BrickEngineer: LEGO Design

LEGO Engineering for LEGO NXT and Robot Enthusiasts

KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover Featured on Japan’s NHK World Network


KnuthLab Exploration Rover Featured on NHK WorldNet

KnuthLab Exploration Rover Featured on NHK WorldNet

The Knuth Cyberphysics Laboratory focuses on studying the fundamental physics governing the processes of information-driven systems.

At present we are focused on two research projects. The first, which is funded by a NASA SBIR grant, aims to develop Bayesian vision-based navigation systems for future NASA missions. The second, which has been funded by NASA in the past, is focused on developing intelligent instrumentation in the forms of science platforms that can autonomously decide on and perform their own experiments. Both projects, which are focused mainly machine learning software, rely on robotic platforms that we construct out of LEGOs. LEGO bricks are prefabricated plastic parts that can be assembled and disassembled in a matter of hours. We have found them to be quite versatile and capable, as well as being inexpensive.

On Wednesday Sept. 12, 2012, the Knuth Cyberphysics Lab at the University at Albany was visited by a television crew from NHK
World Network (Japan Broadcasting Corp.). They were working on a piece focused on the Mars Curiosity rover and were interested how NASA missions fostered creativity in robotics. In our lab, they were specifically interested in the fact that we used LEGO robots to test software for funded NASA projects. The program aired in Japan on Sept 15, 2012.

Here is a link to the show’s website.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/worldnet/archives/year/detail20120915_202.html

Here is the photo caption from the website:
NASAは自由な発想で宇宙開発に挑むために、
あるユニークな方法を取り入れている。その方法とは、おもちゃにもなっているブロック。次世代の探査機を研究しているチームでは、ブロックを使いながら設計予想図のイメージを共有し、問題点を洗い出している。何度も手軽に作り直すことができ、自由な発想を形にしやすいのがブロックの強みだ。キュリオシティの開発でもブロックを使って検討作業を行った。研究開発の担当者は「ブロックを使うと、いいアイディアかそうでないかはすぐにわかるので方針転換も早くなる」と話す。

The Bing translation is:
Incorporating a unique way for free thinkers NASA challenge space development. How is block have become toys. Share the anticipated blueprint image team studies the next-generation spacecraft, while using the block and identify the problem. Easily can be recreated many times, easy and free thinking-is an advantage of the block. Using the block curiosity Inc. developed and went on. Research and development professionals “using blocks, a good idea? so readily detect if it isn’t policy change even faster” and speak.

The Knuth Cyberphysics Lab website can be found at:
http://cyberphysics.rit.albany.edu/
and
http://knuthlab.rit.albany.edu/

Learn more by checking out this related post”
http://www.brickengineer.com/pages/2012/01/06/knuthlab-lego-exploration-rover/

Mars Curiosity Rover Made Entirely of LEGOs

In celebration of the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, on Mars, Doug Moran and Will Gorman of BattleBricks.com built a LEGO MINDSTORMS model of the Mars Curiosity Rover. The model was part of the Build the Future in Space event at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The LEGO Curiosity Rover relies on 7 NXT Bricks running leJOS NXT. It employs 13 NXT Motors, two Power Function Motors, and 1000+ LEGO Bricks.

An article on the event can be found at inhabitat.com. There is also an article by the creators themselves at BattleBricks.com

LEGO Mars Curiosity Rover

LEGO Mars Curiosity Rover by Doug Moran and Will Gorman of BattleBricks

Here is a video of the rover in action!

Check out LEGOSpace.com to learn more about the long-awaited NASA-LEGO partnership. And be sure to check out what the real Curiosity Rover is experiencing on Mars!

Raspberry Pi: An ARM GNU/Linux box for $25

Move over LEGO brick!
Here comes Raspberry Pi, and it is going to change the face of robotics forever!

Raspberry Pi is Linux machine the size of a credit card. Plug in your television and a keyboard and you have a fully-functional computer for $25.
YES!!!
TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS!!!!

Layout of the Raspberry Pi ARM GNU/Linux Box Computer

Models:
There are two models, Model A and Model B.
Model A has 256MB RAM, 1 USB port and no Ethernet (network connection).
Model B has 256MB RAM, 2 USB ports and an Ethernet port.

