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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."

122 comments

  1. At lasst! by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can now have sharks with frikkin' laser beams! Albeit, Lego sharks instead of real 400kg Tiger Sharks and laser pointers instead of 2kW flesh-vaporising, ship-sinking Frikkin' Laser Beams(tm), but it's a step in the right direction.

    --
    I hate printers.
    1. Re:At lasst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Laser beam not included!
      http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=7882

    2. Re:At lasst! by jginspace · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I can now have sharks with frikkin' laser beams!


      Redundant? Warning: grouchy mods at work...

    3. Re:At lasst! by Skidge · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wonder what the odds were that the first comment wouldn't be about sharks?

    4. Re:At lasst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably one to the King's Cross railway station customer inquiries. It has to have some use.

    5. Re:At lasst! by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd say zero, but according to John Titor, everything is possible and everything has happened in a parallel universe. According to his theory, there would, believe it or not, be a reality in which up is down, black is white, George W. Bush can string a sentence together using the Queen's English and the first comment on a Slashdot post involving an application of lasers is not about sharks.

      That being said, the last point there is a strong argument against the infinite multiverse theory, as it is entirely possible that the probablility of the first post not involving sharks is exactly equal to zero, and thus, could never happen in the multiverse. Perhaps another /.er can help me formulate a proof?

      --
      I hate printers.
    6. Re:At lasst! by Korin43 · · Score: 0

      Probably about the same as the first comment in a post about microsoft being "Man I love that company!"

    7. Re:At lasst! by afaik_ianal · · Score: -1, Troll

      Dude, you need to get laid.

    8. Re:At lasst! by EvanED · · Score: 5, Funny

      He has. Didn't you see the bit about everything happening in a parallel universe?

    9. Re:At lasst! by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      kg...

      Most of us are Americans here, you need to put it into imperial measurements.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    10. Re:At lasst! by chawly · · Score: 0

      Who cares ? It was.

      --
      How many beans make five, anyhow ? ... Charles Walmsley
    11. Re:At lasst! by moro_666 · · Score: 1

      You don't get it, it's the "Laser" ...

        Mwuhahaahaaaa (Lego boss biting the little finger ....)

      --

      I'd tell you the chances of this story being a dupe, but you wouldn't like it.
    12. Re:At lasst! by MarkRose · · Score: 5, Funny

      What, were you expecting one about ill-tempered seabass?

      --
      Be relentless!
    13. Re:At lasst! by afaik_ianal · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, but his last sentence is saying he has zero chance of getting laid in any universe.

    14. Re:At lasst! by MPHellwig · · Score: 1

      At least now I know where that attitude comes from, it started when they confused US with us ...

    15. Re:At lasst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      have to rewrite and reshoot the terminator movies ..."I'lle'go back"

    16. Re:At lasst! by gx5000 · · Score: 1

      Don't be so sure about that, there are a lot of North Americans here, sure... But beware the beaver ! Salut

      --
      End of Line.
    17. Re:At lasst! by porkThreeWays · · Score: 1

      All jokes aside... This robot looks exactly like Johnny 5!! NEED INPUT!

      --
      If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
    18. Re:At lasst! by FusionDragon2099 · · Score: 1

      No disassemble! No disassemble!

    19. Re:At lasst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know you are joking, but there are a lot of Americans who are really clueless... Its not that hard

      1kg ~= 2.2 lbs..... 400kg ~=880 lbs
      1km ~= 5/8 mile..... 55mpg~=88 km/hr
      1l = 1 qt+3.8 oz....

      temperature is a bit tougher to explain, but remember those 3 and you are 75% of the way there, and you don't look like quite as much of a stupid 'Mercan

    20. Re:At lasst! by MrNaz · · Score: 1

      I agree... I was going to mention it but I didn't think anyone would get it!

      I love that I'm not the only Short Circuit fan here!

      --
      I hate printers.
    21. Re:At lasst! by Gription · · Score: 1

      "Why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots?"

