Last Post (for a while)

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow so I thought I'd try to write one last post. I was not inspired at all and after staring at my lego pieces for a while I decided to make a stop motion video. Here it is:

Gone for a while

Just so you know, I won't be able to post these next five or so weeks. I am going to be gone for a while, but I'll be be back in very early August. All I can say is I would bring LEGOs and a computer with if I was allowed to.

However you won't die of boredom. I have already scheduled a post to appear automatically on July 15th, and if I have time I'll write and schedule another.

StringThing

The StringThing uses one motor to spin a string. That's it. Oh right: it spins it in a sine wave. Cool, huh?

"Normal" LEGO Blog

Once in a while I post some standard-LEGO-brick creations on my blog. However, I don't feel they really belong here. So I created another blog, Collective Creations. My problem is that I don't build with normal LEGO much. Well, I do, but not quite enough to supply a blog. So I'm asking anyone who wants to to join it! Instructions how on the blog. You don't have to be a regular poster, even just once every few months would be fine.

How do YOU organize?

I was wondering: how do all of you readers organize your NXT pieces? Or should I say DO you organize your pieces...! Please comment, and if you want, post a link to a image of your sortings. Here is a picture of my LEGO trays:

Rechargeable Batteries

I have always used rechargeable batteries in my NXT, and if you do or are planning to, here are some tests I did with 6 new Energizer 15 minute rechargeable batteries and a new LEGO NXT Rechargeable Battery Pack.


The test was this: Have two identical robots, one powered by LEGO and the other by Energizer, drive forward a certain distance and time themselves. The one with the shortest average time wins. Here are the results:

Tests	LEGO's Battery	Energizer's Batteries
Test 1	3.941 sec.	4.119 sec.
Test 2	4.082 sec.	3.978 sec.
Test 3	4.095 sec.	4.163 sec.
Average Time	4.039 sec.	4.086

So, LEGO's battery pack supplies just slightly more power, but is more expensive.
If money is not an issue, get LEGO's battery, it has other advantages such as you can charge it while it's in the NXT. (Click it's image). If you don't have a big NXT budget, get Energizer's. They're better than one-use batteries.

I Won The Move That Weight Challenge!

Yay! My TugBot II won NXTCentral.com's first building challenge, Move That Weight!

...And a diorama to go with it.

This is my first ok diorama, and it was inspired by McZargald from Flickr. It pictures some rebels who dug a trench, attempting to hold out against the Military Police. Bad news for them, though; the MP just brought in a tank.
More Pictures.

Hey look, a tank...

More Pics: Here.