What are the differences between NiMH and Alkaline batteries for the EV3?

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

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


How can you pin the Penguin Suit Guy down?

For any CMF's with skates, I put the figure on the stand with no footwear, and attach the footwear to the holes behind their legs.  That way their accessories are there, and stuck to the figure, but the figure is on its stand!


Help identifying piece with slide handles on both ends


Overview on how to use special Technic parts?

In general, the best strategy would be to look up instructions for a set in which the piece is used.
Also a good strategy: ask here ;)

For the specific parts you mentioned, this picture might be helpful:

The 6641 element switches a driving ring in three positions, either engaging the left clutch gear (18946), the right clutch gear or neutral position in which neither is engaged...

My favorite set these elements are used in is is 8043:

This set has 4 motors, however one of the motors is used to turn switches consisting out of the discussed elements to ultimately provide 6 functions: left & right driving and turning the upper part on one position of the switch, while operating the digger (bucket, middle arm, lower arm) on the other position.


The BrickLink Catalog, which is the most comprehensive database of LEGO parts ever made, lists the first official stickers from 1971. They were used in the Homemaker sets to decorate furniture, etc. List of LEGO Stickers Sorted by Year

Interestingly, at the same time (early '70s), the large Homemaker figures had printed faces, but the first minifigures (with no movable legs and arms) had blank faces, and stickers for their torsos.

To find the oldest printed piece, I went through the BrickLink Color Guide, and looked at the colors that have been produced the longest (since 1950). I checked each of these colors, sorted the results by year released, and looked for the first appearance of printed elements.

The first printed pieces that show up are a large selection of street signs and lettered signs produced in 1955. They were mostly printed on white elements, but there are also some printed yellow and red pieces through the 1950s. First White Printed Parts Sorted by Year

In summary, the first decorated parts were printed, but LEGO has been using a combination of stickers and printed pieces since the early 1970s. While this has been the cause of frustration for LEGO fans and collectors who prefer printed parts, it is actually in line with the policies of other toy makers. Mega Bloks (now Mega Construx), Kre-O, Oxford, Playmobil, etc. also have been using both stickers and printed elements in their toy lines.

It's also interesting to note that in the 1970s and 1980s, LEGO released ideas books with sticker sheets, which allowed children to customize their minifigures and other pieces in creative ways. Stickers were considered cool back then, and were extensively used for customization. Nowadays, stickers are viewed more as a sign of a company being cheap and lazy.

It's worth looking at the history of stickers and printed parts through the years and through toy lines, and how they were perceived and used by consumers (especially children). This is just my personal observation, but I believe the recent preference of printed parts has to do with collectors getting interested in children's toys and demanding what they perceive as higher quality. Children who are old enough to manipulate stickers, generally prefer the customization options stickers provide.


When did piece markings change from DUPLO to LEGO?

According to Wikipedia:

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

  ...

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

  ...

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

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

According to Brickipedia:

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

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

Source(s):

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


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

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

Where can I download the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 IDE?


Looking for instructions for brick set #135149, silver robot head and black police vest?

You are looking at 2 bags from set 70808 - Super Cycle Chase. This is the only LEGO Movie set that has the robo SWAT cop head, the fence, the white 1x2x2 panel and the 1x4 plate with 2 studs in it.

There are 3 other sets (big enough to have a bag 2 and 3) that have this particular robot police officer head in it, namely:

70819 - Bad Cop Car Chase

70807 - MetalBeard's Duel

70815 - Super Secret Police Dropship

But none of these have the additional pieces as shown in the picture.


EV3 won't connect through bluetooth anymore

You should always be using the latest firmware. If you have an EV3 brick that was produced in mid 2015 or later, it may have a newer Bluetooth chip that requires firmware v1.07 or higher. See https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/7237/3498 for an unofficial firmware changelog.

If updating the firmware does not fix the problem then the name of the comm port probably changed. This is something like "COM1" or "COM5". Look in the Device Manager to see what comm port is assigned to your EV3 and make sure it matches your C# code.


I am still waiting for the bricklink delivery with 27448 tiles that Alex suggested in one comment of his answer. Therefore, I tried a less subtle solution:

This is the starting point: A DUPLO pig that needs to be put directly on LEGO pieces.

I decided to cut a DUPLO piece to regular LEGO size. A DUPLO 2x2 brick was converted to a ...

... 4x4 tile, modified, with 2x2 DUPLO studs. My methods were crude (metal saw and cutter), but it worked quite well. There is only little height difference to the surrounding LEGO plates, and the clutch power is really good:

This is an approximation of the final goal to use the DUPLO pig as a figurehead in a LEGO MOC/MOD:

Edit: The 27448 tiles finally arrived, but there was no way I could get clutch power. I measured 9.3 mm for the diameter of the tile ring, and 9.4 mm for the DUPLO stud. This difference is enough to loose any clutch power. Even with 4 tiles combined there was no binding strength at all. Other DUPLO animals showed same results. A DUPLO human figure, however, could at least have a little bit of bonding when the ring is pushed into the toe area.


That's Slope 45 2 x 2 with 3 Gauges and 3 Knobs Pattern and was available in 23 sets.


That would be Vehicle, Forklift 2 x 2 Plate and Yellow Fork (Complete Assembly), but it is broken.

For future reference, searching for 'Forklift' in the 'Parts' category on BrickLink gave this result. From there finding the proper part was a matter of looking at the images.


From my experience with tires you mention is that they don't sit symmetrically when placed improperly as they should be. Try going around the tire and pulling it slightly outwards as well as twisting a little from the side with larger outside diameter to center.

This happens with newer sets also.


The sign-in is to enable cloud saves, build with friends, wanted list export, upload to the Studio Gallery, shopping integration features like price lookup, and probably some other features I haven't thought of or have not been mentioned in the comments yet. If you don't plan on using any of those features then it isn't required to sign-in.


EV3 controlled by 8879 speed control through IR sensor

It is possible, but not with the LEGO EV3 IR Sensor.
The LEGO 45509 EV3 Infrared Sensor does not respond to the 8879 remote. There is actually a "hidden" mode that is not accessible from the standard LEGO software called IR-REM-A that is essentially this "raw" mode that you have conjectured. However even in this mode, it does not respond to the 8879 remote (unless you press both brake buttons at the same time, which is not very useful).
Instead, you could use the HiTechnic IR Receiver sensor which does work with the 8879 remote. There is not an EV3 block for it, so you will need to use a 3rd party development platform that supports it, such as ev3dev.
Or, you could also use LIRC. There are lots of options for IR Receivers included homebrew (if you are a hardware hacker). Although not exactly what you need, here is an example of someone who make an IR Transmitter for the EV3 to control Power Functions motors (using ev3dev).


Picture little blurry, but this is what I see...  The builder attached the tiles to Part Number Forty-Seventy.

Part #4864a, the (black) window piece is really trans-black in color, but the way it's used here, with it being reversed and all, obstructs the proper identity of the white 1x1 bricks, causing some viewing tricks on the eyes...


Unidentified LEGO 6 bag set dated 2007, sand, dark grey, and dark red pieces with small dinosaur statues

Most parts are from 7627-1: Temple of the Crystal Skull, based on Wall Element 1X6X5, Abs and Limb Element,

There are also some parts from 3315-1: Olivia's House is the photo's, like: Wall Element 1X6X5, Abs, Fence 1X4X2 W. 4 Knobs & Flat Tile 1X4.


Help identifying/finding the part number of this piece? (maybe some kind of jackhammer?)

This is Part # 2516 : Minifigure, Utensil Tool Chainsaw Body with Handles and Studs


Is there a free EV3 simulator (virtual machine) for the Mac OS?

You could try TRIKstudio: http://blog.trikset.com/p/trik-studio.html

This allows you to program a robot based on the LEGO EV3 setup, however while the application itself has English, French and Russian translations, most of the online help is only in Russian.


There are a few different but related problems here.

Position Your robot should be able to know where it is in the room. This can be achieved in a few ways:

Using the ultrasonic sensor as a sonar, rotating it around and storing the readouts, then calculating based on the known map of the room (if the layout is fixed and known in advance).
Tracking the movements and calculating from the last known position. This method depends on how accurate are the starting data and the measurement of the movement. This also loses accuracy over time.
Placing unique markers along the floor or the wall that the robot can read. I don't know how could this be accomplished using LEGO pieces, but I wouldn't say it's impossible to do. However, you could mark the two important locations (the green box and the center) to have an easy way to tell if you're at them.

Orientation Your robot should also know which direction is it facing. Most of the above methods offer a way to calculate this, but you could also use a compass sensor.
Knowledge of the environment Your robot should know if there is an obstacle in its way. The random obstacles are by definition impossible to know in advance, so you'll need to detect them somehow.

You could use the aforementioned ultrasonic sonar if the obstacles provide a good enough acho.
If the obstacles are made of a suitable material, you could try to use a color sensor to see if there is one in front of the robot
In theory, you could try to measure the resistance of the motors when you try to drive into an obstacle but this might prove impossible, depending on the capabilities of the hardware and software you are using. This method also makes it impossible to use the incremental location method.