    22. Re:At lasst! by x2A · · Score: 1

      What if we're in the one universe where alternate universes /don't/ exist? :-p

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    23. Re:At lasst! by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      CARTER: Not necessarily, sir. It's possible that they did gate in from PX7, just not the PX7 that we know. The multi-verse theory of quantum physics posits the existence of parallel universes, an infinite number of ever growing alternate realities that exist concurrently with our own. The theory holds that anything that can happen, will happen, if not in this reality, then in another. MITCHELL: So you're saying that somewhere in an alternate universe, I got to second base with Amy Vandenberg.
      CARTER (annoyed): Theoretically, yes.
      MITCHELL (grinning): Boggles the mind, don't it?

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    24. Re:At lasst! by MrNaz · · Score: 1

      Aargh! My head! My head!

      --
      I hate printers.
    25. Re:At lasst! by MrNaz · · Score: 1

      Well, what do you think you'll find a bunch of flies surrounding?

      --
      I hate printers.
  2. zap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    scottyyyyyy

  3. sorry :( by growse · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I, for one, welcome our new supreme laser-wielding lego overlords.

    --
    There is nothing interesting going on at my blog
    1. Re:sorry :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one, think this "joke" should vanish*.

      *Vanish for two years or so, it *might* be funny again, someday.

      And doesn't this kid look a little young to be modifying circuits? Obviously I should have used LEGOs as a kid.

    2. Re:sorry :( by chawly · · Score: 0

      You're "thinking" ? You sure AC's have a right to do that ? Are you sure that they even can ? If they can, I admit not having noticed an AC thought - but, being so small, it escaped perhaps.

      --
      How many beans make five, anyhow ? ... Charles Walmsley
  4. Terminator Shark? by MaXiMiUS · · Score: -1

    I'll be back!

    With fricken laser beams!

    --
    It's never just a game when you're winning. - George Carlin
  5. There goes the first law of robotics! by Anonymous+Cowdog · · Score: 2, Funny

    Truly a milestone for Lego on their march toward their destiny as rulers of the planet.

    I, for one, welcome our Lego overlords.

    1. Re:There goes the first law of robotics! by pryonic · · Score: 1

      I deeply fear for the human race caught in the cross fire of the impending Lego vs Tesco world war then. Hopefully I'll fall victim to some collateral ClubCard points though.

      --
      Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
  6. SHARK Lego Mindstorms + lasers by cartel · · Score: 1, Funny

    That's all I want.

    1. Re:SHARK Lego Mindstorms + lasers by timboc007 · · Score: 1

      Throw me a frikkin' bone here!

    2. Re:SHARK Lego Mindstorms + lasers by neuro.slug · · Score: 1

      Yeah?

      I want muthafuckin' lasers on a muthafuckin' shark!

  7. 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.

    1. Re:Small Child + Lasers by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just tell him: "Now Billy, don't look at the laser with your good eye - you remember what happened last time."

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    2. Re:Small Child + Lasers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If there were a chance in hell that a laser pointer could actually damage a child's eye, there would be no chance in hell that you'd be able to buy one for $2.99 at Walgreen's. Think. This is the post-Nader age, right?

    3. Re:Small Child + Lasers by speculatrix · · Score: 1

      submitted comment to http://seenonslash.com/

    4. Re:Small Child + Lasers by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 1

      Thanks, but it wasn't even close to being that funny.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    5. Re:Small Child + Lasers by mav[LAG] · · Score: 1

      Don't be modest, creators are the people least qualified to judge their own work.

      I snorted Mocca Java right out my left nostril.

      --
      --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
    6. Re:Small Child + Lasers by SQLGuru · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't that web site have been named seenonslash.org? Or am I just missing something.

      Layne

    7. Re:Small Child + Lasers by NVP_Radical_Dreamer · · Score: 1

      The goggles! They do nothing!

      --
      The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

      - Winston Churchill
    8. Re:Small Child + Lasers by wbm6k · · Score: 1

      If there were a chance in hell that a laser pointer could actually damage a child's eye, there would be no chance in hell that you'd be able to buy one for $2.99 at Walgreen's. Think. This is the post-Nader age, right?

      No; as long as proper warnings are given, even dangerous items can still be sold in stores.

      I refer you to http://vision.about.com/od/eyesafety/a/laserpointe reye.htm, an article that gives several sources showing that laser pointer can indeed damage a child's eye.

