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LEGO built a life-size, drivable Bugatti from over a million Technic pieces

682 points| cududa | 7 years ago |lego.com

151 comments

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[+] kozak|7 years ago|reply
There is a PDF "fact sheet" explanation here: https://www.lego.com/r/www/r/portals/-/media/themes/technic/...

It says that the car is not built entirely from LEGO parts: there is a steel frame, axles, and many other non-LEGO things in it.

[+] kazinator|7 years ago|reply
Also, "LEGO Technic" is an ill-defined term. The various kits contain an repertoire of custom pupose-designed pieces whose category appears to be open-ended. It seems that almost any conceivable chunk of plastic whatsoever (or perhaps another material) could be included a "LEGO Technic" kit. Thus if something is built out of "LEGO Technic", what exactly does that mean? It needs to be qualified, like built only with the pieces available in a particular kit available to consumers (as many instances of that kit as required).
[+] skybrian|7 years ago|reply
Well, of course.

Building anything strong out of Lego is an interesting challenge. I built a speaker stand that's basically a suspension bridge (using fishing line). A piece of wood would have done the job better.

[+] app4soft|7 years ago|reply
> It says that the car is not built entirely from LEGO parts: there is a steel frame, axles, and many other non-LEGO things in it.

So, it's look like correct title for this news should be:

LEGO built a life-size, drivable Bugatti that consist on less than 95% from over a million Technic pieces[0]

[0] https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/august/tec...

[+] tda|7 years ago|reply
more details here: https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/technic/bugatti-chiron/med... (including a 714mb zip with images which I am still downloading)

Some facts:

    Over 1,000,000 LEGO Technic elements in total 
    339 types of LEGO Technic elements used 
    No glue used in the assembly 
    Total weight: 1,500 kg 
    Engine contains:
    2,304 LEGO Power Functions motors
    4,032 LEGO Technic gear wheels 
    2,016 LEGO Technic cross axles 
    Theoretical performance of 5.3 HP 
    Estimated torque of 92 Nm
    Functional rear spoiler (using both LEGO Power Functions and pneumatics) 
    Functional speedometer built entirely from LEGO Technic elements 
    13,438 man hours used on development and construction
Edit: images are meh, just press shots. Was hoping for more on how it was built
[+] tda|7 years ago|reply
"...using 58 types of Technic custom-made elements", anyone have a information on what those pieces are? They really spent an incedible amount of hours and effort on this. 13k+ man hours...
[+] foobarian|7 years ago|reply
Where does one get these Technic pieces? There seem to be a bunch of pre-made sets but I don't see a generic kit with some motors and most often used bits.
[+] tetrep|7 years ago|reply
> images are meh, just press shots. Was hoping for more on how it was built

If you scroll to the bottom of the page there's a few links to "raw video clips" and "how we did it". I'm downloading them now but the names of the files sound like they're exactly what you want.

[+] seanalltogether|7 years ago|reply
I can't understand how this was done without glue. Sure they must have used something to secure the initial blocks to the steel frame, but nothing afterwards?
[+] cloudwizard|7 years ago|reply
stock LEGO in sets is around 10 cents per piece. technics are more expensive. Looking at Ebay, it looks like 30-50 cents on average. You are looking at $200K to $400K for the 1M Technics pieces. They said the motors cost $70K. Say up to $500K for LEGO including custom elements.
[+] mey|7 years ago|reply
There are two things that really amaze me

  No glue
  Powered by lego electric motors
I can accept that there is important subframe and wheels not in Lego. It's still masterful and essentially a work of art.
[+] kmonad|7 years ago|reply
a much fairer and better response than the snarky current top comment. who'd deny this is amazing?
[+] pcurve|7 years ago|reply
i know! that motor pack is awesome.
[+] ourmandave|7 years ago|reply
If this thing is ever in an accident I hope first responders are wearing thick soled shoes.
[+] lodi|7 years ago|reply
And the best part is it's modular, so you can reconfigure it into a minivan for your daily commute!
[+] ChuckMcM|7 years ago|reply
Fascinating stuff and a pretty amazing accomplishment! Good job Lego.

I've built a number of robots out of Lego Technic pieces and the only way to keep them together was often to glue pieces together. There was a MIT interstitial class (6.270) that was pretty influential in the hobby robots scene during the late 80s and one of the fallouts of that was a great building techniques guide that was notes on how to make things like power plants and load supporting beams.