Given these problems in my opinion your best bet would be a simpler, more brute force approach. Outlined in highly abstract pseudocode below:

going to the green target box:
while not in target area
  while not at wall
    if obstacle is in front of me: get around
    else: move forward
  end while // now you're at the wall
  move forward along the wall
end while // now you're at the target

going to the center: // assuming you're at the green box
turn towards the center
while not at center:
  if obstacle is in front of me: get around
  else: move forward
  if moved more than the journey should have taken: announce that you're stuck
end while // now you're at the center or lost


Buying specific part variant on BrickLink

I'd say this is something to look out for when dealing with a part that BrinkLink itself notes is very similar to other part numbers.  Reading the detailed notes about buying sets is more important than parts generally.  I'd read a bit more closely about the stated condition of used parts than new parts.

I've made a few dozen orders on BrickLink over the years and I haven't run into this exact situation.  Yet any issues I've had have been easily resolved by contacting the seller.  I wouldn't pester the folks that say they treat them all as the same part, but you can probably find somebody out there who will give you exactly what you want.  Find another seller, read to make sure they don't have a similar warning, and drop them a note to make sure everybody is on the same page.


I'd wager it was mostly to save plastic. Many of the 1x family of bricks used to come with far fewer posts inside, like so: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=crssprt02 but notice they quit making that style in 1969.


Looks like Windscreen 6 x 4 x 1 Curved. This piece doesn't come in any of opaque colors yet.


That is not the URL you're looking for ;)

Apparently you need to enter the codes on the LEGO.com Star Wars Advent Calendar page.


What pieces are used to create this Djembe MOC?

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

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

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

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

Here are step-by-step instructions :) :


Difference between "Pick a brick" and "Bricks and pieces"

The Pick-a-Brick selection has the more common pieces that aren't specific to sets whereas on Bricks and Pieces you can get set specific pieces that are more uncommon such as minifigure parts from a (non-licensed) theme. Since the Bricks and Pieces parts are more specialized they are usually more expensive than Pick-a-Brick, so don't get basic bricks from Bricks and Pieces.


All large sets released in the last few years come in numbered bags. The bags are sorted by logical sections as they appear in the instruction manuals. So for example there will be several bags numbered as #1, several bags numbered as #2, etc.

The intention is that you open all the bags numbered as #1, build that section, then open the bags numbers as #2, etc. This makes building a lot easier, faster, error-free, and a lot less messy.

In very large sets each section usually takes about an hour to build, and the whole set can take 2-5 hours to put together. While some LEGO fans do building marathons and put together sets in one sitting, for most people stretching out the building experience to several days is less stressful and more practical.

Also, note that numbered bags usually allow several people to work simultaneously as, the numbered bags tend to represent chunks of the set that later get assembled. This makes the building process faster. So for example your son would be building the first floor of a structure, while you can work on the second floor.

Another way people work together on large sets is for one person to be the sorter, and the other the assembler. In your case, this may mean that you find the parts for each step of the process, and maybe even build some of the small assemblies, then you hand them to your son who will attach them to the set.

All in all I would say that numbered bags are your friends. The larger the set, the more you will appreciate their practicality. There are still old-school LEGO fans from the pre-sorted bags period, who build differently. They may dump all the pieces from all bags into one pile, or open all the bags and pre-sort pieces by type or color. But for most people, building the way LEGO suggest is the best way to tackle large sets.


Starting out with trains: PF, RC, 9v or what?

If you opt for an older system which isn't produced anymore, it's going to be very hard for you to reach a decent collection and maintain it. Even 9v which was only recently been discontinued will be hard to find, especially straight tracks.

Also, 9V points were not automated, so if you really want automated points, you'll have to go back to 12v, which is even older and harder to get in quantities (not to mention the parts become fragile).

Rolling stock will usually be fairly compatible since the gauge has always been the same, and magnets have always been used as coupling mechanism. So there you can buy whatever you find.

And if it's for your son, keep in mind that other relatives (granparents for example) may be less informed than you and will tend to just buy whatever they find in stores. So if you go for a 9v layout but your kids receives PF tracks, he won't be too happy, much to the chagrin of the relative.

On the contrary, if you opt for plastic-only Power Function trains, even if someone manages to buy you 9v track, you can use it as is, it's fully compatible. Also, the flexible track part is easy for a kid to work with and not bother too much about whether the layout will work or not, something which can't be said for older systems where you would sometimes need to draw your layout in advance to know if the geometry would make sense.

In short, I think it's easiest for a kid to just embrace the new Power Function trains, but stay clear of the two "RC" trains which weren't too good.

(Of course, for a very young child, Duplo trains might be a good choice too ;-)


How can I remove old LEGO bricks that are stuck together?

Try using this brick separator tool

Source: https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Brick-Separator-630

A simpler version used to come with older sets. Some of the images demonstrate how the tool may be used with different kinds of pieces.

Source: http://www.philohome.com/remover/remover1.htm

Two brick separators may be used for maximum separating efficiency for certain types of stuck brick situations.

For example, when two plates are stuck together:

Alternatively, using it as a lever to remove tiles

Source: http://thebrickblogger.com/2010/11/lego-brick-separator/


How to disassemble the propulsion wheels of the LEGO/DUPLO train engine base part# 28743 drivetrain?

My back wheels do the same thing.  There is no metal axle that connects both back wheels like the axle design does for the front wheels, but I'm sure LEGO designed it that way.

So, imagine the train's motor being in an "ON" state just a rolling.  Now enters a kid, just being a kid.  Grabs the thing, and starts a rolling in whichever direction kiddie wants to roll.  Not a caring that the motor is doing it's own thing too. How does LEGO protect the device from the free rolling madness of a child?

So, I think this slippage is a built in feature to kid proof protect the motor from being over torqued. Some type of reverse rocket booster dampening system.   Analogous maybe to a circuit breaker which, is an automatic device for stopping the flow of current in an electric circuit as a safety measure.

Possible solutions:

(01) Battery check.
You said it no longer can pull extra weight, and that it stalls even on flat normal gravity leveled curves? Huh? So, before we go too deep, I would recommend first replacing the batteries with new ones. Then, retest it.

(02) Balancing our time vs. the money justification check.
Tearing down the housing to get inner access to remove excess hair and debris from this unit is fairly easy, and just requires buying a T9 Star Torque from the local hardware store and maybe 15 mins of our time.

Even though this thing is LEGO engineered like a tank, we can still imagining extensive damage, let's say a smoosh over by car, where we'd need to replace the circuit board, motor, or destroyed plastic gears.

Then, maybe it might be time to do a price check and consider purchasing a new/used unit versus the time to invest and produce a 3D printed replacement.

(03) Axle wheel hub tear down (setup only).
I'm not taking mine apart, becasue I haven't justified a reason that works out for me, but this is my observational approach if anyone else wants to venture further into the unknown.

So, let's look at the wheel design and note the similarities/differences between both wheel hubs.

Break down wheel hub anatomy consists of at least three pieces.

Inside hub piece.
In between trans-clear rubber tire tread.
Outside hub piece.
Unknown non-visible pieces. Possible notched out axle bar.

The inside hub pieces and in between trans-clear tire tread all look to be the same molds, where the outside hub pieces differ in aesthetic design, but function in the same way when interlocking with the inside hub piece.

Here's where things get dicey.  There seems to be six interlocking tabs that need to be simultaneously unhitched to separate the pieces without permanent damage.  Unless you happen to be a six clawed mutant named Wolverine, this will be a challenge.

Six interlocking tabs release damage free setup and approach:

Hot glue one end to work desk for stability.
Insert six flat head precision screwdrivers.
Wiggle until it's free.

Six interlocking tabs release egg breaking, omelette making approach:
Goal: 3D print a replacement, so permanent damage doesn't matter.

Using a Dremel rotary tool, carefully drill out 4 of the 6 interlocking tabs ONLY.  Don't go deep. We can 3D print plastic, but not the clear-trans rubber treading.
Insert two flat head precision screwdrivers to disengage the locking function of the 2 remaining tabs.
Using a digital caliper measure out the dimensions of the working 2 remaining tabs.
3D print replacement piece.
Consider using some Loc-Tite glue adhesive when reassembling the
wheel hubs.


This is Tile 1 x 2 with Groove with 'FOLLOW ME PACE CAR' Pattern from set 8121.


It's difficult to answer definitively without a photo or video of the issue, but I'm not aware of a way to easily get replacement parts for this.

I'm sure you're already aware that you can buy a replacement motor on Bricklink, but that's going to set you back at least $100.

Internally, this motor drives a pair of gears on the axles using metal worm gears. One of the common issues with this part is that the metal worm gear slowly wears down the other gear until the there is a complete loss of contact and the motor spins freely without driving the train. It sounds like this may be what you are experiencing.

Here's a diagram of the internal components:

I'm not aware of a third party that provides replacement parts for this, and I'm sure that LEGO doesn't provide them anymore. One option could be to buy the somewhat cheaper black version of this motor and swap out the axles from there.


What is this Lego piece - Yellow with handles and an octagonal section?

This is a "Underwater Scooter". It's a handheld device to propel a diver forward.

Similar devices can be seen in the James Bond movie "Thunderball".


This is likely a hold-over from when these were used primarily as roof pieces, and the texture provided some realism to the house/building sets.


