# Question
Title: Stained glass windows on The Throneroom of Cedrica
Can anyone explain how to make the stained glass windows in builds like The Throneroom of Cedrica?

# Answer
I see that this popped up on HNQ, so I wanted to expand on shoover's excellent answer with a build showing one way that this could be put together for folks that may not be as familiar with LEGO elements as the Bricks community.

As was already pointed out, the key element here is the 2x2 turntable base without a turntable attached:

Here's how you might pair those elements with transparent 1x1 and 1x2 elements to build a stained glass window:

We leave a couple of 1x2 plates overhanging the back to provide attachment points.

Here it is from the front. Notice that we also add a couple of 1x1 plates on the front side to make the connection points flush with the rest of the window:

Now we can build a frame to trim this out and create a nice looking window:

We can then attach our window using the attachment points that we left for ourselves in the back side of the Erling bricks:

Note that I'm not trying to replicate the exact techniques used by the original designer, but this does show one way to get a similar look. I've added the parts list on Rebrickable if you want to see exactly what I used and build this yourself.
> 28 votes

# Answer
From this picture and this one, you can see that the framing of the windows is formed by Turntable 2 x 2 Plate, Base in black.

For the colored areas (the "stained glass"), you have a couple of options:

* You could use different "Trans-X" colored Plate, Round 1 x 1 inserted into the back, but you'll need some trans-clear plates to back them up so the structure holds together.
* You could use different "Trans-X" colored Plate 1 x 2 inserted into the back, in an overlapping/alternating pattern for structural strength.
* You could use a combination, some 1x1 and some 1x2 for strength.
> 12 votes

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Tags: part-identification, building, castle
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# Question
Title: If I were to make a LEGO fan how would I make it blow air on me?
I was just wandering off into my imagination and then it hit me: I should make a LEGO fan?

I mean, how hard could it be?

It is actually very hard for me. No matter how much ratio I put on it, it would not blow air! Even when it does it always ends up blowing backwards. Please give me some tips.

# Answer
A fan is just 1/4 of a drone, right? Check out this lego drone that actually flies, for inspiration. https://youtu.be/wUVvQk7XLd4

The blade part in question is 89509
> 26 votes

# Answer
The easiest way to do this would be to use a motor with a high speed (or gear up a lower speed motor) and then attach one of the larger propeller elements to it. You can probably build a custom prop, but it might be challenging to build something with the proper blade angle while keeping it light and strong enough to not break apart when rotating quickly.

Something like 2952 should work:

You mentioned that your original design was blowing air backwards. This can likely be fixed by reversing the motor direction.
> 17 votes

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Tags: technic, building, motor
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# Question
Title: Help identifying this 1x1 2/3 brick (no studs)
I have been trying to identify this 1x1 2/3 (?) brick (looked in Studio, Bricklink parts list, sets, ...) and cannot, for the life of me, identify it. I have been able to find a picture of it and know it exists at least in white and light gray. The closest I got was 49307

Can somebody help me out?

# Answer
I believe that you are seeing the wide end of a cheese slope like this:

Note that these are simply held in place by friction and not really "connected" in a traditional way.
> 7 votes

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Tags: part-identification, piece-information
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title: Please help me identify the Lego set

text:
# Question
Title: Please help me identify the Lego set
This partial build was put together symmetrically. Both sides are moveable.

# Answer
> 17 votes
This is the rear part of 70009-1: Worriz's Combat Lair:

# Answer
> 16 votes
That's part of Worriz's Combat Lair (70009) set. You can see the cage between second and last axles.

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Please help to identify spaceship-like LEGO set
It looks like the framework of a spaceship. Does anyone know what set it's in?

# Answer
> 7 votes
Between the blue pin and the grey plane nose bottom pieces there is a characteristic white wedge piece, which I have searched for. This piece exists in three different designs, each of which is only contained in sets that don't resemble anything like the build your image depicts:

On another path, I searched for the 2x2 brick with two balls, under the golden plate at the back, with the same results:

So this leads me to think that your build is not part of any official sets, or it could be a somewhat modified part of a set.

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Tags: set-identification
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title: Can someone tell me what this part is?

text:
# Question
Title: Can someone tell me what this part is?
I wanted to make something from the "Forbidden LEGO" book and I came across a piece, I don't know what the part number is.

The piece has 5 peg holes, one axle hole, half a gear, last of all I don't know, but in the instructions, it looks like there are 2 half peg holes. What is the part?

# Answer
> 7 votes
This is Technic Gearbox Half. It's very easy to find by searching "technic gear" on BL.

The item number is 32166, and it was available in the early 2000s (specifically from 1999-2002).

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Tags: part-identification
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# Question
Title: How can I make a pigglet headed LEGO figure to be a sidekick for my Gadget Hero?
I have a LEGO superhero that I painted, and he needs a sidekick. The Sidekick is a boy who has the head of a pigglet! But how do I make a Pigglet head?!?

# Answer
> 8 votes
I would use the head piece from a Gamorrean Guard. This piece can be found in the following sets:

> 4476 Jabba's Prize
>
> 6210 Jabba's Sail Barge
>
> 9516 Jabba's Palace

# Answer
> 10 votes
The 1979–1989 Fabuland animals figures have a human body slightly larger than a minifigure, the head, arms and legs move but cannot be removed. The figures are no longer produced but remain quite popular amongst AFOL's. They can still be purchased on sites like Bricklink.

# Answer
> 8 votes
It's a *bit* late, but in 2020 the Monkie Kid line contains a minifigure-sized pig head:

# Answer
> 3 votes
Another possibility is one of the pig minifigures from the now-discontinued 2016 The Angry Birds Movie theme. For example, see set 75822, Piggy Plane Attack:

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Tags: building, minifigures, customization
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title: Can you identify this belt/legs

text:
# Question
Title: Can you identify this belt/legs
Can anyone identify this pair of legs. I looked at all the chima legs and legs with the word 'lion' in them, couldn't find it.

# Answer
> 5 votes
In that same Eurobricks thread it says:

> The legs (not hips) are from the Fantasy Era Crown King.

This is the minifigure this refers to:

For completeness, the torso (but not the arms) and the hips come from this Laval minifigure from the Chima theme:

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Tags: part-identification
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title: Does TLG own BrickLink?

text:
# Question
Title: Does TLG own BrickLink?
At the bottom of Bricklink.com appears the following statement:

> 3. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this site.

However, according to this press release from 2019 TLG is in the process of acquiring Bricklink.

Has this acquisition gone through? Is the Lego Group the owner of Bricklink? What does this mean for Bricklink and for independent marketplaces in general?

# Answer
Yes, TLG has acquired Bricklink. There have been multiple news, FAQ's and interviews posted with regards to a future of the website. You can read some of them on Bricklink as well as LEGO webpages. You can also read an interview with LEGO representative.

The footer on BL's webpage has been left as it was prior to acquisition. Perhaps there wasn't time to change it yet.
> 18 votes

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Tags: lego-group, bricklink
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# Question
Title: Putting flipped plates together as close as possible
I have two plates that I would like to connect together and collapse with the studs facing out like in the image below. I need the two plates to sit as close together as possible. But I'd like them to open up fully so all the studs face the same direction as well.

I came up with an idea with horizontal clips and a bar (shown in image). Or maybe using a hinge plate, but then I need to reverse the studs which takes some space.

Any idea how to do it as thin as possible?

# Answer
> 7 votes
There is a bit of a challenge with a geometry. LEGO doesn't produce much symmetrical hinges, otherwise they would be out of system. I could think of the following one piece you could achieve a close result - Hinge Plate 2 x 4 with Pin Hole and 3 Holes - Top. It comes in White color as well, so you could incorporate in your layer of white plates.

