Aug 28, 2013

When in doubt... TLBRC

Oh yeah, this project is rolling again, thanks to The Little British Robot Company (TLBRC).

Like many modern relationships, we met on Twitter. They followed me, I followed them. I complimented their product, they answered (knowledge of social media is a good sign). Finally, I proposed a partnership and they said yes. WooooOOOOooooo!!!!!


[pause to reflect on how cool the Internet era is and how lucky I am to be part of it]

Anyway, I will redesign the second set of LEGO testing machines using almost only Makeblock parts (distributed by TLBRC) and TLBRC parts.

To get better results than the first LEGO Test Machine, certain features and constraints will be added to this new project:
  • Gather more than one control point (e.g. adding voltage, pressure, time, ...)
  • Use a rotation motion to remove the LEGO bricks.
  • Keep the test speed at 10 seconds per iteration to prevent heat from friction.
  • Perform many tests. Hopefully, many tests at the same time.
  • Test bricks from different eras.
  • Once the LEGO bricks have fallen the first time, rotate them 180 degrees to continue testing until they fail again.
  • Have a way to query the test status while it's running.
Also, instead of machining everything myself, I will be using the following:
  • Makeblock
  • TLBRC parts
  • LEGO parts
  • Arduino and other electronic components
  • TLBRC custom milled parts (If needed)




Let's get this show on the road...