set 1210 Small Store, released in 1955, or 210 Small Store, sold in 1958. They were available in a number of languages and with a variety of store names. "Tabak" means Tobacco in both Dutch and German. The Dutch word for bakery, however, is "bakkerij", while in German it is "Bäckerei". "Bakerei" is only used in Basque. Most likely, your father had two copies of the German versions of the sets.


How are LEGO Bricks and colors numbered/identified

Parts have a design ID, and an element ID.

The design ID applies to the part - eg 1x6 brick

Similar parts, with different colors have different ELEMENT ID’s.  Before -1998 these were in the form of designID+colorID.
Now the design ID is not easily related to element ID

Occasionally, after a period of absence, a piece may be re-released in a color. Eg sand green 1x6 was element 4155053 from 2000-2012 eg monster fighters haunted house and then reappeared as 6177081 in 2017 eg Minecraft ocean monument.

The design ID of the first version of an element tends be be used by bricklink, whereas LEGO will normally change the design ID if there is a significant change to the mold. Eg the thickness/shape of clips.

Brickset.com lists parts by both element and design ID when you look at inventories for a given set.

Colour IDs can also be found at Brickset, who also refer to Ryan Howerter’s website as a resource

I hope this helps answer your question.


Why is the LEGO IR Receiver V2 not widely produced? Or are they?

No, the V2 receiver isn't available in any new products. It's only available in the sets you mentioned.

The most likely reason it's not available in new products is that the production cost would be higher and hence also the set price which would make the sets less attractive for most lego customers.

Also there is an issue with the V2 receivers when having more than one M-motor on one output port while this is not problematic for the V1 receivers.
It has to do with the high capacitance of the M-motors (for noise reduction) that tricks the V2 receivers into believing the motors draw too much current.

On the box of the 42030 set, V2 receivers are depicted, while the set itself only contains V1 receivers. I contacted lego support about this, they said that actual V2 receivers would likely cause the motors to possibly damage the set and that late in the design process they switched back to V1 receivers without updating the box art.

Performance wise, a good alternative for the V2 receiver is an sbrick.


Advanced LEGO set for my 5 yr 2 months old child

As far as building experience, LEGO Technic sets are considered the most challenging. Looking at your list, it appears that your son already built some pretty large LEGO Technic sets, so if he enjoys the challenge, you can purchase him more of the larger Technic sets. Also, note that most large LEGO Technic sets will have alternate instructions, or the models can be combined with other sets. Additional instructions are available on the LEGO Technic website.

Compared to LEGO Technic, pretty much all other sets are going to be simpler, however some of the larger regular sets can still provide a good challenge. I would suggest browsing the paper catalog or LEGO's online shop together, and see what strikes his fancy. He might be into a particular theme to not just build but also play out stories. Or he may like vehicles, trains, motorized sets, or robotics.

Also, encourage him to free-build. There are alternate instructions available for many LEGO sets both online and in book form, or he can just build from his own imagination. That's really the next level for a talented LEGO fan; designing and building their own models.

You might also want to check if there is a LEGO club near you for young LEGO fans. They are usually well structured and focus on robotics and other educational aspects of LEGO, which may be a good fit for your child.


Do clear transparent pieces suffer from a yellow tinge over time?

I have found that the clear pieces depend on the piece. Some of the thinner ones do yellow, but I have 2x4 Clear bricks that are not yellowed. I think it depends on the thickness of the ABS that was used.


Where do bulk LEGO sellers on eBay get their bricks?

Garage-sales, estate-sales, second-hand stores, flea-markets and graigslists are the most common way to source out used LEGO. This is especially true in neighborhoods where there is a LEGO store nearby so a lot of kids have them, or where LEGO is popular in the community in general (suburbs and middle-class neighborhoods are especially great places to scout).

As far as how much they pay for it, it just depends on the deal, but of course the less is better. These buyers often make an offer on an entire lot to get the best deal, and they are very familiar with what sells the best and for how much.

They wash them, clean them, then cherry-pick the minifigs and expensive parts out they will sell separately on eBay or BrickLink and dump the rest on eBay as mixed lots. It is not easy work by any means, but it can be a lucrative business.


How do I increase axle speed using gears

You can't do this with the gears you've listed, but I'm not sure that you've listed the proper gears. I don’t believe that 32 or 64 tooth gears exist. I at least don't have any.

You can do this by combining common 8, 16, and 24 tooth gears. The following gives 3:1 × 2:1 × 2:1 × 2:1 = 24:1.


How much does the full-size LEGO Bugatti cost?

From Top gear's article on it:

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

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

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

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


How to tell if I need a neck kit for 21303 WALL•E?

I contacted LEGO and this was their reply (emphasis mine):

  All LEGO® 21303 WALL-E sets produced during or after November 2015 already include the neck stability revision, which includes revised Building Instructions and extra parts.  You can tell the production date by checking the manufacturing code which is usually printed in black ink on the clear tape holding the box together.  If your number is 47(S)5 or higher, your have the revised set.  You can also tell my looking at the Building Instruction number.  This number is printed at the bottom corner on the back cover.  New revised BIs produced from November onwards will have the number 6162870 or 6162871.