Here's a solution using this part. Only downside - it has a little gap.

# Answer
> 9 votes
this way it can open and close

Blue = 4276 Hinge Plate 1 x 2 with 2 Fingers

Yellow = 4275 Hinge Plate 1 x 2 with 3 Fingers

LightBlue = Plate 2 x 4

White = Plate 2 x 2

Pink = Plate 1 x 4

Light Bluish Gray = Plate 1 x 3

Yellowish Green = Plate 1 x 2

Red = Tile 2 x 2

Green = Tile 1 x 4

# Answer
> 3 votes
This is one method using levers

via Swooshable

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Tags: building, snot, connections
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# Question
Title: What set does this Lego S.W.A.T van go to?
I found this in my wife's closet when I was trying to look for my dress shoes. I want to know if this is worth anything and what set this goes to.
Sorry if it's dusty. There is also a little gun that goes to it, can anyone tell me what it is from?

# Answer
> 2 votes
That gun is actually pure Lego. It's a Tommy Gun.

Your truck, however, seems like a custom MOC made of random clone-brand parts due to the randomness and low quality of the build. I doubt that a clone-brand company would publish that truck as a set if it looked like that.

I am currently failing to identify this part on your truck, it doesn't match the color scheme. It proves that your truck is made of multiple clone-brand parts from multiple sets, and maybe even multiple companies! I can not find anything like it in the google image search:

The closest I can find is this part, and here's the site it's hosted on:

From the comments:
You have also said that it says Lego on the studs, but I'm just going to assume that only **some** of them do because of that clone-brand part I've pointed out. Lego does not and will not make SWAT content, and besides that, the truck is a rather low-quality build, so it's certainly not "from a set". Why randomly put a lattice tile on the roof like that anyway? Why do you need two sets of headlights? And why is there a 4x4 round plate on the roof when you can simply access from the back instead? It makes me conclude this is a MOC.

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Tags: part-identification, set-identification, clone-brands
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# Question
Title: How can I get a Powered Up motor to run without using a hub?
I'm mainly taking part in LEGO events as part of a Great Ball Contraption exhibit.

Most of the modules I make, and that's true for a lot of other builders, are purely mechanical in nature and driven by a single always-on motor. Since the motors have to run continuously for whole days, we usually connect them to 9V train transformers; which isn't a problem for PF motors thanks to the conversion cables available.

However, since LEGO will eventually phase out PF motors, I'm worried about the future - as there doesn't seem to be plans to provide conversion cables for Powered UP elements.

So, is there another way to somehow connect a Powered Up motor to a mains transformer and have it run continuously?

# Answer
> 4 votes
There is at least one third-party Power Functions to Powered Up adapter available that can be used for this purpose:

Here's a video demonstrating it in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96SxM-0UkVQ

# Answer
> 2 votes
New answer given the current state op PUP and Control+:

Saw this picture floating around on Facebook:

It's from the side of the box of the upcoming (now cancelled) Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey set (42113). No Bluetooth, just manual switches...

# Answer
> 1 votes
Perhaps too expensive and overkill, but it seems from the specs that a SPIKE prime would fit the requirements:

As I understand, the hub can be programmed and then runs independently, similar to an EV3. It has a rechargeable battery with a micro USB to charge it, but if this is similar as previous rechargeable batteries from Lego, the cable can be left in and connected to mains electricity. It remains to be seen if the hub will support PUP and Control+ Technic motors immediately, but I'm convinced it will over time...

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Tags: powered-up, gbc
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# Question
Title: Flexible tube for threading through transparent round bricks
I'm planning on doing a replica of the Belaggio fountains. I can't find it now, but I remember somewhere I saw someone do a build where they threaded a transparent tube through some 1 x 1 round bricks to make a "bendy" transparent column. I'd like to use this technique to make some moving fountain sprays. Does anyone know anything about such a technique, and what parts I need?

# Answer
If I'm understanding you correctly, you'll need 1x1 round bricks and something bar-sized and flexible to hold them together.

Alex pointed out that the hoses typically used for this sort of thing aren't available in trans-clear. Pneumatic tubing has been produced in trans-clear, so it could be an option, but you'd need a different design, as pneumatic tubing will not fit through an open stud.

You could use fiber optic cable:

I tried stringing some transparent 1x1 round bricks on it, and I think it creates the look that you are going for:
> 4 votes

# Answer
The technique you are referring to utilise parts in Hose, Rigid 3mm D. category. Despite the name they are somewhat flexible and can be bent (this is also how LEGO use them in some sets). Diameter of these hoses is equal to 3.18mm, which is, coincidentally, the diameter of inner hole you can find in studs. Including the 1x1 round brick you've mentioned. These hoses also work with Technic elements that have a cross holes for axles as well as some pins.

Unfortunately, none of these hoses have been produced in Tran-Clear color. So you either have seen a hose in different color or some 3rd-party hose compatible with LEGO.
> 0 votes

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Tags: design
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title: What does this white lego piece go to?

text:
# Question
Title: What does this white lego piece go to?
I was building a lego van and saw this on one of my pieces. What does it go to or what set does it come from?

# Answer
> 4 votes
This is Tile 1 x 2 with Groove with 'FOLLOW ME PACE CAR' Pattern from set 8121.

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Tags: part-identification, set-identification
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title: How could I make a playable LEGO piano?

text:
# Question
Title: How could I make a playable LEGO piano?
I was thinking of how hard it is to make a LEGO piano.

I have already tried to use a rubber band but it did not make a good sound when I plucked at it.

My problem is that I want to make a piano but I don't know what to use for the strings. Can someone help?

# Answer
Donny Chen made a LEGO piano that I believe is just large enough to play. Details are available on LEGO Ideas. You can watch him show it off in a video from Brickvention 2019. He has it motorized in that video.

From your comments, it sounds like you are interested in not simply having a piano with keys that can move, but one that actually emits proper sound. I think it will be quite difficult to do that effectively using LEGO elements (string, rubber bands, etc). The best that you can probably do to deliver sound using LEGO elements would probably be using EV3 or BOOST. This would be similar to the guitar model from the BOOST set:
> 10 votes

# Answer
There is this monstrosity as an example on the internet, which proves that you can work with proper metal strings. But your biggest enemy will be the huge tension everything is under. There is a reason that proper pianos have steel frames. As you only want one or two octaves, you can probably do without reinforcing the frame, but wherever the strings terminate will be a single point of failure. Apparently the harpsichord in the example uses some mutilated pieces there (though the only mention of glue is for the lid).

Also note the sound example. In any string instrument, sound is generated by the combination of the string and the resonating body of the instrument itself. In other words, it will always sound "plasticly" and there is nothing you can do about that.
> 10 votes

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Tags: building, design
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title: What dark green LEGO car is this?

text:
# Question
Title: What dark green LEGO car is this?
Who knows what set this dark green LEGO one piece car unit is from?

# Answer
> 13 votes
It's from MCDR4-1 Circuit Star, a McDonald's promotional set from 2009:

You can clearly see the wavy white and yellow lines on the side stickers.

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Tags: part-identification, set-identification, vehicle
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# Question
Title: Who is this minifigure: black trousers, blue shirt with id and rescue item, sunglasses
Who is this minifigure: black trousers, blue shirt with id and rescue item, sunglasses? What set can it be from?

# Answer
> 1 votes
Looks like this guy but without the hat.

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Tags: minifigure-identification
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# Question
Title: Which minifigure is this? Angry face with a moustache and a green playing card shirt?
Who knows what series/set this minifigure belongs to?

