That's a mode of thought that sells me on systems like "Makerbeam",
where someone manufactures relatively cheap aluminium T-bar or another
versatile building system, with modular addons allowing usage with
motors, electronics and other such niceities.
Unfortunately, Makerbeam is still expensive; I guess you have to pay a
lot more for custom-extruded aluminium T-bar than for Lego made of ABS.
However, now that Lego is public domain and eminently 3D printable, most
reasons not to just go with Lego fall away, for construction purposes.
However, whether to use Lego's robotic systems make sense is another
issue entirely. I think, given that Lego can be 3D printed and we have
other, more versatile/powerful/cheap/Open Source robotics systems, it
would be best to create an "Open Mindstorms" that one can apply to Lego
bricks to give the same power with a more open system.
That way, you can prototype in Lego, which is its defining strength, but
your design isn't trapped inside the Lego Mindstorms IDE or robotics
platform. You can strip the lego from your
microcontroller/motors/sensors and replace it with something more
substantial once your concept proves workable.
On 16/03/12 04:35, Richard Proctor wrote:
> you make a good point Avery. The other benefit is that lego is, by
> design entirely modular. so if you find you a cheap replacement for
> your lego machine you can just break it down into parts and build
> something else.
>
> yes its expensive to start but for me the relatively rapid rebuilding
> time wins it
>
>
> On Mar 14, 3:51 pm, Avery louie <inactiv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Oh my god did that kid build a delta robot? Thats freaking sweet!
>>
>> A agree that legos are too expensive electronic-parts wise, but maybe they
>> can be used for prototyping hardware, while the rest of the electronics is
>> breadboarded.
>>
>> --A
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 11:44 AM, Richard Proctor <richardmproc...@gmail.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> wrote:
>>> lego has the benefit of not appearing intimidating to a beginner and
>>> it is possible to create some very complex bits of kits out of lego.
>>
>>> an igem team a few years ago made this..
>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRijFX0BpGI
>>
>>> On Mar 14, 2:08 pm, ByoWired <byowi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> It's kinda cute that they could use a LEGO gadget for doing something
>>>> useful, but in my humble opinion LEGO microcontrollers are not a cheap
>>>> alternative to anything. It might be okay to tinker with if you
>>>> happen to have one around but you can get much more flexibility and
>>>> bang for your buck if you use Basic Stamps or Propeller chips (both
>>>> from Parallax.com) or, for simpler tasks, some sort of Arduino thing
>>>> or a PIC. LEGOs are great teaching devices for kids but by the time
>>>> somebody is doing DIY science, I would hope they could graduate to
>>>> something more substantial.
>>
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