Building Lego Machines to Destroy Tall Lego Towers

[MarioMan]

For anyone looking for more of this, there are several channels that are all pushing LEGO Technic to its limits, not just Brick Technology (https://www.youtube.com/@BrickTechnology).

Some of my other favorites in this niche include:

Brick Experiment Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BrickExperimentChannel

Dr. Engine: https://www.youtube.com/@DrEngine

Brick Machines: https://www.youtube.com/@BrickMachinesChannel

Jamie's Brick Jams: https://www.youtube.com/@JamiesBrickJams

Build it with Bricks: https://www.youtube.com/@BuilditwithBricks

GazR's Extreme Brick Machines!: https://www.youtube.com/@GazRsExtremeBrickMachines

[lancefisher]

Akiyuki makes infrequent videos, but beautiful LEGO machines.

https://youtube.com/@akiyuky

[unwind]

Great list, thanks!

For original models, often with advanced and beautiful moving parts, JK Brickworks [1] is great, too.

1: https://www.youtube.com/@JKBrickworks

[ipsum2]

Blog spam for https://youtu.be/HY6q9hwYcoc?si=VCBF2FlHADUZyH_1

[dependsontheq]

I wouldn’t call Jason Kottke blog spam.

[red_admiral]

If your blog is that good, you're allowed to spam occasionally.

[kromokromo]

Huge fan of this guy, very talented and creative mechanical lego engineer. You can also tell he spends a lot of time editiing his videos.

[IG_Semmelweiss]

This is very impressive and looks quite fun! Do higher end competitions, like FRC, can also support the iterative approach of trial and error to solve a problem ? Not sure if due to lot of small parts and dependencies - particularly with software- its much harder to iterate around it

[notnaut]

Check their YouTube channel out for like 10-20 more fun challenges like this. Whoever’s responsible is so creative and clever and also very good at making entertaining videos.

[gbear605]

The FRC team I was on (years ago) would prototype individual components of the robot, but for the whole robot design they would just design the entire thing in CAD before actually starting building. Obviously there would then be some iteration as some parts work or don’t work, but the large majority of the robot would stay the same after the initial model.

[OmegaMetor]

With frc it depends a lot more on the specific team and how they work, some teams will very rapidly prototype lots of things to find what works for them, while others will just have an idea they like and start building. It's more of a time management issue than anything.

[codeflo]

Slightly off-topic, but I was recently very disappointed to learn that Lego Mindstorms was discontinued some time ago without replacement. It’s such a shame that hardly modifiable licensed IP shovelware sets are now by far the most profitable product lines for Lego. Supposedly that’s true in Asian markets in particular. The kinds of sets we grew up with that inspire creativity and technical understanding are at best kept as a niche, at worst abandoned.

[Yen]

For what it's worth, it seems like "lego spike prime" is effectively equivalent to mindstorms, in that it includes a programmable brick that can connect to multiple motors, sensors, and can be programmed in a scratch-like environment.

I don't know why there was a branding change, but the capabilities seem pretty similar to the RCX I had as a child. Though programming over bluetooth is likely to be more reliable than the IR adapter.

[vliedel]

All the current motors are very controllable (absolute position, speed, etc).

They can be hooked up to:

- A battery box, with simple buttons.

- A hub, controlled via bluetooth (protocol is documented, and there are some libraries).

- A hub that can be programmed (spike).

- A raspberry pi, with an official hat (build hat). This also comes with a python library.

I'm actually pretty happy with these motors. The only downside is that the technic sets are meant to be controlled with an app.

[acedTrex]

Yes, i learned this recently as well and was devastated. A very core part of my journey to becoming an engineer.

[baruz]

> recently very disappointed

Here too. Apparently the components are scattered through the education-oriented Spike Prime sets. If you can stomach the kid-oriented colors, that’s the best route to recreating childhood Mindstorms robots.

[auto]

For the climber, I thought the final solution was going to end up being rails that just pushed a weight further out from center mass at the top of the tower. The ball pendulum was cool nonetheless!

[testfrequency]

The camera angles and editing on this video is so satisfying. Great work.

[rightbyte]

Really impressive. I wonder how much time each design takes? The video makes it look like it is easy for the author.

[supermatt]

About half-way in they encounter problems with the barrel jamming, which reminded me of this interesting challenge wintergaten had with his ball separator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83I8mLKufo

[causi]

I'm going to hell, because my first thought was "LEGO airliners".

[wslh]

Excelent for a high school course in physics.

[kjrfghslkdjfl]

I'm disappointed to see that he didn't try the simplest and most obvious solution: deploy a telescopic boom that pushes the tower against the floor.

[badcppdev]

There's a line between "consumerism" and living a good life. I believe that many people in HN think that well made construction kits with parts that last for decades like Lego are part of having a good life rather than simply 'mass-martketed mass-producted plastic'.

[stby]

Lego specifically lasts pretty long, I've got some of them at home that survived three generations of kids. But apart from that I do feel like there's way to much plastic in toys, so I'm curios - do you have any good recommendations for alternatives? There seems to be plenty of wooden toys for toddlers, but not so much for kids older than 4.

[wasmitnetzen]

Computers are mass-produced plastic as well. There's no way no plastic was involved in you being able to write this comment.

[yAak]

I share an outrage for mass production of plastic, but not at all for Lego.

Lego is a fantastic use of plastic, IMO. Durable, reusable, broad appeal, and designed to be kept, not churned out into the landfill or ocean.