# Answer
That minifigure looks like this one but without the tophat.

The head, however, is likely from this minifig. As you can see on that page both minifigs appear in 6 sets.
> 2 votes

# Answer
This minifigure is a mixture of several other minifigures.

Torso Western Bandit Card Suit Vest and Gold Fob Pattern / Green Arms / Black Hands

has been used for just one minifigure called Bandit 3. Legs are matching yours so these two most likely come from the same minifigure, which appeared in 5 sets.

However your example is missing top hat and is using different face - Minifigure, Head Moustache Thick Angry and Long Hair and Stubble Pattern - Blocked Open Stud. It appeared in 13 sets and could be part of any of these 5 minifigures.
> 3 votes

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Tags: minifigure-identification
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title: Which mini figure is this?

text:
# Question
Title: Which mini figure is this?
I would like to know which mini figure this is?

# Answer
It is Hoth Rebel Trooper (Orange Chin Dimple)

With missing white backpack and goggles.
> 8 votes

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Tags: minifigure-identification
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# Question
Title: What sets are these vintage figures and wheels from?
Where do these belong to? (their head/body/hair/hat might be mixed up).

# Answer
Here are the parts you're looking for:

wheel

wheel

2x4 wheel

wheel base 2x4 and so on

arm holder

hand

arm part

also arm part

female hair

head with freckles

cap

Based on the collected links, this might be one of the sets you own. It is too challenging for me to identify any others, sorry for the inconvenience: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=200-1#T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
> 2 votes

# Answer
The red cap is fairly unusual. The head with the freckles as well...
Based on that I would say the Universal Building set 50-1 on BrickLink
The rightmost wheels are in that set too. The other wheels are so common that there are dozens of sets with them.
> 1 votes

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Tags: part-identification, set-identification, minifigure-identification
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# Question
Title: Why does BrickLink append a -1 to so many set numbers?
I've been perusing BrickLink for a while, and I noticed that essentially all sets are listed with a "-1" after the LEGO set number. For example, Set 41164, Enchanted Treehouse is listed on BrickLink as 41164-*1*.

What's the purpose of the "-1", and more specifically, what would a "-2" or even "-3" set number represent?

* Does it represent a version number (e.g. a revised or post-recall version of the set would be numbered 41164-2)?
* Is this a country code?
* Is it just a site-specific affectation?
* Is it currently unused, but reserved for future use?

# Answer
> 26 votes
TLG hasn't always been particularly careful about their set numbering, so the community has taken to adding -1 to the end of the set number to handle cases where there may be duplicate set numbers used by TLG. For example, here's what we refer to as 8858-1:

And 8858-2:

As others have pointed out, this also helps to track minor adjustments to sets (re-releases, box differences, inventory adjustments, etc). Bricklink maintains a list of sets that are similar and have the same official set number but which are assigned unique suffixes for various reasons.

# Answer
> 14 votes
As jncraton pointed out some numbers have been reused by different sets, however there are other cases too.

A good example is 10242 MINI Cooper. During production of this set TLG has decided to change the box from original squarish size, which is designated as 10242-1 on Bricklink

to rectangular version of the box, so Bricklink used 10242-2 to mark this change.

# Answer
> -6 votes
In the 1980s, there was a major set adjustment to the Lego space sets , in North America. I know, because I have both sets. One is noted as -1 and the other -2, which actually has been helpful in sorting sets. It is arbitrary, and I don't see it as the first or second time the same part number used. But untill Lego group makes an adjustment, or creates an online catloge of all sets, I don't see brick links actions as objectionable.

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Tags: bricklink, set-numbering
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title: Which set is this piece from?

text:
# Question
Title: Which set is this piece from?
Which set is this piece from? It looks like a space ship or something.

# Answer
The ship looks like a (possibly) slightly altered build of the alien spaceship from ETX Alien Strike.
> 2 votes

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: How can I create synthetic imagery (rendering) of LEGO models?
I'd like to know how I can create computer imagery of my own models or existing models. How can we do photographic quality or cartoon like images?

# Answer
> 13 votes
You need:

Digital Designer (Or anything that can produce Ldraw files, there are some listed in this question)

Blender (Or another renderer that supports Ldraw)

Blender Script (This is necessary for Blender to read you Ldraw models)

1. Recreate your creation in Lego Digital Designer.
2. Export as Ldraw format
3. Import in Blender
4. Create & render Blender scene

(I haven't tried but it should work)

# Answer
> 12 votes
In addition to the other answers, the oldschool way using POV (in use before there even WAS a LEGO Digital Designer) still works.

1. Model your creation in a LDraw compatible modelling tool of your choice (such as MLCad) but there are other choices
2. Use one of several export programs (such as L3P) to create a POVRay compatible file
3. Add a few commands to move the camera to taste and run a render in POVRay.

All of the renders on my site, http://miltontrainworks.com, such as this one:

Taken from the MTW-5001-yg listing, were done this way.

You can read more about all the tools mentioned at the LDraw website.

# Answer
> 6 votes
The Studio tool from BrickLink uses the LDraw Parts library and has both the POV-Ray renderer as well as a "Photo Real" renderer baked in for some fairly realistic renderings of your models.

For example:

A selection of wheels and axles. You can see the logos on the studs of the modified 1x2:

Apple Macintosh Sample Model:

Apple Macintosh Sample Model with "UV Degradation" and "Scratches" enabled in Material Effects:

# Answer
> 3 votes
Here's a method you'll be able to use with the latest stable version of Blender, without any extra plugins or addons.

1. Build your model in LEGO Digital Designer and export as an LDraw file.
2. Import into LeoCAD, then export as a .obj file.
3. Import into Blender with the built-in .obj importer. You can then setup the scene how you want.

Also, if you're just starting out with Blender, you may want to try an under-development, photorealistic renderer called Cycles, as you'll be able to get nice-looking images much more quickly than if you were to use Blender's default internal renderer. From 2.61 onward, Cycles is now another render engine option in all official Blender builds.

You may want to check out this superb introduction to Cycles.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Let me suggest Autodesk 3ds Max software or Autodesk Maya software for achieving this. You can find free bricks and models meshes right here. Additional information on lego visualization can be found on Okino's website.

Here is the example of a rendered still. Doing a manual simply involve making parts of the model visible/invisible and positioning the camera appropriately.

This model was rendered by flickr user bloggerknight using 3ds Max and the VRay renderer

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Tags: software, cad, rendering
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# Question
Title: What is inside the Technic Powered Up XL motor?
What components are inside the new Technic Powered Up XL motor? Is it the same as the PF XL motor, except with a different connector?

# Answer
I was curious about this, and TLG was willing to provide me with one of these motors, so I opened it up. I was able to get the outer shell off by cutting down the 4 tabs on the outside. This motor does not appear to be meant to be opened and put back together. These tabs hold it together very firmly and I wasn't able to move them out of the way without damaging them. The motor does not stay together properly without them.

The light bluish gray front can also be removed from the motor to reveal the internals.

We can see that it uses a double set of planetary gears that are very similar to the PF XL motor.

We can see an additional chip under the drive axle that is not present in PF motors. I believe that this is a rotary encoder to allow the motor to rotate in fixed increments.

There is a black ring around the red drive axle that is magnetic.

