by Danny Staple

With an imminent move planned, a number of old Lego builds needed to be taken apart, so I took photos of them all.

Lego Gripper

I made a simple pneumatically operated Lego gripper.

Lego Technic Pneumatic Gripper

The gripper used a single mini double acting cylinder and angled beam parts. I used tiny 8 tooth gears for some actual grip at the fingertips, although the design works better with a scooping action.

Lego Technic Pneumatic Gripper Open Lego Technic Pneumatic Gripper Closed

It is controlled (for demonstration purposes) by a single Lego valve and basic pump. The gripper would be better if they were separated by longer pneumatic pipes, otherwise the mechanism looks bulkier.

Light sensor head

I did a study using a geared down motor with a clutch gear, and a light sensor to make a head. The rear liftarm stops it going outside a preset range, and a program would scan periodically side-to-side, and attempt to judge which area was brightest.

Lego RCX light sensor on a motor for scanning

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