Unfortunately my BI number is 6146260, so I guess I have a model with the old neck connection.


LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Can't find MyData Block

EV3 software comes in two varieties, Educational and Home. The Educational version has a few blocks that do data operations that make sense in a science class.

Both versions are downloadable from Lego for free.

I think the MyData block is actually the data logging block.  It looks like this:

To get this block for use in your programs, you would need to download and install the Education version of Mindstorms.


How can I controll the speed of motor using gears?

Sariel's tutorial is one of the better ones, and his whole web site is worth while. The Eurobricks Technic forum also has a list of tutorials thread that you might find helpful.

Sariel starts very simple and ends up with a discussion of what makes different variants on some of the Lego gears effective...


Are there any health concerns with letting children use old LEGO kits?

The most important thing is to make you keep any swallowable magnet out of reach.

This is potentially lethal if two magnets are swallowed and attrach each other from different part of the intestine, as unfortunately did happen to a kid a few years back with some other toy. That's why LEGO has completely redesigned train magnets to be completely encased in the buffers, which are a way too big element to swallow.


Do LEGO prototypes have production numbers on them?

I have encountered a few prototypes over the years and none had any production numbers. Just the word LEGO and the year. So it probably is a genuine LEGO piece.


As you have probably guessed by now, there is no easy solution to your question.  It all comes down to computer vision.

In this solution, Akiyuki built a massive machine out of LEGO bricks, a camera, a scale, 2 Mindstorm NXT and, which he fails to mention in is parts list, a computer and some electronics.

Computer vision is complex, and making a working prototype is still an impressive task. Even though the software component of this project is most probably the reuse of an existing solution like OpenCV, there are many other problems to overcome. For example; Mechanically bringing the parts to the camera one by one in a controlled fashion. Also if the part is not laying down from a recognisable angle, you would probably have to flip it or take pictures with multiple cameras in order to get a good look at it.

Still, being a software developer myself, this is not the part that worries me.  Even if you manage to build the whole machine, you still need to compare the pictures with a library of all the known LEGO bricks. Even more, they need to be imaged from all possible sides (when laying down).  Building this knowledge base is a big endeavour on its own.

Here is a video of the working machine.

If you can reduce the complexity of parts to sort it can really help. Akiyuki has also made sorters for Technic beams and axles (both of which work on the same very simple principles).

If you do decide to build a brick sorter you probably would be better off designing one for the parts you use the most/have the most of and hand sorting the rest.


EV3 - At what time DIRECT_REPLY is sent by brick?

I have the same observation as you, it seems to be sent as soon as the brick receives the command.

A workaround that I have found is to send a "stop motor" command after every movement, this way you know when the motor is stopped for sure.

Out of curiosity, what library are you using?

EDIT:

Have you been capturing the packets that the EV3 sends back to the computer?


Curved little bar piece seems incredibly useful... what is it?

This piece is 12885 Minifig, Utensil Paint Roller Brush Handle.


What is piece 4211642 from 10179 - UCE Millenium Falcon?

According to the LEGO customer service, this part is a "BUSH Ø7.84" (which is of no help whatsoever, as with most LEGO internal names) and has the design ID 6221. Unfortunately, there seems to be no official picture for it yet.

This design ID corresponds indeed to the part which Joel Cohen and BradC have identified; the element id of the same part in black (622126) as found by BradC follows the old convention design id + color id (26 being Black at LEGO). And this part at the LEGO customer service does have a big image which would clear all doubt if we had any left:

LDraw and Peeron know this part as 424 - Technic Handle. BrickLink does too but refers to 6221 as alternate item number. This happens often with parts which have no markings whatsoever and for which the official LEGO design ID wasn't known at the time the part was added to the LDraw library.

Why the inventory at both Peeron and BrickLink misses it is anyone's guess, but it's one of the biggest LEGO sets ever so it's bound to have mistakes. Although I see the list for Peeron has been provided by LEGO itself, so it's a bit weird.

Is the part actually used somewhere? I don't have the strength to read the whole manual.


From which set is this bag? All grey 1x1 round bricks and 2x2 domes

That's got to be the bag of aggregate from Bucket Wheel Excavator (42055).


How big to make a perfect cube? And how to build it

The smallest perfect cube you can make is a 2x2 brick with a 2x2 plate and a 2x2 tile on top.

And now I read that you're excluding studs, then you can use a plate instead of at tile, and obviously the order in which you stack the elements doesn't matter.


How to prevent PF M-motor from springing back

It sounds like the motor is "winding up" from drivetrain deflection.  Lego parts "give" a little when stressed and therefore store some energy like a spring.  This is likely being caused by the high speed of the PF "M" motor.  A picture of the assembly would be very useful in determining a solution.  Without seeing it, the simplest fix would be to gear down the motor.  Given the fairly high speed of the "M" motor output, I would suggest doing this with a worm gear assembly.  A worm gear will greatly reduce your output ratio to the driving ring while also giving you more precise control that is less susceptible to back-tracking from deflection wind-up.