For comparison, here is an image from another teardown of the PF XL motor:

We can see that the internal motor and gearing is roughly the same, but the PF version does not include the rotary encoder.
> 12 votes

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Tags: piece-information, motor, electronics, powered-up, disassembly
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title: EV3 Gyro sensor is not working

text:
# Question
Title: EV3 Gyro sensor is not working
I started using the EV3 Gyro for the first time in a few months, and it's not working. When I rotate the robot the output shown in the EV3-G port view stays at zero. In the rare case it registers some input, it will show for a split second and immediately reset to zero. In the on-brick port view, and when output from the block, it shows as "----". Switching ports doesn't change anything.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If other sensors work on the EV3, the EV3 is OK. If swapping cables does not help, then the sensor is probably defective. If you contact LEGO customer service, they will probably replace it if it is defective.

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Tags: ev3, gyro
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title: Is this part of a set?

text:
# Question
Title: Is this part of a set?
Are those pieces part of a set? Or a random build of something?

# Answer
> 9 votes
The 'Red Slope, Curved 4 x 2 with White and Yellow Flames Pattern Model' part (right side of the picture, on the roof) comes in 2 variants: Left and Right. However, both of these parts only exist in the same 1 set, 9441: Kai's Blade Cycle

Similarly, the 'Tail Shuttle with Lightning Pattern' (left side of the picture - also comes in Left and Right variants) come from 9442: Jay's Storm Fighter

(This also appears to be where those 2 large blue plates are from)

As such, this model must be a Maker's Own Creation (MOC), and not an official LEGO set. So, yes, a 'random build of something'

Both of the sets listed are from the LEGO Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes series

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Help identifying Lego bricks from a picture for a Geocache
I'd like to recreate a Lego design I've seen for an ammo can Geocache - its a box that opens with a hinged lid. I've found the parts for the handles (CLAMP 1X2) and hinge pieces (PLATE 1X2 W/SHAFT Ø3) on the top but I'm really struggling to find the large flat plat with hooks on the right side.

If you can help identify this particular piece I'd be grateful. If you have any idea what's on the right side too or any other bricks I need then suggestions are very welcome.

Thank you!

# Answer
> 9 votes
The flat plate with hooks, on the left of the image, appears to be Tile, Modified, 3 x 2 with 2 Open O clips

Without an image from another angle, it is hard to tell what the connection on the other side might be - it could be Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 2 Open O Clips (Horizontal Grip), or perhaps a pair of Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Clip on End (Horizontal Grip), but it could equally be something *completely* different.

---

After a quick Reverse Image Search, I found this set for sale on Geocaching.com with images of other angles, including the Bag of Parts - and this model appears to use a pair of LegoPlate, Modified 1 x 1 with Open O Clip (Horizontal Grip), instead

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Tags: part-identification, piece-information, bricks-and-pieces
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# Question
Title: Lego technic 42082 4 wheel steering issue
I have just completed the build and everything appears to work as it should except the 4 wheel steering. When you turn the small wheel on the rear of the crane only the rear wheels steer. The front wheels will steer if you move them manually, but not in tandem with the rear wheels. Has anyone else encountered this? Am hoping it is an easy fix

# Answer
I think you missed step 273 on page 133 of book 1.

In this step you align the front and back wheel and move a gear wheel and bush so the front steering mechanism is connected to the rest.

To fix this you need to disassemble part of the front

* After taken of the fenders
* Follow steps 471 till 484 in reverse.

This removes the panel above the gear so you should be able to access the gear.
> 3 votes

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Tags: technic, building, instructions
---


# Question
Title: Is it possible to non-destructively open the SPIKE Prime smart hub?
I'm referring to this part from SPIKE Prime:

Note that this is the same hub that will be used in Mindstorms Inventor.

There are four Torx screws on the back side that can be accessed by removing the battery. I have removed these:

Even with these screws removed, the top is still tightly secured. I can force a spludger in under the ports on either side, but prying seems to only bend the top and not release it any way.

I've tried prying in the cracks at the corners, but there was no give.

Does anyone know of a way to open this part while minimizing permanent damage?

# Answer
> 9 votes
No, but the damage can be limited and is not externally visible.

I don't know the technical name, but each of the 4 corners are held in place with these fasteners:

Using a tool of the same diameter (2mm), they can be pressed out by applying force to the end of the fastener at the point shown below:

This does damage the plastic slightly where it contacts the fastener, but if it is only done a few times the fasteners should still hold securely when reassembled.

---
Tags: powered-up, spike-prime
---


# Question
Title: How do you display multiple items at once on an EV3 screen?
I'm trying to make a program on the EV3 that will imitate the shutdown process.

At first, I wanted to make my life easier by naming the program "Shutting Down" and not interfere with the display in any way, because the program execution screen looks almost exactly like the real shutdown screen, however there is one small difference. On the default program execution screen, the line underneath the Mindstorms logo sometimes has parts of it intentionally white-ed out so that it looks like *two* lines, but the shutdown screen always has one straight black line that never changes. So I decided to go with Plan B.

Plan B was to interfere with the display and make it look 100% like the real shutdown screen. I am a bit new to this, though, and there's one thing about displays that I still don't get. And that is how I'm supposed to have more than one item appear on the screen at a time.

Here are the things I tried:

• I put all the displays in an infinite loop block without any wait blocks, hoping that without wait blocks it will display the images at such a rate that it gives the illusion that they are being shown all at once, but instead, it acted as if I **did** put tiny wait blocks here and there and the screen flickered, which is not what I want. What's stranger is that they came up in a lighter black than usual, kinda like the EV3 screen was physically dying.

• I put each display block with one play block behind it and nothing else, but the result was that only one of the displays would show up.

Here's the current program, without any display tweaks (other than the completely blank screen). I doubt it will help, but I don't mind if you steal my code and claim it for yourself. It's also possible that the code is messing with the display, but again, I doubt it. Just take a look:

# Answer
> 1 votes
I have figured it out.

At first, I mistook the eraser icon on the display code block for a function that makes the screen completely empty. As it turns out, I am wrong.

As Brandon\_J pointed out, the clear-screen function is crucial to the solution. When enabled, it removes any other images that have been on the EV3 screen before it. If I want to show two or more images on the screen, the code should look like this:

The first code block has the clear-screen function enabled (the eraser), but the second one doesn't so that the sideways hourglass that comes before it will still stay on the screen. The first display block has clear-screen enabled to prevent odd outputs like the following:

If there are multiple display blocks in a loop, the screen will also appear like the above no matter what. There aren't any wormholes for it, and even if you put random code blocks before the displays in a loop in order to reach the program execution screen, you'd still get a similar result. Thus they should be *outside* of loops.

Alternatively, we can use the image uploader, as user15324 pointed out. This can be accessed by clicking "Tools" and clicking "Image Editor". This allows you to make custom images for the EV3.

You can then press the Save button in the upper-left corner and name your image.

The image will automatically appear under the "Project Images" folder in display blocks. It can be used the same way as any other image.

In my case, I could've just added this small batch of code to the start of the program. It has a random code block in front of the play button to access the program execution screen, and then a line is added to cover up the existing line that sometimes partially disappears.

# Answer
> 1 votes
At the start of the program, add a block that displays a custom image that is exactly the same as the shutdown screen (To make one, go to the tools tab at the top left, and in the drop-down, press "Image Editor") also, you can make a completely blank image for the second display block.

---
Tags: ev3, programming
---


# Question
Title: How to connect fire to Lord Business' Coffee Mugs?
So, we have Lord Business' Evil Lair (70809-1), and we also have some two-tone flames from another set.

How can the flames be attached to Lord Biz' coffee mugs (as seen in The LEGO Movie)?

---

\+

The flame shaft can be connected to plenty of parts, such as a "Round 1 x 1 with Open Stud".

However...the mug part has an unusual inner diameter that studs don't fit into. So I'm wondering how this was constructed for the film - or if the animators didn't actually make a construction but just placed the flames for the shot, is there *some* way they can be connected to at least approximate the way they appear in the film?