Specs:
It relies on a System on a Chip (SoC). The particular SoC used is Broadcom BCM2835. The Broadcom BNC2835 is a High Definition 1080p Embedded Multimedia Applications Processor. It relies on the ARM1176 (ARM1176JZF-S) Processor which has a floating point processor and runs at 700 MHz. Moreover, the SoC has a Videocore 4 GPU, which is capable of BluRay quality playback, using H.264 at 40MBits/s. The Broadcom BNC2835 has a fast 3D core accessed using the supplied OpenGL ES2.0 and OpenVG libraries. The GPU is capable of 1 Gpixel/s, 1.5 Gtexel/s or 24 GFLOPs of general purpose computing.

Size:
The Raspberry Pi is SMALL!
The card is slightly larger than 85.60 mm x 53.98 mm x 17 mm due to the fact that the SD card and connectors project over the edges. It weighs with a mass of 45g. The Raspberry Pi is low power and runs on 4 AA cells.

Programming:
Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux are supported and other distributions will be supported later. Python is the official educational language.

I cant wait to get my hands on one of these and begin interfacing directly with the LEGO motors and sensors!

A photograph of the Raspberry Pi

KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover

Image of KnuthLab Exploration Rover

KnuthLab Exploration Rover with Researchers A. Fischer and N. Malakar

The Knuth Cyberphysics Laboratory in the University at Albany Physics Department has developed the KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover, which acts as a testbed for robotic intelligence and navigation software. Development of this rover was funded by a NASA SBIR Award (Advanced Bayesian Methods for Lunar Surface Navigation) through Autonomous Exploration Inc. as well as a University at Albany Faculty Research Award (Developing Robotic Explorers, PI: K.H. Knuth).

The LEGO Exploration Rover is powered by six NXT Standard Motors in a Rocker-Bogie suspension system used in all of the NASA Mars rover designs. The rover is approximately 1.5 ft high with a 1 ft x 1.5 ft base. It is larger than the NASA Sojourner Rover, which was part of the Pathfinder Mission to Mars in 1997, and smaller than the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It can safely carry a payload of 8 pounds.

Image of KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover

KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover


The LEGO Exploration Rover has two laptop bays built into the box-like frame in which it can carry two Asus Eee Laptops for onboard processing. The wheels are controlled by two LEGO NXT bricks, which can communicate with the laptops via Bluetooth. The rocker-bogie suspension and low speed allows it to handle relatively rugged terrain and steep grades.

The white frame mounted on top of the rover is the Bayesian Vision-Based Navigation System being developed by Autonomous Exploration Inc. for NASA.

Check back, as we will be posting videos of its operation and discussing some of the important design features.

Center of Mass of LEGO NXT Motors

I am working on designing a walking machine, but I needed to know the Center of Mass of the LEGO NXT Motors.  When using Newton’s Laws to compute the forces on the system, we can treat the motor as if all of its mass is located at a single point.  The Center of Mass is the location of this point.

Hanging an NXT motor to find its center of mass.

There are several ways to find the Center of Mass of the motor.  The most straightforward way is to hang the motor from an axle placed in one of the holes.  The motor will orient itself so that the Center of Mass lies directly below the axle.  By hanging a mass on a string from the axle, the Center of Mass must lie somewhere along the line defined by the string. 

The Center of Mass Lies along the line defined by the vertical string

After performing this experiment, I placed a small piece of Scotch tape over the string so that I can keep track of where that line is.  I then cut the string off of the axle.

A piece of Scotch tape holds the string in place

Now to find the precise point, we simply perform the experiment again, but place the axle through a different hole.  This gives us a second line.  Since the Center of Mass must be on both the first line and the second line, it is located at the intersection of these two lines.

The intersection of the two strings indicates the position of the Center of Mass

The Center of Mass is very close to being aligned with the holes on the motor.  Below is an MLCAD image of the NXT motor (from Philo).  I have overlayed a Cartesian coordinate system that corresponds to that used to define the 3-D image file.  The origin of this system is at the center of the axle hole on the motors drive axis.  This is perfect for me since I will be rotating the motor and trying to compute the position of the Center of Mass after the motor has rotated through some arbitrary angle.

The dimesions of the LEGO NXT Motor

This image not only helps with identifying the Center of Mass of the NXT motor, but also in understanding the dimensions of the NXT motor overall.

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

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