Here is a photo demonstrating how a worm gear can greatly reduce output ratio in very little space:

Another potential solution, if you have the part, is to affix a linear actuator to the "M" motor.  It would have the same benefits as the standard worm gear:

One last thing... Which version of part# 6538 are you using?  6538a & 6538b have ridges that allow the drive ring to "click' into place.  If you're using part# 6538c then swapping it with one of the others may be all you need to fix your problem.

A picture of your build would be appreciated to help reduce speculation.  It would also be nice to see this just for the "neat-o" factor :)


Just measured them myself. Some of the dimensions might be just a little bit off, but I hope this suffices:

NXT:

Length: 111 mm

Width: ~71.7 mm

Height: 40 mm (extra 8 mm if you have a rechargeable battery installed)

Motor:

Length: ~105 mm

Width: 40 mm

Height: ~45 mm

Ultra-sonic Sensor:

Length: 44 mm

Width: 44 mm

Height: 30 mm

Generic Sensor:

Length: 44 mm

Width: 22 mm

Height: 30 mm

If it's a touch sensor and the button is not pressed, then it's 47 mm long.

Again, some of these may be a bit off since some dimensions were difficult to properly measure with the ruler I was using due to the geometry of some of the pieces. If you want a more accurate and precise measurement, someone else might be better equipped to answer your question.


Were there any non "misson-x" sets from the LEGO Alpha Team Range (as in with the PC Game)?

I think the original Alpha Team sets are the one's you're looking for, including the LEGO Alpha Team Secret Mission Collectors Pack which includes:

[bs:6771] with Ogel
[bs:6773] with Dash
[bs:6774] with Cam and Flex

There are also:

[bs:6772] with Radia
[bs:6775] with Charge, Crunch and Tee Vee (a robot)
[bs:6776] with Ogel and two minion commanders.


How to control a RCX from a Mindstorms NXT

I think you're overlooking a very simple yet elegant solution: connect a NXT motor to the motor port (no problem there, that's what it's for), connect a RCX rotation sensor to the RCX (again, the intended purpose), and by now you should pretty much know where I'm going with this: connect the rotation sensor mechanically to the NXT motor.

Considering the NXT motor has a good precision, you can easily you this to send messages from the NXT to the RCX; but of course you'll need to invent the protocol yourself; that is, decide what these messages mean. And you won't have feedback from the RCX to the NXT (you didn't ask for it though)

I know you don't want to purchase anything, but for reference, there is now the IR Link Sensor made by HiTechnic and sold directly by LEGO, which is presumably easier to use (and you can get feedback through it, too).

I don't think you'll be able to use a converter cable directly; you'll need to use some intermediary electronic, possibly using the I2C protocol. This prototype board solution (also from HiTechnic) should do the trick if you use one of the outputs to drive the RCX input (you can probably use an analogue one).

And if it's more ports you're after, you'll want to consider their multiplexers too.


Totally possible, see the link and issue tracker here :
https://twitter.com/shanselman/status/667144339353526272
https://github.com/aspnet/dnx/issues/3145


Why do gray axles appear black and black axles appear white and black in this manual?

I don't have this set, but used 8421 as a test. This set is also released in 2005.
Looking at the PDF you see the same color scheme of the axles, were the black appear to be gray and vice versa

When looking at the instruction manual

You see the normal colors, so indeed your set came with the normal colors and due to some bad scanning and compression the pdf got discolored


There is no one gibberish sound effect for LEGO minifigures.

Traveler's Tales (the developer of many popular LEGO video games) creates its cutscenes with a mime/sound effect style similar to movies found on the LEGO website.  Rather than record character voices with words (as Warner Brothers did with The LEGO Movie) Traveler's Tales recorded voice actors to mimic gibberish murmuring, grunting, and other non-lexical sounds.

If you would like to emulate this filmmaking style, I suggest you use a microphone of your own and record the sounds yourself.  Have fun!


First of all: LEGO prices fluctuate depending on retailer (LEGO.com, Wal-Mart, Target, Toys'R'Us, etc.), so "cheapest" also depends on the time of year and the retailer you look at.

Secondly, are you only interested in a PowerFunctions motor, and is the set you ask for just a vehicle to get the motor? In that case you might want to know that you can just buy a single motor from LEGO Shop@Home. Current price (Dec15) is $7.99 plus tax plus shipping.

You can also buy a kit with motor, lights, batterybox and a few gears directly from LEGO here; this set costs currently $29.99.

Power Functions motors typically come in the higher-priced Technic sets, of which currently 42008 Service Truck is the cheapest at $103.98 sale price.

There are a few non-Technic models every now and then that have Power Functions motors in them but I do not know of any set currently available that has a motor included.