BrickEngineer: LEGO Design

LEGO Engineering for LEGO NXT and Robot Enthusiasts

The Blossoming Lotus: LEGO Kinetic Art


I call this creation The Blossoming Lotus.  It was originally posted on Online Cortex, but I have decided to repost it here because its just plain fun. Basically it is a large 2D version of a Hoberman sphere. Why did I not make a large Hoberman sphere? First, the parts to make the circle cost almost $80 US. Second, I have other more pressing projects I am working on.

The Blossoming Lotus Kinetic Art

The Blossoming Lotus Kinetic Art

It is about 4 feet in diameter when completely extended and is pretty impressive. Its relatively easy to make. My design consists of constructing each petal with two interlocking pieces: a single-claw arm and a double-claw arm. The parts needed to make the two arms are illustrated below.

Parts for a Single Lotus Petal

Parts for a Single Lotus Petal

To make the entire circle of petals, one needs 20 copies of each petal. The job then is to put them all together. I will post detailed instructions on a website in the near future. For now, here is a closeup of the blossom when completed.

Close Up of the Lotus Blossom

Close Up of the Lotus Blossom

And of course, the project wouldn’t be complete without that animation above made with MLCAD, L3PAO, and POV Ray. The animation was straightforward—once you get the geometry right (which is not straightforward). I will post a lesson on the geometry and the animation of this creation in the future as well. For now, enjoy.

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Category: Art, Design
  • Peter Hoh says:

    Nathan Stohlmann built one of these and displayed it at a library LEGO show.

    Here’s a photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterhoh/8524269585/in/photostream

    March 3, 2013 at 2:22 pm
  • admin says:

    Beautiful!
    It is a very impressive piece.
    I had mine hanging up in my office for some time.
    Thanks for sharing this!
    Kevin

    March 3, 2013 at 11:58 pm

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