How to Motorise 42111 Dom's Charger Technic

There are several such MOCs in existence around the Internet:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-42193/Porlock/fully-rc-lego-technic-doms-dodge-charger-model-42111-with-fast-buggy-motor-lights-and-some-changes/#bi
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-41973/BrickUrDream/dodge-rc-motorized-42111/#bi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYalpTxmIs
https://racingbrick.com/lego-technic-42111-dodge-charger-rc-mod-with-42095-plus-servo/
https://buwizz.com/42111-doms-dodge-charger-motorized-and-powered-by-buwizz/
https://bricksafe.com/pages/Porlock/42111---rc-mod-dons-dodge-charger

Pick your favourite or combine the best features of them together into your own solution :)


Best online community for Lego Builders?

I would still recommend Flickr as the number one place. It allows everything you mentioned, and the most important thing is that's where most LEGO fans and all the best LEGO builders hang out. It is by far the best community. Just join some of the main LEGO related groups and you will quickly find people to follow.

Also, follow the Brothers Brick blog. Pretty much everything they feature is from Flickr, and they focus on the best MOCs. This is another way to find great builders to follow.

There is also MOCPages, and there are some great gems there, but the site is mainly full of little kids. AFOLs and serious builders hang out on Flickr. It may not be all LEGO related, however once you become part of the LEGO related groups, you will have some much to do, so much to see, and so many people to interact with, you won't even notice that Flickr is not all about LEGO...(c:


Can I use two remote-controlled LEGO Tracked Racers 42065 simultaneously?

Yes, LEGO's Power Function IR elements have 4 different channels you can switch between with an orange slider on the receivers and remotes, so you can run up to 4 at a time.


Are there any difference between the Power Functions 88003 and 99499 L motors?

According to bricklink, 88003 is the set containing exactly one part, namely the 99499 motor.
You can buy the motor as a set in LEGO shops or online, it's packaged in a plastic bag, which probably accounts for the 3 gram weight difference between the items.

To my knowledge there are no different versions of the Power Functions L motor.

Here is the list of the sets the motor appears in, note that 88003 is listed as well:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=99499c01&in=S


Yes!

Based on 3 years of extensive study of the internal workings of the EV3 as part of the ev3dev project, I can confidently say that if you build that schematic, you will get something that very closely resembles a mass-produced EV3.

There are some minor differences though. The HW Version Identification shown on page 3 of the schematic (0101 [binary] == 5 [decimal]) does not match the actual mass-produced hardware (1000 [binary] == 8 [decimal]), so it leads me to believe that the schematic that LEGO has shared is not the final revision, but rather a slightly older revision.

There is also a PIC microcontroller (U28) and MFi authentication chip (U29) on the actual EV3 that is not on the schematic. The firmware source code seems to indicate that this is used for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Bluetooth mode somehow. So, this feature will be missing from your clone EV3.

I have also just noticed that the "3 SEC delay" circuit on page 3 is not populated on the actual EV3. This is further evidence that the publicly available schematic is not the final revision.

One challenge you will face in building your own EV3 is that there is no PCB layout provided by LEGO, so you will have to do this yourself.

You will also have to find a replacement display. The LCD does not appear to be generally available. (I broke one and looked for a replacement several years ago. I ended up replacing it with a color TFT instead.)

Also, while we are on the subject, there is a BeagleBone cape called the FatcatLab EVB. There is an open source schematic for this as well. If you are really going to build your own EV3-like circuit board, it may be more appealing to copy this one because it has a faster processor and more memory.


LEGO sets ship in sturdy cardboard boxes. The LEGO bricks inside the box are sealed in plastic bags (though some larger pieces come loose in the box) and for larger sets the instruction manual and sticker sheet are also sealed in a plastic bag.

The LEGO box itself is not covered in plastic. LEGO uses “seals” to prevent tampering - these are basically just pieces of adhesive tape with some printing on it - a black bar plus on at least one of the pieces of tape is a production code.

Some smaller sets come with push-tabs instead of tape seals ... this forces you to destroy the box to get at the set inside. These boxes will have the production code embossed or printed on the underside of the box.

There are collectors who plastic-wrap their sets upon receipt to keep them mint, but this is not a common practice. You can also engage a grading service to get sets graded, but the market for sealed graded sets is very small.

Note that no matter how good the seals look on a set (even push-tabs), there are entrepreneurial individuals who manage to open and reseal boxes to take out the most valuable contents without you as a buyer knowing. Be aware.


What is the maximum distance between fixed train wheels?

With a bit of trigonometry and some observation we can estimate a theoretical limit to the maximum length.

I assume you are looking for the maximum length that would run on the sharpest possible curve, which appears to be one made with flexible track. By observing this photo of 52 flex track pieces arranged in a circle, we can estimate that each piece can create an angle of about 7 degrees.

This seems to be sharper than the average usage, however, and may be placing stress on the pieces. The LDraw version of the flex track depicts it flexing at a maximum angle of about 5.5 degrees:

In addition, the flexible track has a slot in which the train wheels run which is 10 LDU (LDraw Units) wide. By observation, I estimate that a single set of train wheels can be rotated by about 6 degrees within these slots before they bind. That would be the theoretical upper limit of the angle a train car of "zero" length (that is, with just one set of wheels) could be rotated and still move forward through the track.

So with that estimate, we need to look at the curved section of track above and measure the angle a train car would be rotated from the straight position for various sections of the track. Fortunately, rather than being a smooth curve the flex track is really several straight sections of about 72 LDU on the inside (i.e. sharpest) curve. That means we can stay within the realm of trigonometry and measure the angles from the outer edge of the straight section to the end of each segment of the inner curve. That takes a little work, but here is what I determined:

From the right edge of the straight section to the center of the second section is an angle of 3.53 degrees.

From the right edge of the straight section to the center of the third section is an angle of 6.45 degrees.

So a car with a wheel base that extends from the right edge of the section to the center of the third section would be rotated at 6.45 degrees, which is just a bit more than our estimated limit of 6 degrees. Using trigonometry we can determine the length of this wheelbase as 183 LDU, which is just over 9 studs. In other words, a car with a wheelbase of 9 studs would probably bind slightly in the slots on the curve above.

As seen in the original question, LEGO has issued train car models with fixed wheels 9 studs apart. Joubarc's observation in his comment above that the caboose model shown does indeed bind slightly would seem to support the estimate of 9 studs as an upper limit of the wheelbase for fixed train wheels.

We can plot out a wheelbase of 10 studs on the curve above to check. That would produce a rotation of about 7.2 degrees, well above our estimated maximum of 6 degrees. It would seem a 9-stud wheelbase is the maximum.

Of course there is some binding on every curved section, with the power of the motor able to overcome the friction on the wheels. This estimate does not consider the power of the motor.


I note the printing of the light gray doesn't line up on the sides compared to the dark red texture line. The light gray on the top is in the same position relative to the red printing, but on the questionable torso the light gray printing doesn't continue the dark red printing.
The dark red printing on the questionable torso seems to be in absolutely the correct position; the known torso seems offset a little to the left. Thus the observation that the light grey printing on the sides being out of place.
The light gray printing would be placed in a single pass, so I think your suspicion that this is a fake is not unreasonable, but given the imperfection of the original, I'm not willing to make a definitive call.


Here's a YT vid on the disassembly, but the still picture shots with no commentary may not be what you need for a good walk-thru.

I don't have a Hub, but wish we all had a pic to make sure we're talking about the same piece.

Regardless, I'm gonna take a crazy shot at it.  Let's Go!

We have two gray rectangles:

Big Gray Rectangle on the Left.
Small Gray Rectangle on the Right.

I think you're stuck here. (See the picture).

So, you took out the two hex screws, (two empty black holes on the Big Gray Rectangle), and you say you can't get further.  Correct?

Instead of trying to remove the Big Gray Rectangle plate, first remove the Phillips screw in the middle holding the Small Gray Rectangle down.

Look at the next picture.

See how the Small Rectangle has a lip design that overlaps, and locks down our Big Gray Recky-reck?

You should be good from here.

EDIT+++++++

Real issue: White Tabs won't release.

Look at this next image of the Big Gray Rectangle removed below.

Focus your attention to the white tabs.
Do you see the notches on the tabs?
The inverse of those notches are on the inside lip of the Big Gray
Rectangle.
When all notches are together it forms a Mechanical Lock.
We have to disengage both tabs together.
Position the entire piece like the picture below.
Get two flat head screw drivers.
Put both screw driver heads on the LEFT side of both tabs.
Hold both screwdrivers in one fist like Wolverine's daughter.
Now pivot to the LEFT which should separate the physical locking of
the two pieces.
You might need your other hand to lift Big Gray    Rectangle  up
and off.


Are the blue and grey 12v train system compatible?

It's more or less obvious that tracks themselves are compatible, although blue rails won't go on dark gray sleepers, which isn't really a problem. You may want to use more sleepers under blue tracks to stabilise it, although the 12v inserts help. Mixing blue and grey track and inserts shouldn't be a problem, should you wish to do so.

Motors are also compatible and pick up power the exact same way. Cables use the same connectors and are thus compatible too (if you want to add lighting to your trains).

As for accessories, I can't be sure but I believe there are limitations. If you look at the blue transformer, you'll notice the output to remote control the switch is 16v AC, while grey era remotes use 12v DC. Feeding 12v remotes with 16v might work (it's just an electromagnet inside and shouldn't be exposed for too long), if the blue era remotes need 16v, they may not work with only 12v.

Moreover, the wiring is also different: 12v era remotes use a standard cable, and the polarity determines the direction you want to turn it, but the blue era points use a 3-wire cable, as evidence by this extension cable. And let's not forget the difference AC/DC, which mean you'll have to add some non-LEGO components to make it work.