(I mean, without having to resort to... the Kragle!)

# Answer
> 12 votes
They might have cheated in the movie, but an old 8 toothed gear fits snugly in the hole.

---
Tags: building, connections, the-lego-movie
---


title: What was the shortest-lived color?

text:
# Question
Title: What was the shortest-lived color?
I've been reading about the history of the LEGO palette, most notably the transitions in gray and pink that have happened over the years where older shades were more or less completely replaced with newer ones.

What is the *shortest-lived* official LEGO color or shade? To be clear, I'm asking about shades that were *officially released* for public purchase as a set or individually (so no prototypes, test runs, employee swag, or third-party retints). I'm also not concerned about what parts were specifically *made* in that color, just the history of the color itself. If a particular color appeared in a 1x2 plate for two years, that part was retired, but the color was then used for a 2x4 brick for a year, that counts as three years for the color.

For example, have there been any colors that were released in only one set or theme and were fully retired when that set or theme was retired, never to be revived again?

# Answer
> 4 votes
According to the BrickLink Colour Guide, there have been three *solid* colours that were used for at most one year:

1. Fabuland Orange (1983; half barrel from Peter Panda Takes a Bath)
2. Very Light Orange (2000; only example being the aforementioned crouching cat)
3. Clikits Lavender (2005; four examples)

In addition, there has been one "chrome" colour (solid with metallic detailing) with a single-year run:

1. Chrome Black (2009; Darth Vader torso)

And finally two "speckled" colours, both from 2006:

1. Speckle Black-Copper (2006; Karzon Visor)
2. Speckle DBGrey-Silver (2006; three examples, all helmets)

As noted in one of the other answers, there are additionally some new colours for 2020. In my opinion it is too early to say whether these will have a single-year run.

# Answer
> 22 votes
Further to Alex's answer, from that source I found eleven colours that only lasted a year:

* Fabuland Orange 1983
* Very Light Orange 2000
* Clikits Lavender 2005
* Chrome Black 2009
* Chrome Green 1999
* Satin White 2020
* Satin Trans-Light Blue 2020
* Satin Trans-Dark Pink 2020
* Glitter Trns-Orange 2020
* Speckle Black-Copper 2006
* Speckle DBGray-Silver 2006

Of course the four 2020 colours may continue next year!

Fabuland Orange was only used for one item in one set for one year, so could be considered the rarest colour. The set was "Peter Panda Takes a Bath", and the part was Peter Panda's tub, a part barrel affair.

# Answer
> 17 votes
According to Bricklink, Very Light Orange was only used by single part for one year only - in 2000. It was used in 2 sets (Scala and Belville) and 1 "gear".

That part is this cat:

Another color is Clikits Lavender used by a number of parts (9, to be precise) for Clikits theme and these were produced in 2005.

Here's a picture by Ryan Howerter

---
Tags: history, colour
---


# Question
Title: What internal electronics do Spike Prime and Mindstorms Robot Inventor use?
What electronics live inside the SPIKE Prime hub? How powerful is the hardware?

# Answer
> 16 votes
If we open the hub we can take a look at the main PCB inside. There's just one PCB in addition to a small speaker and the replaceable lithium ion battery. Here's the top of the PCB:

And the bottom:

We see that the main CPU is an STM32F413. It includes 1M of flash and 320k of RAM and the ARM Cortex M4 core can be clocked up to 100MHz.

In addition to the 1M of embedded flash, there's a Winbond W25Q256JV providing an additional 32MB for program and data storage.

Bluetooth connectivity is provided by the TI CC2564C.

The 25 LED grid is driven by a TI TLC5955 (48 channel PWM LED driver). This part also drives the other 4 surface mount LEDs on the board.

The 6 motor outputs are driven by a trio of LB1836 dual motor drivers.

There's also an MPS 2639A to manage the lithium ion battery.

There are many other supporting components on the board, but that covers the majority of it.

Overall, this is similar in architecture (ARM-based, identical output drivers, etc) to the other Powered Up hubs. It is significantly more powerful in terms of horsepower and storage thanks to the 32MB flash chip and higher clock frequency (100MHz here vs 48MHz for Boost for example).

---
Tags: electronics, spike-prime, robot-inventor
---


# Question
Title: Do any concave slopes or curves exist? Any brand
Do you know if anyone has ever made any concave slope pieces? Looking for multiple lengths (2/3/4/5/6 stud lengths). Basically the opposite of this style:

I would also be looking for the same concave shapes, which would go underneath, similar to this:

The first example is a graduated curve, the bottom seems to be more of a constant curve. I would prefer graduated if possible, but in the concave direction, with the shallower slope at the bottom, steepening towards the top. If not, does anyone know anybody that makes custom shapes or pieces?

# Answer
> 9 votes
Part 18653 Brick, Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted

Brick, Arch 1 x 5 x 4 Inverted

And a few other inverted arches

# Answer
> 5 votes
There's also these large pieces used in some Sports sets.

Sports Arena Section / Skateboard Ramp:

Sports Arena Section / Skateboard Ramp Corner

# Answer
> -2 votes
For the concave shapes that go underneath, there are a lot of bridges and archs from LEGO.

---
Tags: slope
---


# Question
Title: What set does this assembly with plastic foils come from?
I have this partial build, what set could it be from?

# Answer
> 8 votes
This is from 76039-1: Ant-Man Final Battle

---
Tags: part-identification, set-identification
---


# Question
Title: How to dump the micropython filesystem from the SPIKE Prime (and Mindstorms v4)?
I'm interested in tinkering with the micropython filesystem and/or firmware in the SPIKE Prime hub and was wondering:

1. How to dump the micropython filesystem from the SPIKE Prime hub?
2. Is there an online resource somewhere to download old micropython filesystems for the SPIKE Prime hub?

# Answer
Using rshell I've managed dump the micropython filesystem of my hub after updating it to `v1.0.03.0034-c3879ab`.

```
rshell
connect serial /dev/ttyACM0 115200
rsync -a /pyboard ~/spikefw

```

*Note: These commands are for linux.*

(I also managed to partially dump the initial version on the hub `v0.5.01.0000-42a938e`, but ran into issues with binary files as I was using ampy at the time.)

I've not found any online resources for the micropython filesystem or the firmware of the SPIKE Prime hub.

Interestingly it seems the the initial version I have `v0.5.01.0000-42a938e` is comprised of the micropython source code (\*.py files) whereas the updated version `v1.0.03.0034-c3879ab` only contains pre-compiled micropython bytecode (\*.mpy)

The license file included with the micropython code, and the headers in the files, state that the code is licensed under the MIT license, so I've uploaded it to my github please feel free to PR more versions.
> 9 votes

---
Tags: powered-up, spike-prime, micropython, robot-inventor
---


# Question
Title: Please help identify the LEGO Set from attached pics
Got this, may not be completed. Please help identify the Set#.

# Answer
> 10 votes
This is one of the vehicles from 70006-1: Cragger's Command Ship

---
Tags: set-identification
---


# Question
Title: Please help identify, could be a Bionicle? (yellow with green mask)
Pieces could have come from disassembling a Bionicle.

# Answer
Looks like you have a portion of 8998-1 Toa Mata Nui.

This set is sometimes called "Titan Mata Nui" among fans, to better distinguish this "Titan" set from the regular "Mata Nui" set, which is how the character Toa Mata Nui actually appears in BIONICLE media.