  8. And he can say... by Xybot · · Score: 5, Funny

    "My brother just hacked My Webpage into a 'Service temporarily overloaded 502 Error' and fully documented the process. From the page -- 'Total Project Cost -- $00.99 plus shipping. Time Required -- Approximately 5 Minutes of submitting site to SlashDot. Having a DIY Geek project page -- Priceless!' Of course, the usual warnings about 'cannot process the request due to a high load' apply."

    --
    God was my co-pilot, but then we crashed and I was forced to eat him.
    1. Re:And he can say... by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      Come on now, I think that's a little unfair. Total Project Cost is going to be way over $.99 when the bandwidth bill arrives.

  9. [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.

    1. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Truly, your team's lack of vision is astounding!

      --
      I hate printers.
    2. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Get a fog machine and Borg music from Star Trek. The possibilities are endless.

    3. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      Truly, your team's lack of vision is astounding!

      They must have been staring into the laser beams ...

    4. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by NineNine · · Score: 1

      Well, it looks like they're good if you want to make Little Kid Blinding Devices, as evidenced by the pictures of his son STARING into the camera, and a close up of the laser casing that says don't STARE at the laser or you'll go friggin blind.

    5. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for explaining the joke, buddy.

    6. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh but you are wrong.

      what object ANYWHERE would not be better nay GLORIOUS with one or more frikin laser beams on it's forhead??

    7. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by naoursla · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Add two cameras a known distances apart. Write a blob tracker that can locate the point where the laser hits. Use the difference in the laser point positions seen by the two cameras to determine the distance the surface hit by the laser. Now make the laser track back and forth. You now have a poor-mans SICK laser range finder (which cost thousands of dollars).

    8. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plus I already did a similar "hack" with a piece of tape. My robot has a shoulder mounted laser cannon. Beat that, smarty pants.

    9. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Punchcardz · · Score: 1

      1) You just hacked the only light sensor that comes with the Mindstorms to make the laser module. 2) The Mindstorms kit doesn't come with any sort of "camera" that can generate an actual image, much less be used for a "blob" tracker. 3) If you can put together that sort of camera rig, interface and processing software, you are pretty much at a point where the Lego kit becomes superfluous.

    10. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Isotopian · · Score: 1

      That's easy for you to say. Hindsight is 20 20.

      --

      It's poetry with a beat behind it! And guns! They're like beatniks with automatic weapons.

    11. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by benplaut · · Score: 1

      slight modification to make is useful: put the bot on one side of a doorway, and a laser pointed at the light sensor on the other. Tripwire!

    12. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by naoursla · · Score: 1

      They sell wireless webcams. Just fasten a couple of them to the lego bot. If you can modify the light sensor to be a laser pointer you can do that. A blob tracker is nothing but a program that looks for a color range in the image and takes an average position of the colors that match. It doesn't take much effort to figure out how to pull images out of the camera and run a color match filter over the picture. You can coordinate everything using Microsoft's Robotics Studio, which is preconfigured to work with the NXT (although it does not have any vision services).

      Lego did release USB camera for the old Mindstorms (that came with simple vision processing software). I'm sure they will release something for the NXT too.

    13. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      The REAL joke is you're not going to go blind from a few seconds of exposure to a laser pointer, but everyone is too freaked out by the word "laser" to use some common sense, or do a bit of research.

      The laser pointers you buy in stores (especially the cheapie ones you can use to tease the dogs with) don't produce a beam that's focused enough or intense enough to cause damage in a few seconds ... " even a minute didn't cause any decrease in eye function. You're most likely going to have a red laser, which is even less likely to cause any harm ... as the Dr. points out:

      rarely is it going to be a practical hazard because the aversion reflex we have naturally will cause a person to blink or turn away from a laser light."

      ...

      Previously, he determined red laser pointers to be quite safe. "I tested different powers up to five milliwatts and could not create recognizable damage in the human eye with the red laser pointers," he explains. "So, at least a transient exposure to red laser pointers' light is only of trivial concern."

      So while the study says to err on the side of caution, you're more likely to get eye damage from looking at an eclipse - which I've done often enough without any "protection", again with no damage.

