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Lego Mindstorms In Space
ribbiting writes: "A father-son team have won the "Ultimate Builder Competition" (Lego Mindstorms) with their entry named "Jitter". The robot will fly to the ISS in November. It fits (whole) into a approx. 1'x1'x1' box and weighs less than 3 lbs. It's main mission is to collect small, flying debris. It can interact with the station walls and crew and supposedly has some light "mischief" programmed in as well (sneaking up on people, dancing). The story can be found here, de.news.yahoo.com, it's in German (sorry)." We mentioned the contest a few months ago. Altavista gives a semi-readable machine translation.
Is "Sneaking up on people" such a good idea in something as stressful as a space station?
I give it two months before an astronaut "accidentally" blasts it out an airlock...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Now if they could mod that robot so it would fetch a beer on voice command, that would be sweet.
That's Mr. Eradicator to you.
trance-port
Or is that a DMCA violation? :-)
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
I can see it now..
"Open the pod bay doors Jitter."
You mean small flying debris, like loose 1x3 Lego Blocks?
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
"Dimitri, I need a 1 x 6 block. Nyet, a block, not plank!"
[pink beam of light]
... to fly around the house and pick up all those little Lego(s)left lying around on the floor, the ones she's always stepping on in the dark when checking on the kids at night.
"Impulse drive", eh? These mindstorms are more advanced than I thought...
If I was going to take something fun into space, it would be one of those battery-powered traveller fans -- just the thing for flying around the inside of Alpha or the shuttle. (Outside it would be rather pointless, of course. :^) Could be useful for collecting loose potato chips too!
Reversing the battery will change the fan from a pusher into a puller prop.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
"IIS"? Am I the only one wondering what son of Nimda will do to this thing? Should I be buying space station repellent?
668: Neighbour of the Beast
But this is crazy! I thought the Canadarm had a few more years of useful life left.
Hmmm... Lego-based IIS components wouldn't be a bad way to go, I think. Just fire up a case of pieces and have the crew build whatever they need!
I assume they'll glue it together before sending it up. At least that will avoid the self-modifying trojan LEGO monster issue...
Another possibility is a mobile alarm clock that looks for people if it has not been turned off, and wakes them up.
Why do I get this mental picture of a relentless, unstoppable robotic alarm clock (with an Austrian accent) that's going to come find you and wake you up, no matter where you are?
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Just to be safe, in case the robot gets out of hand, I think we should ship Sigourney Weaver up there with it.
It can interact with the station walls and crew and supposedly has some light "mischief" programmed in as well (sneaking up on people, dancing).
Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of...
Oh, nevermind...
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
Of 124 participants in the competition also the slogan "Lego Mindstorms the last ten met goes space" to the final in Munich.
all your base are belong to us?
Eef unly eet voud trunsleet eentu Bork! Bork! Bork!
"We will adapt, Resistance is Futile..."
If I can't see it in Lynx I'm not interested.
I can just imagine astronauts desperate for fun being forced to cannabalize the thing.
The robot will fly to the ISS in November. It fits (whole) into a approx. 1'x1'x1' box and weighs less than 3 lbs.
Wow. These guys could sure cut some costs at nasa. Nasa can't fly to the ISS without rockets as tall as buildings, weighing tonnes, and costing billions!
*rimshot*
Send lawyers, guns, and money!