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What's the easiest way to build a delta robot using LEGO Mindstorms 51515?
I'm fairly new to Lego Mindstorms and I'd like to assemble a pick and place mechanism.
I was looking for existing delta robot designs and found a lot of good looking designs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXBTZhhlYs&ab_channel=HiroLaboOECU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGPw-bnQF-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmMKpRE4X5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs1SoyfvZ4Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjV4PJEjDKg (not a delta, but still a parallel robot)

The majority are use Lego NXT. I'd like to use Mindstorms 51515 and hope it's a matter of swapping servos, maybe some minor part adjustments (due to difference in servo dimensions) and porting the code over.
The HiroLabo delta robot looks the simplest to me (but I might be wrong, so please correct me). What are the parts used for the arms and circular base (labelled as parallel links and universal joints) ?

What are the parts used for the [Hirolabo delta robot's] arms and circular base (labelled as parallel links and universal joints) ?

Let's see another still from that video:

There I see:

2736 Technic axle 1L with tow ball
32293 Technic, 1x9 link, AKA "Technic steering link 9L"
4185 Technic wedge belt wheel
41678 Technic, axle and pin connector perpendicular double split
2L pins
4L axle
Red ball

I'd like to use Mindstorms 51515 [...]

Well, I'm looking at the parts list for 51515 and am seeing no universal joints and only four towball axles. Seems like you'll need to replace each universal joint with two perpendicular joints.
Working with a limited selection of parts is always challenging, but I think 51515 has everything you need. Try something like this for the actuator and the base of the parallelogram:

The key is using 6536 Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular to provide the extra degree of freedom. It's gonna be worse than a universal joint or a ball-and-socket joint, but it's what you've got. Remember to use the low-friction gray pins for the joints (instead of the high-friction black ones).
I've drawn only one arm, but the other one is symmetrical; and I haven't drawn the pins - add them as needed.
The top part would also use two connector blocks, and perpendicular-axle-pin-connectors for the arms:

Since 51515 doesn't have any parts with an hexagonal pattern, or any other easy way of achieving a 120° angle, you'll have to rely on interconnecting the upper assemblies (with 3L pins):

That still looks flimsy, so consider reinforcing the assembly with more interconnections.
You'll need to fiddle and test, but I think this design should provide you with a solid base to start tinkering with.
Also note that the joints in this design are lacking a degree of freedom, and that this might apply excessive torsion to the beams used in the six arms. Experiment with adding an additional 6536 perpendicular-axle-pin-connector to each joint to provide that extra degree of freedom.

Of course, you can always go shopping for more parts. In your case, you would only need twelve of 32474 ball joint and 93571 ball joint socket. You should be able to acquire those from the usual marketplaces (pick-a-brick, bricklink) for about 0.5$/0.5€ each pair, or about 6€/6$ the full set.
Welcome to the rabbit hole of "I just need to buy one more of that one piece".

"low-friction black pins for the joints (instead of the high-friction blue ones)" - are we talking about the same pins I'm thinking about, where the black have the extra friction ridges and the blues don't? https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2780

My bad, I had in mind the 3L blue pins with friction and the 2L blue pin+axle with friction. The 2L pins without friction are the grey/bley ones.

OMG this answer is amazing! Thank you so much for the detailed information: much appreciated !


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Which Ninjago set is this from?

Hi, if you can help me identify which set this is from that would be amazing!

Doing a bricklink search for "dragon window" allowed me to identify those stained glass windows as part 57895pb023, which only appear in one set: 70728-1 Battle for Ninjago City

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


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Alternative Colour for Halberds in Lava RoboRider 8510
I recently bought a second-hand lot of RoboRiders, and noticed Lava included two halberds in dark gray instead of black, as listed in the BrickLink inventory.
Did this set ever include dark gray halberds?

The BrickLink photo https://www.bricklink.com/SL/8510-1.jpg?0 seems to clearly show they aren't actually black - compare with the black pieces they're attached to. So I'd guess it's either an incorrect inventory, or an alternate piece that's incompletely documented in the inventory.

@RSchulz Since these parts use a rough texture that scatters the light, they can seem a lighter colour than they really are. I did wonder about the inventory being incorrect, but some images clearly show them as black, so more likely an alternate.

Based on instructions, halberds are the same color as the chassis - Black.

In the BrickLink photo, if they're black, they're the lightest black I've ever seen. The business end looks very different than the black pieces just south of it. But those black pieces are shiny. And perhaps it was also lit in a way that makes it an illusion that suckers me right in.

@RSchulz I believe that may be the case! It's like that notorious dress... I haven't found any images online with undoubtedly grey halberds, so I believe black is the only correct colour for them, and my seller didn't realise (I bought them as incomplete anyway, so had no expectation)

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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What is this LEGO minifigure with yellow face shield and lots of teeth?
I found this LEGO Minifigure and I can't identify him or what set it came from.

Howdy Shawn, welcome to Bricks.SE.  Thanks for the clear picture.  If you feel like Mathew has answered your question it is good to click the checkbox next to his answer.

This look to be Rebel Pilot U-wing. (Note that in your image the torso is back-to-front)

He comes in just one set: U-Wing Microfighter.

I just have to wonder... so does this guy have faces printed on two sides of his head? Or does he come with a spare head?

He’s got faces printed on both sides. Lego has been making faces like this for a while to have multiple expressions


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Which set is this school themed sticker a part of?

Who can help find the set this belongs to?

That's from set 266 "Child's Bedroom", released in 1974:

And in those days it was still a common practice to place stickers across bricks, which in AFOL parlay is called a STAMP (STicker Across Multiple Parts).

I know Bricklink uses the term "stickered assembly" instead. But, alas, the assemblies for these old sets are not in the database.

@PhilB. and then you end up with broken stickers :( I have most of a Fabuland fire station set with a couple of those assemblies


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Identify 4x4 and 4x8 plate with clip
Looking for part numbers of these plates with a belt(?) clip.

These are Scala Jewelry Plates:
Scala Jewelry Plate, Modified 4 x 8 with Clip on Back

and
Scala Jewelry Plate, Modified 4 x 4 with Clip on Back

Both could only be found in red in a single set in 1979: Bracelet and Pendant 'Fantasy'


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Lego rough terrain 42082, page 57 book 1 - how does it connect internally
Is the dole meant to connect to another cog inside so all the gears rotate the big round cog on top
(Image from brickinstructions.com)

That Technic, Axle 5L (you called it "dole") is supposed to slot into the Technic, Axle Connector 2L that was added in step 67 :


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Different shades of the same color
I’ve bought a 10232 set recently online (not official store, some Amazon seller). The box and all packs were properly sealed, but I see some bricks have the same color (grey), but different shades. I even see two similar bricks of the same color but different shades. Has the seller tricked me?

The white balance in your photos seems a bit out, and it's difficult to judge the colours. You might be dealing with a case of pre-2004 grey pieces mixed with post-2004 bley pieces (read https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/238/what-is-the-bley-blay-color ). Perhaps a macro photograph of the underside of the tiles might help further?

Thanks for your reply. It’s already night over here, I am sorry for the picture quality. Will come back tomorrow with a proper pictures.

@IvanSanchez that's hardly possible. 10232 set has been released in 2013 - whole 9 years after switching to LBG.

I would not dare to read @IvanSanchez's mind, but I assumed he was suggesting the Amazon seller had sold a "sealed" bag which was not sealed by Lego itself, but perhaps sealed after collecting the pieces from elsewhere. Perhaps someone has war stories of how late Lego themselves were caught shipping a mix of greys in (in particular Star Wars) sets.

@RSchulz Indeed: from the way OP wrote the question, it's not 100% clear whether the sealed box and all packs are the original box and bags from a factory, or re-sealed by the amazon seller. I haven't personally heard of mixed greys in the same boxed set.

10232 was released long after the switch from old grey to new grey, so that's a bit unlikely.
The photos are not very good for seeing color differences on, but I see nothing of notice. I've seen far bigger variations within what LEGO deems acceptable. Fans generally have higher standards for colour matching than LEGO, I knew a fellow fan who had sorted his yellow bricks in 6 different shades.

And the reason behind this is a switch from using pre-colored plastic pellets to mixing colors locally. Thus slight inconsistency in shades of color. Until this day TLG hasn't managed to resolve this issue, which is a shame.

I've heard our local certified Lego professional say he has discussed this with Lego and the response what that the target market (kids) doesn't notice nor care about the difference...

LEGO seems to be trying to appreciate and focus on AFOL's more.  Maybe now is the right time for this issue to get traction within the company.

My feeling is the opposite. 5-10 years ago LEGO listened and did a lot more to/for AFOL's

i have added one more photo in the end of the question. this is a blue shades... Sent this set back to amazon seller, if it's an original Lego manufacturer, then shame on Lego company...


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How does the button on the Poltergust work?
I've seen that the Luigi's Mansion Lab (71397) set features the Poltergust:

The basic idea of the in-game item is that it can reveal, suck, and blow enemies. It has a similar play feature shown on the back of the box:

It's worth noting that the backpack, vacuum, and flashlight are all non-functional. Once the Poltergust is activated, Luigi is able to jump on the yellow ghost. Without this mode activated, he would be scared of the ghost.
Activating this feature requires the user to press a button on the Poltergust pants element. How is this implemented?

The Mario power-ups are detected using a combination of raised areas that interact with six switches on Mario or Luigi's torso:

The power-up suit that comes with the Poltergust set looks very similar to the others with the exception of a button that has been added to the front and 4 studs on the back for the backpack to attach to.

On the interior of the pants, we can see that in place of fixed ridges to detect the suit there are now a pair of raised areas that move with the press of the button:

The power up is detected by the presence of the higher of the two ridges. When the button is pressed, the lower ridge contacts its switch and the Poltergust suction mode is activated.
I found this to be a clever way to extend the functionality of Mario and/or Luigi and helps to explain why a total of 6 switches were included when this seemed a bit excessive in the first wave of sets.


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inventory of Nifeliz sets
Is there any pre-made inventory that I can use to add the Nifeliz sets I bought to Rebrickable, as I do with the Lego branded sets?
I'm very surprised that a search for Nifeliz finds no posts, as they are getting some trending on Amazon.com now.

There is are reasons this won't be added to Rebrickable: sets are not made of LEGO, sets are using other people's work without crediting them. Based on this I assume MOC authors don't get paid as well, which doesn't add any respect to this "brand". So basically, you are asking "Lepin"-like sets/MOCs to be listed on Rebrickable.

Yes, given that it's been documented that Nifeliz steals Rebrickable designs its a bit of a provocative question to ask how to import Nifeliz inventories into Rebrickable... I am inclined to think this is a troll post...

NOT a troll... if nobody talks about it I would have no idea, right?  In-house credit seems to be mentioned in the ads for the ones I bought (two purple cars). Amazon.com is suggesting them and there is an Easter sale. Instead of finding no posts why didn't I find that when I searched here before posting?

That is not how Amazon works. Suggestions and discounts like you mentioned are paid for by the seller or manufacturer. Add that it is well documented how simple Amazon's sales and review systems can be gamed, there is little reason to consider promotion on that site to be anything but paid placement using internal or external systems.
If you are an actual fan of this clone brand's products perhaps you would be best served by producing your own inventories.

@Closevoters: Note that while the question topic itself could be considered divisive or controversial, the question as a whole is objectively answerable (either by a positive confirmation or by explaining why a negative is likely).

@zovits, Contrary to what I earlier stated, I can't find any proof that they steal their designs from Rebrickable, it's more likely they contact people and pay them to retract their MOCs from public sources.
Nevertheless they certainly steal the element designs from LEGO and certainly do not make the proper licensing deals with the car brands.
As such I find their activities immoral and illegal and entertaining questions about these brands should be avoided.
Hence I like to see this question closed, but there seems to be no option to close a question about illegal activities...

@MichaelVerschaeve exactly that's what I mean. The spirit of the question might be repulsive, but it is a correctly formed question that can be answered appropriately and factually.

I suppose one can flag a question rather than vote to close it. It's the admins responsibility then whether or not they want to ban such content


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Multiple Programming Blocks Running at Same Time
My team created a simple program to drive robot out.  It consists of a MyBlock to drive straight a specified distance and speed utilizing the Gyro sensor.  The program then activates a third large motor to actuate the green large motor block to rotate the motor 45 degrees to activate one of the missions.  On the drive out (MyBlock), the large motor also starts running at the same time instead of sequentially.  Can anyone help me figure out why this occurred?  Drive motors were plugged into B+C, and Large Motor was plugged into A.
The first picture is just the three blocks.  The little fuzzy interference pattern indicating which block was active (when it glitches) was on both the MyBlock and the Large Motor Green block.  This was confirmed because the robot was still driving out and the arm started rotating.

Can you share a screenshot of the program?

I will try, but the glitch isn't consistent.

I have a screenshot, but not sure how to share it in a post.  It's not allowing me to paste the picture, and I don't see a way to attach it.

If you edit the question, there is an "image" icon you can click on to add the image.

The final block in the sequence is telling motor D to rotate 1 revolution at 75% power.
In the description of the problem, it says "and Large Motor was plugged into A."
Any chance that is the bug? Put the wire in D instead of A, or change the last block in the program from "D" to "A".

Good catch.  Actually, the offending program was changed and I tried, unsuccessfully, to recreate it.  Still wouldn't explain in my mind why two sequential blocks were going off concurrently.

I was able to duplicate the condition again and captured it on camera.  The video shows the robot moving out and simultaneously lowering an arm which it shouldn't do until it was done moving out.

Inside of the loop, the motor block tells motors B+C to start and keep running forever.

However, there is no block that tells motors B+C to stop, so they keep on running even after the loop ends. Adding a block to stop the motor after the loop ends should get the desired behavior.

When the motor is inside a loop, it runs for 25 ms or so and then proceeds to next block, so you don't have to stop the block manually.  And, it doesn't always do this.  In fact, I changed the cord from the "A" motor and the incident hasn't yet repeated.  Not sure how a cord could cause such a problem.


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Are either of these cars uncredited ripoffs from Rebrickable?
I'm no expert in searching Rebrickable, but turning up the minimum block count to over 3300 seriously cuts down on the number of matches. I've tried variations on the names and creative spelling, but I don't think I necessarily turned up all Technic cars with enough pieces. How might I better check that?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091SW3YJD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PD9JMTY

I searched all Rebrickable MOCs with part 24118 in any colour for the first one, and 68196 for the other. I didn't find any MOC that resembles either car

First of all Rebrickable isn't the one and only place to share your MOCs.
Next, there are several requirements for adding new MOCs: it has to have an inventory, free/paid instructions and design should be owned by you (or by someone from collaborative project). So you cannot simply add a model, created by someone else, just to keep its inventory in your collection.
Model designers own their designs, so they may add and remove/hide their creation from Rebrickable. And this have happened before. It doesn't mean some model wasn't ripped off if the model doesn't exist on Rebrickable. And here is why:
First picture in your question is a model of "Aston Martin Vantage GT 3" by DugaldIC. It doesn't exist on Rebrickable. But it is the work of a person that isn't mentioned.
Next model is Gumpert Apollo IE. I couldn't quickly identify author of this creation. But it has been produced by Lepin which isn't reputable brick model manufacturer. Use of "Nifeliz" brand may be used to appeal to be more reputable, but I would bet both brands being manufactured under same roof.
Again, both models are pretty sophisticated and aren't something your average Joe could built. It takes time and experience to create something like that. Offering a number of BIG and complex Technic models suggest me these weren't designed specifically for this brand but were sourced quickly via other means. There is a chance that model author actually agreed to sell his design. I don't remember if it was CADA who offered this? But the fact was that manufacturer was creating models no matter if MOC author agreed to be paid some small fee or not.
Other red flags include the the lack of Aston Martin and Gumpert licensing on a box as well as model naming, like "Apello IE".

The Aston Martin does exist on Rebrickable, although only as photos: https://rebrickable.com/users/Phil97/mocs/photos/

@zovits Not anymore. It used to be "MOC-8780" as suggest on the page you've linked to, but since has been removed from Rebrickable for some reason.

I couldn't find it in the wayback machine either.


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Identifying blue dragster?
I have bought this model as is without building instructions. So I don't know if this is an original model or a fantasy car.
I'm interested whether this is a original LEGO model, which one it is and if there are instructions available to rebuild it / let my son rebuild it.

I suppose it is older as there is a big figure in it (bigger than a minifig), with bendable arms.
special bricks: the motor parts are translucent

This is definitely a MOC - as noted in the answer below, parts used to build it come from various sets. And looks like this was build quite long time ago with much more limited set of bricks, thus making it it great looking model in my point of view. I would clean it and keep it. Or improve slightly with period correct bricks.

It's the work of a very imaginative and talented child I'd think, as such it certainly has value...

Inclined to think this is someone's own creation rather than an original LEGO Model.
First hint, I could identify the 2x3 slope with the X on bricklink here:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3298pb016
And this element only seems to be available only in 3 sets, none of which are a blue dragster or even Technic sets for that matter.
Also, the sticker with the red X and the three lines is part 6567stk01 which only appears in one set, and should be applied on a 1x6 black brick, not on blue technic liftarm.
Likewise, searching for motor blocks (both types) in sets in trans-clear color also doesn't turn up anything.
There's also quite a bit of a mismatch between the elements in the model... studded Technic, non-studded technic, city elements, old tires, new tires,...
Also, the quality of the build and aesthetics are not up to the level of an actual Lego model in my opinion...

I think it would be great to document even though it's not a "professional" model.  OP and Son can take it apart and put it back together with some improvements or make two of them.

What would you like to see documented about it ?

Thanks for that identifying, although I could imagine that one single brick would be used as spare part from another set for replacing an original one. This happend once in a set I bought in a garage sale where the instructions were included and where we in the rebuild noticed some replaced single parts (probably the original parts were lost and replaced with similar ones). Maybe the stickers with the same X could give some hints.

The X indicates the city subtheme "Extreme team". There are 21 sets in this subtheme according to rebrickable, none of them are dragsters of this size. There are also quite a bit of other elements to help identify this set, the wedges in blue are probably also unique enough, also the wheels...


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What is a rubber technic beam with two axle holes?
I'm starting an inventory on Rebrickable, and came across a part that I can't find listed.  I can describe it clearly enough and I know how it might be used (but not why it's better than the "normal" plastic), but I want to be able to add it to the tracked inventory in the database.  So how do I "find" it on Rebrickable?
This looks just like a beam that has two axle holes and is made of rubber rather than ABS.  It is a unit (not half-unit) thick.

Couple more resources alternatives to Rebrickable you can use to check inventory and identify parts: Bricklink.con and Brickset.com . Each has its own benefits and disadvantages, but otherwise very useful. Sometimes it is easier to check inventory for couple of recent sets to see which parts they have. Especially if the part is rather fresh.

That sounds like Technic, Axle Connector Double - Flexible Rubber, known on rebrickable as Technic Axle Connector Double Flexible [Rubber].

It's used for various purposes - eg. when some extra "give" is needed, or some extra friction, or to dampen a movement, or ...

On Bricklink, it's called "Technic, Axle Connector Double - Flexible Rubber" - part number 45590
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=45590


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When using Mindstorms Scratch-like development tool for EV3, is it possible to move a single or a few selected blocks somehow?
Say I have 10 random blocks in a line.
Is it possible to move number 4 to position 1 without also moving block 5-10?
As far as I have managed to move blocks all following blocks also gets moved even if I just want to move a single block.
Moving blocks seem really hard in Mindstorms software when working with loops and if blocks, at least when you want to decide the actual target position.

You have to break the blocks apart in two places so the one(s) you want to move are not attached to anything else. Then move the separated block(s) to where you want them. And finally put everything back together again.

Note: the screen shot is from the SPIKE programming software, not EV3 - in case you don't recognize some of the blocks.

Thanks for your answer! That’s sad. Then it’s worse than the EV3 Labview block programming. I guess I’ll have to change to EV3 python then.


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42082 crane boom doesn't engage
At the top of the sleeve part of the boom is a gear and that is supposed to turn against a rack of teeth all along the inner slide part of the boom extension, to make the boom longer or shorter.
However, it just spins but does not grab the rack.  The inner boom piece slides back in under its weight without resistence.  If I push down on the thing that holds the axle, I can get it to work as long as I'm holding it.
In the photo you can see I slip a piece of paper along the line where they should be meshing.

How can I tighten up the clearance/tolerance on this part in a normal Lego manner, rather than briging in other materials or modifying the standard shape?

I had no such issue with that model, so likely something went wrong during the build. I recommend checking the instructions carefully, perhaps rebuild partially.

As I explained in my answer the 8 tooth gear should be replaced a 12 tooth gear, but can you explain why there is an older type 8 tooth gear in your set rather than the newer dual face one ? Non dual face light bluish gray was last in a set in 2007, the 42082 set is a 2016 set

According to the instructions the 8 tooth light gray gear you have now should be a black 12 tooth bevel gear:

I.e. replace this one:

by this one:

Luckily, this is a very easy fix!


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What is the part name and use for this small piece shaped like a lever?
Looking for part name and use, stamped and has different numbers on each one I find. Small and shaped like a lever. Same size as antenna piece actually.  I feel it is part of a larger piece similar to the antenna and base part.
Part numbers on each piece I have found thus far are like 27, 28, 29 with the numbers 01 underneath each one. It's in dark grey and has white marks where they broke it off the part holder bit. Any help would be lovely.
Sorry for photo quality, it's very tiny.

Welcome to Bricks.SE.  The picture is pretty good, so don't worry about that.  A picture that has a LEGO piece in it for scale would be better, though, if you have a minute.  Are you sure this is LEGO?  Did it come with a bunch of other stuff that was 100% LEGO?

When you say "Same size as antenna piece" what piece do you mean? Because, as has been answered, it is an antenna piece.

Thank you so much for all of you answering! sorry it took so long to get back to you all. Current events made working difficult this month and I was away from the pc. Thank you for answering with the link of what this lego is! Thats exactly it Alex and Joost! Thank you for fixing my post for legibility Chicks!
RSchulz, The other lego piece I was refer to in my post for size comparison was Antenna Small Base with Black Lever Item No: 4592c02. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4592c02#T=C I should have linked, my bad.

This is part of FIGURE ACCESSORIES

and is used as antenna for the Boba Fett and other mandalorian minifigs

(Picture from Set 75312)

It is called Minifigure, Helmet Antenna / Rangefinder for Helmet SW Clone Trooper with Holes on Bricklink


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Why are the modified 1x2 plates with tow ball (socket) only available in light- or dark bluish gray?
Both pieces 14418 and 22890 appear in quite a large number of sets, yet they are only available in light- or dark bluish grey. The reason I find this strange is that in many cases, they do NOT match the local colour(s) of the set they're in.
Is there a known reason for this? The only one I could think of is that perhaps the material properties for other colours might be slightly different (e.g. not enough or too much friction when connecting the two pieces), but I would be rather surprised by this.

This is probably related to cost and not material properties.
There is some cost to each unique element that TLG manufactures. They must be molded, stored, and picked to produce sets. The fewer elements that TLG is producing at a given time, the more efficient their production process can be.
The two elements you mentioned are nearly always structural rather than decorative, so there isn't a strong need to recolor them. This is probably also part of the reason that many Technic elements (pins, axles, etc) are only available in a very limited number of colors.

Well, the pins and axles might be bad examples, as their colors have historically been linked to their other properties (friction vs. not, odd vs. even lengths).

Which was only possible because their color didn't matter as the elements were structural/functional rather than decorative, so it is an example of exactly the same.


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How can I get my motor to line up with a linear actuator?
I am very new to Lego, and I want to create a simple horizontal sliding door. I'm using a medium linear motor to drive a linear actuator which is attached to the door. The problem is the motor does not line up with the linear actuator.
How can I fix this?

The axle is misaligned by half a stud, so an obvious approach to this problem is offset your motor by half a stud.
The technique of offsetting bricks by half a stud is known as AZMEP (from the german "aus zwei mach eins Plättchen", meaning offset of half a stud), which is a specific case of the SNIR (Studs Not In a Row) technique.
As it has been already pointed out, one way of doing AZMEP is using part 3794, Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud, Jumper AKA "jumper plate". You can just pop a few of these underneath your motor:

The Unnoficial LEGO Advanced Building Techniques Guide (oldie but goodie, available in gratis PDF) lists a number of other bricks that can be used for the AZMEP technique, e.g.:

I'd suggest trying out a liberal application of 1x1 round plates on the underside of the motor, clip each round plate to the space between 4 studs on the baseplate:

As Sander has pointed out, you can also use technic bushes to offset things alongside axles by half a stud. In your particular assembly, this can be useful to effectively widen the linear actuator from 3 studs to 4 studs.
I suggest the usage of 2L axle + pin plus technic bushes:

If you're short on parts, you can also consider using 2L technic pins under tension:

...but be aware that this assembly is way flimsier, and the pins will wobble around. You'll need to provide extra support to the technic 1x4 bricks (blue 1x8 in my diagram). In other words: add 6-stud wide bricks or plates to both the top and the bottom of those.
Another option is to use thin liftarms to fill that half-a-stud gap:

Finally, another solution is to forego the baseplate entirely and use an assembly attached to the motor's pin holes. Note how the motor pinholes are 3-stud wide, which are offset half a stud relative to the motor's 4-stud wide body.
There are multiple ways of achieving this, but I'll illustrate using 39793 Technic, Pin Connector Block, Liftarm 1 x 3 x 3 and 2905 Technic Liftarm Triangle:

I think the most compact solution possible needs a 92907 Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Split:

It may be worth pointing out that there is now a modified 1×3 with 2 studs (double jumper), which is ideal for the footprint of that linear motor.

Isn't your example with 3L-axles with stop physically impossible to assemble?

Oh wait, the 3L axles with stop would need to slide through the interior of the linear actuator piece. You're right. Working in CAD sometimes does this to me.

Last solution would benefit from using half pins with linear actuator rather than full sized 2L Black pins. And, to be precise, you'd want to switch 2L round connector with something like 6538b or 6538c to transfer power.

Thanks for noticing my misuse of a 2L connector - I redid the diagram using 6538c. However, I don't seem to recall (nor I can find in the part catalogs) any half-pin part. Do you have any part number for those?

"Half pin" is community name for Technic, Pin 1/2, similarly to "Apollo" and "Erling" bricks. Technic, Pin 3/4
 could also be used here, but I think this wouldn't be as rigid assembly as I wish it would be.

An alternative is to shift the linear actuator by half a stud using eg. a Technic Bush 1/2 Smooth or Technic, Liftarm Thin 1 x 2 - Axle Holes (or any other thin liftarm) as spacer on both sides to control the horizontal alignment, and use plates to control the vertical alignment.

This is non-trivial, since the linear actuator is connected by pin holes, not axle holes.

@IvanSanchez If a more secure connection is desired, the longer thin liftarms have pin holes

You can do this by utilising some Technic pieces - CV or U joints. Each solution requires two of each element.
Solution 1
Technic, Universal Joint 3L

Solution 2
Technic, Steering CV Joint Axle

Technic, Steering CV Joint

Solution 3
Technic, Steering CV Joint Axle, Wide

Technic, Steering CV Joint, Large Ball

To solve this, you need jumper plates to line up

It may be worth pointing out that there is now a modified 1×3 with 2 studs (double jumper), which is ideal for the footprint of that linear motor.

I didn't, but only because I didn't know it would work better; I've added it now

I don't have any variation


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Can you identify these legs with the grass skirt?
Can anyone identify these legs. I tried searching Bricklink for "legs skulls" and "legs grass skirt" but couldn't find it.

This is:
Hips and Reddish Brown Legs with Lime Loincloth, Spider Knee Pads and Black Claws Pattern from Sparratus:

or (as JLRishe pointed out in comments):
Hips and Dark Brown Legs with Lime Loincloth, Spider Knee Pads and Black Claws Pattern from Sparacon

Both are from Chima sets.

The picture quality isn't great, but it looks like they're probably actually Hips and Dark Brown Legs with Lime Loincloth, Spider Knee Pads and Black Claws Pattern. The dark brown legs belong to Sparacon and the reddish brown ones belong to Sparratus.


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Boost on laptop
How to manage the Boost set using laptop (with Windows)?
It seems that the Boost Application for Windows 10 earlier available on Microsoft Store is no longer working:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/lego-boost/9nzn5q1ck1qk
I tried BlueStack emulator of Android to use mobile version of Boost Application. It installs properly, but now the problem is that the emulator doesn't support Bluetooth connection:
https://support.bluestacks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061235612-Bluetooth-support-on-BlueStacks-5
Are you able to somehow use your laptop to code and run Boost?

Sorry to hear that windows is no longer supported. Feels like a mistake


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Which set did this head with horns come from?
Bought in a lot sale and can't seem to find which set this is from, looks to be a partial dragon or snake? The lot had some Nexo knights and Ninjago stuff.

It seems to be a slightly modified sub-assembly from Ninjago Dragon Pit (70655)

You are amazing Alex, thank you!


text:
Why does this "useless machine" use out of production parts?
I found this new video. It uses out-of-production parts like the transmission parts. So when I tried to buy these elements in new Technic sets, I didn't find some of them. Any suggestions please?

Does this answer your question? What's an effective strategy for purchasing large numbers of different bricks?

I'm confused by the wording of this question. Perhaps you wanted to ask «how can I build this machine using only parts available in 2022 production», or «how can I build a transmission mechanism without out-of-producion transmission parts» instead?

There is no universal LEGO Technic set that contain each and every gear LEGO has ever produced.
None1 of those elements are out of production. You may not acquire all of them in a single set, yes, but they are still pretty much available in sets from 2021-2022.

1 Except, maybe, Technic Driving Ring 2L. But it isn't something that cannot be fixed by buying this element from Bricklink or an older LEGO set containing it. You can also modify this creation (it is rather easy) to include 3L version (in combination with Technic, Driving Ring Connector) of the mentioned element which is found in recent sets.

thanks for the answer.

Because the builder had those parts, and knew how to use them.
Perhaps those parts weren't out of production when that was build. There are extremely few MOC's that are updated when the parts go out of prodution. Perhaps the builder doesn't even have anymore, and their interests may have shifted. It does limit how many others are able to build a copy, but that is generally not why people build things.
(Apart from wanting to say that - and it became a little long for a comment  - I agree with RSchulz in his answer: because it works.)

I don't know if this should be an answer or a comment. But:
Because it works? That's kind of what the pieces were intended for, and they are put to good use. I, for one, could not have designed it any better.


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What’s this brick called? Two studs long and has clips on one side
It’s two studs long and has two clips with horizontal openings on one side.

BrickLink calls it Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 2 U Clips (Horizontal Grip), but it might be the newer Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 2 Open O Clips (Horizontal Grip) that @Alex politely pointed out. I always have a hard time telling them apart in real life, let alone from photos.

thank you very much :)

Could also be a newer version.

Oops, yes, I should have included the information BrickLink almost threw at me. Thanks!

The 60470b page has an image that shows the 60470 and 60470b side by side in profile so you can see the difference between the clips.

I have seen the clips in person, and been able to tell the difference, probably. Even that image doesn't really do much for my understanding, alas. (I also don't know at what point I am supposed to move the comments to chat.)

The primary difference is squared or rounded ends on the clips, for all the blurry image, this looks like the new one to me. Open O rather than U

@Separatrix I agree. The angle of the photo is not great, but it does seem like the tips of the clips detach from the surface the piece is lying on. If it were the U, they would lie flat.


text:
How can I build MOCs well
I want to learn to build MOCs well. Is there any advice or websites/videos that give building advice and techniques for building

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.

While I've posted generic suggestion as an answer it is best to just begin building something yourself. And once you encounter an issue you cannot solve or need some advise - post this as a new question with as much details as you have. Make sure to add pictures as otherwise it is basically impossible to help.

It is rather opinion based, however I've got a piece of advice.
General advice is to build whatever you want and as often as you can. It won't be perfect and top-level MOC at beginning (we all were there at point), but you will eventually get there, while learning following in the process:

what it is to build for yourself;
what kind of obstacles you encounter during your build;
list of parts you can use and their properties;
what colors are generally available for the MOCs you build;
what it is to work with certain scale;
structure stability;

and so on.
Next thing is to build other people's MOCs and study them. These are, sometimes, more advanced that LEGO sets. You can find a lot of free instructions on Rebrickable.
I've specifically excluded any resources for advanced techniques as those are usually cool to look, but are very specific to particular use case. There are also no resources that list all possible techniques, because... there's no such thing as "all techniques" - something is being discovered every other day!
Disclaimer. Wanted to post this as a comment, but it got too long.


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Attaching a laptop to a table
I want to give my minifigs a few laptops. Specifically, 62698 "minifigure utensil, laptop"s:

I've seen laptops in sets and MOCs, but always either (a) closed, being held in a minifig hand or clip, or (b) open, laying on top of a tiled surface (like a desk), unattached.
But instead I want the laptop to lay securely on top of a table/desk while open. By "securely" I mean "if I shake the model, the laptop should remain in place" (no need for technic-level sturdiness).
AFAIK, an open laptop is too thin to be held by a clip, and has no obvious way of fitting over studs. What technique(s) can I use to attach an open laptop to a table?

If you're not limited to pure LEGO solutions, a tiny piece of blu-tac rolled flat could work?

I would like to avoid adhesives. Besides, blu-tac doesn't qualify as [tag:building] :-D

Do rubber bands count as building? A Technic plate underneath with a rubber band through the holes would surely be sturdy enough for a little shake.

Rubber band was first thing on my mind too, but they rarely come in Black color. There are some larger size, but they are a little pricey. Maybe string with end studs could be used to instead of rubber band.

I guess I could use sewing thread. Put laptop on top of 2x2 tile, wrap sewing thread around both, place tile on studs, thread underneath tile gets stuck. But I was hoping for a solution which doesn't involve flexible parts (or folded used sticker sheets, for that matter)

You can use elements with clips to hold the laptop on 2 or 3 sides so it won't move when shaken.

I can't test this idea as I don't own that laptop piece, but wouldn't the flat circular end of a minfig lever / antenna fit into the front slot of the laptop?

@zovits I just tested that out in LeoCAD and, in theory, there's a fit. The width of the laptop is roughly equal to the width of the lever base gap (less than 1 LDU difference, in any case). I think it's also possible to clip the screen part of the laptop (AKA top half) to a lever base. I currently lack a lever to test this physically.


text:
Camera for Spike or Mindstorms for Streaming
I have made a few EV3/Spike robots that can be controlled remotely. They are controlled by either a PS4 controller or using a dashboard I built on a website. I'm running Python on the LEGO. However, at the moment you have to be in the same room so you can see the robot. I want to add a camera to the robots and stream the video to a website. Anyone know of a camera that would do this?
Edit: I was hoping to connect the camera to the EV3/Spike brick. That way I can use Python to handle the stream and eventually make the robot drive autonomously.

Not turning this into an answer, since I have no personal experience (someone with actual experience will probably get to that). But GoPro camera's are a common choice. Look for eg. "gopro lego mount" in your favorite search engine to find several solutions for mounting a GoPro camera onto a lego creation (some using custom lego bricks).

Oh, I don't think the spike hub has enough computing power to live stream video. It's a 100MHz CPU, and the ports are limited to a bit more than 100KiB/s; those are serious constraints. It's possible to find third-party EV3-compatible cameras, but those are meant for on-board artificial vision and video recording, not for FPV / live streaming.

You probably want to look into suppliers for copter drone parts - the kind that RC hobbyists attach to drones or RC cars to fly/drive from a first-person point of view. These are called FPV ("First Person View") cameras. They're already designed to be light, compact, and battery powered.
I don't want to be partial to any brand or model, so I suggest you search for RC FPV cameras and/or drone fpv cameras yourself. See also "What should I look for when choosing a FPV camera" in the drones.stackexchange.com site.
For the full setup you'll need:

A camera. These typically output analog composite video.
A video transmitter. These input composite video, and convert it into radio waves.
A battery, to power the camera and the transmitter.
A video receiver. These take the radio waves and output composite video.
A way to watch the composite video, either

An analog TV monitor with composite input, or
A computer with a composite video capture card (which can take the form of a PCI/PCIe card, or a USB dongle), or
A specialized unit (RC receiver, VR glasses)

The camera+transmitter and the receiver+capturer might be in the same package (read "inside the same plastic box", sold together as one unit), but you should be aware of all the system components. If your goal is to provide video in a website dashboard, you probably want the video capture card and the webserver in the same computer (I'd recommend motion for the software bit, since I've used it in some raspberry-pi projects).
I'm afraid any further detail would be off-topic for bricks.stackexchange.

You could use a smartphone to do this. They are lightweight and have a camera and Wi-Fi all in one package.

This might work, I did consider this. I need the video feed to go directly to a website feed. I could use Twitch or something, but the six second delay or so is too much. Is there any existing tool to stream an iPhone camera to a website feed?


text:
Will custom parts be included in .IO-files?
In a Stud.IO project I made I'm missing a specific printed part that isn't available in Stud.IO. So I used the Part Designer to create a custom part, which is basically just a normal 1x1 tile with the print as a decal. I got this properly imported into Stud.IO and by giving the part the correct BrickLink number in the Part Designer, I also got it to automatically link to the proper LEGO piece and the instructions show the proper part number, too.
This is all well and good, but now I want to share the Stud.IO file, with someone who doesn't necessarily have that part. Now the question is, will the custom part automatically be included in the Stud.IO model and work as expected or would the other person need to import that part on their system, too? If it doesn't work right away, what would happen instead? Would the part just be missing, as if the pieces are just not in the model or would anything else happen (like an error or some kind of dummy part being shown)?

Seems easiest to me to just test on another system or reach out to someone to test the .io file for you...

@MichaelVerschaeve That's what I since did and in fact it does all work properly. ;-) Still, a proper SE question seemed like a good idea anyway (although, I don't quite feel like giving a one-line-answer based on hearsay now either.)

It is completely reasonable to self-answer questions on StackExchange.  And it won't be just one sentence if you explain how you tested it.  I'd make a heading with the word "Yes" by # Yes at the top so the simple answer is easily evident.  :)

Okay, I did the obvious thing and just tried it. That is to say, I gave the Stud.IO file to someone who opened it on their own system where the part hadn't been imported from the Part Designer. And in fact yes, it works, meaning he could see the part with the print decal in the model and the instructions and it even linked to the correct BrickLink piece.


text:
What is the reference of this part? Two short rounded bars with a circle between
It is similar to a lipstick piece but a bit shorter.
I'm starting to wonder if it's even Lego but if seems pretty compatible
with everything.

If that was in my house, it'd be part of a remote-control or slot-racing car.

"Compatible with everything" you mean bars/3.18mm, studs, other System or Duplo elements? Which portion of the pictured element is "compatible" shaft ends or its middle? It would be helpful to have another LEGO element placed nearby.

Actually I retested it and it seems to be a little smaller that the bars. It does not hold as good. It must not be a lego part

Makes me think of a lego pneumatic piece to connect tubes, but probably isn't... also inclined to think it's not Lego

Today I discovered part 78258 https://store.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=78258 which looks very similar, but the ends are longer on the Lego piece.

Whatever brand it is, I don't think it's Mega Bloks, because I got a bulk lot of those recently and found a Mega Bloks piece like this, except its ends aren't rounded like your one (I know my piece is Mega Bloks because it's the same dark speckled grey as the other piece in the photo which says Mega Bloks on it).

Hope this helps with your search


text:
What Lego set is this from? minifig-scale bumpy grey spaceship
I got this in a bundle but no idea what set it's from.  Thanks for your help

Actually, this question is a duplicate of https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/8981/can-you-identify-this-set-that-seems-to-be-from-lego-star-wars-dark-grey-circle/

Does this answer your question? Can you identify this set that seems to be from LEGO Star Wars? Dark grey circle pieces and clear canopy?

I vote to leave this question open, even if it is a duplicate. The OP has no chance to find a previous answer because he/she does not know what to look for in the first place, there is just a picture of the set. Therefore, points for question and answer should be awarded.

That's part of set 76003-1: Superman Battle of Smallville:

Found by searching sets which contain a 8x6 bubble canopy. Remember, searching for the rarest pieces in a set tends to make the search easier.


text:
Is there a parts list for Light Stax pieces anywhere?
Light Stax is a clone product that focuses on electrically lit bricks.
It basically works like the 1990s era Lego 9V connector plates - contacts embedded into studs and negative studs, so any Light Stax pieces you put on top of each other do not only hold together physically, but also conducts electricity.
On the Light Stax website, some of the boxes are shown from various sides, which reveals a parts listing of a couple of sets, but there does not seem to be a complete listing of available parts anywhere. For instance, the box photo of the connectors and cables set reveals there are also unlit conductor plates.
Is there a complete list of the different parts (especially the ones that are not just bricks, but that have any of the power functions) Light Stax produces anywhere?

The building instructions on the website do have a part list of the respective set. However, I am not aware of a complete list.


text:
Identify set by bag 4 - lots of circular pieces
All I have is bag 4 from one of my son's sets. He says he wasn't missing any bags and completed them all. Can someone identify which set it's from?

This bag is from
75249: Resistance Y-wing Starfighter

based on the

Light Bluish Gray Plate, Round 4 x 4 with 2 x 2 Round Open Center
and
Minifigure, Headgear Helmet SW Zorii Bliss Pattern


text:
I got a vintage roof brick that is very nice but can’t find what it is?
I got these parts in a lot, but can’t find any history or brand or set on them?

I could find more images of these roof tiles at https://www.etsy.com/listing/1074350851/ , but unfortunately no more information.


text:
What is this LEGO part number? Technic, right angle with 4 pins sticking out
This part is required for building a LEGO steering rack. It connects the moving rack to the wheel axle.

Building a steering rack might be the usage you have seen, but you can build steering racks without this part and this part has other uses (I don't even remember seeing it used for steering racks).

Check if you are referencing correct part. Usually, Technic, Pin Connector Perpendicular 3L with 4 Pins
 is used for steering rack you ar elooking to assemble as this piece has all 4 pins in parallel which help constructing steering links.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. You guys are great!  Actually this is where I found someone using this piece for a rack and pinion steering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIkTLrnLKw

On Bricklink, that's called Technic, Pin Connector Perpendicular 3 x 3 Bent with 4 Pins.

It has known design IDs 55615 and 49130. And in Light Bluish Gray has item numbers 4296059 and 6313453.

Thanks a lot. I have now been able to locate it on ebay.


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Identify this T-shaped part
Seems to be used for making differential gearboxes, cars, and GBCs.

It's used for many things!  It's great at joining beams together at perpendicular angles.  When disassembling technic sets, these are often the most challenging to get through.

It's difficult to find a modern technic set that does NOT contain this element, it's ubiquitous...

Vic, welcome to Bricks.SE. Does your piece take an axle or a pin in the direction we can't see from the angle of the picture?

Thank you. It takes a pin

Here you have the Bricklink link to the part: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=63869#T=C

it is named Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Triple on BrickLink. The ldraw/bricklin item id is 63869. The Lego design id is either 63869 or 42191, indicating that there have been at least two moulds.


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Help identify this Lego set - light blues, browns, and dark purples
I got a mixed set and have worked through them but have a couple I can't identify:

(click to enlarge images)

These both look like part of Naida's Spa Secret 41072.

Looking for unique parts, the dark purple Round Corner 4x4 Macaroni in photo 1 looked unique enough, and this is how I found it.

Just beat me! It would be nice to avoid multiple people answering at the same time...

Unbelievable you look to be absolutely spot on. One happy girl tomorrow to build another set out of her mixed bag


text:
Help identify minifig Pharaoh-like headdress
Recently found this minifig headdress in a bag with mixed LEGO and analogs. Not sure if it belongs to LEGO, but quality is great and it perfectly fits minifigure head. The sets in bag was belong to periods from 1994 to 2000 and from 2011 to 2017.
I tried Google Lens. Tried to search it in Adventurers, Pharaoh Quest, Castle, Prince of Persia, Pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean and collectible minifigs serieses, but have not found any thing similar to it.
Any suggestions of sets or even serieses is appreciated.

Minifigure bellow is from 2021 creator castle is just for example of how it looks.

If someone has the full BrickLink catalog handy, it would probably be easy to filter on Minifigure, Headgear and sort by weight. That thing is huge. I don't personally recognize it as a Lego piece, and I searched that category by release year back a while, and nothing seemed to match.

Do you find any numbers or other markings on it (on the inside of the cap eg.) ?

Only number i found is "2" at the bottom of the cap. No markings.

I scanned through bricklink's black headgear, no hits. Suspecting a clone brand. Perhaps there's a theme to the clone sets in OP's bags that can help narrow down the search?

Thanks for the fun challenge, Ivan.  Can you add any info about the quality of the plastic?  Are there any seams you can see or feel?

I don't have any of clone-brands pieces from that bag left (only LEGO's and the ones I'm not sure about, like that one). I remember, there was a classic pirate clone set, something like western themed set and a lot of modern warfare sets (few tank's and truck, I guess). Plastic quality is very good, I would say it's LEGO quality or very close to it. There is one seam at the back of the headpiece, I added photo to OP.

I think the sole small number 2 printed inside is a good indication this is off brand. I just inspected a minifig headwear (police mans hat) and in the case of Lego, there's much more printed inside (at least two numbers and a  copyright notice) around the stud recess...

That's almost always true today, but historically, Lego has had a... variety... of methods they used to mark pieces like this. I'm fairly sure I've seen a bare number like that in pieces that were definitely Lego brand.

I can confirm that - I have several headgear in my collection that just have a single digit number (likely the mould id) on them. These are mostly from the late eighties, early nineties.

This looks to be a custom creation by BrickTW. They are apparently no longer in operation though (closed down early 2020).
Found through google image search with keywords "lego compatible headdress". This search turned up this element sold under the name "BrickTW - Nanman Priests Headdress" at Firestarter Toys (albeit not available in black).

Looks like it is, thank you! It's a pity that this is not from some set, this part is very unusual.

Great find! My searches for "minifigure headdress" yielded less useful results. I've put in a link to the image that's on their website, but that link may go bad, so I'll save a copy locally just in case. I would prefer a BrickTW image directly, but haven't found that either.

@RSchulz : thanks for the edit - I've been looking unsuccessfully for an image closer to the source. I'll keep my eyes open, but am not hopeful.

Also available in some shade of Brown/Tan


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Identify LEGO set which looks like helicopter
Can you help me identify this LEGO set please?

It looks like 31029 Cargo Heli
I'm basing it on the Yellow Slope, Curved 2 x 1, and Dark Bluish Gray Slope, Curved 2 x 2 x 1 Double with 2 Studs

Great you save me !!

It looks like the OP has that set, but with a substitute opaque tail piece replacing the two translucent ones in the photo above.

Which pieces? According to BrickLink, the only non-opaque pieces are the tiny "cheese slopes" at the front.

I think @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket was referring to those red translucent looking windows on the side.  I think they're just decals maybe?

Hmm. I see them - I'm willing to believe the official photo was just under a lot more light, so you could see through them more easily. The ones in the poster's photo might just be reflecting the darker surroundings and thus look opaque. BrickLink says there aren't stickers supplied with this set.

I was referring to the vertical pieces on the tail on which the tail rotor is mounted.

@RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket those look like compression artifacts to me, not real markings or translucency.

@DanIsFiddlingByFirelight Yes, it's hard to tell exactly what we are looking at.

I have this set and can confirm that the 1x2 slopes on the tail are 100% opaque.


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Kick a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT p-Brick out of SAM-BA mode without writing new firmware?
I recently received a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT p-Brick which, surprisingly, still has the original retail V1.01 firmware on it.
My goal is to extract its current firmware image to a file while maintaining the original condition of the p-Brick, so I'm currently experimenting on a completely different p-Brick that already has V1.31 on it to get my procedure down first.
Since I'm on macOS, via Homebrew I've installed the Bossa tools (the BOSSA GUI app, bossac and bossash):
$ brew install bossa
#...

I can get the candidate into SAM-BA mode by press-and-holding the reset button for several seconds, plugging in a USB cable, and accessing it via the presented USBSerial port (Atmel Corp. at92sam SAMBA bootloader, vid:0x03e8, pid:0x6124):
$ ls -la /dev/tty.usb*
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel   18,   4 26 Jan 11:16 /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301

$ bossac --port /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301 --read "V1.31.rfw"
Read 262144 bytes from flash
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Done in 3.838 seconds

$ bossac --port /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301 --boot=1 --reset
Set boot flash true

This works except that the p-Brick doesn't actually reboot into the LEGO firmware, it reboots into the SAM-BA boot loader again. It seems like SAM-BA doesn't honor the --boot flag until a new firmware image has been written because it will actually reboot into the LEGO firmware after I write one with the following:
$ bossac --port /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301 --unlock
Unlock all regions

$ bossac --port /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301 --erase --write LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-Firmware-V1.31.rfw --verify
Erase flash

Done in 0.035 seconds
Write 262144 bytes to flash (1024 pages)
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Done in 15.709 seconds
Verify 262144 bytes of flash
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Verify successful
Done in 3.870 seconds

$ bossac --port /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301 --boot=1 --reset

The experience is the same when using bossash:
$ bossash
Press Ctrl-D or enter "exit" to end session.
Enter "help" to display a command list.
bossa> connect /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301
Connected to device on /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301
bossa> info
Device       : AT91SAM7S256
Version      : v1.4 Nov 10 2004 14:49:33
Address      : 0x100000
Pages        : 1024
Page Size    : 256 bytes
Total Size   : 256KB
Planes       : 1
Lock Regions : 16
Locked       : none
Security     : false
BOD          : false
BOR          : false
bossa> read V1.31.rfw
count:0 offset:0
Read 262144 bytes from flash
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Read successful
bossa> bootf true
Boot to flash flag set to true
bossa> reset
# ^ USBSerial disconnects here due to software reset

bossa> connect /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301
Connected to device on /dev/tty.usbmodem14431301
bossa> erase
Erase flash
Flash is erased
bossa> write LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-Firmware-V1.31.rfw
Write 262144 bytes to flash (1024 pages)
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Write successful
bossa> verify LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-Firmware-V1.31.rfw
Verify 262144 bytes of flash
[==============================] 100% (1024/1024 pages)
Verify successful
bossa> bootf true
Boot to flash flag set to true
bossa> reset

i.e.: the first reset after reading only boots into SAM-BA again, the second reset after erasing and writing actually boots into the LEGO firmware.
So my question: is there a trick to bypass the SAM-BA boot loader and manually reset the boot flag via bossash?
I imagine it could be done from bossash with the mwb or mww commands but I'm not familiar enough with the AT91SAM7S256 to know which memory-mapped register address(es) I need to poke.

Sadly, after experimenting with different official firmware versions on a sacrificial unit, I've determined that the SAM-BA boot loader and related client tools are not going to be suitable for the task of extracting an existing firmware image from a NXT p-Brick.
The --boot flag actually doesn't have anything to do the problem I was experiencing with because the NXT p-Brick is always in boot-to-flash mode.
Through trials of writing, reading and verifying firmware images before a --reset operation, followed by reading and verifying firmware images after re-entering SAM-BA mode, I've determined that the NXT p-Brick does something unexpected:

After long-pressing the reset button on the NXT p-Brick the first 0x1200 bytes (0x0000-0x11ff) of flash memory get overwritten by a standard program. Maybe this is the SAM-BA boot loader copied from the mask ROM inside the AT91SAM7S256 itself.
This destructive operation overwrites the beginning of any existing firmware image, e.g.: official LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT firmware.
There's no recovering from this unless you can restore the first 0x1200 bytes of flash from another source, such as a previously captured firmware image.

This is why the --reset operation only worked after writing new firmware, because the program in the first 0x1200 bytes of flash memory itself gets overwritten by the new firmware image and the subsequent reboot starts executing user code again.
I'm glad I tried developing the procedure on a different p-Brick first!
I'll move on to investigate other options, such as finding a solder-free connection to the JTAG pads on the p-Brick's mainboard and using a debugger.


text:
Which LEGO vehicle has 1x 50373 and 2x 30165 red bricks
I have a vehicle that we previously built with, ostensibly, the paper book instructions. Lo and behold, they are MIA. The vehicle is mostly intact and mostly red, so I'm betting it's fire or rescue. There are some unique bricks on it: 2 pieces of red 30165 2x2x1 curved doule slope brick and a really unique red 50373 3x4 wedge brick.

Anyone have any ideas what it might be? The front end is definitely a truck but I'm not sure how wide it's supposed to be or tire size, as hurricane five-year-old decided they needed to go. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Including a picture of the vehicle you're looking at would help increase the level of certainty in the answer(s).

It seems I mistakenly edited the question and assumed that the wedge brick was red, since the wording led me to believe that. I hope @DavidDesautel can clarify the colour of the wedge brick, please?

From your description, it seems most likely to be 10715 Bricks on a Roll. There was also a Wal-Mart edition. The only other set which has both items is 76054-1 Batman: Scarecrow Harvest of Fear, but its 50373 is blue; the original question implied it was red, but it got edited to say it definitely is red.

Part 2399 is similar, but has no sets on BrickLink with both it (in any color) and at least two 30165 pieces.

10715-1/2 seems more likely given (a) the op mentions the front end definitely resembles a truck (not a tractor), (b) in 76054-1 the 50373 part is in blue and is not part of the same vehicle and (c) in 76054-1, there are 3 red 30165 parts (not 2) - although 1 could presumably have gone missing.

I agree - I'll delete the reference to Batman. The question text explicitly says all 3 parts are red, which I must have missed.

Oh, wait! The original question did not actually say 50373 was red - that was put in with an edit afterward. Edits should not change the question!


text:
Keeping LEGO near heat source
I keep some of my opened built LEGO sets in the top of my book shelf, around two feet away is a fire place that is turned on during the winter time. Will keeping my LEGO sets here damage them in any way from the heat coming from the fireplace? I looked at one of my sets after about a month and saw a slight color change on the exposed sides of the bricks that are not being covered by other bricks. Am I just seeing things or is this serious? Also, just for some more reference, the fireplace heats the room at most to like 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.6 °C).

How old are your sets? If you have something really old, color change might have happened due to other reasons. Which color has been showing change in its hue?

UV rays are a likely cause of discoloration. While fire does emit UV rays (and the bluer the flame, the more UV rays it emits), sunlight is a much more likely suspect. Typically discoloration due to UV rays is most prevalent in white, grey and blue bricks, which show a yellowish tint. The same type of discoloration can occur due to excessive heat which a fireplace could presumably cause. Another source of discoloration can be smoke - typically due to the tar in eg. cigarette smoke, but I wouldn't discount smoke from a fire as a possible source of discoloration.

Thanks for the replies. The sets are not exposed to sun because they are away from the windows and they are in a tinted cabinet in the shelf. The sets are not facing the fireplace so the light from the fireplace does not get to them either. The set that I found the slight discoloration is a new set that I just got in December 2021.The pieces I saw the change in is light bluish grey.

A fireplace heats the room quite unevenly, at a distance of two feet I would expect temperatures higher than the general room temperature (to the degree - pun not intended - that can be defined). I wouldn't store LEGO under those conditions, but discolouration wouldn't be a concern.

That makes sense, thanks for your reply

It is possible that UV light from the fire can cause damage to your bricks in the long term but it is not as much of a concern as sunlight.
In regards to heat, the biggest danger might not be to standard LEGO bricks but many other specialised pieces that are common in many sets. These factors will depend on the exposure and intensity of heat.

Stickers subjected to heat easily warp and peel, discolouration may occur.
Rubber bricks such as tyres are particularly vulnerable, extended exposure to heat can cause them to be oily and eventually brittle.
Electronic components such as Power Functions and NXT. Most of these sets will contain safety instructions detailing limitations and ideal conditions. Some sets will require electronics with alkaline/lithium batteries which have their own tolerances. Most of these instructions will probably advise against any exposure to heat sources out of caution.
There are other more unusual materials that are less common like string, felt, foam and paper that may react differently or not at all.

Most LEGO pieces are made from ABS plastic but there are developments into recycled plastics as well as bioplastics. Naturally, different plastics have different properties and will react differently, even different colours can fade at different rates. White bricks for example tend to yellow first.
If you have some spare bricks that you don't mind experimenting with, it might be worth trying to see which parts/colours are affected near the fireplace and compare them to identical parts stored elseware?

This might count as anecdotal evidence only, but I keep part of my collection in shelves about three centimeters away from a couple of heating pipes (covered by a plastic sheet to prevent dust buildup):

Those pipes carry water (maybe about 70˚C-80˚C) during winter, and the collection has spent maybe ten winters like that. Those pipes alone heat the entire room (~10m²) to over 25˚C.
From what I can tell, there's no change in colour due to proximity to a heat source. Nevertheless, those 2x4 white bricks from the 1970s are notably yellowed (due to years of exposure to indirect sunlight), as are some bits of my 6930 (because I used to play outdoors with it during summertime), but note that the white flagpoles from the early 1990s are whiter, despite being much closer to the heat source.
I can't see any discernible decoloration, nor warping, nor lack of clutch, on the (1970s-80s) bricks closest to the heating pipes:

Flexibility of the baseplates seems to be unaffected as well.
In any case, YMMV.

Storing Lego boxes is ideal in lower to medium temperatures. Ideally without any UV rays. Old paper archives have temperatures of around 14° - 20° Celsius and a humidity of lower than 40%. It is definitely not advisable to store your Sets next to the fireplace and I would move them a few metres away.

Hi Klaus and welcome to Bricks.SE! Your answer is about the preservation of paper LEGO boxes, but OP explicitly asks about "opened built LEGO sets", presumably without paper. Could you please update your post to concern the ABS rather than the paper?


text:
Brick identification - two thin arches
Can any one ID the red arch with the baby in it?

On bricklink that part is known as a Red Wedge 4 x 3 Open with Cutout and 4 Studs and has item number 47755.

The build in the picture appears to be a custom build (I couldn't find an official set that includes it).

Amazing! Thank you so much, yeah it’s a custom build, I have a cargo bike so wanted to replicate it for a build! Thank you again


text:
Cargo bike brick identity
Looking to identify the box pieces here:

The creator of that cargo bike shared full instructions on his twitter account.

That's not a single part.
According to the instructions shared by the creator of that cargo bike on their twitter account, it's a combination of :

1 Black Plate, Round 1 x 1

1 Black Plate, Modified 2 x 3 with Hole

2 Black Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Inverted

1 Black Panel 1 x 2 x 1

2 Black Tile, Round 1 x 1 Quarter

2 Black Tile 1 x 2 with Groove

2 Black Tile 1 x 3

2 Black Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Inverted

1 Light Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 2 x 2 Thin with Plane Single Wheel Holder

1 Trans-Clear Wheel Center Small with Stub Axles (Pulley Wheel)

1 Black Tire 14mm D. x 4mm Smooth Small Single

I'd give extra point for finding building instructions.

He did!  See the comments on the question.  Bravo Sander.


text:
What is the number printed under the barcode of a Lego set?
I’ve got two sets of Lego Ideas #025 (steamboat Willie). They have the same barcode. Underneath the barcode there are some small numbers: one box has 118789 970, but the other box has 118789 017.
A still from an unboxing video of that set shows 118789 907:

What are these numbers? Should they be the same for all boxes of a set?

This has a good answer in another question

Does this answer your question? What does the 4 digit number embossed on my LEGO set represent?

It looks like I only got an answer for embossed digits but not the barcode number.

From a sampling of 17 sets from the last few years, I find the first number to be either 118789, 123372, 124957, and likely others (I haven't found what they mean, nor have I found a correlation with any of the other identifiers for those sets).

I've got a couple of boxes with 118789 112 and 124957-110 (different typefaces, one with space and the other with a hyphen). Speculation: factory ID, lot ID.

@IvanSanchez : in my sample set, it doesn't match up with the plant id from the manufacturing code though. Also, these two numbers are printed onto the box, not stamped, embossed or stickered, so they're probably not production run specific. Maybe it refers to the factory where the boxes were printed - assuming that happens elsewhere ?

@Sander I tend to agree with your speculation. I wonder if sets without cardboard boxes have those numbers as well: polybags, collectible minifigs, and so on.

I have one polybag lying around, and it just has 132405 near the barcode. A google image search confirms that many polybags have that number on them (example). Collectible minifigs appear to have that same number only if it's a polybag style bag (example), otherwise no such number is apparent (example).


text:
How to use REPL on the 51515 hub?
I've just got access to a 51515 Hub and I tried to connect to it as a serial port (with baudrate 115200), however it's spamming the console with motor/sensor data:
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-30, -9, 1008], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-30, -8, 1007], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-30, -8, 1006], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-30, -8, 1006], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-29, -7, 1007], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}
{"m":0,"p":[[62, [11]], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [0, []], [-30, -8, 1007], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], "", 12105]}

I found a few related posts:

Spike Prime remote command using screen
I've figured out how to access the Spike/Mindstorms 51515 hub serial ports (bluetooth and usb) from python

I haven't found any info related to the sensor data which is preventing me from inputting new commands via USB VCP. (My hunch is because I've connected via bluetooth and used the app  the getting started exercises).
In this case, what's the easiest way to connect to the hub via USB VCP and use the Python REPL ?
Update
I've noticed that I can send Ctrl+C(KeyboardInterrupt) via VCP and with a bit of luck on timing the spam stops and I can type commands prototype directly on the REPL.
I've also tried rshell. Initially, because of my unorthodox Python setup I couldn't run rshell. Even though it didn't get added to PATH I could still run the command manually:
c:\users\george.profenza\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.6.4-amd64\Scripts\rshell.exe -p COM3
Using buffer-size of 512
Connecting to COM3 (buffer-size 512)...
Trying to connect to REPL  connected
Testing if ubinascii.unhexlify exists ... Y
/ /commands/ /event_loop/ /mindstorms/ /programrunner/ /protocol/ /sounds/ /spike/ /ui/ /hub_runtime.mpy/ /version.py/ /.runtime_hash/ /etc/ /extra_files/ /.extra_files_hash/ /runtime.log/
Setting time ... Feb 05, 2022 01:01:53
Evaluating board_name ... pyboard
Retrieving time epoch ... Jan 01, 2000
Welcome to rshell. Use the exit command to exit rshell.

I could list hub content, but I couldn't figure out how to start a REPL session to type Python commands for the hub to execute directly.
https://lego.github.io/MINDSTORMS-Robot-Inventor-hub-API/pkg_hub.html

I've used rshell for this. It's available on PyPI, so it can be installed using:
sudo pip3 install rshell

You may need to provide the device to connect to such as:
rshell -p /dev/ttyACM0

To get a Python repl, you can either type repl at the shell on the device, or you can run rshell as:
rshell repl

That gives me an interactive repl without all of the data logging noise that you mentioned.

Thank you very much for the answer(+1). I did get rshell setup, however I'm missing something: I couldn't run Python ommands in rshell. How would I go about using rshell to type Python commands on my laptop so the hub can executre

@GeorgeProfenza You should be able to run repl from the shell or run rshell as rshell repl.

Just had a d'oh moment: there's a repl command :)))
Thank you so much! I'll post a follow-up question on how to programmatically send commands to the hub from a computer via VCP.

Just saw your github repos: OMG! Awesome stuff (e.g. connectiongrammar). robot-inventor-cli is just what I was looking for as my next step. Also, using pyserial without timeout=0 works too. Many thanks!

@GeorgeProfenza Thanks! I'm glad you got it figured out.


text:
Could identify this bag #2, 540R6, year 2015 135149 - lots of Dark Grey and Tan
It looks like it is from a Star Wars set, but I'm still looking where it came from, thanks

The codes only identify the bag itself, not the contents. With a clear picture (or three), you are almost definitely going to get a good answer.

Sorry im new in this, im adding some pics hopefully can help, thanks

Once it's opened again, I'll answer with my justification for 21119-1 The Dungeon (based on Light Bluish Gray Plate 4 x 10, Tan Brick 2 x 8, Tan Brick 2 x 4).

@RSchulz : I concur - I find the same.

According to BrickLink, the only set with all of Light Bluish Gray Plate 4 x 10, Tan Brick 2 x 8, Tan Brick 2 x 4 is 21119-1 The Dungeon


text:
Mega Bloks Set Identification with large pieces AM09249 and AM09250
Does anyone know which set these parts are from?
I have two of them.
Labeled AM09249 and AM09250.

That might be one of the most obscure looking piece I have seen. It's also quite unusual how two of the studs are hollow.


text:
Why did the light block change in SPIKE v2.0.0+?
I found Unofficial SPIKE Prime Block Guide, which has following details:

And if you open the SPIKE app (2.0.0 or newer), the light blocks were completely changed:

Is anyone able to explain why?

With the introduction of the SPIKE Essential set, this element was introduced:

It's a matrix of 3x3 colored LEDs.
It has similar functionality as the 5x5 light matrix on the SPIKE hub, so the same blocks to control it are used. The word blocks are not modified that heavily, the only thing that is changed is that you need to specify an additional parameter to indicate which light matrix you want to use. M1 is the matrix on the hub itself, A to F are the ports you can select where you have the external 3x3 matrix attached.
You'll also notice that if you change the parameter from M1 to a port, you'll be able to select more colorful options for the image to display, as the 3x3 external matrix supports a range of colors, while the 5x5 on the hub is monochrome.

thanks for your explanation, I don't have 2 sets to show you.


text:
"Heads up! Could not open project" error message when opening project
When I try to open my project it gives me an error saying "Heads up! Could not open project". Could you please help me? Let me know if you want me to share the file.
We were working on the file, and suddenly after saving we were not able to open it again.

Please provide more details. Which OS you use? Application version? Any specific actions you've taken before this issue appeared and what have you tried to troubleshoot it?

I run ev3 on windows EV3 classroom 1.5.2. We wanted to make a copy of the existing program and did save as and given new file name. Is there any way I could share the file to you so that you can take a look.

You could use a file sharing app like Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gtLcj8iC3xoKfA_XRJMmK5TMHXdgtGW9/view?usp=sharing
Please find the link below. Let us know what went wrong. Appreciate if you could have this file open in ev3

@DavidLechner Could you please confirm if you were able to download file and fix it?

This is a generic error message, so everyone that gets the error won't have the same problem. However, using the methods described below could help find other problems as well.
The project files for the MINDSTORMS programming software are just ZIP files and can be opened with standard ZIP file tools. For Scratch-based software like EV3 Classroom, this file contains 3 files, one of which is scratch.sb3. The scratch.sb3 file is another ZIP file and can be extracted as well. Inside of the scratch.sb3 are two files, one of which is project.json. This is the actual project code file.
This file contains minified JSON that is hard to read, but modern code editors like Visual Studio Code contain tools to automatically format the file in a more readable way. Once this is done, an experienced coder can use their intuition to look for anomalies in the file.
The JSON file contains a top-level object with 4 sections, "targets", "monitors", "extensions" and "meta". The contents of these sections will depend on the project, but in general, "targets" contains an array of two objects, one where "isStage": true and one where "isStage": false. The former looks to be default Scratch stuff that isn't used and the latter is the bulk of the project file. The "monitor" section will be empty unless you have monitors (variable value watchers) set up in your project. The "extensions" section contains a list of the different block types used in your project and "meta" is some more default Scratch stuff.
I was able to find the issue with the file provided by noticing that in the "targets" section, there were two "isStage": true and two "isStage": false objects. So it appears that somehow two versions of the project got saved in the same file. I was able to recover the projects by making two copies of the original file. In one, I deleted the second two targets and in the other I deleted the first two targets. I used a diff tool to compare the contents of these and they similar but not identical, so I deduced that they are two versions of the same project. I then updated the ZIP files with the modified project.json and was able to open the projects in the EV3 Classroom software.
Another common issue is for variables or lists to contain null which is not allowed. They might look something like this in the project.json file (tip: use a code formatting tool to make it easier to read):

            "variables": {
                ",TgC](u;@i@rnsU@,};W": [
                    "MyVariable",
                    null
                ]
            },
            "lists": {
                "w(x#TbXK8~v6wedm-V9+": [
                    "MyList",
                    [
                        null,
                        "thing",
                        "thing"
                    ]
                ]
            },

To fix the null variable or list value issue, change null to 0 (or some other value that is valid).

            "variables": {
                ",TgC](u;@i@rnsU@,};W": [
                    "MyVariable",
                    0
                ]
            },
            "lists": {
                "w(x#TbXK8~v6wedm-V9+": [
                    "MyList",
                    [
                        "thing",
                        "thing",
                        "thing"
                    ]
                ]
            },

Repaired files: BLACK-1.lmsp, BLACK-2.lmsp.

Excellent and Thank you very much. Without your help this could not have been recovered.

I figured out how to fix my .lmsp file for my particular case, and I wanted to share here in case it helps some of you.
So according to the previous posts, both the .lmsp file and the scratch.sb3 file (inside the .lmsp file once you changed the extension to .zip) are actually zip archives.
The issue was in the project.json file inside scratch.sb3[.zip]. As it turns out, if you run the program while your EV3 is connected to your computer (via USB in my case), it will try to save the historic values in your variables back to project.json after the program has finished running. In my case, I had a variable that was constantly being updated in the main loop, so I ended up with tens of thousands of lines of values in project.json. I suspect this is causing some overflow the next time the software tries to reload the project (I am using Mindstorms Education EV3 Classroom).
All I did was the following:

Make a copy of your corrupt [project].lmsp as a backup

Rename [project].lmsp to [project].lmsp.zip

Extract [project].lmsp.zip

Rename scratch.sb3 to scratch.sb3.zip

Extract scratch.sb3.zip

Open project.json in a JSON-friendly editor that will format the JSON into readable format.

See if you see really bloated variables with lots of data in it. If you do, delete all those rows of data and save the file. Note there might be several variables that need "cleaning up".

Replace the project.json in scratch.sb3.zip with the "cleaned up" project.json.

Rename scratch.sb3.zip back to scratch.sb3

Replace scratch.sb3 in [project].lmsp.zip with the newer scratch.sb3

Rename [project].lmsp.zip back to [project].lmsp

Try to open the project again

Hope this works for you too. I suppose the moral of the story is: since the Lego software does not have an in-app debugger, don't run the program using the "Run" button in the Mindstorms software, just use the software to download, and then run the program from the EV3 directly. If this doesn't work, disconnect the USB cable when you run your program.
Cheers,
TechnicAddict

How to get an image of a corrupted Spike Prime .llsp file or a corrupted Ev3 Classroom .lmsp file.
If you suddenly get the dreaded message of “Heads up! Could not open project” don’t lose hope, there is a way - unfortunately it will still require redoing the code.
This method shows you have to get an image of your entire code so that you can copy from it:

Make a copy of your corrupted file. Just in case.
Rename your file and change the file extension to .zip
Click yes on the pop up that warns you about changing the name
Open the zipped folder (you can extract the files but it isn’t necessary)
Open the .svg file in a browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge)
Open a new spike prime project and copy your program from your image OR use the ‘Windows Snipping Tool’ or ‘Snip & Sketch’ tool to take a screen grab of your program then you                                  can save it as a jpeg and use it later.

I have created a small Lego App Tool kit to fix the problem, until LEGO service team does -> https://legoapptools.azurewebsites.net


text:
Is this a LEGO part? rectangular base with sides, and a bar extending from the middle
I distinctly remember separating this part from some Bionicle parts. But is it a original LEGO part? There are no part numbers or other marks on this piece - except for a "2" (seems to be the right font for a LEGO piece - injecting mold production line number?). No LEGO logo.
I have searched the BrickLink catalogue, but without any luck. Thank you for any help

I also have a tub of them separated out from clone-piece winnowing. I'm fairly sure we're out of luck regarding them being Lego. I wonder if they're for a race track, where the big part clips on and the other part points up to attach railings.

Yes, I think you might be right. I don't really see how this part would fit into the lego system... :-)

It's an accessory to the LEGO BIONICLE Bohrok and Bohrok-Kal sets, which can be used to hang the Bohrok sets in the product canister, which doubles as their cocoon/nest.

It attaches to a clip inside the lid and clips onto the Bohrok's back-side, as shown in the instructions:

It appears it is not considered a "piece" per-se (which would have a part number and be included in the part count), but you can find the listing on BrickLink here. Yours appears to be blue, like Gahlok-Kal's canister lid.

You beat me by 6 minutes! I posted almost the same answer so I deleted mine. This is definitely the part in question.

Amazing! I guess it's obvious I've never opened a new Bionicle canister.


text:
RCX only accepts short programs
I'm new here. I used to use the old Mindstorms to teach robotics at a school back in early 2000s and I thought my grandson would like it, so I have bought an old second hand system. The RCX brick works and the tower is connected to the USB-serial port adapter. It says the RCX is working fine and will download 4 or 5 prog blocks. If I try more it tries but won’t download. Do you have any ideas?

I've encountered this issue before, but I'm not sure if I remember how I solved it. What OS are you using (and what usb-to-serial converter, if you have that info as well?)
In the meantime try the suggestions here: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/10160/serial-tower-rcx-1-0-works-with-nqc-but-flakey-with-ris-2-0

Thanks will look up info.

Thanks it is running on XP sp3. I have looked at your link but so far no progress. Additionally when I exit the software something remains as it will not reload saying only one copy of mindstorms can run.

Now failing to download built in progs!

Couple more questions for you:  1) Is this Windows XP running in a virtual machine?  2) Do you have access to a USB version of the IR tower?  3) It's possible the drivers for the USB to Serial converter are outdated, but the solution depends on its internal chipset. Mine uses the Prolific PL2303 chip, which has WinXP drivers here.

Also try installing BricxCC which is a popular 3rd-party tool for interacting with the RCX. It supports the USB and Serial towers, and supposedly works more reliably than the default Lego software. See if you can download the firmware, control motors, download programs using this tool instead. Could help diagnose the issue.

Hi, the machine is an Xp not virtual. Hope to get another RCX on Friday to try the tower is serial running on usb converter I will try another converter. I have downloaded the bricxx but have not tried it yet as it is too much for the 8 yr old. Will give it a go.

Got an older Xp system and it all works fine on that so defiantly looks like it is the usb serial converter that is giving the problem  so I will sort out another converter and see if that fixes it.

Glad to hear it! My understanding is this is a fairly common issue, so I've summarized our discussion in the answers section so future people can benefit.

The saga continues. I have acquired a usb tower. I thought this would solve the problem. I have installed it with the L tower software but the mindstorms still can’t find it. Any ideas?

Summarizing our discussion from the comments:
System is running Windows XP SP3 (not a VM) with an (unknown) USB to Serial converter connected to the Serial IR Tower.
Problem is that most interactions with the RCX are unsuccessful; Communication begins, but is typically interrupted partway through downloading programs to the brick.

OP attempted suggestions from this post, with no luck.
Tried a different RCX with no luck.
Tried a different WinXP system with a built-in serial port and downloads were successful. Indicates the problem is with the USB to Serial converter.

Conclusion: Not all USB to Serial converters are compatible with the Mindstorms Serial Tower. It is known that USB to Serial converters based on the PL2303 chipset work reliably, but this information is not always readily available. PL2303 has driver support for Windows 98 thru Windows 10, currently available for download here.


text:
Fix Lego M Motor - The hooks aren't budging
I have a Lego M motor that is broken. I'm following the instructions here to try to fix it but the little tabs that hold the plastic frame together just won't budge no matter how hard I'm pushing them (4:20 in the video).
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to take this thing apart? I'm deforming the plastic on the tabs since I'm pushing so hard with a screwdriver with a star head on the end and they look terrible now.

Related: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/10367/what-is-inside-the-lego-powered-up-m-motor . You have removed the bottom phillips screw first, right?

Yes, of course.

In the comments of that video, the author responded to a similar issue : instead of using a screwdriver, you might jiggle the housing from side to side, while pulling, to get it to separate. Haven't tried this myself. All credit to the author of that video if this works.

maybe jncraton need to be an answer for you


text:
EV3 classroom cannot create New Project

EV3 Classroom V1.5.0
Windows 10

I run a lab of 24 laptops running EV3 Classroom v1.5.0. Over the last week, more and more computers are unable to create new projects and/or open existing projects files.
When creating a new project clicking on the "New Project" button causes the spinning wheel icon that doesn't move on to a new project created.  If attempting to load an existing project through "File>Open" the Windows menu disappears but no Open File dialog is created to select the file.
Any suggestions or additional data needed for help me?

Does it work if you upgrade to the latest version? v1.5.3 is the latest available for Windows from here at the time this comment was written.

You could also try checking for recent Windows updates and try reverting those to see if that broke something.

Will do so @DavidLechner, my tech is offsite for the day but I'll try and get the IDE updated. Reverting windows updates isn't something we can do but I'll check and make sure those units don't have any updates pending.


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How To Ensure Only One Brick is Fed Into a Lego Sorting Machine at a Time?
In this video, they create a machine that can take a bunch of legos put on to a conveyor belt and, using a camera, sort them into a number of categories. I am building a (smaller) version of this, and a problem I am running into is how to take the dozens of bricks from the conveyor belt and feed them into the sorter one at a time. The bricks are all different sizes and shape.
In the video, they use a vibrating sloped plate (seen at 1:49) to prevent bricks from being on top of each other.
However, I can’t seem to get the slope or vibration quite right, or get it stable enough so that it doesn’t fall apart.
Is there another way this can be done, or is there direction on how to do this anywhere?

Do you have any photos, videos or illustrations of what yo have built so far? It sounds like an good question and I would be interested to know more about your build so that we can help give an answer.


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What is the name and part number of this piece? Part of a crane, long and thin without studs
The piece is used to build a crane as found in Youtube video

At the very beginning of the video part list can be seen, but since it is computer generated it is rather confusing at the first sight. If you check few moments later in the the video you'll notice these are Technic, Axle 3L (4519) in Yellow:

Many thanks. Was fooled by the part list picture.


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What are the brick numbers of the bricks circled in this image?

What are the brick numbers of the ones circled in this image?

LEGO items:

Technic, Axle 3L with Stud (6587, 13670)
Technic, Liftarm Thin 1 x 2 - Axle Holes (41677, 44862)
Technic, Liftarm Thin 1 x 6 (32063, 28570)
Technic, Steering Arm 6 x 2 with Tow Ball Socket Rounded, Chamfered (57515)
Electric, Motor RC Race Buggy (5292)
Electric, Motor 9V Power Functions Servo with Dark Bluish Gray Bottom (99498c01)

Non-LEGO item:

BuWizz

Incidentally, BuWizz also makes a Buggy Motor replacement which is probably cheaper than an official one.

ok thanks for you update


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Best way to get Cara Dune minifig
With so many Mandalorian sets being retired this year and the controversy around the actress, I don't want to miss out on the Cara Dune minifig.
What sets is this minifig available in and which is the best value for money?

When I answered the question, it asked about "what ways" to get the minifig. Now it has been edited to read "What sets is this minifig.. in" which is NOT the same.

@RSchulz I did the edit thinking it wouldn't change the meaning of the question significantly. I still consider your answer relevant, though you're of course free to restore the original wording if you feel that version would fit your answer better.

Bricklink has lots of them for sale - depending on how close to you one of the sellers is (to cut down on shipping cost, or even to pick up in person if that's allowed) you might not be able to beat that price anywhere.
If you need 700 of them, there's one seller that claims to have that, and more.

If you want to buy Cara Dune in a set you can buy the AT-ST Raider 75254 from 2019. The only other set she is available in is 75315 Imperial Light Cruiser, which is significantly more expensive.

Welcome to Bricks.SE! Thanks for your willingness to share you knowledge with our community. I updated your answer to include a link to the set you mentioned and expanded it to include the only other set I'm aware of with this minifig.

Just buy the AT-ST with Cara Dune (75254) in it. Alternatively you could look on Bricklink (as RSchulz sugggested) or eBay.com.

Welcome to Bricks.SE! Thanks for sharing. It's worth noting that this set is no longer sold on LEGO.com in most markets and will likely be disappearing from retailers as their stock is sold making it hard to find and/or expensive in some locations.