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Lego Mindstorms + Lasers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the robots-with-friggin-lasers dept.

hamsan writes "My brother just hacked a laser pointer into an NXT light sensor and fully documented the process. From the page — 'Total Project Cost — $16.99 plus shipping. Time Required — Approximately 2 hours of tinkering. Having an Alpha Rex with a Laser — Priceless!' Of course, the usual warnings about voiding warranties and avoiding lasers apply."

4 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Small Child + Lasers by nead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How do you explain to a small child not to stare into a laser beam? The little guy in one of the last pictures obviously couldn't read or understand that safety label.

  2. [Nearly] Pointless Hack by runlevel+5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not to sound like a naysayer, but honestly the laser adds almost no functionality whatsoever to the Mindstorms kit. In a course I am taking we are designing and building ten different kinds of robots out of these kits, and there isn't one that would benefit from having a frickin laser beam on its forehead.

  3. Ummm.. by ian_mackereth · · Score: 1, Insightful
    I'm a hardware geek, but I don't really see why a laser pointer in the robot is so great?

    Now, if it was a green laser, with a visible beam, that would be cool!

    Mind you, you'd have to put a '1' in front of the price tag...

  4. Earn money through slashdot. by LoverOfJoy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1. Build something extremely nerd-friendly out of items found at Amazon.com 2. Create website explaining how to do it (complete with amazon referal links) 3. Submit website to Slashdot 4. ??? 5. Profit!