    14. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No point? He's put a laser in the houseing of the light sensor. Change his mod and preserve the phototransistor, and what you have is a detection system for retroreflective targets. This has already been done with the RCX, so we know in priciple how to do it - now somebody's already moving there with the HW hack. If you really can't see any possible use for this... then you need more vision.

      --brdavis

    15. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for explaining the joke buddy.

    16. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by The+Andersor · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I teach Robotics using the Lego Mindstorms (we still use the RCX's) and this is truly a waste of a light sensor. I've seen lasers used with these Lego kits before, but they actually detected objects beyond the range of any other sensor on the market (even the ultrasonic proximity sensors from Mindsensors and HiTechnic). Of course the objects had to be covered in a specific reflective material, but still a lot cooler than this hack. He may as well have simply taped the laser pointer to the arm of the robot instead of wasting a perfectly good light sensor...

    17. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by OneSeventeen · · Score: 1
      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.

      But think about it, you could have a robot that.... uhm... points at things? ... from a very low angle?

      Come to think of it, what is the point of a laser on the robot? I would find playing with a laser pointer more fun than playing with a robot with a laser pointer.

      Add a battery powered tesla coil that can surprise guests and lazy house-pets, and then I'll be impressed!

      (it is cool that people still think to take stuff apart and improve upon it, so I guess I shouldn't be so hard... but I just hope my kid improves on cheap, non-robotic toys)

      --
      "Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed." -C.S. Lewis
    18. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly, you don't have a cat at home. Robot + Laser + Cat = Hours and hours of fun. When I shine my Laser pointer on the wall, my cat goes nuts--and when I stop shining it on the wall he stares at the wall for 15 minutes waiting for it to come back. Good times!

      --James

    19. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Eternauta3k · · Score: 1

      No need to have two cameras. Have the laser pointing slightly higher than the camera. The farther the object is, the higher the point will show up in the cam. Been done.
      http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~twd25/webcam_laser_ra nger.html

      --
      Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
    20. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LEGO sells an after market USB video camera for use with the Mindstorms NXT kit... and the NXT brick can communicate via bluetooth to a video camera on a cellular phone.

      No try only do

    21. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by EmperorKagato · · Score: 1

      mod parent up.

      I figured that there would be more use of a retrofitted laser on a lego mindstorms bot.

      Perhaps one could create a bot that would be able to launch projectiles while moving and be able to acquire targets using its laser pointing device.

      Who knows... someone can always find a use for this mod.

      --
      ----- You know you have ego issues when you register a domain in your name.
    22. Re:[Nearly] Pointless Hack by naoursla · · Score: 1

      Very nice. I expect that works quite well in most office environments.

  10. 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...

    1. Re:Ummm.. by BronsCon · · Score: 5, Funny
      Mind you, you'd have to put a '1' in front of the price tag...

      1$16.99? What the hell country do YOU live in where THAT is the proper number format for currency?
      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    2. Re:Ummm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sry, i clicked over-rated instead of funny, should be +4 funny instead of +2 funny

    3. Re:Ummm.. by MadTinfoilHatter · · Score: 0

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

      I think that "laser" and "visible beam" pretty much contradict each other, unless you either look straight into the beam, or set your room on fire to fill it with smoke, neither of which can really be recommended.

    4. Re:Ummm.. by ben+there... · · Score: 1

      If you hadn't posted AC, you would have canceled it.

    5. Re:Ummm.. by PCM2 · · Score: 1
      I think that "laser" and "visible beam" pretty much contradict each other, unless you either look straight into the beam, or set your room on fire to fill it with smoke, neither of which can really be recommended.

      Not so. The green lasers he mentions are often capable of casting beams that are visible without using smoke under low light conditions. Google "green laser pointers."

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    6. Re:Ummm.. by zarozarozaro · · Score: 1

      One thing you could do is have jousting robots, where you try to line up your laser beam with the other robots sensor, like laser tag. When a robot gets hit it could dramaticly topple over.
      I'm sure there are far better uses for it though...

    7. Re:Ummm.. by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      I always wondered why some countries put the currency sign BEFORE the number. You don't say "miles 500" or "farenheit 40", why do you write "dollars 500"? It doesn't make any sense to me. Can someone explain?

    8. Re:Ummm.. by nick+rawlings · · Score: 1

      Umm, yeah. You're an idiot.