The transparent green piece does not go to it though, and I'm not sure what it is.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: set-identification, bionicle
---


# Question
Title: BrickLink: Sell items as whole set and/or individual parts
I want to sell some sets, minifigures, and multi-part parts (e.g. wheels that consist of tyre and rim)—further referred to as sets—that I'm willing to sell either as complete set or individual parts.

In BrickLink, is there an option to marks sets to be sold this way so that customers may find the whole set *and* the individual parts, but can *only buy one of both options?* If I would put the parts and the set into the invetory I would be risking that a customers orders more parts than I have (the set plus another part of that set). At best (but that's just nice to have) the set would automatically be splittet into parts after a customer buys one or more parts of the set.

# Answer
The option you are looking for doesn’t exactly exist, but you can approximate it by using Superlots. Let’s use the tire and rim example: you list these as individual parts but make them part of a superlot that contains both. If a buyer wants to buy just the tire, they cannot, because of the superlot, but you could put in a note on the lot saying that they can message you to break up the lot and purchase individually. The downside is that someone searching for the combination entry for the parts (what you called a ‘set’) but not for the individual parts will not find your store.

Alternatively, you can list both (set and individual parts) and split the available amount across both (so if you have 6 tire and rim combos, you list 3 tires, 3 rims and 3 tire-and-rim sets) with a note on each saying that you have more available upon request. You can occasionally adjust quantities of each as you sell through them. Again, there is a search downside: if someone is looking for 4 tires and is excluding partial lots, they might not find your store.

Final alternative is just to commit to one or the other (I suggest based on the sales volume in the price guide) and see where that gets you.

If it makes any difference, I typically search for both the combo part and the individual parts, so I would find your store regardless.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The specific feature you're asking doesn't exist. However, you can make notes on your set listings and say that you're willing to part out the set.

In addition, there are sophisticated tools for buyers to create wanted lists and check which sellers have all or most of the parts they need. So, if for example, they are looking for several parts from the same set, sellers who have those parts will automatically show up for them. Sellers don't have to do anything extra besides listing the parts to have this feature active.

Based on my personal experience as a BrickLink seller, my suggestion would be to list the sets you have for a few months (sets sell well during the Christmas season, so you may want to list it until the end of the year). Then, if they doesn't sell, part them out and sell the parts individually.

Also, consider listing the sets on eBay. In general, sets sell quicker and for more than on eBay. eBay buyers are more casual LEGO fans and are usually looking for gift items, sets from their childhood, etc.. BrickLink buyers are more project-focused, and they are looking for specific parts for their custom projects and not whole sets.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: bricklink
---


# Question
Title: Which programming environments or APIs are available for the LEGO BOOST?
Over the holidays I tried the following Python library: https://github.com/undera/pylgbst but I couldn't get it to work. Then again my knowledge of Python is very limited.

I'm more experienced with C++ or C#, is anything available for those languages?

As a general question, do you know of any programming environments or API's that can control the LEGO move hub and its peripherals from the LEGO BOOST set?

# Answer
> 6 votes
Boost and the other Powered Up components (the new City trains, the app-controlled batmobile, and WeDo 2.0) are controlled via Bluetooth. Any environment that can send bluetooth commands can be used to control these components.

There is a github page which documents some of the reverse-engineering that has been done and it links to several third-party Boost/PoweredUp programming libraries. I've used movehub, but there is another node.js library called node-poweredup which looks more complete.

Lego themselves have documented part of the BLE wireless protocol on github as well.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Not C but you might take a look at https://github.com/JorgePe/pyb00st

# Answer
> 3 votes
If you prefer C#, there a new lib on the block: SharpBrick.PoweredUp. While the Boost hub and motors are missing, the protocol is implemented. Your use case should be two minor contributions away.

Full Disclaimer: I maintain the library. I do not have Boost Hardware but the protocol officially supports Boost Hub. Just some enums and types are missing.

# Answer
> 1 votes
You can try our just released WeDo 2.0 Framework that should suppot Boost partially (full support will be added soon). It is open source and free for education (written in C#). You can find it by this link: https://github.com/btframework/WeDo

---
Tags: programming, electronics, boost
---


title: Is it possible to shrink down a wheel?

text:
# Question
Title: Is it possible to shrink down a wheel?
I have a tire 6581 which is stretched to the point it doesn't fit perfectly with the balloon designated for it, at one place it is kinda popped out. It is caused by my stretching it when I was younger for the sheer curiosity how much it can stand. Is there any way to undo this stretching and make the tire once again fit perfectly?

# Answer
You won't be able to make it fit perfectly again. If plastic is stretched over a certain point it is irreversibly damaged.

But you can try to heat it a little to shrink the wheel overall. But it's not guaranteed to work. If you use a lighter you can affect a smaller area but be sure not to burn your part.
> 7 votes

# Answer
As someone already mentioned, I doubt there's any way to make it fit "perfectly" again but it may be possible to reduce the damage.

Another way to apply heat is to use hot water. As for how hot, I've got no clue what temperature that particular material starts to soften at, but I'd start out with the hottest water you can get from the tap and increase the temp gradually from there if that doesn't work. According to LEGO, 104F is the maximum "safe" temperature for most of their products, so it may not take as much heat as you might think. Since it's only a specific area, I'd recommend using kitchen tongs to hold the tire and dip only the area that requires softening in the hot water.

You describe it as both "stretched" and "kinda popped out"... without a photo, it's hard for me to picture what exactly the damage looks like. If it's to the point where part of the tire is misshapen rather than just stretched, a pair of thick plastic gloves (ie for house-cleaning) might allow you to reshape the damaged area while it's hot enough to be somewhat malleable.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I'm thinking sunlight heat. My rubber sandals shrunk about 3-4 sizes after I left them out in 85+ degree F (30 C) heat and direct sunlight. But be careful with this because the sun will also cause your tire color to fade
> 0 votes

---
Tags: repair
---


# Question
Title: Technique for holding a horizontal minifig in place (swimmer)
I'm building a scene on an 8x8 base plate, ideally the depth of the base is 1 full brick high. The design is to have a swimmer minifig horizontal (i.e. swimming) but also at an angle to the base plate, and ideally connected, not just laid on top. I can achieve the angle with a 2x2 turntable plate, and get the swimmer horizontal with a 1x2 hinge brick on top of the turntable, but this makes the swimmer quite high. Any ideas on how to achieve the same - I'm wondering if a torso attachment on the hidden underside of the minifig might work but can't think what piece to use.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Mmmh... If you base doesn't have to be all solid...

Recess some piece in there in which you can insert the arm-side of a mini-fig hand.
Grasp your swimmer by the toes on one of its feet, with that hand.
That will give you a horizontal/slightly upwards position on the mini-fig and you can further increase the angle by adjusting the mini-figs leg.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There are several pieces which can be attached to minifigures to pose them. Recently a line of collectible minifigures introduced a transparent "handle" with a single stud which could be connected to the feet or legs of the minifigure

This piece can be rotated in the anti-stud to angle whichever way is convenient, then held in place using a hole or clip.

---
Tags: building, minifigures
---


title: I need loose minifigures

text:
# Question
Title: I need loose minifigures
I need the joints of my minifigures to be extremely loose. So loose that they cannot stand for a comedy sketch. I’ve tried almost everything at this point.

# Answer
> 0 votes
This recommendation is a bit time consuming: fiddle about with it a lot and it wil loosen.

---
Tags: minifigures
---


# Question
Title: How can I loosen my Minifigures arms and legs?
I'm trying to make some Stop Motion animation but some of the parts on my Minifigures are very stiff, which reduces the control I have when making small adjustments during each frame.

Is there a safe way to loosen the joints that will still allow them to hold their position once set?

# Answer
Both arms and legs are held in place through a fairly simple compression pin.

A small dab of washing up liquid applied to the joint should lubricate it quite well - avoid oils as they can cause discolouration of the plastic.

If that doesn't work for you, then you could try physically loosening the pins - gently pull the arms out of the sockets and the legs off the hips and replace them a couple of times - this is usually enough to compress the arms of the pin enough while still maintaining a grip on the part. Going further you can obviously compress the pins manually and fairly permanently - however this will likely make the joints too loose for your needs - I've certainly got some older minifigs with very wobbly hip joints that can no longer stand up on their own.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The simple solution is to just move the joins a lot, the plastic will wear down with use. This is why mini-figures that little kids have played with for years are just downright floppy.

Zhaph gives some good advice about oils, watch out for stuff that is hydrocarbon based as this might also be act as a solvent. I want to say that silicone based lubricants might be the thing that could work for you. I recall someone talking about using it for some technic axles awhile back. You might do some google research on this topic.

If you remove arms, be careful, as torsos can develop stress cracks along the bottom edge that will split up to the arms. These are not repairable, and ruin the torso.

Finally, if you want to FIX loose Lego figure arms, legs, heads, etc. I have a very solid and simple fix that I have used many times over the years. Take a **VERY** tiny drop of crazy glue and put it inside the joint, and let it dry overnight. This will cause the joint to be come ever so slightly smaller, and it will make the joint nice and tight. It is inside the joint, so it is completely invisible, and if needed it could be done repeatedly.

But be very careful, as crazy glue will mark Lego it drips on. Let it dry for a long time, so you don't accidentally glue the joint together. And finally, just to repeat, a VERY small amount of glue. It doesn't take much at all.

Happy filming!
> 1 votes

---
Tags: minifigures
---


title: 60197 Passenger Train control problem

text:
# Question
Title: 60197 Passenger Train control problem
Weird problem here.

My son has had the 60197 train for about a year and I decided to try out the powered-up app for the first time today.

After what seemed to be some kind of software update, which took about 2 minutes, the app connected, but did nothing.

When I went back to use the remote that came with the train, the remote now only moves the train at maximum speed.

To make matters worse, stop does not work, instead pressing the forward or backward buttons on the remote always do the following:

```
First press: full speed forwards

Second press: full speed backwards

Third press: stop
```

...Which pretty much renders it unusable as full speed is rather unstable.

Also, channel B is now no longer working.

Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?

I have replaced the batteries in both units and have uninstalled the app and even tried with my phone off just in case something is interfering with the connection.

We are stumped!

# Answer
> 1 votes
Hmm, very strange. We cannot solve this, so you should contact Lego's customer service at https://lego.com/service and they will give you a replacement for free. They occasionally make oopsies with their technical components every now and then, and I've had a similar problem with the Boost 17101 hub lacking connection under common circumstances.

Also, you've asked another question:

> Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?

Yes, I've seen such problems before. I already said that my Boost hub has had unintentional connection issues. One person has had EV3 port power issues, and on Eurobricks some other person is also having a malfunctioning hub. Once again, Lego occasionally makes these technical mistakes every now and then.

# Answer
> 8 votes
I thought I’d update you on the situation for anyone else in a similar position.

I got in touch with Lego via email, it took a while for them to get back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is totally understandable.

I received a bright breezy fun reply from someone called Ryan who said he would send me replacement battery box and remote. Once I received these items, the train worked for about an hour and then stopped working.

After troubleshooting, I found that the connecting wire must have had a break near or inside the connector. I contacted Lego again, and they sent me a replacement set of motorised wheels.

They asked me to send back the faulty items using a supplied label.

Absolutely awesome service from Lego.

---
Tags: trains, city, powered-up
---


# Question
Title: How to dump the firmware from the SPIKE Prime (and Mindstorms v4)?
I'm interested in tinkering with the micropython filesystem and/or firmware in the SPIKE Prime hub and was wondering:

1. How to dump the firmware from the SPIKE Prime hub?
2. Is there an online resource somewhere to download old firmwares for the SPIKE Prime hub?

# Answer
Using the micropython REPL interface of the hub I've managed to dump the firmware using the built in tools. This was after I'd updated to `v1.0.03.0034-c3879ab`. The commands on the hub to achieve this are:

```
import firmware
firmware.flash_read(BYTE_NUMBER)

```

This will output a 32 bytes of the firmware starting at location `BYTE_NUMBER` which can be saved to a file. By calling this function repetitively, starting at `BYTE_NUMBER=0` and going until the function returns `false`, the entire firmware can be dumped. I couldn't find a way of getting the current firmware length so dumps will contain the full memory of the board (~1Mbyte).

I've not found any online resources for old versions of the firmware of the SPIKE Prime hub. However, the latest firmware seems to be inside the current version of the windows application \[`SPIKE-PRIME_Full_1.2.0_Global_Win10`\]. This can be extracted by:

1. Installing the SPIKE Prime Windows 10 application.
2. Navigating to the resources directory inside the installed directory: \[`C:/Program Files/SPIKE/resources`\]
3. Creating a directory to hold the extracted source code of the electron application. (E.g. Output)
4. Extracting the `app.asar` file using the asar tool and the command `asar extract app.asar Output`.
5. Navigating to the firmware directory found inside the extracted code `Output/app/renderer/flipper-hub/firmware/`
6. There you should find a `*.bin` where its name is the md5 of its contents. (E.g `09c1f4564bd22832993332820540d8c1.bin`

I compared the firmware I dumped from my hub to the one I found in the SPIKE Prime Windows 10 application and they matched exactly up to the size of the found firmware (it was smaller). I've uploaded the firmware to my github please feel free to PR more versions.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: powered-up, spike-prime, micropython, robot-inventor
---


title: Can you identify this LEGO car set?

text:
# Question
Title: Can you identify this LEGO car set?
I've got these two pieces, but I do not know which set they came from.

# Answer
> 6 votes
That looks like part of the Power Racers Theme, set 8647-1 "Night Racer". From 2005, 76 parts.

---
Tags: set-identification
---


# Question
Title: Where can I find a list of all LEGO sets ever released
Can I get a full list of every set LEGO has ever come out with?

# Answer
> 14 votes
Brickset.com is an excellent website with an inventory of sets stretching back as far as 1966. The list is not 100% complete and the site is not an official site of the LEGO groups so it relies on contributions from fans for its updates.

The information below is from the site itself:

> What's in the database? The database does not contain everything that LEGO has ever made or that carries a LEGO logo. The completeness of the database is roughly as follows:
>
> 1958-1965: No coverage. The era is too complex to cover adequately, and of insufficient interest to justify spending time researching.
>
> 1966-1969: Most regular sets, but excluding brick and service packs.
>
> 1970-2006: 98% of sets, and also many extended product lines.
>
> 2007-date: 99.9% of sets, and most extended product lines sold at shop.LEGO.com.
>
> Although the database contains many non-brick items ('Gear') that are LEGO branded, it does not contain them all: there are too many to keep track of!

# Answer
> 4 votes
The LEGO Collector's guide is very comprehensive and has been made with a lot of collaboration with the LEGO company.

I can't vouch whether it's more complete than brickset (although I'd think so, it's extremely thick), though, and of course you'll have to buy it, but it's a very nice compilation anyway.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Although Bricklink positions itself as a marketplace for trading LEGO items it is usually used as a reference catalog for large number of items. Some of which does not exist anywhere else.

Rebrickable is another website having a good catalog, despite having focus on MOCs and alternate models.

It is best to cross-check several sources when searching for particular set or other LEGO item. My personal preference would be to use two sources mentioned here as well as Brickset suggested in another answer.

