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How are these transparent stairs made?

What techniques and bricks are used to support the transparent pieces? Can anyone work it out?

I love this, it looks so good but I wonder how well it holds together.

They also use transparent 4218's in the windows of one shop in Assembly Square.  The string of 4218's feels very floppy in your hands.  It was a bit weird to get the hang of how they went in, but once you got them in place they were surprisingly stable and resilient.

The steps are made of 4218: Garage Roller Door Section without Handle pieces in clear transparent.

They are inserted into 2420: Corner 2 x 2 Plate pieces.

I schmoogle searched your picture looking for more reference info, and it says it's named:
"IMGP7842f - 2016 - Glass Staircase Study With Side Shelves" by Deborah Higdon.
I couldn't find more shots, but this is how she made it from what I can see.

Colors are used to help better visualize this masterpiece. Everything that's hidden from camera view on the left side, like the orange 1x1 plates and the red, dark-gray and white corner tiles is just speculation by me.

Her unorthodox use of the transparent garage pieces as steps are both visually striking and cool, but what makes her piece more grande is when we start reverse engineering it, and become even more pleasantly surprised by what we find.
Taking it all apart, while subtracting the stairs, we realize that the entire left side and right side are reverse studded from the center out?!?  Another bit of the unorthodox.

We all know the LEGO system doesn't have top/bottom reverse-studded bricks and plates, so we have to ask ourselves, how'd she connect both sides then?
Then we see how she pins her structure together using a combination of modified studded bricks(red and dark green), which are all held together by a 1x8(reddish-brown) tile and a 2x4(nougat colored) plate, which is very nice!

How she was able to count out the in between plate/brick width of the 1x8 tile is impressive, but what throws me, is BOTH the random use, AND random way she USED the garage pieces for steps.  That's cray-cray.
I haven't tested her design in real life.  Like most of my designs the final glory is the transition from the digital to the real-life. I want to touch it!! So, for these Steps and Cubbyholes, I can't just yet feel the overall structural integrity to reach her vision of final glory.
And finally, I'm super curious about my speculative guess work on her hidden left side. Sometimes when reverse engineering you begin to feel that you somewhat understand the artist's creative side, and can anticipate what their next move would or should be depending on the overall composition and the flow of the design.
I think I'm 100% on the 1x1 orange plates, but that twisty corner tile use, hmmm damn, wish I could see how close I was to the original.

Animation that shows how the 1x1x1 wall tiles are attached:
Exploding animation

Great work there Rin - just a quick question though - what are the orange 1x1 tiles attached to? How do they support the grey 1x1x1 corner wall [part:6231] ?

You can't really embed images in comments, but you can edit your answer to include it - just click the grey "edit" text at the bottom of the answer :)

Great question my Friend.  Here is a gif with part of that wall disassembled:
https://media.giphy.com/media/8FPyK9CWo0GnaxPojX/giphy.gif
So, the 1x1 tiles(orange colored) are attached to the middle stud receiving hole of the 2x2 Corner Wall Element (colored white).
The 1x1x1 Corner Wall Element (light gray) are attached to the middle stud of the 1x2x2 Corner Plate (colored tan).

From her original shot, I can't see the what piece she used here, but I can see the other pieces around it, and my mind's eye can see a sort of physical world cause and effect her structure would have with a hole left here: When pressure applied the pieces would hinge down and buckle, so to stop that hinge buckling structural weakness, the only piece to lock her structure in place, and still maintaining her design flow, has to be an unseen 1x1 plate.  I'm 100% sure.

So, in a nut shell, the orange pieces don't support the gray ones at all.  The pictures I provided are angled in a way that gives the illusion of impossible piece attachments.   Ironic how these are 2D screen shots of a 3D environment where the lack of the 3D depth can throw our brains for a loop.  M.C.  Escher in the house.


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Is it worth to start with Dimensions now?
From what I know Lego will cancel the Dimensions game soon. Right now it is possible to find on ebay very cheap starter kits. Is it still possible to play the game after Lego is closing down all activities or is a Lego server essential for the game functionalities?

I don't own the game myself, but it's not an online game, so once you have it installed and set up you should be able to access all of the gameplay and content

The Lego Dimensions game is actually a console game available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 3. So as Shea stated, once you have the game, you can play it whenever you want. All you have to do is insert the disc into your console and load up the game.
About your concern of buying the starter kits, getting the one on eBay could be a choice, as long as you trust the seller. Another way is to get it at Target or Walmart before they don't sell it anymore. Another suggestion for you is to get all the current available sets for Lego Dimensions that are available in store, as once they are no longer being sold at stores, the value will skyrocket. After you have gotten the desired in store sets would you then get it off eBay.

source: Stack Exchange

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The route a power line takes through a neighborhood
I have a small Lego town built. I want to add power lines. However, I don't know how to route the power lines through the neighborhood. Should I create one line that snakes between all the houses? More than one line that take separate routes? Why do utility poles have so many lines on them in real life? Thanks!

Do those lines actually provide electricity for the LEGO houses, or does it only have to look good? In the latter case, I would go outside and look at the poles and power lines and how they are connected to each other and to the houses. One snake line sounds unlikely, because in case of damage the whole neighbourhood would be without electricity. You could claim that your LEGO city is somewhere in Germany with all cables underground :)

I would have to walk around the whole neighborhood without any idea of where I am going, which would take forever. Also, SimCity experience doesn't help since you just need to build houses adjacent to each other to draw power. Google is not much of a help so far either: https://www.google.com/search?q=neighborhood+power+grid&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj84_58evYAhVORK0KHWVxBU0Q_AUICygC&biw=1471&bih=774#imgrc=nyf_0G6WsSC-QM:

Mostly they just need to look good.

In that case I would probably build a larger line with utility poles carrying 4 lines along the main road. From that main line, poles with one or two lines branch out into the side streets. Later, when the overall impression is good, you can worry about the details (like what happens at the end of a line, and so on).

Judging by the Wikipedia entry for "Utility pole" I would say that you can do whatever you want. There are many different types of poles, carrying all sorts of cables (electricity, telephone, TV, ...). There are transformers, street lights and other things attached to them. Only avoid the snake line. In a LEGO town, less might be more, I guess the poles and cables are not the main attraction of your build.

As seen on your question about angles generally the connection from the power line to the house goes via either a Distribution Transformer (the grey cylinders in your image) where the power lines are run at a much higher voltage than domestic use and then either down the pole, into the ground for local delivery to the house or directly to the house.
In terms of how many lines and paths - I'd start from your primary sub-station where the main power lines come in and radiate out from there - initially with four lines, and then stepping down to two about half-way to two thirds out - effectively the lines are running in parallel, with each house drawing off their usage as it goes, so you'll see some drop off.
Depending on the final scale, more than four lines might look cluttered, whereas two will convey the impression of power nicely even if it's not physically accurate (a nice compromise might be three, with the third line running on top of the poles).

I was worried that there might be a requirement that all poles have 4 lines. For instance, hot, hot, hot and neutral. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phase_electric_power

There are many examples of power lines with three, depends on what is being delivered I guess.

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Is 32013 a drop-in replacement for 3651?
In my old sets there are many 3651 parts that are broken.

As far as I remember, these sets do not use studs on the piece. Per this answer, new piece with the same function is 32013:

Can I just buy some of 32013 and use it everywhere instructions tell me to use 3651? Is it supposed to just fit? I could try to build 3651 but I'm afraid I'll   break it  again.

Can't think of anything why the 32013 would not fit as replacement, except when the studs would be used and although I also can't immediately name a set where they were used, I have a feeling that there are some.
The 32013 looks to me sturdier, the technic bush shaped part of 3651 is prone to cracking (like the technic bushes themselves)
I agree with the answer you refer to that the redesign happened because of the introduction of the new angular connectors.

@MichaelVerschaeve I was afraid that lengths might not be the same. I can't find technical drawings of them. "Prone to cracking" - yes, exactly :(

Besides the studs there is another difference that may affect the interchangeability: the 24 tooth gear next to its leg would intersect with the newer one.

@BalazsToth I posted CW answer, feel free and invited to add to it.

Dimensions are, respectively:

3651 - 0.8cm x 1.6cm x 1.1cm
32013 - 0.8cm x 1.6cm x 0.8cm

Distance between one axle and end of another also did not change. So for most builds it should work.
Incompatibilities include:

Obvious lack of studs
Use as in Lego Technic Universal Set 8034 as a locking mechanism for lift system, as seen on the box:

This answer was posted as Community Wiki, please add incompatibilities if you know them

Yes! The old part can be used as a "lock" or "stop" to prevent gears turning, and it works because of the flared edge. The new one (32013) does not have this, so you might have to improvise a bit.


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How to use this 5 and a half width windshield?
I recently went to Legoland in the Boston area and found the following windshield brick in the free build section.

Ignore my airplane build of questionable quality. What puzzled me was the width of the windshield piece I found in the part bin. As you can see it was roughly 5 and a half bricks wide. At the time I was confused at how the brick was intended to be used. Upon reflection my best guess is it might have fit if I would have used a 2x1 brick with the single center top bump on one side.

I couldn't make out the part number but I was able to barely discern it was a Lego branded part. The part number was in the center section of the windshield. I'd be interested to see a picture of the brick used in a custom build or an original set so I can see what others have done with it or how the designers intended it to be used.

That part is a little tough to use on its own. It is generally paired with another element to create a 6-wide windscreen (6567c02):

Without the outer part, you don't have any nice stud connections to work with, and as you mentioned the size is strange, so it would be challenging to work it into a build.
I imagine it is now obvious how this is used, but since you asked to see this in a set, here is one example:

That explains a lot. Someone must have popped it out of the frame. I bet if I knew what I was looking for I could have scrounged up the frame in one of the bins.


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Power Function Converter Cable for LEGO MINDSTORMS
This is a follow up to this question:
How to use Power Functions with Mindstorms EV3?
The question was asked in 2013 (5 years ago). Fast forward to 2018, the product that was suggested in the answer is retired:
https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Converter-Cables-for-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-8528
Is there a replacement for the retired product?
Is there any better option, other than what is shown in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns3TODgRlCE

If cost is not a concern, there are a few for sale on BrickLink: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=8528-1 (starting at a 400% markup).