      --
      No sig for YOU!
  11. 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!

    1. Re:Earn money through slashdot. by iogan · · Score: 1
      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!
      4. Get site slashdotted into oblivion.
      --
      Nyhetsankaret.com -- det bÃsta av Sveriges Nyhetssido
    2. Re:Earn money through slashdot. by Builder · · Score: 1

      You say that like it's a bad thing ?

    3. Re:Earn money through slashdot. by teslar · · Score: 1

      6. Use profit to pay part of the bandwith bill caused by slashdotting? ;)

  12. That was fast! by DittoBox · · Score: 1

    Less than 15 comments and it's /.'d.

    --
    Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
    1. Re:That was fast! by Warbringer87 · · Score: 1

      well, it does say Lego in the title.

  13. How to wreak revenge on your brother?? by paxmaniac · · Score: 1

    Slashdot his webserver. That'll teach him to stop stealing your marbles.

    1. Re:How to wreak revenge on your brother?? by SydShamino · · Score: 3, Funny

      The web server is also running on the NXT.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  14. I hate when im denied by elmCitySlim · · Score: 1

    How about your brother hack us a mirrir.

    1. Re:I hate when im denied by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hey.. the beaches and seas.. and the hills

  15. What dipshit thought that was funny? by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Seriously, find something to remove your testicles/ovaries now, because the rest of the species can't afford to have you breed. If you're feeling charitable, get a gun or some poison or something and end your fucking life in the next 1/2 hour.

    Fuck you.

    1. Re:What dipshit thought that was funny? by cartel · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Aparently you're an idiot and you do not have testicles.

    2. Re:What dipshit thought that was funny? by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Apparently, you're the result of a series of consanguineous sexual unions, likely culminating one between your mother and her father. Further, you're also a coprophile, and specifically, what's commonly called a "scat mucher;" that is, you consume feces - usually human - for pleasure - typically of a sexual nature.

      Of course, on Slashdot, you shit eating retards seem to appeal to the folks with mod points.

    3. Re:What dipshit thought that was funny? by cartel · · Score: 1

      No, apparently you are as you keep raving about sexually-related matters. You seem to carry with you a sense of insecurity; carry on.

      Troll.

    4. Re:What dipshit thought that was funny? by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 1
      Troll.

      Yes, you blithering fucking idiot. I'm trolling.


      You're still a scat muncher, and your grandpa fucks your mom.

  16. LEGOS by Zabu · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Searching the comments for "legos" didn't return any results
    I must be hallucinating, has the /crowd finally learned that LEGO is the plural for LEGO? or should I expect the people in white suits to take me away while I sleep tonight?

    --
    It's all good.
    1. Re:LEGOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Searching the comments for "legos" didn't return any results

      Because the plural of LEGO is LEGOES.

    2. Re:LEGOS by stunt_penguin · · Score: 1

      Try searching for the terms 'shark' and 'frickin'. You'll have more success there ^^

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
  17. Plus 2, T8oll) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    AS POOSIBLE? HOW hi5 clash with 4.1BSD product, by BSDI who sell

  18. mirror by winkydink · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.networkmirror.com/e_zi0XdE7_2rIRat/www. kevincook.net/NXTHack/index.htm

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  19. LEGO - YAYS! by M0b1u5 · · Score: 1

    YAYS! We all know it's just plain old LEGO!

    OK, so it's new-fangled, laser-totin', programmable, walkin'-tall LEGO - BUT IT'S STILL JUST LEGO! ;)

    --
    How many escape pods are there? "NONE,SIR!" You counted them? "TWICE, SIR!"
  20. Moo by Chacham · · Score: 1

    Next thing you know, he'll replace the laser with a plunger and a string.

    I hear it's great for catching taxis.

    --
    Have you read my journal today?
    1. Re:Moo by Meph_the_Balrog · · Score: 1

      now you're just showing your age :P

      The original was much better anyway

    2. Re:Moo by Chacham · · Score: 1

      now you're just showing your age :P

      What, you think i'm a short circuit too?

      The original was much better anyway

      Yes. Disassemble? Dead? Disassemble? Dead? No Disassemble number five!

