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May 2, 2016May 2, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Brixo are LEGO Blocks for IoT and Robotics Applications (Crowdfunding)

Brixo, an Israeli start-up, has designed LEGO compatible blocks – also called Brixo – that conduct electricity, embed sensors, Bluetooth connectivity LED lights, or even motors. You simply use them as any LEGO blocks, but you can control them using light, sound, or your smartphone. There are three type of blocks Connector blocks – Made of chrome and used to connect the trigger blocks to the action blocks. They act like wires. Trigger blocks – They include Bluetooth connectivity, a proximity sensor, a light sensor, or/and a sound sensor Action blocks – LED lights or motors blocks They also have a smart battery block with Bluetooth LE designed for a 9V rectangular battery. Now get some of your existing LEGO accessories, and start having fun. The demo below shows the battery block on the right, some connector blocks, and various triggers and action blocks. You don’t even need any smartphone […]

January 9, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Lego Mindstorms EV3 Hackable Robots Run Linux

The LEGO Group has announced LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, a new platform for consumer robotics designed for both younger generation and robotics enthusiasts, at CES 2013. MINDSTORMS system is powered by the new EV3 Intelligent Brick, that comes with more memory (64 MB + 16 MB internal flash memory) and a faster processor (ARM9 @ 300MHz), and runs a Linux-based firmware. EV3 Intelligent Brick also features an infrared port, a 178×128 LCD interface, a USB host port and SD expansion slot, and is now compatible with iOS and Android for remote control via Bluetooth 2.1. Thanks to 6 buttons present on the EV3, users can now program many functions directly, in addition to the ability to download programs from a desktop computer. Lego claims a simple robot can be built in 20 minutes without having to plug it into a PC. Beside EV3 intelligent brick, the set comes with 550 Lego Technic […]

October 14, 2011October 14, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

CubeStormer II Solves The Rubik’s Cube in 5.352 Seconds

Do you remember the ARM Android Based Rubiks Cube Solver ? Last year it could solve the puzzle in an average of 15 seconds. David Gilday has upgraded its robot with the help of Mike Dobson and named the device CubeStormer II. They released a video showing the CubeStormer II solve the Rubik’s Cube in 5.352 seconds, faster than the human world record (5.66 seconds). The mechanics are constructed entirely from LEGO, including four MINDSTORMS NXT kits, with the addition of a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone running a custom Android app as the robot’s brain. The app uses the phone’s camera to capture images of each face of the Rubik’s Cube which it processes to determine the scrambled colours. The solution is found using an advanced two-phase algorithm, originally developed for Speedcuber (originally developed by Mike Dobson), enhanced to be multi-threaded to make effective use of the smartphone’s dual-core […]

November 14, 2010October 6, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ARM Android Based Rubiks Cube Solver

David Gilday – a chip designer at ARM – has got two hobbies: Playing Lego and Rubik’s Cube. He must have been tired to turn the sides of the game manually so he designed a robot to solve the Rubik’s Cube within an average of 15 seconds. So here’s how it works: A Robot built with Legos using 6 motors and an Android phone connected to it. He’s using an ARM11 platform running Android (Looks like a Google Nexus One to me). You mix the Rubik’s Cube, place it in the middle of the robot, then it starts.. the smartphone scans all faces of the Rubik’s Cube (with the back camera of the phone), an algorithm calculates the moves (using a 300MB database), then the robot turns the Rubik’s Cube to solve the puzzle and finishes with a nice spin once the 3D-puzzle is solved. The algorithm is written in […]