That said, supporting the weight of a person and a car in the air across the distance between the front and read axles would have seemed pretty impossible to me. Now if you looked underneath and there was a row of wheels keeping the middle of the car supported that would not have surprised me. And then a top speed of 20km/h ? That is almost 20' or 6m/second, that is fast for even a small Lego car much less a huge one.

[+] edraferi|7 years ago|reply
> supporting the weight of a person and a car in the air across the distance between the front and read axles would have seemed pretty impossible to me

Yeah, there is a core steel chassis for that. The main LEGO stuff is the body and engine.

[+] Scarblac|7 years ago|reply
I wonder about the size of the step-by-step instruction booklet.
[+] sizzzzlerz|7 years ago|reply
Not to mention the size of the box it came in !
[+] dclowd9901|7 years ago|reply
If you're not a person who's spent much time with legos, it might be hard to grasp why this is considered an "engineering feat". LEGO is a system of modular building after all, right?

However, the kind of weight that 1,000,000 Legos is (in this case, north of 3,300 pounds) means that they had to use pieces, none of which (I believe) exceed 8" in length, to form the support structure of this vehicle. I would _love_ to see the "chassis" of this thing. Probably some gigantic rail structures holding it all together.

[+] bgutierrez|7 years ago|reply
https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/technic/bugatti-chiron/med... has a link to a "How We Did It" video. There are clips of the chassis and some of the parts that weren't Lego. It shouldn't detract from the feat; the motor is a matrix of Technic motors, the door hinges are Technic pieces, and the skin was adjustable with a tool that also was made of Technic parts.
[+] jonknee|7 years ago|reply
There is a non Lego support structure (I mean it makes sense, it has real Chiron wheels/tires!). Still quite impressive though.
[+] cududa|7 years ago|reply
What blows my mind is aside from the frame, wheels and batteries the whole thing is LEGO
[+] PeterisP|7 years ago|reply
Not even the frame - "This is also the first-time load-bearing parts were built purely out of LEGO."
[+] ashleyn|7 years ago|reply
Look at the patterns in the body. A seasoned engineer can certainly make do with what he's got.
[+] felipemnoa|7 years ago|reply
Looking at the car it reminds me of the replicators in Stargate SG-1.
[+] bognition|7 years ago|reply
Wow, this is just incredible. Was anyone else hoping there would be a head on collision crash test between the two cars?
[+] zaarn|7 years ago|reply
You'd probably be torn to shreds in the lego one by the flying pieces and/or die when you try to leave the car and step on the million pieces lying around.
[+] em-bee|7 years ago|reply
well, i was certain they wouldn't do that, but yes, i want to see how this car behaves in a real crash test.
[+] lihaciudaniel|7 years ago|reply
I think from that many man hours of work it would be in a museum. Maybe even anti earthquake feature so it doesn't completely break.
[+] crispyambulance|7 years ago|reply
Aside from shape, the LEGO one or the "real" one share other thing: they're still both toys!
[+] sandworm101|7 years ago|reply
It is only a toy if it has no purpose beyond being a toy (see "art"). The bugatti can get me to work and back.
[+] Radle|7 years ago|reply
For me, this is even more impressive than a real Bugatti.
[+] chx|7 years ago|reply
I am sure you've read before if all modern tools and factories were to disappear we would need to rebuild almost from scratch because you need more precise tools to build even more precise ones. In that vein:

> There was an extra electric screwdriver build to adjust the cylinder pistons. It is made completely out of LEGO Technic pieces. It was needed because an actual screwdriver has too much torque. The LEGO one uses Power Functions motor, simple gearbox and custom-designed switch.

[+] pbhjpbhj|7 years ago|reply
Which is more expensive?
[+] LeonM|7 years ago|reply
Good question. A Bugatti Chiron MSRP is about 2.5MM, the lego version could be more expensive, if you add all the bricks, the steel frame, the (real) Chiron wheels (40k for the set, I estimate) and the 13,500 (!) hours of work it could get really expensive, really fast.
[+] escoundel|7 years ago|reply
I hope they capitalize on it more and produce a few videos with build walkthroughs and engineering behind it. For all its "markety" feel, there's a lot to learn and engage folks interested in building with first principles in mind.