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RIMM's LEGO Machines Test Blackberry

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the pirate-and-space-accessories-optional dept.

LEGO - my - Crackberry writes "Matthias Wandel is an engineer at Research in Motion (RIMM), the company that makes the Blackberry. What did RIMM turn to for testing the antenna reception of one of its 900MHz devices? LEGO machines. Specifically a device made of LEGO that could rotate a Blackberry about its horizontal & vertical axis in a pre-defined pattern."

6 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. New patent storm coming! by erroneus · · Score: 3, Funny

    We're all familiar with the storm of patents ending with "on the internet." Perhaps now there will be a new storm of patent claims ending with "using Lego."

  2. I'm disappointed by Flying+pig · · Score: 5, Funny
    I once had an engineer working for me who could have designed that in no more than 6 weeks. At the very least he would have used PTFE for all the bearings, glass filled nylon for the articulating parts, industrial grade stepper motors and a couple of networked industrial controllers for the program. He would probably have designed a cover made from a single sheet of vacuum formed Makrolon to ensure nobody touched any rotating parts while it was in use, plus some sort of optical scanning system to stop it moving if anything came too close. And there would probably have been change out of $100000.

    Engineers today, what do they know? Make it too simple and too cheap and the boss will think anybody can do it.

    --
    Pining for the fjords
    1. Re:I'm disappointed by Migraineman · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey! You worked with Biff too?

      Biff loved his Pro-E. We needed an enclosure for a manufacturing test fixture. He contracted a CNC machine shop to build a custom box about 8" x 10" x 10" ... out of a solid billet of aluminum. The thing was pretty - had all sorts of recessed vent panels and integrated mounting bosses. But damn, this is a test fixture. The operator connects a cable to the UUT (Unit Under Test) and presses a key on the computer keyboard. We must've spent a couple thousand bucks on that one bucket. I'm not a big fan of Bud boxes, but they certainly have their place.

      (background: At a staff meeting, Biff stood up to extole his credibility and the virtues of Pro-E. And I quote, "I may be big, I may be ignorant, I may be fat ..." we didn't need to hear any more. Y'all can figure out what the second "f" stands for.)

  3. Re:Surprised? by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thats why you put in a request for a 'configurable block-based modelling and prototyping system', rather than a 'box of lego'.

    --
    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
  4. Re:RIM by dr_dank · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a fit of Samuel L. Jackson inspiration, it could mean Research In Motherfuckin' Motion.

    --
    Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  5. Re:Surprised? by EatHam · · Score: 3, Funny

    One of the biggest challenges of being an engineer is realizing when there is a simple solution to your problem - especially when the thing you need was made for another purpose.

    I disagree. I believe that what you have just stated is *the* fundamental attribute of an engineer. It's what seperates us from the retards in accounting - they ask for a shovel, we ask for a hole.