Robotics - Home Innovations 

By on

Image(10)
LEGO Mindstorms
We have a sister note to this (Robots - Interesting Video), in which I have posted some videos of interesting robots developed by commercial corporations and institutions.  While these are great in themselves, there is a whole range of innovation carried out by hobbyist and amateurs. In this note, I intend to post videos of interesting robotics projects I come across which have not been developed by big institutions.

LEGO Mindstorms

For anyone who doesn't know, Lego Mindstorms is a robotics kit comprising of a controller, various sensors, stepper motors and ... well Lego pieces.  In addition to being great for introducing robotics to children, people have used the system to build some unique things - domino layers, bridge builders, 3D printers, plant watering, etc.  Two particularly good ones are:

Rubik's Cube Solver

Called the CubeStormer II, this machine not only solves the puzzle, but it does in in a world record time.

 

 

Beer Delivery Machine

Besides the beer, the ingenuity of this machine is appealing.  It selects a bottle of beer, removes the top, chills it down to a drinkable 8°C and then delivers it to the consumer. 

 

 

In this instance the builder has also posted a series of learning videos which illustrate how each part of the machine work:

What to see more robots in action.  Visit our Robots - Interesting Videos note.



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus



Electromechanical Relays

Electromechanical relays have been the traditional backbone of electrical protection systems.  While over recent years these have been replaced by microprocessor...

Restricted Earth Fault Protection

The windings of many medium and small sized transformers are protected by restricted earth fault (REF) systems. The illustration shows the principal of...

Differential protection, the good old days

This morning I was explaining how differential protection works to a junior engineer. To give him something to read I opened up the NPAG (Network Protection...

myElectrical - Cable Sizing Tool Upgrade

Our IEE cable sizing was wrote a few years ago and had become rough around the edges. I thought it was time to give the tool a service. Unfortunately when...

Why is electricity so hard to understand?

It's been a busy few months on different projects or busy couple of decades depending on how I look at it. I can say that on the odd (frequent) occasion...

Back to basics - the Watt (or kW)

When thinking about watts (W) or kilowatt (kW = 1000 W) it can be useful too keep in mind the fundamental ideas behind the unit. Watt is not a pure electrical...

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply.  It is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electrical power, even in the event of failure of the...

Software Usage Guidelines

Using software in our  work is essential for most of us and we are becoming even more dependant on it's use.  While software is a great asset, many times...

Dielectric loss in cables

Dielectrics (insulating materials for example) when subjected to a varying electric field, will have some energy loss.   The varying electric field causes...

1,000 kV UHV First for China

At the beginning of the year China put the world's first 1,000 kV UHV transmission system into operation. Transmitting power at over a million volts is...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note