      --
      Have you read my journal today?
  21. ISR by SeaFox · · Score: 1, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, Lego Mindstorms tinker with YOU

    ...and put Friggin LASERS in your head!

  22. Lasers by RandySC · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Avoid looking at laser with remaining eye.

    --
    Organization: alphabetical, sometimes numerical or messy
  23. Not a laser rangerfinder. Not even a sensor by Animats · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My first thought on reading that was "wow, somebody built a laser rangefinder for Lego Mindstorms". No such luck.

    Biggest problem with amateur robotics is crappy sensors and lack of feedback. It's getting better, especially in Japan, but slowly.

    1. Re:Not a laser rangerfinder. Not even a sensor by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      Building a range sensor into the RCX is not really that difficult. I built one for the older version (2.0) as part of my final project at university in 2004. The biggest problem was (and perhaps is) that the schematics included with a few of the books simply don't work. Before you say, "Hey, maybe you read them wrong," I'll simply say that I'm an Electrical Engineer and I know how to read a schematic.

      Anyway, it used IR, not lasers, but it had a ranged temperature and distance sensor. It used that information to navigate an obstacle course.

      We packaged the sensors in spare bricks so they looked (almost) like official LEGO(tm)(c)(r) parts. Ironically, the judges thought we didn't do much work because they couldn't see the sensors.

      If I'd known the project was /. worthy, I'd have submitted it. It would have been nice to see it up on here for the five minutes it would take for my host to burst into flames.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  24. Pfff... by laejoh · · Score: 0

    I'm going to build me a dog and some bees from Lego Mindstorms and put the bees in the mouth of the dog and when it barks it will shoot bees at you!

  25. I for one... by tehSpork · · Score: 2, Funny

    I for one welcome our new laser-armed lego overlords!

  26. good idea? by miceliux · · Score: 1

    giving a laser to your son is a good idea?

  27. What about... by threaded · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Just imagine in Soviet Russia a Beowulf cluster of laser pointer wielding Lego sharks overlord you!

    --

    threadeds blog

    1. Re:What about... by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 1

      But I want ill-tempered sea bass made out of Duplos, you insensitive clod!

      --
      "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
  28. Interesting.... NOT by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

    This is exactly a useful, innovative, or even challenging mod.

    Whats next? We'll see the Slashdot headline "Man tapes laser to his dick: Fully detailed instructions with pictures"

    1. Re:Interesting.... NOT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Correction: Man hacks laser to his dick

      You need to get with the retarded Digg lingo

  29. Slashdot Bandwidth Bill by codepunk · · Score: 1

    Total Project Cost - $16.99 plus shipping.
    Time Required - Approximately 2 hours of tinkering.
    Bandwidth Bill For Slashdotting $5,000.00
    Having an Alpha Rex with a Laser - Priceless!!!

    --


    Got Code?
  30. Just be careful. by ShivanDragon · · Score: 1

    Few years ago my soccer trainer had his eyes and body injured while trying to fix his nephew's broken laser pointer... I don't know what he exactly did, but the lens exploded in his hands and scattered into tiny fragments.

    --
    Poowpoowpo
  31. Johnny 5 is alive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was picturing it with the laser on it's shoulder. Some treads on the base and a grappling hook and you're all set.

  32. What about "avoiding lasers"? by arodland · · Score: 1

    Come on. This is a 1mW visible laser. If you avoid staring directly into it for long periods of time, you'll be just fine. And it would be pretty hard to stare into it anyway without blinking or looking away. The real dangerous lasers are the ones that have enough power to cause damage instantly, or that are invisible (usually NIR), so that you don't know that you're getting zapped by them.

  33. Need input. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ummm... how has no one started a really long Short Circuit/Number 5 thread yet?

  34. ...more dated jokes by x2A · · Score: 1

    You can't just dump lasers onto sharks you know, sharks aren't a truck... they're a cereal of tubes!

    (if you're gonna use such dated jokes, at least throw a few of them together!)

    --
    The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    1. Re:...more dated jokes by cartel · · Score: 1

      You know, they have LEGO sharks already. They could put the lasers on those...

  35. Get with the times! by x2A · · Score: 1

    Bandwidth bills are so 2003. Flat rate's the way to go now ya know!

    --
    The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia