Lego Mindstorms In Space

ribbiting writes: "A father-son team have won the "Ultimate Builder Competition" (Lego Mindstorms) with their entry named "Jitter". The robot will fly to the ISS in November. It fits (whole) into a approx. 1'x1'x1' box and weighs less than 3 lbs. It's main mission is to collect small, flying debris. It can interact with the station walls and crew and supposedly has some light "mischief" programmed in as well (sneaking up on people, dancing). The story can be found here, de.news.yahoo.com, it's in German (sorry)." We mentioned the contest a few months ago. Altavista gives a semi-readable machine translation.

Sneaking up on people?

[FortKnox (169099)]

Is "Sneaking up on people" such a good idea in something as stressful as a space station?

I give it two months before an astronaut "accidentally" blasts it out an airlock...

Re:Sneaking up on people?

[Jantastic (196238)]

"Is "Sneaking up on people" such a good idea in something as stressful as a space station?"

Yes. I think the element of surprise, especially from a 'toy', might be appreciated if you're living in a confined space for some time.

Re:Sneaking up on people?

[Cheeko (165493)]

Also the rebot has the nice ability of being turned off and back on again. Tito would have been a bit tougher to turn back on again if they turned him off ;) Problem I could see however is if the robot starts to come apart and then there are all these lego blocks floating around inside the station.

Re:Sneaking up on people?

[Chundra (189402)]

Agreed. But I hear the Russians are still really into "ABC-123". They couldn't afford to pay Michael so they settled for Tito.

Beer-Maid-o-Tron

[Mr. Eradicator (470089)]

Now if they could mod that robot so it would fetch a beer on voice command, that would be sweet.

Other Possibilities

[tino_sup (460223)]

It might be interesting to have this type of device do some mundane house keeping tasks. Another possibility is a mobile alarm clock that looks for people if it has not been turned off, and wakes them up.

Re:Other Possibilities

[AndroidCat (229562)]

Another possibility is a mobile alarm clock that looks for people if it has not been turned off, and wakes them up.

Why do I get this mental picture of a relentless, unstoppable robotic alarm clock (with an Austrian accent) that's going to come find you and wake you up, no matter where you are?

Let me guess...

[Masem (1171)]

...it also sings 'Daisy, Daisy' if you start taking it apart?

Or is that a DMCA violation? :-)

Re:Let me guess...

[mestreBimba (449437)]

No it says
"Dave, what are you doing Dave?"

"Will I dream?"

Robot in space?

[Popoi (310376)]

I can see it now..

"Open the pod bay doors Jitter."

Re:Robot in space?

[by Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry Dennis (Tito), I can't do that.

Question?

[merlin_jim (302773)]

Did anyone understand the part about "It moves primarily through a cam in a cage. On contact with the wall, it applies through moving disc cam in cage, to the opposite axis"

I understand that this says basically that it moves away from walls when it contacts them, but I can't figure out for the life of me what a "disc cam in cage" is, or how this would help it push off of the wall?

Re:Question?

[MadCow42 (243108)]

I believe that by 'disc cam in cage', they mean some sort of gyro device. By spinning a mass (within a cage for safety), you can rotate the robot the other direction.

This type of device (although not a Lego one...) is used to orient many things in space, including the Hubble space telescope.

As for pushing off walls... you got me there. Anyone have photo links to this thing?

MadCow

Re:Question?

[merlin_jim (302773)]

A gyro! Of course!!! Thanks everyone!

As for the moving away from walls part, I think it means orienting away from the wall it just touched...

Re:Question?

[Christopher Thomas (11717)]

I understand that this says basically that it moves away from walls when it contacts them, but I can't figure out for the life of me what a "disc cam in cage" is, or how this would help it push off of the wall?

Pure speculation, as I haven't seen pictures of the thing either, but - if the "cam" is a heavy disc mounted on an off-center axis, turning it would change where the center of mass of the robot was. This would push the surrounding "cage" (and the rest of the robot) in the opposite direction. If you just want translation instead of rotation, you'd use two off-center cams and spin them in opposite directions (pure mass shift, no net application of torque).

If you had a setup like this, you could rig it to "jitter" (push the cage in one direction when the cams' center of mass goes in the other) whenever it touched a wall, to push off of the surface.

No idea if this is what they did, though.

Oh really..

[Dolly_Llama (267016)]

It's main mission is to collect small, flying debris.

You mean small flying debris, like loose 1x3 Lego Blocks?

Every Mom will want one

[T1girl (213375)]

... to fly around the house and pick up all those little Lego(s)left lying around on the floor, the ones she's always stepping on in the dark when checking on the kids at night.

Re:Every Mom will want one

[AndroidCat (229562)]

...the problem of arranging for the house to be in zero-G is left as an excercise for the student...

Careful what you wish for

[BluePenguin (521713)]

If you build a lego robot to pick up loose parts, it might enhance itself with those parts.

"We will adapt, Resistance is Futile..."

weight?

[by Anonymous Coward]

It fits (whole) into a approx. 1'x1'x1' box and weighs less than 3 lbs.

Won't it weigh 0 lb in space? Surely you meant to give its mass in slugs.

Re:weight?

[Bob Uhl (30977)]

Thanks to units (a great little prog, even if it does believe that the metre is a fundamental unit), I am happy to report that the 3 lb toy masses all of .0932 slugs.

Re:weight?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Most of the fuel is not used for lift, but used to reach orbital velocity according to the formula:

E = 1/2 * m * v^2

joules = 1/2 * (0.0685*slug) * (1.60934/3.6*mph)^2

Re:weight?

[theancient2 (527101)]

I have never, ever heard of this unit of measure called a "slug." Wouldn't NASA use the metric system, anyway? I was under the impression that the scientific community in the U.S. often uses metric measurements, so they can communicate with the rest of the world. (After all, there's no point in doing research if the rest of the planet can't understand your results.) (Isn't Joules actually a metric unit? It's been a while since high school physics...)

Re:weight?

[Nos. (179609)]

Mass and weight are two related but very different aspects of an item. On Earth they are the same, but in 0g, weight = 0, while mass remains the same.

So for example, if you weigh 220lbs (equivalent to a mass of 100Kg) on Earth, and we're to travel to a moon or plaent with .5g, your weight would be 110lbs, while your mass would stay at 100Kg.

Re:weight?

[AaronStJ (182845)]

Slugs? Isn't that an archaic unit of measure? Surely you meant to ask for its mass in Newtons

Good Lord no. First of all, the SI until for mass is the (kilo)gram, the newton is a measure of weight. Second, the slug, which IIRC weighs one pound in earth gravity, is a perfectly acceptable unit of mass. At least, as acceptable as imperial units get

Re:weight?

[sharkey (16670)]

Tell me, what is the average ground-speed of an unsalted slug?

Re:weight?

[sharkey (16670)]

Wouldn't a laden slug be a snail?

Are they sending it up pre-assembled?

[albamuth (166801)]

It would make more sense if they sent it all up like all LEGO kits come (minus the excessive packaging).I imagine astronauts hanging (floating) around, scratching their heads over cartoony instructions:

"Dimitri, I need a 1 x 6 block. Nyet, a block, not plank!"

Movie Scenarios

[Alien54 (180860)]

Why to I think of multiple Hollywood plot lines with these things?

And to think that Halloween is just around the corner. If you have enough of them, do they try to "collect" larger floating particles [smile]?

Side Note, Intertran [tranexp.com] is also decent as an online translator.

and here's a nice list [robotbooks.com] of various robot competitions

Check your links, please.

[drinkypoo (153816)]

You cannot use the babelfish link, because babelfish checks referers.

It seems to me that even mentioning babelfish is redundant these days. The people who don't know it exist tend not to be the slashdot type. But maybe I'm just being an elitist.

Re:Check your links, please.

[FFFish (7567)]

What is "the slashdot type"? A generally underinformed, overopinionated, social outcast with far too much interest in programming languages and far too little interest in things like face-to-face human interaction?

Google translation

[Reality Master 101 (179095)]

If you have trouble with Alta Vista's translation, or just want an alternative translation, you might also try Google's Translation [google.com].

Re:Google translation

[killmenow (184444)]

you might also try Google's Translation

Eef unly eet voud trunsleet eentu Bork! Bork! Bork!

Excellent Upgrade:

[2nd Post! (213333)]

Collects random lego bricks and then builds another 'Jitter' from the parts!

Glue?

[krugdm (322700)]

I wonder if all the bricks for Jitter will need to be glued together to keep him from 'accidentally' coming apart?

Also from the Lego Department

[ardmhacha (192482)]

In the New York Times today there is an article about a guy who built a robot out of Lego which can solve the Rubik's Cube.

It uses a lego-cam linked to a computer with color recognition software and a rubiks solving program, but all the mechanical bits to physically manipulate the cube are Lego.

Stumped by Rubik's Cube? Let the Lego Robot Solve It [nytimes.com]

Fun Toys in Space

[AndroidCat (229562)]

If I was going to take something fun into space, it would be one of those battery-powered traveller fans -- just the thing for flying around the inside of Alpha or the shuttle. (Outside it would be rather pointless, of course. :^) Could be useful for collecting loose potato chips too!

Reversing the battery will change the fan from a pusher into a puller prop.

Re:Fun Toys in Space

[McSpew (316871)]

Could be useful for collecting loose potato chips too!

<Simpsons Reference>
Oh, come on. All you need for collecting loose potato chips in space is a hungry, hungry Homer!
</Simpsons Reference>

ISS is modular...

[by Anonymous Coward]

But this is crazy! I thought the Canadarm had a few more years of useful life left.

Hmmm... Lego-based IIS components wouldn't be a bad way to go, I think. Just fire up a case of pieces and have the crew build whatever they need!

Re:ISS is modular...

[freakonaleash881 (230730)]

Hmmm... Lego-based IIS components wouldn't...

It was reported today on the geek news forum Slashdot that a joint venture between software giant Microsoft and beloved toy maker LEGO to create a new web server out of LEGO bricks.

Hey, maybe it would help the stability of IIS =P

To all moderators on crack - It's supposed to be funny. Laugh.

Just how robust is LEGO?

[plalonde2 (527372)]

I guess my biggest worry is when it breaks... little bricks everywhere, and no more robot to pick them up.

I assume they'll glue it together before sending it up. At least that will avoid the self-modifying trojan LEGO monster issue...

Just to be safe...

[edashofy (265252)]

Just to be safe, in case the robot gets out of hand, I think we should ship Sigourney Weaver up there with it.

Strength

[Spankophile (78098)]

I wonder how well it will all hold together during the launch.

Half of the crap I build in lego falls apart when I bring it anywhere to show someone. I can't imaging making something that would withstand the rumbling/g-forces etc. of take-off.

Wow

[ryanwright (450832)]

It can interact with the station walls and crew and supposedly has some light "mischief" programmed in as well (sneaking up on people, dancing).

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of...
Oh, nevermind...

Lego "Alive" edition.

[Ukab the Great (87152)]

I can just imagine astronauts desperate for fun being forced to cannabalize the thing.

Wow!

[G-funk (22712)]

The robot will fly to the ISS in November. It fits (whole) into a approx. 1'x1'x1' box and weighs less than 3 lbs.

Wow. These guys could sure cut some costs at nasa. Nasa can't fly to the ISS without rockets as tall as buildings, weighing tonnes, and costing billions!

*rimshot*

Mostly-readable Human Translation

[plaisted (449711)]

It's not perfect, but I do a far better job then Babelfish or Google. Still not quite sure what "impulseantrieb" means though. We'll go with "momentum drive." Some of the words that I wasn't sure of I've enclosed in ?question marks?.

Lego Robot "Jitter" Sweeps in the IIS Space Station

Konrad and Bastian Schwarzenbach have won the "Ultimate Builder Competition" from Lego Mindstorms with their model "Jitter." The small robot, made from Lego and Technic pieces will fly to the IIS Space Station in November.

Out of 124 participants in the "Lego Mindstorms goes Space" contest, the last ten met in Munich for the finals. In the presence of Jury Schirmherr and Astronaut Ulf Merbold, father and son were declared the winners. The winning model Jitter will gather pieces that are flying around in the IIS--at least it's programmed to do that along with other functions. A special prize went to the astronaut muscle trainer that a six-person team from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland had built.

With Jitter the crew will get a helper at hand that, if it keeps itself safe in weightlessness, gathers pieces floating around the space station. In addition, Jitter communicates its findings or contact with a cabin wall through tones and light signals. Jitter is based on the commercially available Lego Mindstorm pieces. Hitachi H8 Microcontrollers, which are off-the-shelf programmable chips, constitute the heart of the robot.

Jitter was programmed in Java (TinyVM) by Konrad Schwarzenback

When Jitter is turned on in zero gravity on the IIS, it must be brought to rest with the Z-axis pointing towards the Cabin lighting, which serves as a permanent guidance point. The robot will then perform a few 360 degree rolls to initialize its steering parameters, and can be brought on-line with a light push.

[The following paragraph is the most techical and worst translated. Sorry.]
Jitter works with a momentum drive. A cam disc ?rotates? permanently inside the robot's housing. When it comes in contact with a wall, the housing gets displaced. According to the direction of the collision, an impulse in the opposite direction is generated.

In addition, the robot is outfitted with light, touch, and rotation sensors that turn it and guide it on its course. Jitters mission is to gather floating pieces with a broom made of Lego-tubes and sweep them into its body. When Jitter hits a wall, the compartment closes automatically, so that the gathered pieces aren't scattered all over again. Jitter also reacts through the touch sensors to petting and patting and is programmed for all sorts of nonsense such as sneaking up and scaring someone, dancing, and prolonged rotations. In addition it reacts to ?wink motions? that it picks up with it's infrared sensors.

One of the tasks for the Mindstorm builders was to fit their robot in a 30x30x30 centimeter box. Jitter, in contrast to some of the entries, can be transported in the box in one piece. In addition the models could be no heavier than 1400 grams. For Bastian Schwarzenbach, who undertook the mechanical construction, this was the hardest task. He took Jitter apart and rebuilt it (differently) so many times, that by now he knows every piece by heart, he said during the prize presentation at Siemen's Munich ?Forum?. Both of the hobbyists will get to watch the start of their robot live in the Moscow control center.

Re:Mostly-readable Human Translation

[robot_guy (153233)]

Got it ! I bet I've figured out how it works.

Imagine it has a heavy spinning disc inside like a gyroscope but offset a bit or not quite round (the cam disc). This would cause the robot to vibrate a bit (kind of executing a small circle) in the 2D plane of the disc (probably why it's called jitter...). When it touches a solid object these small movements (they are probably quite fast) would just shove it away from the obstacle. I bet with an another disc in a different plane to push against to adjust it's orientation it would be quite maneuverable

Re:Translated via a silly Machine

[big_hairy_mama (79958)]

"Impulse drive", eh? These mindstorms are more advanced than I thought...

"space station IIS"

[PHAEDRU5 (213667)]

"IIS"? Am I the only one wondering what son of Nimda will do to this thing? Should I be buying space station repellent?