In short, I think controlling 12v era remotes with the blue transformer should be easy (a couple of diodes should do the trick), but the opposite might prove tricky, and if you have blue points, you may want to get a blue transformer as well. (Then again, I don't know enough about electronics to know how tricky it would be).

A small caveat though: I assumed you have the blue point without the remotes themselves, but since they were sold together, it could be that you get the point, wiring and remote together. If that's so, you best bet is to use the 12v AC output of the 7864 transformer - maybe that's its purpose (and if you try that, and it works, please go answer that question).


Accidently Deleted System files on Nxt 2.0. How to restore system files?

You need to reload the firmware. If you use NXT-G, this can be found under the Tools->Update Firmware menu.


If i remember right, the tires of the small LEGO City wheels fit perfectly on a Technic 1/2 bush which then gives you an axle hole, but note that this is very flat on the ground. I don't know if its high enough to add a very small gear and build up the connection to your motor.


I have also little soldering experience, but I managed to create custom extension cables:
First: open the cover with a small screw driver:

Remove the PCB by lifting the small notch to open the light block

Then you drill a small hole into the opposite side of the metal plates, insert a small 2-wire cable (~0,25mm) and solder it to the PCB.
The outer ring is Vin and the inner ring is GND.
Then put it together and have fun.


Looking for sets to use as components of a 1930s - 1940s European city

What about the 75930 Indoraptor Rampage for an almost timeless mansion? Without the raptors it is not too expensive.

The 10228 Haunted house could provide a good basis for a rebrick of a nice mansion on the hill just outside of your city. However, this one is ALWAYS expensive, as you probably know.

For many nice little ideas for everyday items and a MOC city, check out LionBricks' Youtube channel.


Does the LEGO company actively follow or copy clone bricks?

In my opinion, LEGO must follow clone brands very closely, and this for a number of reasons.

The first, which is obvious and has already been mentioned, is that they want to protect their own intellectual property. As such, they'll want to take legal action as soon as possible when one of their trademarks/copyrights is infringed.

The second one is actually also about intellectual property, although not their own. Indeed, while LEGO is usually considered as the leader in the field of interlocking bricks, it can indeed happen that a competitor creates something new, which LEGO might not have considered. That would be where you would suggest that LEGO should "keep up", but in reality most of the time it's exactly the contrary: since they may not infringe on the competitor's own intellectual property, they won't be able to imitate them.

So saying that design decisions can be made independently of what other manufacturers are doing is, in my own opinion, utterly false. I can't imagine a field of business where you can completely ignore what your competitors are doing, just because you believe you're ahead of them, and if you do, you're either very cocky, or very naive.

Note I'm talking about serious competitors like MegaBloks, not the one who just copy badly everything LEGO makes. MegaBloks, for example, does have interesting parts (for example, plates with studs on both sides, Plate 1 x 2 connector, male:male and Plate 2 x 2 connector, male:male). These parts are interesting and many LEGO builders would like to have them, but it's unlikely LEGO would be willing to produce them now that MegaBloks has. Of course, I'm no lawyer and I understand copyright law may be much more intricate than that (there are parts which both companies produce, for example), but I'm confident this is a valid concern in the design process.


Why do LEGO bricks keep their value even though they are still being produced?

Banknotes and coins tend to have very little physical value relative to their face value.  LEGO bricks usually are valued more for their function rather than the material value. In most cases it would not be cost effective to buy LEGO bricks just for the material itself.

Well treated bricks can be handed down, generation to generation. A 2x4 brick made 30 years ago is virtually identical compared to one made today. A lot of construction toy brands hold their value over time.

Traditional toys lose their value as they no are longer fashionable or they wear out. A broken doll house might not be worth keeping but a LEGO set with a few missing pieces can still be built with spare parts or re-built into something else.

Individual bricks do actually decrease in value relative to the increased production, particularly soon after a new part has been released as LEGO introduce the part to more and more sets in different colours. This piece released last year is worth about 1/5th of what it once was when it was only available in two high priced sets.

Certain parts also experience a large increase in price after they are discontinued as they consequently become harder to find. Some parts (rubber, electronics, cloth) deteriorate faster than plastic bricks.


Is there an official LEGO terminology for the features of basic pieces?

For an official position, you may want to check older LEGO catalogues or instructions to see if they're naming things, and how. While you can find some names for complete elements in, for example, service parts catalogues, I don't think you'll find much for specific subparts.

Given the 1958 patent illustration, it's likely the patent itself named subparts, and more specifically studs and tubes. The original Kiddicraft patent called studs "bosses", by the way.

Keep in mind LEGO has, until recently, be very protective of what it's been doing internally; as such, the community as a whole didn't have much info, so that a lot of current nowadays terminology isn't official, but rather derived from public habit.

However, that's changed a lot recently, and LEGO isn't as shy as it was when it comes to publish internal data such as colour names and numrical IDs, design IDs, parts IDs, and even part names. The only problem is that they never bothered to have a truly consistent naming scheme, and the fact that English isn't the main language of Denmark doesn't help.

Yet it does help us find official subpart names, which we can hunt through the online pick-a-brick selection.

The first one is a shocker: the "stud" is, in fact, called "knob" (the fan-nicknamed "jumper plate", or LDraw's "Plate 1 x 2 with 1 Stud", being officially a "Plate 1X2 W. 1 Knob", and there are numerous other examples).

The small pins inside 1xn bricks are "pins" (LDraw's "Brick 1 x 2 without Centre Stud" is a "Brick 1X2 Without Pin"). But as connection point on some elements, they are called "Shaft Ø 3.2" (LDraw's "Minifig Accessory Helmet Viking Horn" is "Horn W. Shaft Ø 3.2")

The clip is a "holder" (LDraw's "Brick 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical" is "Brick 1X1 W. Holder, H0rizontal" (sic) or sometimes a "snap" (LDraw's "Bar 7 x 3 with Double Clips" is "Lattice 1X4x6 W. Snap").

I suppose you could find more, but it's rather time-consuming :-)


Any way to create a gear+chain, like for a bike?

It looks like LEGO sells chain and sprockets, don't know if you'd have them lying around though.

You could also try using pulleys instead. If you don't have any of the actual pulleys, take the tread off of two wheels and stretch a rubber band across, that should work too.


Use for "Technic Coupling, Tight" and "Technic Coupling 3,5-6 Ncm"

This gear can only handle a certain amount of torque. Above this torque the gear starts to slip internally. This pervents damaging the motor when the some part of the construction after the gear gets blocked.

Lego uses these gears ofter in constructions where there is a end of stroke that blocked the motor from turning, for example a winch or other string based designs


how deep can the axle go in the Power up L motor

That is only 1 stud.
So an axle of 5 always stick out 4 studs


What is the history of the Marvel license between LEGO and Mega Bloks?

From 2002-05, LEGO sold Spider-Man themed sets under license from Marvel Entertainment in conjunction with the release of the first two Spider-Man movies. These are commonly known as the Spider-Man 1 and Spider-Man 2 themes. This license was apparently only for Spider-Man and characters in the films and not for other Marvel superheroes.

In October 2004, Marvel and Mega Bloks announced a multi-year license agreement that allowed Mega Bloks to use several Marvel superhero characters and create movie-related products. LEGO did not produce any Spider-Man or Marvel-themed sets between 2006 and late 2011.

In 2009-10, Marvel Entertainment was purchased by The Walt Disney Company, with whom LEGO had a long-standing relationship producing Disney-themed sets. In July 2011 it was announced that LEGO had obtained a license to the Marvel characters as part of an expansion of its license agreement with Disney. At about the same time, LEGO expanded its license deal with DC Comics, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers, to include the full line of DC characters. LEGO had a previous license with DC to produce Batman-themed sets, which were first released in 2006.

With licenses from these two major comic book companies in hand, LEGO created two Super Heroes themes, DC Universe Super Heroes, launched in late 2011, and Marvel Super Heroes, launched in mid 2012. Both themes are currently in production as of August 2014.


What is this piece and what is its number?

Looks like it's Support 2 x 4 x 5 Stanchion Inclined 4476a or 4476b.


When did LEGO Minifigure Leg mold designs change?

Further investigation reveals that 2013 was when the word '©LEGO' started to appear under the minifigure 'toes'  I am still unsure about the first appearance of seams in the leg molds


If you also want them to be aware of the solidity of their bridge, you may want to have a look at this contest.

Note that bridges made of stacked plates are much more solid than Technic ones.


Can you just install Scratch? MIT supports EV3 directly


For a guy who's 20 you can ignore the age limits. LEGO used to label set with "N..99" age limits but these days that sort of humour is less appreciated. It's still true, though.

I suggest focus more on what he's interested in, and what you think he'd enjoy building. Within the LEGO Star Wars range there are quite a lot of options. If he's mostly into collecting toys I suggest starting small, but if he's into spending hours building stuff there are options that go right up to metre-long display models.

I think your main risk is social or financial. Even if you misjudge his interest, if he's into Star Wars he's likely to build it, display it, and just not ever get round to buying more. But especially the first time, don't spend more than you're willing to have him go "what? No" at, and maybe be careful about where he opens the gift. If he has judgey relatives who might say "hahaha kids toys grow up" or similar, try to avoid. It's all obvious, but many AFOLs have had experiences like that.

That said, I've given LEGO for work "secret santa" events as well as other random times, and it's usually gone down well.


The obvious part is Technic, Wedge Belt Wheel (Pulley) as Phil mentioned in the comments.

Other, not so obvious piece is Brick, Round 4 x 4 with Recessed Center, which comes in new Minions set. It only comes in Light Bluish Gray [BL] color at this moment.

Jonas has confirmed this over his IG post:

It's a Minion Eye.


Which computer games came in jewel cases with LEGO studs?

Wow, I remember these. Certainly takes me back! These versions of the cases I believe were used right back in about 1997-1999 when Lego first started releasing PC games. Exact information is hard to come by, but I personally still have (in a box in my cupboard) the cases for Lego Chess, Creator, Racers, and Loco, some of the first PC games released, all with the studded case.

My brother's later version of Creator: Harry Potter (2001) came in the much less exciting standard cases:

A lot of the early early games came in a chunky box that had a compartment for the game, as well as a small section for a lego toy.

I know this was the case for Loco, and I believe (if memory serves) was the same for Creator.

Ahh, I remember stacking the studded cases in different ways while I waited for the games to load...


Got these from a helpful friend over at BrickPicker.com:


Great question. It sounds like you are building a fairly large ship. If the scale is large enough, brick-built sails can look quite nice. You can add shape, contour, and texture using various building techniques.

If you want to keep things simple, you could just use a single layer of bricks as was done in this basic sailboat model that was an in-store build back in 2009:

That example obviously isn't the most detailed. It's challenging to develop sail-like contours with studs on top.

Here's one example just using plates that is similar to what you mentioned in your question:

Notice how it uses wedge plates to round off the square corners of the sails. Wedge plates come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so that gives you some flexibility in the shape of your sail. Here's another shot showing that technique more clearly:

Here's a second example of that technique in a physical model to try to show how the sail sections can be connected using hinges:

Here's another where layered plates are used to provide more depth and contour:

And one more example of the same technique:

I personally like the aesthetic of studs showing in those examples, but you could also smooth your sails out using tiles and curved slopes if you'd prefer.


I believe it's mostly so that you have something additional to grip on to when removing it from other elements.

With the 3M+ axles, there is more axle available to hold on to so that you pull off a sleeve or joint nicely, but for some, the 2M is too short.


What do I need to connect an old RCX 2.0 to a computer and is it worth compared to just buying a new one?

Modern hardware/driver support for the RIS is limited, but it's definitely possible to get it working again.

The main obstacle is transmitting programs to the Lego RCX brick. The RIS 2.0 came with a USB IR Tower, but the driver does not work on 64-bit Windows. There is also a Serial-port IR Tower available, which works perfectly if you have a 9-pin serial-to-USB adapter.

Here's what you need to buy (they're all very cheap):

A serial cable (not necessarily a Lego one, any 9-pin serial cable will do)
A Lego serial IR tower (can probably find on Ebay as well)
A USB-to-Serial converter (not necessarily this brand, any basic 9-pin serial to USB should work)
A 9V battery for the serial IR tower.

With the (included) driver installed, the USB-to-Serial will create a virtual COM port in Windows. If it's relevant to you, you can check the number of the COM port in windows Device Manager.

On the software side of things, you can code for the RCX using Java, NQC (C-like syntax, but much simpler), or the original Lego graphical programming language. You don't need to install any Lego software if you plan on going with one of the 3rd-party Java or NQC options.

If you do want the Lego programming software but you don't have the disk, you can download an ISO disk image from this guy's share. The Lego software and its installer ran fine on my machine (64-bit Windows 10), with a small caveat: At the end of the installation process, it attempts to install the USB tower driver. When this happens, you need to go to task manager and KILL the installer process, because when the driver (inevitably) fails the whole installation rolls back. If you're having trouble it might also help to right click on the Setup.exe -> Properties -> Compatibility and run it in compatibility mode for Windows 98.

Inside the Lego software, you should select the Serial IR Tower when prompted because you want it to use the virtual COM port the adapter provides. You can also set the COM port in the Settings from the main menu screen.

When you first install the software it will try to force you to do tutorials before you can actually do the "freestyle" programming. But you can double-click any greyed-out option to enable it.

And as always, if you need more help you can always post back here in Bricks SE. Good luck!


Help identifying a few small bar and clip pieces

Bar 1L with Top Stud and Two Side Studs

Arm Skeleton [Bent / 2 Clips]

Bar 4L

3.2 Shaft w/3.2 Hole

Flag 2 x 2 Trapezoid


Does LEGO sell a DC relay for Power Functions?

LEGO doesn't make something to directly facilitate this type of integration as far as I know. If you can get a PF extension wire, you could cut it and directly make the connections to your driver circuit.

You can drive the motor using the middle wires of the PF cable (C1 and C2).
For what its worth, I would personally prefer an H-bridge such as this one over a relay as you get faster switching and can use PWM for speed control among other benefits. You'd power a board like that using a 9V supply and connect the C1 and C2 power lines to one of the outputs. Your 5V logic-level signals would connect to one set of inputs to control the motor.


Technique for holding a horizontal minifig in place (swimmer)

Mmmh... If you base doesn't have to be all solid...
Recess some piece in there in which you can insert the arm-side of a mini-fig hand.
Grasp your swimmer by the toes on one of its feet, with that hand.
That will give you a horizontal/slightly upwards position on the mini-fig and you can further increase the angle by adjusting the mini-figs leg.


Why don't DUPLO figures have yellow skin?

This is an excellent question. Here's my best guess as to why this is.

As you've pointed out, LEGO System Minifigures were made with yellow heads from the start for a specific reason. On Lego.com it states:

  We chose yellow to avoid assigning a specific ethnicity in sets that don't include any specific characters. With this neutral color, fans can assign their own individual roles to LEGO minifigures.

The very first LEGO Minifigures were made with yellow heads and the first Duplo figures were made with white heads. These were both released at about 1975-1976. Now while the Duplo figures did start off with less racial ambiguity, the Duplo line was quick to introduce the first LEGO figures with realistic skin tones, which were released in 1983. LEGO did not do that with the System figures until 2003, twenty years later.

The LEGO Duplo sets are for toddlers under the age of five, and therefore, these sets include a lot of bright colors. Just look at any Duplo set and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Why does this matter? Well, yellow is a color commonly used in Duplo. It is possible that having a primarily yellow set and a figure with a yellow face might be a bit weird for a child. It also makes the figures stand out from the pieces in the background and might make the set more appealing to a Grandparent, for example. "Oh look! There's cute people in this set!" All of that to say, yellow figures might blend into the primarily yellow Duplo sets.

Additionally, Duplo is for very young kids, and it's probably best to not confuse them and make them wonder why there aren't people with yellow skin in the real world. By the time the child is old enough to move onto System, they already understand what people in the real world look like, and they won't be confused by the yellow heads.

Please keep in mind that this is just my best guess.


Which sets can be built in the bag (all the parts are in one bag)?

The ones I know of:

8072 - Sea Jet
8400 - Space Speeder
8398 - BBQ Stand
5611 - Public Works
5762 - Mini Plane
7241 - Fire Car
8130 - Terrain Crusher
5618 - Troll Warrior
to be continued...

In addition, some LEGO Creator sets, with only partly transparent bags are possible to build in bag, like this video shows - but it gets a lot harder.
Rather then listing all of the sets, I'd go by the general rule that sets that are 9.5cm x 9.5cm x 4.5cm or smaller are in one bag (or just in the box). The Court Jester (7953) for example, is one exception in that the Jester hat is packaged separately.


What is this small space-themed set from possibly the early 90's?

This is most probably Ice Planet Scooter:


Why are the plastic bag designs different? Bag 4 looks normal, but are the rest legitimate LEGO designs?

First of all, congratulations on securing a 75054 AT-AT. This is a very desirable set, and costs a pretty penny to purchase now that LEGO has stopped producing the set.

There is nothing wrong with your bags. The bags with the white band are of a newer design than the bag labeled "4". The white-band style was introduced in 2015, whereas the older style was used as of 2011. LEGO is slowly phasing out the older style in favor of the white-band style, working through remaining supplies of the latter until they run out.


How to distinguish between objects using a sonic sensor?

It's been quite a while since I've programmed a robot, but using only the sonic sensor does make it a bit more challenging.  Also, not knowing anything else about the robot you've built (it's size, other sensors & their location, the ball grabbing mechanism, etc.) it further complicates any possible advice.

That being said, the only solution I could think of would be to use the opening/doorway to the room as a reference point for the robot.  The sensor should be able to locate it since it's "open", and the robot sent towards it.  The line on the ramp leads me to believe your robot has a color sensor for line following, therefore should be able to detect the line at the doorway once it arrives.  This will also allow the robot to "true" its location, which would allow rotating "x" degrees to have you pointing directly at the drop-off point.  Then straight forward and (?) because I have no idea how your robot even picks the balls up or drops them.

My other solution would be to have a mechanical release lever for the ball.  The lever would be positioned so only the low wall of the triangle could push it.  This would be a much more simple solution in theory.


How steep a grade can a LEGO train go up?

I've successfully run a single motor pulling two cars from 7938 and the locomotive all the cars from 79111 up a spiraling incline of two plates per track segment. I terminated the experiment after I ran out of track and table space. If the track was straight I probably could have pulled more weight.


List of Lego Technic sets with remote controller?