No, there is no replacement yet except soldering your own cable or using third party products. Basically the answers in that question of 5 years ago are all still valid.
Mind that LEGO is transitioning to a new power functions system (with motors and sensors as in the boost and WeDo 2.0 products), perhaps we'll see solutions for that quite soon.

Would you be able to share a link to the article shows the new power function system? I invested in the existing function family, so I guess I will need to create converters for them as well.

LEGO hasn't officially announced anything yet. But, articles like this make it sound like we should know more sometime in 2018.

Products already available:
WeDo 2.0:
https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-education-wedo-2-0-core-set/45300
Boost:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/boost
Also an upcoming train set will have Power Functions 2.0:
https://brickshow.com/2018/01/power-functions-2-0-to-be-featured-first-in-upcoming-lego-city-train-sets/
Perhaps also check out the WeDo 2.0 faq, it clearly states that the new system is intended to replace the old Power functions, although no timeline has yet been set
https://education.lego.com/en-us/support/wedo-2/faqs#core


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Quality of Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight over time
I have a problem with my 4070 Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight .
I packed my Lego and put in the basement at the end of previous century. Now I see my "headlight" bricks are broken at the bottom, or, if not visibly broken, they lost gripping strength. It applies to white, red, gray and blue. Actually, it applies to every color I have.
Are ones currently made more sturdy? Do they survive better? Or is replacing them only a temporary solution?

According to bricklink, some of these have a slot below the sideways stud. It's considered a defect rather than a design decision. Do your headlights have this slot? I think the general consensus is that the element has design flaws, but the element is considered to useful to retire it.

@MichaelVerschaeve Either they does not, or I just don't understand what you (and bricklink) are talking about. I'll try to find a photo of this defect to see. If you can share a link to photo, I'll be grateful. Edit: you mean this? If so, then no, they do not have it.

Yes, I meant that. Bricklink currently considers it as a different mold, but it's marked for deletion: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4070a

You can go on to LEGO.com for replacement pieces, or you can fix it with a little superglue

I just got a call from LEGO Support. I can't repeat it word for word, but (translating to English) it was like:

Over the last decade manufacturing process of this brick has undergone many improvements that have improved its durability. You shouldn't encounter any problems with new ones if you will buy them, and if you will have problems in two years after buy, we will replace them free of charge. Sadly, we can't replace parts older than 2 years for you for free.

Two years of play is quite a long time, so it seems they are pretty confident about quality now.


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How to import Rebrickable.com parts lists to LDraw?
I have exported all of the parts that I have entered into Rebrickable as a .pbg file. I also have a .xml file from Rebrickable that is for BrickLink.
I was told that I could just import the document into LDraw and then I could build projects just using the parts that I already owned.
I have LDCad and MLCad installed from the LDraw AIOI.
Is there any way to import these files as an LDraw parts list?

I don't think you "import the document into LDraw" since I don't think there is an LDraw program; it's a library of all parts.  CAD programs manipulate those parts.
I tried various CAD programs over the years and recently found that LDCad (which you say you recently installed) works for me.  So what you want to do is to import your Rebrickable parts list into LDCad as a parts library.  Then, indeed, it's much easier to play with LDCad when you don't have to paw through the entire LDraw library looking for parts; you just go through your subset of parts.
Two years ago when I found LDCad I wanted a parts library restricted to just the parts in a specific LEGO kit so I kept notes and posted my experience.  I still use it.

Export parts as "LDCad Parts Bin PBG" from rebrickable

Take the exported .pbg file and place it in %appdata%\LDCad\partBin\default\sets (and possibly add a png image too) (ref from here)
Find your parts in LDCad parts bin under "Part listings of Lego sets"

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Is it acceptable practice to finish an incomplete set and sell it as complete?
I found a vintage LEGO set from the early 1980s, with box. It is missing 25% of the pieces. If I purchase the rest of the pieces separately, is it acceptable practice to sell that as a "complete set"?

New bricks of the same kind often comes from a slightly different mold. And pieces from different year will look different, especially white ones. So there is a high chance that difference will be seen.
Most ethical thing to do is to sell it as complete set, but in description clearly state what bricks was replaced.


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How are LEGO Bricks and colors numbered/identified
I'm wondering how bricks are uniquely identified.
In the back of instruction booklets, the set parts are listed and the numbers match the numbers on the LEGO.com website. Each number seems to identify a part in a specific color. The design number listed on the website seems to identify the brick separate from color.
I guess my question is, are these numbers available for all bricks or did this only start later?
This same question goes for the identification of brick colors.
If there are any other ideas on how parts can or should be numbered/identified I would really like to know.

Parts have a design ID, and an element ID.
The design ID applies to the part - eg 1x6 brick
Similar parts, with different colors have different ELEMENT ID’s.  Before -1998 these were in the form of designID+colorID.
Now the design ID is not easily related to element ID
Occasionally, after a period of absence, a piece may be re-released in a color. Eg sand green 1x6 was element 4155053 from 2000-2012 eg monster fighters haunted house and then reappeared as 6177081 in 2017 eg Minecraft ocean monument.
The design ID of the first version of an element tends be be used by bricklink, whereas LEGO will normally change the design ID if there is a significant change to the mold. Eg the thickness/shape of clips.
Brickset.com lists parts by both element and design ID when you look at inventories for a given set.
Colour IDs can also be found at Brickset, who also refer to Ryan Howerter’s website as a resource
I hope this helps answer your question.

Thanks for your response. Though not what I was hoping for, it is kind of what I expected.

Thanks for the explanation!  I'd add my two pence.  While inventorying my Lego collection, I've found a colliding element ID: the same design and color has different IDs in two sets: 4619599 in set 10692 and 6170300 in set 10704.  What's interesting is that both sets are quite new: they had been released in 2015 and 2017, and both are being sold in Lego shops currently, so it doesn't look like the part is re-released.

Haven't been enjoying my lego hobby long enough to have experienced it first hand. However, from some researching (read googling), it appears that design ID's and element ID's were starting to be published around 2006.
I assume these ID's are either published through the lego replacement parts service (or similar services as PAB) or in the inventories at the back of instruction booklets.
It appears that for elements that haven't been available through the replacement parts service or in sets more recent or as recent than 2006, these ID's were not published but for most elements, the design ID or element ID is printed on the element. However, this is certainly not the case for all elements.

Brickset.com draw inventories for sets directly from LEGO’s data base. The LEGO group don’t always include every element in the online inventory, even though they might be listed in the instructions. Those which are published in brickset are typically available through bricks and pieces, while the elements that don’t make the published inventory don’t tend to be.

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Why do hidden Lego pieces have different colours?
I noticed recently that hidden Lego pieces in many sets (I did not check them all of course) have completely different colours than those are visible. They usually differ from not only the colour of the visible parts but they seem to be somewhat randomly coloured. Why aren't they coloured the same as the other pieces? Is it cheaper to use base colours?
Example: The statue of liberty set (21042) practically has two colours visible (green and sand), however inside there are red, yellow, blue and black pieces as well.

Seems to be a duplicate of Why do some sets contain parts of an unrelated colour that are hidden on the final model.

Using different colors on the inside makes the instructions easier to follow. For example, in the case of the Statue of Liberty that you mentioned, if the entire model was sand-green, it would be easier to make mistakes in 1.) following the printed instructions, 2.) finding the pieces in the pile of loose elements, and 3.) attaching the pieces to the model under construction.
Remember that LEGO sets are primarily designed for children, so LEGO puts a lot of testing and effort into making the instructions frustration-free. Using different colors is beneficial even for older LEGO fans who may start to have failing eyesight and would have difficulty finding pieces and seeing the instructions clearly.
As far as which colors are chosen for the interior, they are something that contrast with the main colors of the model, easy to see in the instructions booklet, and easy to find in the pile of loose elements. Another thing that may be taken into consideration is that if the set has instructions for alternate models and what colors those alternate models would need (i.e. LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets).

"As far as which colors are chosen" - one more aspect is - what colors are in production at the same time, for other sets. Saves money.

Easier building: If all bricks where the same color you would have a harder time to see where one brick ends and another starts.
Availability: In some cases parts are only available in specific colors. LEGO could produce them in new colors, but for inside parts that is not needed so they reuse the existing color(s).


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Was the LEGO flower petal redesigned?
I noticed part 24866 in one of our sets from TLG:

This looks a bit different to me. Has this part been redesigned?

After a bit of research, it looks like this is a new part for 2018.
The part that it is likely replacing is the old flower petal with stud connections:
Old: New:
The new part has 5 petals instead of 4, and they are shorter so that they don't collide with neighboring parts at any angle. New Elementary did a writeup on the new flower parts that includes an image to highlight this:

Both parts include the interior flower stem connector so that they can be used with either the new or recently redesigned flower stem.

It looks good from above but bad from all other angles. The petals simply aren't proportional to the plate height, which is a shame. IMO the trade-off in favor of functionality is rather poor.

I see your point. They look particularly stubby when compared to the original flower petal.

On the bright side, having more flower molds means you can mix and match them to create more diverse gardens and even bouquets :)


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How can you pin the Penguin Suit Guy down?
I like penguins and so I was really amazed to find the Penguin Suit Guy in Collectible Minifigures Series 16:

But despite coming with the 88646 tile he won't stick to it because of the skates:

There's no place to receive studs or anything else on the back of the legs.  So how can I keep the Penguin Suit Guy from bouncing around in his display case for ever more?  Is there a way to easily attach to the skates and not break too many LEGO best practices?

Whilst I wouldn't normally condone it, if he is going to be in the display case forever more, then glue may be a solution. Also, you have his right skate on backwards.

Instead of glue, a little bit of blu-tack will work also. This way, the attachment won't be permanent. OP could also just remove the skates and put them next to the stand. It's how most people display the penguin. There is also a possibility of angling the skates a bit to "hug" one of the studs on the plate. It's not a sturdy solution, but it allows the penguin to stand with the skates on.

Once I got the pictures in the computer I saw the reversed skate too.  I wish I could still see these things unaided, but my eyes are not as young as they once were.

Using glue would get me unglued grief from the lady in my life so that's not an option for me.  Blu-tack sounds like the easiest option, but I'm working on a brick-built solution.  I should be able to test it tonight or tomorrow.  If it works I'll definitely add an answer.

I was really stumped on this when I posted the question because there didn't seem to be any place to attach to.  But then I realized the neck could be a starting place.  I tried some things with hinges and plates, but decided to simplify and I ended up with:

With only 4 pieces I was able to get this to work out pretty nicely.  From neck to plate there are:

42446 "Minifig, Neck Bracket with Back Stud" - above in Brown
30241 "Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical" - above in Blue
4599b the common Tap - the only Black part added above
3005 Brick 1x1 - above in Lime

Looking at it from the front you can't see the additional parts much at all:

You can barely see some of the lime between his legs.  Switching to black bricks there's no chance of even that shining through:

I'm happy now that he won't be rattling around in his case forever.
And I hope folks are relieved to see his skates are going the right direction today.  I'm sure that made the skating easier until I pinned him down.  :-)

The neck bracket is available in black which makes it look even better

For any CMF's with skates, I put the figure on the stand with no footwear, and attach the footwear to the holes behind their legs.  That way their accessories are there, and stuck to the figure, but the figure is on its stand!

That's a worthy idea, but it doesn't work in this case because their are no holes in the back of the legs.

Spring-boarding off your nice work-around, I would suggest a further aesthetic tweak with the symmetrical re-positioning of the support shaft, and as a bonus, eliminating the 88646 tile all together, if it's not being used.
I don't have penguin accessories in my parts library, but here are some pics to help visualize my techno babble;)

While looking up the series, I noticed many of them come with the studs-down-the-middle 88646 tile, given that this is the standard baseplate for all of them, this work-around still mimics the same footprint this baseplate uses, and in conjunction with your tweak, pins down Penguin Suit mini-fig dead center.
R.I.P. Loki...

This is an interesting addition.  Thanks for the screen shots to make your plan clear.  Since the other minifigs all have the 88646 tile I'd like to keep that under the guy if possible for consistency.  With that tile the minifig will either be sitting on the studs or between them and I think between the studs looks better.


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Repeat until sensor value is accepted does not work.
I am trying to create a robot that follows a line. I want the robot to turn on its vertical axis ("move-tank") until it finds the line again and then keep going straight. My problem is that the "repeat turning until color sensor value is less than 20" loop does not stop although the sensor value meets the criteria (i.e. less than 20).
This is my code:

Any ideas what am I doing wrong?
The logic inside the loop 02 is that it turns tank-left (-10,10) for 0.5, then it turns tank-right (-1 x -10, -1 x 10) for 0.5 + 0.3 seconds, etc until it finds the line (sensor value < 20).

The loop does stop but you can not see it: You should add a brake block after the loop that runs until colour sensor<20 otherwise there is no visible indication that the loop has stopped. Hope this helped.


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What is the range of the LEGO Powered Up remote control system?
I'm curious how far I will be able get away from my creation before the remote and/or smart device is no longer able to control it.

Your mileage may vary, but according to LEGO, the range is about 10m (33ft) in open air.

The Bluetooth signal distance is usually around 10 meters/33 feet in an open area, but it can vary, depending on a few things: Low batteries in the remote control, and obstacles – concrete walls, for example – may decrease the signal distance. Try to remove obstacles, or find another place to play with your train, if it seems like the distance is shorter than expected.


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How many and what kind of batteries are needed for LEGO Powered Up?
I'm considering picking up one of the Powered Up train sets. What kind of batteries does the included Powered Up remote control system use?

The current line of Powered Up components uses AAA batteries. The Powered Up team has indicated that both regular or rechargeable batteries should work fine.
You will need 10 AAA batteries to control one train with the included remote, or 6 if you are using a smart device as your remote. Here's the battery layout shown in the instructions:


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What is this brown flexible wire with 5 sliding pieces?
This is definitely one of the strangest LEGO pieces I've ever found.

The wire caps are both stamped LEGO, one would take half (or quarter) a pin and one a small ball.
What is it and where does it come from?

That's a flex system cable with several clutch changeover elements strung onto it. You can see it on the back of 8002 Destroyer Droid:

That's the only set with those parts in brown, so that's certainly where it came from. You can find all of the parts in the set inventory.
Those cable end elements have never felt quite like LEGO bricks to me, as they are one of the few parts that I feel like I might break when taking them apart.

The flex cable IS actually quite fragile... also gets brittle with time and stays bent when left in a build for too long...


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Identify 2x2 chrome/silver emblem
I want to know which sets this piece is from.
It's 2x2 in size, no writing on it except for an S or 8 in the hole.
I've tried googling terms such as chrome/silver indian emblem/plaque to no avail.

It's apparently called a "Sun Disk" (named such in an old magazine) and it appeared in 5 different sets from the 1999 Adventurers: Jungle theme.
Minifig, Utensil Sun Disk Item No: x276

Also it's supposed to be gold, but I think I've seen the old chrome gold discolor like this before.


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Can the Powered Up app be used to directly control the Boost Move Hub?
I have the LEGO Boost kit, and I'm wondering if I can control it directly using the Powered Up app rather than programming it using the Boost app. Is this possible?

As of the Powered Up app version 3.0, this is possible.

Old answer:
As of August 2018, this is not possible. However, TLG has stated that they plan to add more compatibility to the Powered Up system, and this will likely be available as a firmware update in the future:

Q. Will all different Powered Up components (Boost, WeDo, Train, etc)
  be able to communicate and control each other, e.g. running a Boost
  program sequence using a Powered Up hub or using sensors with Powered
  Up hubs?
A. It is the aim that the Powered UP platform will work together
  across both with the wired and wireless connection. Some of these
  connections are not implemented yet and will come through firmware and
  app updates.

On February 2020, this has been possible for a while now, and have been playing with it. (Power Up app version 3.0)

Thanks for sharing. I've updated my answer to reflect this information. Welcome to Bricks.SE!

Also: Next Logical step for someone is looking up block documentation... The best and currently only place is: https://racingbrick.com/powered-up-code-block-guide/ (related video : https://youtu.be/a4gWPey2sBE)


text:
Extra pieces in 76112 Batmobile
I've been building the new app-controlled Batmobile. As far as I can tell, step 34 shows many more elements in the parts list than are actually used in the build. What is going on here?

There's also only 3 1x markings, so I think it must be a mistake.

I should also mention that this isn't just a simple misprint. I have all of these elements left after completing the build.

Wish to comment that I think this is my favorite set this year ;)

It's a great set. I love that the hub light shines through the red cockpit element. That makes it look great in low light without needing to include the powered headlight element.

They are in a perforated bag and the entire contents of the bag is listed. You only need some of them in this step and in a few steps later on. I think such bag is called an "accessory" bag and it is common to have the instructions like this for such bag. The first set that comes to mind that did the same was the
Big Ben 10253 where on step 269 on page 187 the entire contents of the bag with minifig tools is listed while you only need 4 times 2 pieces to build the clock arrows.

Ah. That makes sense. Thank you! This seems like it may be a holdover from when these elements came still connected to their sprue.


text:
What Lego part(s) would hurt the most to step on?
We've all heard (and probably experienced) the long-running joke that stepping on a Lego is the absolute worst.
People have determined this is due to the bricks' high compressive strength, small size, and sometimes sharp edges.
As far as edges are concerned, consider a standard 2x2 brick:

While the 6 faces are fairly harmless, if the brick were somehow angled such that a person put all their weight on an edge, or (god forbid) one of the 8 corners, it would really hurt.
So the question is: What Lego part, or assembly of Lego parts, would maximize both
 (a) small size, and
 (b) sharp edges/points pointed upwards when laying on the ground?

Old joke about D&D's infamous d4 die: Back when D&D first came out, it was highly controversial. For this reason, TSR included caltrops in game sets that you could throw down to slow persecutors down.

I think this one would be in the top 5:
Tile, Modified 2 x 2 with Pin (part 2460)

I was about to post this one as well. I can't think of any other single piece with such harmful potential.

The LEGO equivalent of a caltrop

I nominate this little bugger:

Got it in a bulk lot, and oh boy is it painful to walk on. it rests flat on the ground thanks to the wings, and the crest is a nice touch for delicate underfoot.

The 1x1 brick is both small enough to mean that you get edges no matter which way up it is, and has all the sharp edges and corners of the 2x2 brick, just packed into a smaller, more evil form.
That naturally leads to the headlight block, which has all the same features, but, if you are unfortunate, can also attack with the lip on the bottom.

This assembly of pieces will not tickle, so let's dive in:

First, the teeth are placed in reverse of each other so the foot and
all that weight is forced to rock on the two little pointed tips.
Second, the white circular base is wide enough to minimize rolling of
the piece as experienced with a 2x2 brick, where the weight of a
person would force the piece to roll instead of piercing foot
flesh.  A wider surface area gives less relief of potential pain.
Finally, a few 1x2 tile pieces to lock the teeth in place.  Without
them the weight and force of a foot fall would dislodge the tooth from
the base.

Chain a few of these together and Vwah-LAH!... I hereby dub thee the "Human Spike Strip". -Rin

If you covered a 32x32 base with those spikes, and stepped gently onto it, you'd get a proper bed of nails effect, looking like it would hurt a lot, but not actually being painful

Several roof tiles and similar triangular parts must be strong contenders.  Here's a selection I could quickly lay my hands on:
The one on the right (13548 "Wedge 2 x 2 (Slope 45 Corner)") wouldn't be so bad as the other 3 pictured, or the classic 2x2 roof tile.  The front one (3049c "Blue Slope 45 2 x 1 Double / Inverted") would be particularly evil, except it's very slightly rounded on the tip.

We've all heard (and probably experienced) the long-running joke that stepping on a Lego is the absolute worst.

Those people have clearly never stepped barefoot on a UK 13A plug sitting on the floor with it's pins facing upwards.
Lego have sold a number of power bricks over the years the older ones tend to be the best for sitting stably in a pin-up position though, something like part 70928b "Electric, Train Speed Regulator 9V Power Adapter 240V (UK)":

I think the most painful Lego honestly has to go to the Lego Crystal; just try it on a base plate.

I think this single bevel gear would probably hurt a lot:

While that looks super spiky there are enough points that it can spread the load

As I remember it, there are not many sharp edges on those.

no the lego ax and the lego spear from the medieval sets, clipped onto the side holster of the saddle on the lego horse.  Oh, and the lego horse's head is pointed up and its mouth is open and it's bitting...yeah just bitting at the air above its head at random intervals with a taste for human flesh of the barefoot variety.
PS. Megablox are sharper

The little swords from the medieval-themed sets such as this one:

Only harmful if somehow pointing straight up; unlikely unless stuck in a crevice in the flooring which is even more unlikely!


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What is the difference between Star Wars UCS and Master Builder Series?
In the press release for Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) it was noted that this set was part of the Star Wars Master Build Series. What is this? Does this replace the Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series?

Both the Master Builder Series and UCS will continue. Here's the official distinction from the LEGO Star Wars team:

The Master Builder Series models are large playsets and beside being complex builds they are characterized by having many play features and functions, interior details as well as a range of minifigures. Ultimate Collectors series will remain highly detailed display models providing complex builds with a focus on authenticity and both Ultimate Collectors Series and Master Builder Series will continue as a way to highlight the unique characteristic of each style of model.

It seems like this distinction should help address some of the confusion from fans that UCS sets such as Assault on Hoth (75098) feel very different than the typical large display models.


text:
How can I find overlapping bricks in LeoCAD?
I've just started using LeoCAD to generate instructions for a model I want to share.  I've been able to get it working despite the sparse tutorials.  But in looking at my results so far I see that I've got an extra part in one step.  I'm pretty sure this is a left over from duping the same part over and over again.  One benefit of this is that the part must be overlapping with another part.  How can I find and remove this extraneous part?

The author of LeoCAD also helped me work around a bug I was experiencing to get this far.  https://github.com/leozide/leocad/issues/255  Kudos for excellent free software support.

I'm not aware of a way to do this in LeoCAD directly, but assuming that your overlapping brick is an exact duplicate (same element, same position, same rotation, etc) it will show up as a duplicate line in the LDraw file. Something as simple as this should show you what it is:
uniq -d model.ldr

You could also use any other tool for finding duplicate lines.
If you find a duplicate, it will look something like this:
1 4 -70 -48 -40 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3005.DAT

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th items are the x,y, and z coordinates, which you can use to track down duplicate elements and remove them inside LeoCAD. Alternatively, you can remove all but one of the duplicate lines from the file directly.


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Stacking motors on the Powered Up hub or Boost hub
The way the Boost/Powered Up connectors are designed, it's not possible to have multiple motors on the same output of a hub like it was possible with 9V or Power functions. However, since I only want to stack the straightforward M-motors, the electronics should be simple enough for a DIY solution. Does anyone have a tutorial or pointers?

All you should have to do is connect pins 1 and 2 between the two motors. One motor will have all six wires connected and serve as the primary in order to give the hub something that it can properly identify. The second motor can simply piggyback off of the primary and share control voltages that are meant for the primary motor. Essentially, you can leave one set of identification circuitry in place, and then wire just the motors in parallel.
I'm not sure if Powered Up compatible connectors are available anywhere, but it's not too hard to open up the motors and connect to them that way. Here's what it looked like testing this out:

I paired pins 1 and 2 here and things worked as expected.

Philo has some more info on the cabling

There really isn't any easy way to do this at the moment. I would suggest buying plugs and making a simple port splitter, but I don't think there's currently any place to purchase the parts.
The best you can do involves (permanently) splicing the wires of the two motors together, using a single plug for both of them. With only the M motors this shouldn't cause electrical problems but having two motors permanently attached to a single plug is obviously less than ideal.

Not even sure that would work, I think there's a resistance between a couple of wires so the hub detects an M-motor attached. Obviously, attaching ALL wires would cause that resistance to drop by half (parallel circuit)

@MichaelVerschaeve I'm not very familiar with the boost system. Is it possible to use a motor at all if it doesn't "register" by having the proper resistance?

I think so, haven't tested. The Powered up hub uses the resistance for example to know if a train motor or M-motor is attached. When using the remote, the train motor is driven gradually and continuously. You use the buttons to set the speed. When using an M-motor, the motor is driven in Bang-Bang mode, which means the motor is entirely on or off depending if the buttons are pressed or not.


text:
How to MOC the Rough Terrain Crane 42082
I recently got me the Rough Terrain Crane 42082 and had lots of fun while assembling it. I find it a decent Technic build and worth the price. Still I find it under-motorized. I would like to drive and steer it. Do you know where I could find MOC instructions to modify and motorize the crane?

There are building instructions in this video of a fully motorized version: https://youtu.be/mmKw_GBFGs0
And here is a demonstration by the same builder how it all works: https://youtu.be/RzBaDTpG2Ss


text:
Are there Powered Up compatible connectors available?
I'm interested in experimenting with custom LEGO Powered Up peripherals. Are there connectors available that I can use to interface with the hub?

There do not appear to be any compatible connectors available currently. You can obviously splice cables from the official components, but that's expensive and makes those components unusable.
I hope that someone has a better answer, but the best that I've been able to do so far is to use a modified SATA connector. I first saw this in a video that demonstrated that the pin separation is the same between the two connectors.
Here's a standard SATA connector:

With a little Dremel work, you can expose the pins and reduce the width enough to fit the SATA connector into the Powered Up hub:

Here's the Powered Up connector for reference:

Notice that the SATA connector uses one extra pin. The pin on the right is extra and will not make contact with anything.
The first 6 pins line up with the hub just fine:

The SATA connector is unfortunately a little too thin to fit snugly:

If you can get it wedged in using some sort of shim (paper, cardboard, etc) you should be able to get a good connection.

Appears you can purchase them on AliExpress, here's some of the vendors I found:
here
here
here
"10Pcs/lot Programming Series Robots Model Building Blocks Education Steam Connector Cabe Parts For WEDO 2.0 Motors Sensor Toys"

From this article:

This connector first appeared in WeDo 2.0 set (45300) in 2016. It
allows to connect sensors and motors to the controller. This 6-wire
system progressively replaces the Power Functions 4-wire system. This
system was initially named "Power Functions 2.0" but it was then used
in 2017 Boost Creative Toolbox (17101), 2019 Powered Up trains, and
2019 Control + Technic sets, so naming this system remains... tricky!
But as of publishing, it looks like LEGO gathered these avatars under
the common "Powered Up" banner.

So looks like searching for WeDo is more fruitful than Powered Up since that's a more recent branding.
I am in no way affiliated with any vendors.

This is a great suggestion, however; use the HDD end instead.
Just grab an old HDD (SATA) and use the flat pin connectors (not the spring ended ones suggested above).  If you are careful with the side cutters you can actually recover two connectors from one HDD header. (One from the power and one from the data)

You can also 3d print the plugs.
See https://www.biasedlogic.com/index.php/lego-powered-up-connector/

I made a tutorial on how to make LEGO Powered Up extension cables: https://youtu.be/v084zbd-lxk

Hi Eclectic inventor and welcome to Bricks.SE! I see you did a good job on the video, but please note that we strive to create an independent repository of knowledge here. As such, link-only answers like this should be expanded to be able to stand alone. Having a video as illustration or clarification is okay, but can you please describe the steps you took in text here?


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How can I get the EV3 to control an ordinary motor with PWM?
Looking at the hardware developer pdf, it looked like the EV3 should output a PWM signal with a duty cycle corresponding to power level. It does, but only for 100ms and only on pin 1.
Is that how the signal should look or is it because the EV3 know there's no motor attached?
I'd like to do this all in hardware if that's at all possible.

The hardware solution is to simulate the motor circuit on pins 5 and 6.

There is a YouTube video by TechnicRobot that shows one way to do this.

I'm not sure I understand completely the logic behind this wiring. Personally, I would just connect pin 6 to pin 3 directly and connect pin 5 to pin 3 using a 3.3k resistor so that it exactly matches one of the 4 possible states of an EV3 Large motor.
When you do this, the EV3 will detect your motor as an EV3 Large Motor. However, you shouldn't use the Large Motor blocks in the EV3 software. Since this hardware hack won't provide a position feedback signal, those blocks won't work correctly. Instead, use the Unregulated Motor block (one of the blue "advanced" blocks) to control the PWM duty cycle.

To get a PWM signal on pin 2, simply run the motor in reverse. It is not possible to get a PWM signal on both pin 1 and pin 2 at the same time using the official LEGO firmware.

For anyone looking for a software solution rather than a hardware solution, there are some similar questions that should be helpful:

Using the unregulated motor block and conversion cable to light LEDs
How to use Power Functions with Mindstorms EV3?


text:
What is this EV3 controlling app
What is this EV3 controling app that is used here:
https://youtu.be/Sjix76QjtMU?t=1m43s

The link in the video is broken but I could find it on the Google Play store.
It looks like it is called Mindstorms Custom Controller.

Thank you for help. What is your favorate EV3 controller app?

@AllanXu I don't really use a controller app, the only one I have used is the official EV3 app so it's hard to recommend any.


text:
How to place minifigure legs into normal LDD bricks, like a 1x2 brick?
Let me clear up the confusion surrounding this question to the best of my abilities
I'm currently in the final steps of finishing of a mech project I started some time back, finishing now at the hands, literally, of the mech. I have decided to use minifigure pants/legs (the bottom section of the minifigure) as the figure aspect of the mech. This mech is in LDD.
What I want to do is place this brick

into this brick in LDD

How can I go about doing this in LDD?

I see what you mean...  Friggin' annoying!  Can't do it Stud.io Ver 1.0 (157) either.  I haven't installed Stud.io 2.0 yet, to see if it's possible in the upgrade.
Hmm...  You could... Just create a work-a-round that could potentially make your model a little more unique.
These program issues are frustrating, but they're fun when they force us to think of an alternative.
Here, try these Mech Fisticuff Gauntlets. The pictures look like nonsense, so let me explain the layout.
FRONT VIEW.

It reads loosely in columns from left to right.  Your new fist configuration build are the 4th and 5th Columns.

1st Column: Dark Gray 1x2 brick = Height 3 Plates.
2nd Column: Blue MiniFig Legs = Height 5 plates.
3rd Column: The total height of Legs and 1x2 brick.  = 8 plates high.
LDD won't let us stack a 1x2 brick on to leg stalk.
4th Column: Our alternate fist, fingers fully extended.  (Note: It
will be an unnoticeable 1/2 plate shorter then your original fists.
5th Column: Our alternate fist, fingers curled up, forming a Left
fist.
6th loose splatter pieces: Four individual pieces to our fist recipe.

93062 Skeleton Leg.
26047 Modified 1 x 1 Rounded with Handle.
99780 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Inverted.
15573 Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud with Groove and Bottom Stud
  Holder (Jumper).

7th Pointing Hand of Prime.

Final Note: LEGO may not have those Skeleton legs in the colors we want in real life, but look through for other minifig leg or hinge+1x1 plate combination to get your Mech finger/knuckles right.
EDIT=>HERE For reals. You can download my LDD file from my Google Drive, and import the alternate into your build file in LDD.  Save you some time.
BACK VIEW.

SICK VIEW.

That third solution with the skeleton legs is a very tempting solution to this dilemma I'm having. I might just pull the trigger on this one, but I am waiting for Stud.io 2.0+ to finish downloading before I do anything I might regret. Thanks for answering!

Updated the answer to add a LDD file to import into your model.  Later!

Sorry for the late comment. You really didn't have to upload an LDD file. I would think the design is pretty straight forward. But nonetheless I do appreciate the help! Marked as Answer!


text:
LEGO color discrepancies and tint variations
While building my copy of set 21310 - Old Fishing Store, I noticed that there are several shades of Sand Green amongst the many tiles of this set. The picture below shows just the 1x4 tiles included in bag 7.

As you can see, the tiles in the rightmost column are uniform in color, but the tiles in the other two columns have different shades. Is this normal or should I call LEGO Customer Service?

Unfortunately, this is common to several colors in the LEGO color pallette. According to this article on Eurobricks.com, The LEGO Group (TLG) made a change in the early 2000’s in how they make their colors: they used to have premixed color granules but abandoned those in favor of a system of white granules with colored dyes added in. This new system allows for many more color combinations than previously possible.
There are certain colors which are more susceptible to color variances than others, especially the above mentioned Sand Green, but also Dark Red, Light Bluish Grey and certain Blues.
The good news is that you can use these color variations to create “weathered” looks, like for example in the Old Fishing Store set where the slight variations in Sand Green color give the building a slightly “beaten” look. This Eurobricks thread gives more examples of how you can create weathering effects in your LEGO models.

Now I understand: It is a feature, not a bug.

@Aziraphale: Though in the case of variations of what is intended to be the same color, it's more of an undesirable side effect of said feature.


text:
Can I store LEGO in negative (minus) Celsius?
I've found this question: How can I store LEGO bricks to prevent damage? and the answers don't tell, what happens below 0°C.
Can I store unopened LEGO boxes where temperature can go down until even -15, -20°C?

Before adding comments to open the box and play with it, I'll do!

Let me guess - hiding christmas presents in the garage?

According to the Wikipedia article ABS can be used between −20 and 80°C. Heed the caution regarding humidity control.

Generally yes, as long as:

there are no electronics inside (like Power Functions, Mindstorms, etc.)
the temperature stays below freezing
you allow plenty of time in dry environment to thaw out

No, if the temperature rides up and down and you want to keep the box and paper booklet intact - it will draw moisture with each thaw cycle.
No if electronics, especially with integrated lithium batteries, are involved (but even without batteries it's not good to freeze electronic components).
LEGO is made of ABS and sometimes some other general purpose plastics. They become brittle when cold, but go back to normal once temperature returns to room levels.


text:
What are some good purist rotacaster / omni wheel designs?
In robotics, rotacasters or omni wheels are often very useful.
It's possible to buy LEGO-compatible ones from some third parties, here's one random example:

Unfortunately, LEGO has yet to make any themselves, which means if you are looking for a purist solution (because of robotics competition rules for example) you are out of luck.
Or are you? It might be tough to make a small one, but surely it's possible to build one.
What are some good rotacaster / omni wheel designs?

I have copied a design by Isogawa Yoshihito

I prefer it over the Lambert Varias design as the wheels are positioned more radially
More pictures in this EuroBricks thread:
https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/76297-isogawayoshihitos-lego-technic-omni-wheel-crab/

Here's a design I've been using, based on this model by Lambert Varias:

It's not a perfect circle, but it is relatively small all things considered:

It's pretty simple, but here's a partial disassembled version to better show what goes into it:

Parts shown:

1x 55013
2x 4265c
2x 57585
6x 32013
6x 32556
12x 42610
12x 50945

Just stumbled across this little gem of a Lego omni wheel!

Which is also by Isogawa Yoshihito, besides it being slightly more esthetic, I do not consider it an improvement on his previous design.


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What is the origin of the 2001 BIONICLE pin?
Recently I got one of these in a lot.

Picture of the back
Prior to receiving it, I didn't even know it existed, and can't find any information on it on the web.
What is the origin of this 2001 BIONICLE pin? Was it sold or handed out somewhere as a promotional item? Made for and worn by LEGO employees? How would one have obtained one in 2001 (assuming that's when it was made)?

The only thing I could find was a few e-bay listings, including this which uses the number #34981 in the selling title, although I couldn't find anything more.

This is
Pin85 BIONICLE Toa
a Patch & Pin set
given for free with LEGO Magazine or available at LEGOLAND Parks
Pin85 BIONICLE Toa at Bricklink.com
Pin85 BIONICLE Toa at lego.fandom.com


text:
Where can I find documentation on the LEGO Wireless Protocol for Powered Up devices?
LEGO BOOST and LEGO Powered Up Smart Hubs use Bluetooth Low Energy to communicate to apps. Where can I find documentation on the communication protocol so that I can build my own app for these devices?

LEGO calls this communication protocol the "LEGO Wireless Protocol" (LWP). The documentation is publicly available at https://lego.github.io/lego-ble-wireless-protocol-docs/.
There is also a GitHub repository that provides the source of this website at https://github.com/LEGO/lego-ble-wireless-protocol-docs. Because of this, it seems reasonable to expect this documentation to evolve over time.

Note: WeDo 2.0 is similar, but not the same. The official WeDo 2.0 SDK can be found at https://education.lego.com/en-us/support/wedo-2/developer-kits.

It is too bad that this is the only thing LEGO has on github.

check this repositories also https://github.com/cpseager?tab=repositories - he have few nodejs/python bindings, protocols descriptions and so on


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You know you have been LEGOing too long when
Inspired by this webpage on raytracing I was trying to find out whether something similar exists for LEGOing (playing with LEGO). However, I couldn't find any references to jokes like "You know you have been LEGOing too long when you are getting excited about the difference between bright light orange and yellow".
Are you aware of any jokes about playing with LEGO, possibly by people who think that LEGO is for kids only?

...you have "Lepin" written in the center of your dart board.

...you smile when you hear the name Travis

...you know the conversion factor from km/h to studs per second.

...you are worried about LEGOing too long.

...you build a LEGO model of your house with a LEGO model of your house inside a LEGO model of your house ... aarrghhh

You know you have been LEGOing too long when
you have permanent stud prints on your fingers

(That's technically a tattoo pictured, but you get the idea)

Is that a real tattoo?

@Aziraphale Yep, that's LEGO Certified Professional Nathan Sawaya's thumb.

"Thumbs up" for you answer! My plan was to have a brainstorming of this type of LEGO jokes. That is backfiring a bit, I don't really know why.

I know i have when my kids get tired of waiting for me in the Lego store & leave me to go to Starbucks

haha, liked that one. hope they get decaf

When you've been waiting almost 40 years for your favorite colors to become real.  The Lego Movie 2 colors (teal and aqua!!!) and the teal brick separator are like a dream come true.

Nice one! Welcome to Bricks.SE

When you're correcting anyone and everyone that says "Legos" regardless of their age.
When you're editing every question and answer I post to correct Lego to LEGO. :P
When your Lego collection is worth more than your car and/or house.
When you have an entire room in your house dedicated to Lego.
When you want to show every child and parent at the PAB wall how to get the most in their cup, but usually manage to keep your mouth shut.
When you spend more time sorting pieces than building with them.
When the "book" collection is your house is 90% Lego manuals.
When your Lego collection is larger than your kids collection.
When you buy multiples of sets "just for the parts".
When it's mandatory to walk down the Lego isle in any store that has one.
When you can't complain about your wife's shoe collection because it pales in comparison to your Lego collection.
When you have developed a legitimate hatred of stickers in Lego sets. Either because it seems "cheap" or, no matter how perfectly you apply them, some will wither and die with age.
When you've rolled up to the check-out with a shopping cart overflowing with storage drawers and/or containers.
When your fingertips are numb from pulling 1000's of Lego pieces apart, but it doesn't stop you.
Ok, I should stop now...

:) Guilty as charged with #2, but if you care: https://bricks.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/314/do-we-agree-on-how-to-capitalize-lego?noredirect=1&lq=1

I am sure you are talking about your kids' collection and not about your kids collection :)

@Aziraphale -  That took me a sec.  Yes, my collection of children isn't nearly as large as my collection of Lego.  LOL, that's an important apostrophe!  That's too funny, I'm leaving it :)

...when you´re a dedicated AFOL and cannot laugh about Lego jokes

This has a deep truth, indeed.


text:
reference number and instruction of a spaceship
I have only an image of that spaceship, (and all briks of course) but I don't know its serial number which makes me hard to find instructions to rebuild it.
The image of the spaceship is this one, anybody can help me to rebuild it?

This set is 6848 Strategic Pursuer.

Instruction scans are available on Peeron.

It was exactly what I need! I build it! Thank you!


text:
Duplo Train Thomas?
Anyone know if Lego will make new Thomas And Friend Duplo?  The first sets were from 2005-2009 and I can't find any information about the future of this licences

For commercial reasons, TLG doesn't usually publish plans for their future lines. We can sometimes make an educated guess, but we can rarely know for sure.

I know, but there's always small leak about that kind of stuff :)

The Thomas and Friends license is currently with Mega Bloks (as of January 2014). For now, that means Lego is not planning on producing any new sets.

However, it is not unheard of for licenses to switch. The Marvel Superheros license, for example, was with Mega Bloks as well until Lego took it over last year:

My eyessssssss!

So there's hope for LEGO to get Star Trek.  You know, after Star Wars ends.... yeah...

There's a bit of the history here - however I'm sure there was also some crossover with LEGO and MegaBloks, although that may have been more at the retailer level than officially.


text:
Is there an .lxf file resource of production Lego sets?
Is there an .lxf file resource site of production Lego sets? Specifically, I am looking for the Millennium Falcon 10179 lxf file, to load into Lego Digital Designer.

The Eurobricks forum has a topic dedicated to user created LDD files of existing LEGO sets.
There are currently four different versions of the #10179 Millennium Falcon made by different users:

yellost (23 August 2010)
bbqqq (12 November 2010)
Calabar (20 October 2012)
kcoon (16 December 2013)

There is also a topic for official LEGO sets re-created in ldraw.

There's also an article on the LDraw site on how files represeting official models should be created which hints at a repository, but doesn't link to it...


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LEGO Power Functions M-Motor 8883 characteristics
I have a couple questions about LEGO Power Functions M-Motor 8883 (http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Power-Functions-M-Motor-8883):

Is it synchronous or asynchronous?
It is powered by AC or DC?

Find useful article about motors: http://www.philohome.com/motors/motorcomp.htm but there are no answers on my questions.

The basic LEGO Power Functions motors (M, L, XL) use a fairly standard DC motor internally. The terms synchronous and asynchronous only apply to AC motors.
I'm not sure exactly where you are headed with this question, but if you are curious about whether or not PF motors can be controlled directly from a simple voltage source, the answer is yes. You don't need any complex control circuitry for the basic motors. Power is fed directly from the PF control lines (the middle two wires) to a DC motor.
The following image shows the internals of the PF XL motor. It is electrically identical to the M motor. You can see that it has no control circuitry, and connects the control lines directly to the terminals of a basic DC motor. The only additional components are a couple of capacitors to help eliminate signal noise.

More detailed information on the PF system can be found here:
http://www.philohome.com/pf/pf.htm


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EV3 and HiTechnic Color Sensor Block
Can I use the Hitechnic Color Sensor with my EV3?
At the HiTechnic web site I cannot find the necessary files for importing the Hitechnic Color Sensor Block into the EV3 software.

For 3rd-party product support you might find it quicker to contact HiTechnic via their support form.

Yes there is
On the HiTechnic website: => download
http://www.hitechnic.com/downloadnew.php?category=38
This is preliminary release of the HiTechnic EV3 Color Sensor Block.  Note that this block only supports the EV3 and will not work with the NXT.  Zip file includes both the Color Sensor block and a sample program that shows the color sensor values on the EV3 screen.  See instructions at top of this downloads page for installation instructions.


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Trouble finding plastic storage bins for MOCs built on 48x48 stud (gray) baseplates - Ideas?
I have a number of models built on gray baseplates that are that are proving to be difficult to store/transport. Lidded plastic bins would be ideal, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding bins with these criteria:
• Flat bottom (no ridges, wheels, etc)
• 15-16" square on the inside bottom, to hold the baseplate
• Approx 6" deep.
• With lid, preferably one that clips shut.
There's one hiccup: I'm in Canada, and Amazon/manufacturers don't seem to ship these items here. Any suggestions of particular bins, or where I could get the ones listed below would be great.
Some bins I have seen and considered, that may work if I can find them:
Lego Dacta X-Large Storage Box (#9920)
http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/9920_Yellow_Storage_Box_with_Lid
- Very hard to find, since they're quite old.
Iris Buckle-Up Box 33 QT BCB-SQ Clear
http://www.shopirisusa.com/buckle-up-box-33-qt-bcb-sq-clear.html
- Best non-Lego one I have seen so far, but I haven't figured out how to get it in Canada.
Really Useful Box 50L
Taller and longer than I'd like, but it could work.

The two solutions I've seen are to measure the size you want and visit places that sell a variety of storage bins so you can find one the right size. In Australia we have a variety of bins about the size of a milk crate or beer crate (about 12" by 9", from back in the day when those units were relevant). The modern plastic equivalents with solid walls and floor will hold a 48 square baseplate quite well, and are designed to stack.
A search for plastic storage container canada suggests that there are chain stores in Canada that sell things like this.
The other solution is to make (or have made) some wooden boxes. A woodworker will be able to cut 6mm or 9mm plywood up and make whatever size box you want and reinforce them a little so they can be stacked. Then you buy chunks of foam and cut them to suit your models. Or just make "bricks" in a range of sizes to pack around random models. The advantage of this is that you get boxes exactly the right size for your models. Using cut to shape foam rather than foam peanuts means that any small parts that fall off are easier to find.
When putting multiple models in one container I prefer to put each in a plastic bag, again so that any parts that come off are easy to find and are associated with a specific model. Opening a big box with several models in it and finding a layer of small parts in the bottom is disheartening not to mention tedious to fix.

Your input about packing technique is especially helpful. Thanks!


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LEGO plate with square holes?
I have some white plates with square holes on the underside. I'd almost think they were some imitation brand if they didn't have LEGO stamped on the studs. Can anyone tell me the history of when square hole plates were produced and for what purpose? Is this just a really old design? Why were they changed?

Those would be Waffle Bottoms, which seem to have been mostly phased out by 1969, except for the 4x8 plate that went until 1971. Having not read any deep history on old LEGO designs, I'm going with that was just what they went with to start, then realized that the tubes were much better.


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What techniques can be used for laying plates at 45° angle?
I've seen a number of techniques for laying individual elements at 45° angles, but I need a consistent method for laying down larger plates at 45 degrees while maintaining close contact with the base plate layer below it.
What techniques are available to achieve this?

http://brickfanatics.co.uk/pythagorean-theorem-in-lego/

I've un-deleted this question because I believe others may benefit or wish to add to this question. If you have discovered a solution, feel free to add it as an answer to this question.

I did come up with some solutions, but trying to come up with mathematically ways of scaling it to larger baseplates is where I am getting stuck.

All the techniques described above have one fault or another so have you tried to just get rid of the base altogether?
I did that a couple of times when I needed to make angular walls and it works seamlessly provided you use some pieces from other brands because Lego doesn't make them.

https://toweringbrickcreations.com/2021/11/15/thinking-outside-the-grid-building-angled-walls-using-lego/#angled-wall-basics

45° angles are tricky because of the dimensions of 45-45-90 triangles:

The fact that the hypotenuse needs to be a multiple of radical two makes it difficult to build out of LEGO plates which are generally limited to integers or halves. The best you can do in a reasonably small amount of space is a 5 x 5 x 7.07 triangle, but that doesn't come close enough to work well.
I'm not aware of a way to do this using just plates, but if you are willing to use other bricks as well, there are some ways. For example, some older bricks and most transparent bricks don't include tubes within the bricks. This allows constructions that are not limited  by whole numbers:

Edit: There is now a specialized 45° angle plate (15706) that can be used for this purpose:

Hinges can work, I have used this technique before, if you sandwich the hinges between two plates you get 45 degree 'bricks' that are quite solid.
In most cases, tiles and plates in the right place will keep sufficient contact with the base plate to have a stable model.

It appears that some LEGO pieces are designed with the proportions of 45-degree right triangles in mind. For example, the 3x3 plate with one corner removed has a diagonal edge that is very close to three studs long, as can be seen in this construction:

Likewise, the 8x8 corner plate has a diagonal edge that is very close to 10 studs long:

This is in old question but I think many people find this helpful.
I accidentally found this Lego technique where you put a 4x4 round plate between four 1x1 round plates. You can see in the picture how to do it exactly.
I think it is an "illegal" Lego technique. If you look closely you can notice that the distance between each 1x1 plate is a tiny bit more than four studs. And the cutouts on the side of the 4x4 round plate are designed for the normal four studs apart in my opinion.
The turntable is just there so it doesn't come apart, but the 4x4 plate is fully locked by the four 1x1 plates themselves. It may look like it doesn't work but just try it out.

If near enough is good enough you could build based on a 3:4:5 right angled triangle: i.e. put "dots" on the base plate 3 up and 4 across from each other which would then connect to the circles underneath a baseplate 5 holes apart.
The angle would then be ~37 degrees or ~53 degrees between the two structures.

Possibly I’m the same Woody that previously answered this question.  If so, I didn’t describe it well 5 years ago.
This is a cut down version of the 7/7/10 triangle which is
slightly better than the 5/5/7 triangle.

Distance between two round plates is very close to allow 6 stud plate here, but unfortunately it is slightly shorter.

Placing dots (1x1 round plates) on the bottom of one plate with 5 spaces in between will line up perfectly on a lower plate 4.5 down and 4.5 across (one dot fitting between studs on lower plate)

Can you include some pictures to show what you're talking about here?


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How can I use multiple switch options in Lego Mindstorms EV3 software?
What I see is just a simple if/then/else. What I am looking for is to be able to add multiple options, more than yes/no.
I use a motor as a switcher, so I rotate it to some position and measure its degrees to switch the mode of the robot and there are going to be more than 2 modes, like 4-8. How can I do it in an elegant way?

I just discovered this a few days ago. If you use "Numeric" as the input type and switch to tabbed view, you can have a select/case/default type instruction instead of if/then. It also works with text input as well as as some sensors.

I would suggest stacking your switch statements by placing switch statements into one another like in the below image. Make sure your conditions overlap, so you are only testing for values in A1 and A2 that are WITHIN your A condition, same for B.

Yes, multiple switch statements can be nested inside each other.
However, given the problem of a measuring a motor's rotation and converting that into a user choice doing the math first and using that result in a single switch statement is possible.
Also, the logic will need to run more than once and give the user some indication of the current selection.  That much, might look like this:

It depends on what problem you're trying to solve.  If you need a large, multi-part switch statement, then Sergei's answer above is genius and definitely correct.  I just discovered that the first if counts as the default.  This is different than C or Java where the default condition is optionally coded at the bottom of a switch statement.  The only time nested if statements make sense is if it creates clarity within the program.  I'd much rather look at one large switch block with all of the cases listed than to see it broken up with multiple if/else blocks. i.e.
if
else if
else if
else if
else

looks a lot more clear than a messy bunch of nested if/else statements.


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Need help fudging a group in 8039
So, I'm building "8039 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser ™ Star Wars TM" and I've hit a snag.
I need help fudging the instruction from page 76 of book 1 for that set (see picture below).
I'm out of piece number 4158830 and the variant (Technic Cross-block 2x1) that is one brick shorter.  I also tried the 2x2 Cross Block Fork but that splits the L-beams.

Might not be ideal, but have you tried replacing each Crossblock 2x3 with a Crossblock 90 and a Technic Lever 2M?

You lose a little bit of stability on the bottom edge with only two pin connections instead of four, but I think it'll do the job just fine. The new parts list is then:
 2x Crossblock 90 Deg
 2x Technic Angle Beam 4x2 90 Deg
 2x Technic Lever 2M
 1x Cross Axle 3M
 1x Cross Axle 5M

Thanks for the idea Nathan.  I really need it to help stabilize the connection between the "front" and "back" sections.

Even losing those two pin connections should give you enough stability to tie the front and back together based on the rest of the instructions I was looking at. It's worth a try anyway. Besides, in the worst case there is always BrickLink, right?

Implemented and worked brilliantly!


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Why are 2/3 height bricks with studs on the side 2 studs deep?
This question is regarding the 2/3 height bricks with studs on the side. The two that I am aware of are 99206 and 87609:

If you haven't seen them before, these are functionally somewhat similar to an Erling brick used on its side. I'm curious why these bricks seem to be larger than they need to be. It seems to me that these could fit in more places and be more useful if they were 1x2 and 1x4 respectively. Something like a 1 plate shorter version of 11211 and 30414:

Does the extra plate surrounding these parts create new ways that they can be used? Was mold design a factor in creating these parts the way they are?

Mold design is most certainly not the reason as I can't imagine these molds being less complex

In the case of 87609, the piece was first used in 2010 as part of the grill/bumper assembly for vehicles that were the standard 6 studs wide. Its length would appear to be a result of its original purpose. Its width also allows for attaching two rows of detail:

99206 showed up first in 2012. Its design allows for a more compact construction in situations like this:

If the piece were only 1x2, it would have to attach to another part above or below it. The extension lets you attach it flush from behind.

Well put. I kept mulling it over but couldn't put my finger on it....

The smaller pieces you describe would indeed be useful, too.


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EV3 IR Beacon/Remote Programmability
Can the EV3 IR Beacon/Remote be programmed to emit other IR signals, like for triggering a camera?
I'd like to use the Mindstorms EV3 kit for building a hyperlapse photography rover where it moves, waits X seconds, triggers the camera, then repeats.

No, the EV3 IR remote (which uses the same protocol as Power Functions remote) is not programmable. The simplest way of doing your timelapse photography is to press the button of your camera remote with a cam on an EV3 motor...


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Programming with Lego Mindstorms EV3
I know this question was asked in the past, but I want an up-to-date answer.
What is the best way to program with the NXT with a oriented object programming language?  Ideally C#, C++ or Java (maybe Python).
I've search a bit, but I have difficulty to find what is popular today.
I'm really interested in Mindstorms, but I don't want to program with boxes.

When we did NXT programming in university we used NXC (http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nbc/) as our primary language.
This is a C-stlye language, not exactly object-oriented, but seeing that NXT programming is practically equivalent to microcontroller programming, C is much better suited to this task in my opinion. In C you get a much clearer main loop that controls your robot, and I can't really see what benefits would object orientation bring to a platform that is clearly restricted in both input/output capabilities and computational resources.
But if you really need object oriented design, take a look at LeJOS: http://www.lejos.org/

The last update of NXC is 2011, I'm not sure it's still maintained.  LeJOS seem to be updated frequently, I'll probably try this one.  Thanks

You can use C++ with c4ev3, also available as Eclipse Plugin.
If you are ok with sending the commands remotely, you can even use any language that supports popen() like functionality, (which includes every useful language out there, with some bash-fu even Brainfuck). Check out moveEv3.pl.


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How to use printed bricks from set 850425 into LDD?
I would like to know if it is possible to use the printed tiles (those with letters) from the 850425 set into the Lego Digital Designer (LDD)?

And if it is possible, the next question is "how" of course. :)

There is a method of adding custom decals into ldd using the app files but I'm not completely sure on it. I think it uses something called "Povwin"

https://github.com/chicks-net/lego-business-card-holder

No. It is not possible to add printed tiles in LDD. The closest you can get is just putting plates into the design and adding stickers.


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Robot that builds a copy of itself
I'd like to try building a robot that can build a copy of itself. Basically, I guess that involves:

having some means of navigating around (i.e. wheels, tracks, something to move on)
having some manipulator, capable of taking parts and arranging them together

What would be the standard set of problems I'll encounter if I'll try to do it?
For example, I already understand that CPU and array of sensors provided with NXT or EV3 is, well, very-very basic by todays standards to say at the very least, so probably it can't be helped to replace it with some more advanced controlling unit, for example, Arduino-based and a full-blown camera + Kinect. What else? For example, I'm a bit hesitating about:

Is it possible to navigate a robot on wheels/tracks with decent precision, enough to be able to do such building work?
Is it possible to construct a manipulator (i.e. an arm with some degrees of freedom) that would be able to put together basic Lego/Technics joints? Would it be precise enough?
Should I use motors / pneumatics for the arm? Pros/cons of both of these types?
If I'll use standard Mindstorms motors for the arm, what's the typical maximum weight it can handle?
If standard Technics/Mindstorms parts won't be good enough, maybe some 3rd party parts (such as Matrix Robotics) parts will do?
What are the good examples of minimalistic Technic/Mindstorms robots / arms, easy to assemble?

And, the main question of them all — why hasn't anyone done that yet? I've found people building CNC 3D mills, guys who assemble lego models by hand instead of 3D printing, a very simple lego "assembly" factory model and a very basic lego 3D scanner & "printer".

This seems pretty much bordering on the impossible, given the current state of (LEGO) engineering capabilities. What you are describing is a Von Neumann Machine and as far as I know nobody succeeded in creating one, not just in LEGO but in general.
The problems you'd have to overcome:

The robot must be capable to exert sufficient force to overcome the clutch power of the LEGO bricks. This could be done with a suitable set of gears. However the gears themselves eat up a lot of the motor's force due to friction. Pneumatics is absolutely out of the question for these parts.
The robot must be capable of positioning the LEGO pieces with sufficient accuracy. I have no hard data available on the precision of the various LEGO actuators (motors, pneumatics, linear actuators, what else?) but in my previous LEGO experience electric motors can be tricky to program to operate with enough precision, but it can be done with enough testing and refining iterations for a given physical design. Again, gearing down would in theory help a lot, but all gears have some inaccuracy. LEGO gears are not among the most precise ones. You could easily test this by linking about a dozen cogwheels together in a chain, holding one end tight and testing how much can the other end of the chain rotate. Pneumatics are also out here, you can't get them to stop reliably anywhere but the end positions.
The robot must be capable of picking up, holding and placing every type of LEGO piece it is constructed from. This means either an universal actuator that itself can handle every element or more than one actuator, each specialized for a subset of all elements. The actuator(s) should also be capable of orienting the pieces in 3D space, this requires at least 6 degrees of freedom
The robot must be capable of finding and distinguishing between different pieces. The hardest version would have the robot sift through a bin full of pieces, but you could "cheat" by letting it use pre-sorted, pre-positioned stacks or queues of individual piece types. Even that would bring many problems, the robot must know which element is where, how high/far is the current part in each stack/queue, etc.
In the strict sense the robot should transmit it's program to the newly built robot. I'm not familiar with the current lineup of programmable bricks to state confidently whether it is possible at all for a LEGO brick to program another, but even if it's possible it would require some serious programming.

In your examples you can see how complicated, huge and slow can these creations can become. But you can also see how highly does the LEGO community think of these creations, each of which does only a small fraction of your proposed project. I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I don't think it would be an understatement to say that this would be the single biggest achievement in the world of LEGO and in general engineering too.

Looks like you're right. Thanks for the detailed analysis and pointers to Von Neumann's machine.


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Is it possible to add block to the on-brick "NXT Program" menu?
I have an NXT 2.0 (8547) set.
Is it possible to add some custom blocks to the NXT progranm submenu on the brick itself (like the existing "forward 5", "turn left", ...) so that I can add and use some simple steps there without the use of a PC?
Rationale: I'm playing around with the block with my small daughter (3), and adding in the PC to do something isn't very small-children friendly :-)

There is a piece of software called ICON (archived copy) which runs on the NXT and allows you to create programs on the NXT with many more commands than the built-in NXT programmer.

Thanks. This seems useful. So there is really no way with the stock software?

No, as far as I know that is hardcoded into the firmware, and none of the firmware replacements do anything to improve it


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How quickly do new molds reach PAB on the Lego website?
A few months ago, I asked Lego customer service if the 1x2 jumper plates on the Lego PAB site would be the new mould (with stud holders) or the old mould (with pegs).  I received no reply, not even to say that they didn't know.
If anyone has ordered 1x2 jumpers or 2x2 round tiles recently, did you receive the new moulds or the old ones?
How long does it take for the new moulds to hit the Pick a Brick bins?

I suspect that is unanswerable except in very vague terms like "some time after the new molds get put into production" and "it will be a LONG time before the old ones go away completely".

Unfortunately, I would have to agree, I might just have to order three of each colour periodically and see what I get.


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What is the best way to make a staircase?
I have built a Bat Cave from some bookcases and lego base plates. ( http://alice-yarns.co.uk/blog/2013/11/17/the-batcave-part-i/ ) I want to add staircases for the characters to move between each of the three shelves. But what is the best way of doing this?
I wondered about making it purely from lego bricks but I can't see how this could be stable.

Seeing the size of your project you'd certainly need lots of bricks if you wanted it to be built entirely out of LEGO.
Check out the 3rd and 4th models in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRP8HcEaRpQ
Or if you'd prefer to have spiral staircases and have lots of turnplates you could try building one according to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4sA9abH8so or this answer: What is the best-practice for circular lego staircase construction?
But I think Batman would rather have a lift than a staircase :)

Fab! I love the spiral staircase. I hadn't thought of making a lift. And I think that would be perfect. :-) thank you!

Building a staircase out of bricks is easy enough, but uses a lot of brick pieces, as zovits already answered. If you want to achieve something faster, with fewer pieces, you could look into the spiral-staircase-piece

or the regular staircase piece.

The spiral staircase piece combines with some plate+pin pieces (bottom, top) and some posts. You can connect as many posts together as you want using a pin.
The advantage of using the spiral staircase is mainly the simplicity of it; it's not that versatile a piece, but it works for its purpose and does have a nice round edge. Plus the stairs can be rotated, which allows for a "hidden staircase" feature.
The advantage of using the regular staircase piece is that it is very sturdy and it takes up very little space. You can build a similar staircase using the inverted slope and some 1x4 plates but it isn't as strong (and it's slightly taller).


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Holonomic robots using Mindstorms
I just got some Rotacaster wheels and want to try building a 3 wheeled Mindstorms omnibot (holonomic robot) and I'm looking for a practical (easy) discussion about writing a driving program.  I've found some theoretical papers but need something a little easier to implement.  Has anyone here built one and what advice can you give?

Here is an article that may be useful:
http://botbench.com/blog/2014/05/11/omniwheel-article-in-dt-practice/

I got also the wheels and found it really interesting... so I wrote an article were I explain all the maths and show you how to build one yourself ( instruction attached ) http://thetechnicgear.com/2014/04/howto-build-3-wheels-holonomic-robot-using-lego/

The code is for EV3 software and I will surely rewrite it for leJOS ( despite there is a class that already does the work ) on the following weeks.

There is an excellent model at Hitechnic, complete with building instructions and example programs. It's for NXT, but shouldn't be very hard to adapt to EV3.


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Can anyone explain the transformation information within a Lego Digital Designer LXF file?
I've been taking a look at the structure of the LDD files recently to see if it's feasible to create a plugin for 3D studio max that allows you to directly open LXF files for higher quality rendering...
It seems possible, but to get some preliminary tests happening I just need to understand exactly how the transformation string works:
transformation="0,0,1,0,1,0,-1,0,0,0.40000009536743164,0,-0.40000009536743164"
It seems pretty obvious from playing around that the last 3 relate to the position of the piece, and the first 9 somehow relate it's rotation (and perhaps 1 or 2 other things I'm not aware of yet). If anyone knows I'd love a detailed explanation as it would save me a LOT of messing around =)
Also are there any good resources of info on lxf files? I have only come across fairly basic stuff so far, would love to find a good resource...

There's a fairly in-depth discussion on the Eurobricks Digital Designer Forum in the post Understanding LDDs LFXML Schema, where the transformation element is defined as:

Transformation contains 12 comma separated double precision floating point values that represent the first three columns of a 3d transformation matrix and are thus able to handle any linear transformation. It's something that you'll need to learn for yourself but the first 9 entries handle rotation, the last 3 are translation. It's worth noting that the origin of most bricks is at the bottom with the y-axis heading up through the center of a stud, this makes rotations around the axis of the stud slightly easier. Brick width is 0.8, brick height is 0.96 and plate height 0.32. This probably ties in with real world dimensions in some form, but I don't have the details to hand. The double precision floating point format can't necessary cope with precise decimal values as we might expect to see them, therefore you'll see slight deviations from the values given above, eg. -0.79999935626983643 instead of -0.8. Those 0.707 values are 45 degree rotations, they correspond to the sin or cosine of 45 degrees (or PI/4 in radians) and are part of the transformation. Transformations are in world coordinates.

As Philo points out in the comments, the values that The_Cook queries as "probably ties in with real world dimensions" are indeed the sizes of bricks in centimetres, which means you should be able to transform between systems nicely.
In response to your final goal (building a plugin for 3ds Max) what you're really going to need is a complete set of high-quality meshes - the LDD format works with part models rather than vertices/faces/edges/etc. that 3ds uses. Therefore what you'll probably want to take a look at is a tool to convert from LDD to something like LDraw (you could just use the "Export" function in the LDD file menu), and then use the LDraw model library as your basis for importing into 3ds, or use the features in LDView to export to .3ds (the older, text based file type 3d Studio used before it became "Max").

"Brick width is 0.8, brick height is 0.96 and plate height 0.32.": These are dimensions of bricks in centimeters...

Good catch, indeed we've covered those nicely on What are the dimensions of a LEGO brick, but it's nice to see that internally LDD is using real world units as well - makes converting easier ;)

Thanks for the info and link, just what I was after =) I've been building a max part library for a while by doing exactly that - importing parts in .3ds and completely rebuilding them for best use in max... hopefully have something fun for others to play with one of these days

The 3 last values in the transformation attribute are the position of the brick in 3D space XYZ. Simple.
The interesting part is the first 9 values in the transformation attribute
<Rigid refID="0" transformation="0,0,1,0,0.99999910593032837,0,-0.99999988079071045,0,0,-0.39999967813491821,0.40000063180923462,1.2000013589859009" boneRefs="0"/>

They are read as a 3x3 rotation matrix (in-depth explanation: Wikipedia Rotation Matrix)
[a1 a2 a3]       [ 0  0  1]
[a3 a4 a5]  ==>  [ 0  1  0]
[a6 a7 a8]       [-1  0  0]

In this case, this is a single rotation around the Y axis, as the axes directions are:

So if you describe the rotation of the brick as yaw, pitch, roll you can say that this matrix describes a 90 degrees yaw clockwise. A 90 degrees yaw counter clockwise is considered a turn of -90 degrees. (clockwise and counter clockwise are probably not the right terms to use here. I am using to make the description easier to understand)
as long as the brick does a single 90 degrees yaw, pitch or roll, it is simple to detect the rotation axis, because there is a single row in the matrix that remains the same, see section Basic Rotations. In the case of rotating around Y axis, the middle row [0, 1, 0] doesn't change.
Rotating around X axis, keeps the 1st row unchanged [1, 0, 0]
Rotating around Z axis, keeps the 3rd row unchanged [0, 0, 1]
So, rotating 90 degrees around the Y axis is (2nd row is 0, 1, 0 as described above)
[Cos90   0   Sin90]
[0       1   0    ]
[-Sin90  0   Cos90]

If the transformation is a combination of rotating around 2 or 3 axes, the matrix is not trivial to read and is a matrix multiplication of 2 or 3 of the above matrices with the respective degree of rotation around each axis.
Turning the brick to 90, 180, 270 degrees in each direction, results in values of 0, 1 or -1 for each cell in the matrix. These are the results for the Sin and Cos functions for 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees.
last point to consider:
If you get values that are not 0, 1, -1 there are two options:

LDD has a slight miscalculation (This is not a confirmed fact, only my opinion). You can see in the attribute at the top of the post that one of the values is 0.99999... which is basically 1, so it's a 90 degrees turn.
You turned a LEGO object in an angle which is not a multiplication of 90 (e.g. hat on top of a head turned 30 degrees clockwise)


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Authentic or Not?
I browse periodically on eBay and see a lot of superhero lego minfigs. Are these real or Chinese knockoffs? It says that they're from China. I just search "lego minifigures".
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Sets-Super-Heroes-Building-Toys-Flash-Cyclops-Catwoman-Minifigures-Blocks-Toy-/141294442500?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item20e5ce1804

I don't see the word "LEGO" anywhere in the write-up...?

Possible duplicate of http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/3182/how-do-can-i-tell-if-minifigures-are-custom-made-or-lego-originals

They are fakes. From China. Some people do buy these as they are significantly cheaper than LEGO's version, however there are also problems. The quality varies greatly with some figures almost as good as LEGO, while others won't even fit together properly (see the close-up pictures in the auction). Also, the print rubs off of them quite easily. If you are just planning to buy them for a child who doesn't care about quality they are good alternatives. However they are not suitable for collectors. Also, consider the implications of ripping off both LEGO and Marvel/DC Comic licenses.

I agree. Too bad these knockoffs are polluting eBay.

They are knockoffs, I have ordered superhero minifigs, as well as bulk minifigs, from Ebay and they are definitely fake. That is not to say they were terrible quality(although some were) but you can tell by the way they fit together they knockoffs. The paint, ease of attachment, and sometimes the overall design is a dead giveaway.

If the brand is not mentioned and the country of origin is China, you can be 99.9% certain that it's not LEGO but Lepin, Duo Le Pin, Kazi, XingBao or one of the many other Chinese brands.

Definitely look like knock-offs to me.  The plastic just doesn't look quite right, even down to the reflections.  I'd be concerned about buying knock-off LEGOs for a child - you have no way of knowing whether the materials used in the construction is safe, and also high risk of bits snapping off.  (although that's probably true for LEGO in general).