There have been many remote controlled Technic sets over the years. I've organized this list with the most recent generations of remote control elements first.

Control+

Current remote controlled Technic sets will contain a Control+ hub. We can find them by showing the sets that contain that part on Bricklink.

Power Functions

For Power Functions, we can look for sets containing the Power Functions IR Receiver and sets containing the PF IR Receiver V2. It looks like the following sets contain that part and are remote controlled:

Motorized Bulldozer 8275
Motorized Excavator 8043
4x4 Crawler 9398
4x4 Crawler Exclusive Edition 41999
6x6 All Terrain Tow Truck 42070
Volvo L350F Wheel Loader 42030
RC Tracked Racer 42065
Remote-Controlled Stunt Racer 42095

RC

Prior to Power Functions, there were dedicated RC elements used to provide remote control functionality to sets. These can be found in this category on Bricklink. Most of those sets aren't really Technic, but some are. For proper Technic sets, it's probably helpful to look at just the RC sets containing a separate buggy motor instead of the large integrated vehicle base. Those three sets are:

Hot Flame 8376
RC Race Buggy 8475
Supersonic RC 8366


What's the smallest LEGO component, based on its largest dimension?

This tiny tiara piece is smaller than the 1x1 round plate on all sides (middle piece in my image below).


Mathematically, the largest driver wheel you can buy for LEGO is Big Ben's XL driver, with a diameter of 36.8mm.  To reach 10 mph, that wheel will have to spin:

36.8 mm diameter -> 115.6 mm circumference -> 7.2 x 10^-5 mi/revolution -> 2320 RPM (!!)

This means that you have to gear up a motor to run at 2320 RPM.  An XL PF motor with no load spins at about 220 RPM.  I just don't think that's going to happen.

And if your goal is to use the smaller wheels, there's no way to accomplish what you want with LEGO.

Don't forget, the TGV (and other high speed trains) are incredibly complex and well engineered machines.  It requires a specific track layout, curve radius, rail width tolerance, surface roughness tolerance, and we haven't even reached the train itself.

Honestly, accomplishing a scale-equivalent speed using only LEGO bricks would lead to a revolution in transportation design, because if you can do it with LEGO at L-gauge without blowing up, you could easily do it with steel, plastics, and composites at people-scale.


It is from '4645 Harbour' which was produced in 2011 and bag 2 contains blue wall panels and stone grey 1x10s.

Instructions can be found here.


Are DUPLO gears compatible with LEGO gears?

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

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


How do you eliminate the gap between castle doors?

I'm assuming that you are referring to this door:

These doors are designed for the hinge to attach from the back of the door and not the side, which might be what is tripping you up. There are ways to get these to line up with the hinge on the side, but the easiest fix is to just have them hinge from the back.

This part is used in many sets including 7036-1 Dwarves' Mine. Here's an example of this part in use from the instructions for that set:


Can you identify these LEGO bags from the thrift store? Mostly white and dark grey pieces, and some bared doors

Based on:

BRICK 1X16, Ø4,9 in white

LATTICE FOR FRAME 4X6 in Medium Stone Grey

TRAPDOOR FRAME 6X8 in Dark Stone Grey

4504228: Wall Element 1X6X5, Abs  in white

and the trans blue parts window pieces

These bags are from:

60047-1: Police Station


I have received a set with a piece which isn't a part of it and I cannot identify it


Is there a way to plan and organize your LEGO project like a GitHub hosted software?

While you could indeed manage the project with a tool like GitHub (using the Issues feature), you might be better off initially managing the tasks through a tool like Trello which allows you to create tasks and move them through various status (i.e. Planned, In Progress, Review, Complete) in a fairly simple, intuitive user interface.

An issue with managing the actual project files within source control is around the format of them - some file types work better than others when it comes to source control, and some formats of those types work better than others as well.

Git is a "Distributed Version Control System", which means that anyone can work on any file in the repository on their local machine - this is usually fine when working with text based files, but is not so good when you have binary files, because understanding the differences between two versions is often not easy. If the tool you choose stores projects in binary files, Git is probably not the best option.

I would strongly recommend that you consider a Centralised Version Control System such as Subversion (SVN) or Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC or TFS) as this allows your collaborators to "checkout" or "lock" a specific file to say they are working on it, and then when they've updated it, "check-in" their changes - this will (hopefully) get around the main pain points of trying to merge changes in these files, albeit with the caveat that you might still have people check-out a file and then "go dark" and forget to check it back in for a long time.

Sadly for you, most developers have moved to Git based source control, as it's very good at dealing with code files, and generally much quicker when working locally, allows for "offline" working, etc. and solves the problem of people working on different parts of the same file or project simultaneously, so most of the free options (GitHub, GitLab, etc.) focus on that. You might be able to use the free options within Azure DevOps to create a TFS based project, or find another SVN host for your project. Most of these also offer "Work Item" tracking for task planning and management.

In terms of the current software for building your MoC, the likely contenders are:

Stud.io - uses a binary (.zip) format. This doesn't play well in Git. Furthermore it's a password protected archive, so you can't easily extract the underlying .ldr files.
LDraw - uses a text based format. Potentially a better fit for Git, however the format itself would be very easy to mess up in merges if two people work on the same model files at the same time.
LEGO Digital Designer - uses a text (XML) based format. Potentially a good fit for Git. While XML can get messed up in merges, it's usually easier to see in merge tools where the changes should belong, and so easier to correct/adjust if two people work on the same model file. However, this is likely end-of-life now, especially with the announced purchase of BrickLink by The LEGO Group.

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


What parts are really required to motorize 10219 Maersk Train?

The strict minimum you need for PF motorization is:

Tracks. Sounds obvious, but don't forget these. Nope, there are none with the Maersk train.
A PF train motor
A PF battery box (plus 6 AAA batteries)

Now, as oezi says, it's a bit senseless to have a train which you can't control. Well, you can control it, but it's limited to switching it on and off (if you can catch it). Yet, it's a start.

Now, as far as limited control goes, don't neglect the polarity switch! If you place it intelligently, it will be easier to stop your train. Or you could even mimic the old 4,5v system and have your train switch direction automatically at both ends of a track. Just a thought.

Of course, for more serious control, yes, you'll need:

PF IR receiver
PF IR speed remote control

Note that all these elements (tracks, motor, battery box, IR receiver and remote) are also present in these trains:

Passenger Train
Cargo Train
Red Cargo Train (red battery box)

So it may be worth to do the math and see if you're not better off just buying one of these. Sets are usually cheaper than standalone elements, and considering the extra parts you'll get, it may be a wiser investment. Not to mention that they may be easier to find in regular shops, which means maybe Christmas discounts and the like. And the design of these trains is quite good too.

Of course, batteries are going to be a problem, so if you don't want to sink too much money in them you'd better use rechargeable batteries as fast as possible, or yes, switch to:

PF Rechargeable Battery
10VDC transofmer - or use a cheaper one

As you can see, it can be a costly investment in the long run, but nothing forces you to buy it all in one step, especially the rechargeable battery and charger which are far from cheap.


Mindstorms EV3 3D building instructions no longer working in Chrome

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

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

They do still work in Firefox if that helps.


I have several places to offer for you to share your MOC.
Eurobricks - here we have a forum, split into several subforums based on the primary topic. Don't be afraid of "Euro" in its name - there are members from all over the world.
Flickr - photo hosting website, however there is still a strong LEGO community. You'd upload an image and add it to related LEGO groups for others to see. Having more followers makes it easier to be spotted by others.
Instagram - this doesn't need an introduction I hope. Posting your very first picture over there may not result in many likes. You need to invest time in getting followers.
Youtube - some people prefer making video of their creations rather than pictures.
Rebrickable - this website has multiple LEGO related uses. One of them allows you to share your MOC, but it needs to have a building instruction. So other people could also build your model and it is not just for show off.
Reddit - is another community which is about all things LEGO®. As Arturo Moncada-Torres suggested in comments you can also share your creations, just don't forget to tag it as MOC.


What kind of mat do you use for running Mindstorm EV3?

Mats are sometimes used with Mindstorms to create line following bots or for defining more complex tasks.

I can't give great advice on printing a mat for EV3, as I've never done this, but I would imagine that you'd want to be able to print on a large, fairly stiff piece of paper or cardboard. If you're just trying to create a basic line for your robot to follow, you can use a piece of posterboard and then add a line with black tape, markers, paint, etc.

There are several different mats that LEGO has made available for Mindstorms over the years:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?pg=1&catString=246&catType=P&v=1

I believe the most recent is actually the box sleeve in the EV3 kit:

You might want to just purchase one of the officially released mats.


This looks like Spider-Man (Junior-fig). Although it is not so easy to confirm if your item is LEGO or clone-branded minifigure. You could look inside the legs if there are any LEGO logos.


That polybag is from The Ender Dragon (21117), the set with the most of round plate 1x1 in Dark Purple [BL].


How do I erase all old programs using the new scratch type Education software?

The LEGO Education Website EV3 firmware update page lists two options.

Use the EV3 Device Manager web page. The instructions are not entirely clear, but if you visit the web page with Chrome (recommended), Safari, Edge, or Internet Explorer, click the Available Bricks (0) button and wait a very long time, it will eventually pop up a dialog asking to download and install an EV3 Device Manager program to your computer. The EV3 Connection Manager program runs in the background on your computer and communicates with the EV3 Connection Manager web page in the browser. After installing the separate background program, the web page will be able to connect to your EV3. Then you can use it to update the firmware. It does not appear that this method gives you the option of selecting which firmware file to use. It will likely give you v1.10E, which has some known issues (EV3 acts as USB mass storage device which doesn't always work, and on-brick data log app is missing). But that version should work fine for most uses.

If you have Windows, Chromebook or older macOS (10.14 Mojave or earlier), you can also install the older software and use that. It is available from the LEGO Education retired products download page. (Android and iOS versions might not work due to lack of USB connectivity needed for firmware update.)


How can I connect the RCX 2.0 to an external power source?

The older RCX 1.0 had a power plug inbuilt. However Philo has shown how to create one yourself in a fairly simple way:
LEGO® 9V Technic Motors compared characteristics, scroll down to the section "Getting maximum mechanical power from RCX output" towards the bottom of the page.

The idea is to create two fake batteries and draw a wire from each, creating a +9V and a ground from a separate source. You would need a voltage regulator though. WARNING: supplying incorrect voltage can destroy your RCX.

Image and technique by Philippe "Philo" Hurbain © 2000-2009, used in accordance to "You are free to use it for any purpose, just give me credit...".


You can definitely use the trains without batteries and push them on the tracks. In fact, a lot of LEGO trains come without the battery option, and you can add it if you want.

Most people will get the battery option as it is fun to watch LEGO trains go on their own, but it is not necessary.

You can even build raised tracks and have the train go down on them by gravity...(c:

One thing I would also add is that it is best to either pull the train from the front, or push it from behind. Don't put pressure on it from the top; like how little kids tend to push trains putting their weight on the train as they push it from the top. That could damage the axles of the train.


How to dump the firmware from the SPIKE Prime (and Mindstorms v4)?

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

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

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

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


BricxCC not seeing Serial Tower in Windows 10

A bit more fumbling around led me to an actual installer:
http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/test_releases

I was hesitant to use that because of the word "test", but in fact that's what's needed to work at all.  Download bricxcc_setup_33810_20130220.exe from there and run it, and it "just works".

The situation above came from a zipped archive, not the installer.  Having rejected the "test" version, I then found the archive, unzipped it, and tried to use it.  Apparently, it was missing something that the installer includes.  Comparing the installed program directory to the unzipped one definitely confirms this!


Lego identification help! Red torso, lightsaber handle, and grey pieces?

In the top left corner you can see the back of this torso:

Torso SW Darth Maul Chest with Gray and Silver Collar and Belt Pattern / Printed Red Arms / Black Hands

So this is part of 75022-1: Mandalorian Speeder


How can I easily remove a jumper plate without a brick separator?

A 1x1x5 brick has enough leverage to remove most jumper plates. Apply pressure to the top of the brick and pull or push away from the length of the jumper plate.

Even a 1x1 brick works in certain cramped places, although It doesn't provide as much leverage.


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


Programming the NXT brick using an ipad app

You may want to try these:

nxtBlock
iNXTG-Lite

None of these are offical and you will have to use bluethooth to download and run programs.


A brief search led me to a very thorough blog post by Ruth Suehle on GeekMom, which includes the data and a Graph:

  Does It Feel Like Lego Bricks Just Keep Getting More Expensive?

In her findings, she found that average cost per piece in 2011 is about US$0.12, down from a high in the '80s of about US$0.40 - these prices were adjusted for inflation, etc.

Prices tend to be most affected by the price of oil, as that's a key component in plastic manufacture, so we might expect to see prices starting to creep up again.

Interestingly the licensed sets (Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.) don't seem to have much of an impact on the price of the sets, it's just that they are often bigger sets, so have higher price tags - For example the Super Star Destroyer with a retail price of $399 had 3152 pieces working at $0.13/piece - although yes, an extra $0.01 multiplied over 3000 bricks does seem to add an extra $30 to the set.

There doesn't appear to be much data on weight or type of brick.


Try http://ev3.fantastic.computer/doxygen/index.html and http://ev3.fantastic.computer/doxygen-all/

It seems to be the best option at the moment.


How can I upload .ev3 files to my brick under macOS Catalina

The only way to compile a .ev3 file to a .rbf file is with the "EV3 Lab" software that is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina.

So your options are:

Run Windows or an older version of macOS in a virtual machine, such as VirtualBox
Find someone that can send you the compiled .rbf file, then use a tool such as ev3duder to transfer the program to the EV3.
Write a new program in the new scratch-based programming software.


Are silicone rubber bands safe for LEGO?

Silicone does not appear to be safe with ABS plastic
This sounded like a good idea to me since silicone works well in other extreme circumstances like baking, but the quick research I've done says this is not so smart.  I found two general references for ABS compatibility:

Plastics International Plastic Compatibility Chart
Kelco's ABS compatiblity chart

Both rate the compatibility a D, which means:

Material will decompose or dissolve in a short.

or

Severe Effect.  The material should not be used under any circumstances.

The only caveat here is that Plastics International is talking about "Silicone Fluids" and you're asking about a solid.  I wouldn't risk my LEGO's on that unless we hear from somebody that tried it and it worked out for them.


What is the best system for lifting things without pistons?

Screwjacks!

Key components would be Technic, Gear Rack 1 x 4 and Technic, Gear Worm Screw

Application of said parts are left as an exercise for the reader, though since OP says they're not using Technic, this might be a moot answer.


I'll speak from my experience with these items as I don't have any formation backed by TLG.

The teeth themselves, found on A and B version of the 4265, while looking fragile, weren't the cause of the redesign I think. These could bend or deform but still be gripping with Technic plates with toothed ends as well as toothed pin axle connectors (which I think was the primary reason teeth existed on half bushes at first).

First two versions seem to be quite weak since they tend to crack quite often. Especially with aging, when clutch strength increases (perhaps parts shrink a little over time?). Don't know the reason behind designing version B, but it looks like the issue with cracking was observed and TLG tried to remediate this.

As for version C, I cannot really tell if supplemental sets released in 1993 really had this version included. It looks like the actual year C version was used is 1997, being part of several sets. You'll also notice this is also the year modern Technic connectors (like 32016) were introduced. These new connectors have the same angles you could construct from toothed pin axle connectors with busing of A or B type and are much stronger. Due to this there's no need for half-bushing to have teeth, thus it can have a little more plastic to make it stronger. In fact, I cannot really remember if any of modern 1/2 bushing I have got cracked or broken.

As seen on this picture from Rebrickable C version (represented here as 32123a and 32123b) had minor mould change over its production as well. Bricklink doesn't distinguish these variations and use 4265c part number for both.


Since you are trying to solve a Rubik's cube, check out the source code for the MindCuber. The solution there is that the values are not actually converted into colors. Rather the raw values are converted to HSV and then sorted by hue. The actual value does not matter, just how close it is to the other values.

The Mindcuber also has a white calibration. This is used to identify the white values and removed them from the list before sorting which is useful since white doesn't have a meaningful hue value.


Which set are these bags from? Red bricks, grey plates, and yellow railings?


The possible solutions involve realizing that you can multiply the number of possible inputs by implementing long clicks, double clicks, click-and-holds, simultaneous clicks, etc. on the buttons. If I were you, I'd also include a Confirm and maybe a Cancel buttons, but the latter can be substituted by a timeout. You could ease your job if you don't handle the separate bills as individual amounts, but set the requested amount of money and write a function that splits an amount into separate bills (e.g. splitting 58 into 2×20, 1×10, 1×5, 3×1).

With these in mind, have a look at these example button mappings:

Solution #1:

Button 1: Increase amount by 1
Button 2: Decrease amount by 1
Button 3: Confirm

Solution #2:

Button 1: Increase amount by 1; Long press: increase amount while being held
Button 2: Decrease amount by 1; Long press: decrease amount while being held
Button 3: Confirm

Solution #3:

Button 1: Add 1
Button 2: Add 5
Buttons 1+2 simultaneously: Add 10
Button 3: Add 20
Buttons 1+2+3 simultaneously: Confirm

Solution #4:

Button 1: Increase amount by 1
Button 2: Cancel
Button 3: Confirm

Of course each approach requires different sub-solutions (as mentioned above, timeouts, detection of long presses and button holds, simultanous presses, etc.). These are up to you, but if you get stuck, feel free to ask :)


What are the memory requirements of EV3-G software blocks running on NXT bricks?

The move steer and move tank blocks take 5kb each while the large motor block takes 4kb. If you have a long string of move blocks in your program, it will take up big chunks of memory. We've gotten around that in the past with using myblocks. Myblocks are only copied to the NXT once and called each time it is needed in the program. A pivot myblock might take 7kb but you can use it as many times as you like without taking up more memory. We make a myblock for just about every common move used in our programs. It pays to make a myblock if a string of code will be used more than once.

I would stick with EV3 software if you plan to move to the EV3 hardware in the next season or two. I personally liked NXT-g better but we upgraded our hardware to EV3 this year.

Edit - I just compared the NXT blocks to the EV3 blocks and there is quite a difference. The NXT-g move block only takes 2.4KB and the motor block takes 1.1KB. Our pivot myblock that takes 7KB in EV3 only takes 1.6KB in NXT.


How can I tell which LEGO minifigure I found?

The torso is from Lando Calrissian.

The rest of the parts are from Kithaba.

They both came in the 2012 Desert Skiff Star Wars set


What is average weight of booklets (instructions) in %?

Bricklink has this information for most sets. If you search for the set number, you get several entries. The top one is the entire set, and has the weight for the full sealed box with parts and instructions. Then there are two more entries, one for the Instructions and one for the Box. See here for an example using set 41314 Stephanie’s House.

If you go into each of these entries, you will find a weight for each. In the case of 41314, the total set weighs 1340g, the instructions weigh 318g and the empty box weighs 210g. So, doing the math, the pieces alone (assuming any stickers have negligible weight) weigh 1340-210-318=812g.

I don’t think there is a clear percentage for the weight of the instructions compared to the weight of the set, but feel free to use the BrickLink API to extract the above 3 pieces of information for ALL sets and calculate the average. I think you will find that the percentage varies due to a number of factors, such as: the number of instruction books used, the quality of the binding (some books are glued, some have staples), the weight of the paper used (some instructions use thinner paper than others), the set theme (IDEAS sets tend to have long explanatory stories before they dive into instructions), etc.


Anyone know the name of this Star Wars brick

This is called Windscreen 3 x 6 x 5 Bubble with Sith Infiltrator Pattern:

It came only in the 7151-1: Sith Infiltrator set in 1999.


Non powered/motorized flight has been achieved

Bamboo copter

Anna Vuurzoon made a Flying machine using only Lego parts which uses a ripcord to propel a three blade propeller on a stick (see http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/288875). I was able to duplicate her results, so can validate it does work. It is really a modification of a bamboo copter. The 2015 Ninjago Lego Airjitzu series
( Lego #70739, 70740, 70741, 70742, 70743, 70744) are bamboo copters and work on the same basic concept as Anna Vuurzoon's flying machine.

Glider design

Daron Williams (via Drat Glider) and Milan "grohl" Reindl from Czech Republic have both reported making working/flying Lego gliders using mainly Technic cross-axles components.  Both gliders travelled between  20 to 30 feet with the Drat Glider with the bigger wingspan going a bit longer.  The wing cross section is more or less flat (one stud tall airfoil) and acting more like an air sail (paraglider) than an airfoil. Williams uses Lego Plastic sheets from the Mars Exploration Rover Set to cover the wing (wing cowling). Plastic sheets is the lightest wing covering that can be used but Lego does not make very large ones. Reindl uses plastic from garbage bag and tape to cover the wing on his glider - this allows for a bigger but heavier cowling. I have made my own Lego glider using the plastic from Lego store bags as my wing canvas using similar construction techniques as Williams and Reindl . My preliminary indoor flying test validate the results by Williams and Reindl.  Milan Reindl is now a Lego Group junior designer (you can see his profile on Lego Technic Designer Profile).

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/1769

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQcCoZ9rcY

The Challenge:

Lego does not make a quality aerial propeller or water/hydrodaulic screw-prop with a fuel efficient power stroke. The aerial propeller design for an all-electric aircraft have already be optimized by the Radio control aircraft community and can be fitted to a Technic axle but modern aerial prop design need to run from 4000 to 10000 rpm and use poly lithuim batery packs and motors that run at higher current and voltage than the Lego power function components.

The Vuurzoon design takes a lot of torque/power to fly and uses the power that it is given inefficiently. The only thing going for the Vuurzoon prop design is that it has the most efficient rotor angle to create lift. The Vuurzoon design uses hand power instead of electrical power and thus avoids the low power limitation of Lego electrical motors and battery pack systems.  Lego motors without gearing don't go above 2000 rpm at their set voltage/current level and have a high weight to power ratio which is bad for flying. Going over an 8:1 gearing causes a Lego motor to lose so much power/torque that any propellers slow down due to wind resistance (even the most energy efficient  light weight two blade electrical propellers has this problem).  Lego motors can go a bit faster if pumped with higher current and higher voltage from a non standard non-lego power source (e.g. poly-Lithium +15V power pack) but many believe this will shorten the motor lifespan.  Lego Power Function electrical packs are also too heavy for flight  the lightest battery pack is a Li-ion rechargable pack which weights about 75 grams. The heaviest Lego battery pack is the AA battery pack with alkline batteries which weights 195 grams — which is enough to sink a two catamaran hull or a large single hulled lego boat.
Standard Lego bricks are too heavy for an heavier-than-air airframe. The lightest Lego parts that can be used as an air frame are the technic axles followed by the half width technic beams— both are only semi-ridge so some bracing is need if air frame rigidity is required. In order to get a battery pack light enough and with sufficient voltage levels to fly as part of the aircraft — Lego needs to have to Lithium polymer battery pack kicking out between 18vdc to 30vdc — at those voltage levels the mini hi RPM motors used on Quadcopters and helicopter toys can start to be posssible.

Analysis of other attempts

Lego Quadcopter

There are several efforts to use Lego to make the frame of a quadcopter and uses a non lego high speed lightweight motors, hi powered batteries, and electric propeller. The high speed  motors usually run at 3400 to 15000 rpm @ 13 to 30 vdc and are very light weight. In addition it is using a non lego Poly-Lithium power pack some output as high as 30vdc even with heavy current drains. Some are using a Arudino microprocessor like device for remote communication.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkrTJh0H1fs

http://robotsquare.com/2012/03/02/flying-lego/

http://tinkernology.blogspot.com/2010/08/lego-nxt-quadcopter-no-really.html

http://www.suasnews.com/2012/12/20276/drone-made-of-lego-takes-flight/

Lego NXT Blimp-Airship

A lighter than air Lego Airship which was made by The Lego Group for a European Lego show/convention — uses Lego education propellers (from the renewable energy kit) and standard Lego motors and power supply. Prototype (non-commerical, custom made) helium balloons are used to create a neutral buoyancy so that the propellers can create lift and push the airship forward.  The Lego airship (called the C5) was demonstrated in an auditorium/stadium with a very high ceiling (there is no wind of any kind that the Airship would have to overcome).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GefwcBUioAE


Resources to learn useful common Mindstorms mechanical construction patterns

I've had trouble finding good examples as well. One of the most interesting one is, sadly, in Spanish, but the images (and some help from Google Translate) helped me some. Hopefully it can be a start.

http://www.hispalug.com/foro/index.php?topic=11730.0


Can anyone identify this small 1x1 round brown part?

Those are Wheel 8mm D. x 6mm
Bricklink.com

In brown they were often used as wheels for cannons on sailing ships or castles.


Need help identifying or locating pieces - 4-stud T-shaped plates

I can't speak for other brands, but I'm sure that there is no such LEGO element.
This would be a plate, but the Bricklink category has nothing exactly like this design.
The closest would be the Plate 2 x 2 Corner or Plate 3 x 3 Cross, but the first requires an additional plate, which could prove unfeasible due to the missing structural bonds, and the latter has an extra plate (which could be cut away if needed, even though that would be considered a bad choice by many).

Edit
As jpa noted below, if these parts should serve as structural support, the required strength could be achieved by attaching a Plate 1 X 3 and a Plate 1 X 1 together by their sides. These LEGO bricks are made of ABS, therefore the suitable binding agents would be acetone, cyanoacrylate (superglue), or epoxy.


Can you identify this LEGO board game with square paper tokens?

found it at last...!

They are cards from this game from the 1990s

Space Police / Blacktron II / M:Tron Poster Game

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?G=921800


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

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


There are multiple sets indeed.

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

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

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


How to safely straighten 2569 Lego Antenna Whip 8H?

It's not a particular rare part, easily replaced with bricklink for a couple of cents, so I wouldn't worry about damaging it. If it's bent it's damaged anyway.

For standard lego made out of ABS the procedure is to submerge it in hot water (hot to the touch but not scalding or boiling) for about a minute and then straighten it with your fingers or pliers in cold water...

However, this is a transparent piece so made out of PC instead of ABS. The melting point of PC is is about 50 degrees Celsius higher. So I guess the hot water will need to be near boiling...


What are the significance of 3 marks that appear on the back of base plates?

I think that this is a production code similar to the seal codes on other sets (e.g. 24R5 for the 24th week of 2015), and you need to add the number from the first dial to the number of the second dial to get a week number, and the Q "dog tag" indicates the production facility this came from. It's missing the production year though, perhaps that was not needed or has been encoded somewhere else on the baseplate.

UPDATE: The year of production is printed in the center of the single digit dial ("11" in your case) with one digit on each side of the arrow. So your base plate was made in 19Q11, which is the 19th week of 2011. This code seems to be on other LEGO elements as well - for comparison here is a picture of a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 tray from set 45544. It also features a Q, and has a "15" printed in the center of the single digit dial (the full code is 17Q15):


LEGO color discrepancies and tint variations

Unfortunately, this is common to several colors in the LEGO color pallette. According to this article on Eurobricks.com, The LEGO Group (TLG) made a change in the early 2000’s in how they make their colors: they used to have premixed color granules but abandoned those in favor of a system of white granules with colored dyes added in. This new system allows for many more color combinations than previously possible.

There are certain colors which are more susceptible to color variances than others, especially the above mentioned Sand Green, but also Dark Red, Light Bluish Grey and certain Blues.

The good news is that you can use these color variations to create “weathered” looks, like for example in the Old Fishing Store set where the slight variations in Sand Green color give the building a slightly “beaten” look. This Eurobricks thread gives more examples of how you can create weathering effects in your LEGO models.