---
Tags: sets
---


# Question
Title: Help identifying/finding the part number of this piece? (maybe some kind of jackhammer?)
I found this piece in a box of random Lego although I think it originally came from a set. It does have Lego written on the side but there is no part number. I thought it might be a jackhammer but I haven't been able to find a piece that looks like this on BrickLink or Brick Owl, maybe I was searching for the wrong thing. Does anyone know what it is/it's part number?

# Answer
> 4 votes
This is Part # 2516 : Minifigure, Utensil Tool Chainsaw Body with Handles and Studs

# Answer
> 2 votes
To add to Syberion's notes, it was a part that was rather common in the mid 1980's classic space line, first appearing around the third generation of sets and themes. You don't see it as much post 2000s, but it shows up in other colors on occasion.

---
Tags: part-identification, piece-information
---


title: Monorail Switch Internals

text:
# Question
Title: Monorail Switch Internals
I'm trying to figure out how monorail left and right switches work internally. Tearing one apart risks permanently damaging it so I was hoping to find schematics or images of someone else's teardown. Does anyone have a good picture or description?

Note that I've found a Eurobricks thread with broken links to a Flickr album and a fan written PDF. I was unable to track either down online so perhaps copies of these could help.

# Answer
I have found the linked .doc file by using the Wayback Machine, consider making a donation to their awesome service if this has saved you time and/or money :)

But in order to reduce load on their servers and provide a backup, I have reproduced the contents of the document below:

---

## Anatomy of a Monorail Switch

**Introduction**

This document describes the features and components, both internal and external, of a LEGO monorail switch (or point). Suggestions on how to disassemble and reassemble the switch are also given.

For those few reading this that are unaware of the operational features of a monorail switch, the switch rails (point blades) can be changed both manually, from a slider at the side of the switch, and also semi-automatically, by trip levers set into the running rails of the branches. These trip levers change the switch rails to the correct branch if a train comes down the branch with the switch set against it.

DISCLAIMER: The content of this document is provided “as is” for information only. Neither the author of this document nor the hosting web site will be held responsible for any damage sustained while attempting to follow the content of this document.

***External Features***

The following annotated photos show the key external parts of a monorail switch

General top view of the switch

General bottom view of the switch

***Internal Features***

The following annotated photos show the key internal parts of a monorail switch

Underside view of the track bed

Top view of baseplate

***Sub-parts***

**Track bed**

Part numbers 2880 (right) and 2885 (left)

Part 2880 – Right trackbed external (top) and internal (bottom) view

The left trackbed (part 2885) is a mirror image.

**Baseplate**

Part numbers 2881 (right) and 2886 (left)

Part 2881 – Right baseplate external (top) and internal (bottom) view

The left baseplate (part 2886) is a mirror image.

**Switch rails (point blades)**

Part numbers 2882 (right) and 2887 (left)

Part 2882 – Right switch rails.

The left switch rails (part 2887) are a mirror image.

**Switch**

Part number 2883

**Trip lever**

Part number 2890

Each monorail switch contains two of these parts

**Lever rod**

Part number 2911

Each monorail switch contains two of these parts

**Switch wheel**

Part number 2884

**Spring**

***Operation***

**Set to straight branch**

External view showing position of switch, “unused” switch rail and raised trip lever on the curved branch.

Internal view showing “at rest” position of the internal mechanism

**Set to curved branch**

External view showing position of switch, “unused” switch rail and raised trip lever on the straight branch.

Internal view showing “at rest” position of the internal mechanism

**From straight to curved**

This annotated photograph shows the motion of the internal parts when moving the switch rails from the straight branch to the curved branch. All joints (due to the angles they make), and hence the parts, have a “preferred” direction of travel and these all coincide with the direction they must travel for the mechanism to work smoothly.

**From curved to straight**

When moving the switch rails from the curved branch back to the straight branch, the reverse of the motion shown in the annotated photograph above should happen. However, the joint highlighted has a problem. This joint is very close to a “point of singularity”, that is, where the joint is in such a state that it can move one way or the other without preference. If it moves in the direction of the red arrow, the mechanism will effectively lock the switch rails, if in the direction of the green arrow, the switch rails will change to the correct position. Due to the slight wear on the parts in this particular switch, the joint has actually gone past the point of singularity “in the wrong direction” and its preferred direction is now upwards! (This also explains why you can sometimes get a stuck switch to work by placing on its long straight edge and gently tapping it, as gravity will pull the joint back the correct way.)

***Disassembly Procedure***

It would appear from external inspection that the baseplate can be removed from the track bed by simply turning the switch upside down, releasing the five retaining clips (see underside image above) and prising the baseplate up and out. If you attempt this it will not work (even if you manage to release all five clips at the same time) as the baseplate is also glued to the trackbed at various places.

**Baseplate retaining clips**

Whether the five retaining clips were originally intended to fully hold the baseplate to the track bed or whether they were only intended to hold the two parts together while the glue dried is unclear. Whatever their original purpose all they successfully do while trying to part the baseplate from the trackbed is to get in the way.

Given that it is almost impossible to hold them in the unclipped position while freeing the glued parts and that they are likely to fracture due to stress while freeing the glue, it is easiest to carefully cut the lip from each clip thereby releasing the baseplate from their grasp.

**Glued supports**

With the retaining clips removed it is now necessary to part the glued supports. Using a blunt thin wedge (such as a jewellers screwdriver), carefully insert it between the baseplate and the trackbed at the end of the straight branch and lever the baseplate upwards. Take care not to cause stress marks. If the baseplate won’t lift, don’t force it, try the end of the curved branch, don’t force it, try a different place on the end, try slightly down one side, don’t force it, try the other side, try further down a side, and don’t force it. Eventually the glued joint between the trackbed and the top of the support at the end of a branch will fail and the baseplate will lift sufficiently to get a long bladed craft knife in. Carefully using the craft knife separate the trackbed from the glued supports at the end of each branch and around the area where the frog would be on a standard two-rail switch. Don’t try to cut through the supports with the craft knife, use the blade to apply pressure where the top of the support has been glued to the trackbed – as if you were trying to cut through the glue.

Photo of the removed baseplate, highlighted to indicate the position of the glued supports.

Once sufficient supports have been release it is possible to start removing the trip levers, lever rods, switch wheel and switch. Doing this provides more room to work inside the switch and also reduces the chance of damage to an internal part should the craft knife slip.

The glued long supports by the straight edge of the switch should be attempted last. Take extra care over these as you have to prise the trackbed and baseplate quite a long way apart to reach the knife all the way from the other side and this will cause a large amount of stress on the curved side wall of the trackbed. This is not made any easier by the fact that this is the wall with the three switch rail access slots in it which weaken the wall.

It took me a good hour and a half to fully separate the baseplate from the trackbed.

***Assembly Procedure***

Before re-inserting the internal sub-parts, using a sharp craft knife, carefully de-burr the supports, underside of the trackbed and any place where the blade slipped. Then remove all swarf from the parts, either with a lint free cloth or by blowing.

**Insert parts**

Replace the switch rails (point blades) if you removed them. Turn the trackbed upside down and insert the sub-parts starting with the switch wheel. Make sure that the switch wheel fully engages with both the spring and the switch rails. Insert the trip levers into their slots. Insert the switch onto its runner and connect to the straight branch trip lever. Insert the trip levers into their slots and join the curved branch trip lever to the switch wheel and the straight branch trip lever to the manual switch with the lever rods. Finally replace the baseplate.

**Test operation**

Before re-gluing the baseplate check the operation of the switch. The only real mistake you can make is to use the wrong slot in the switch wheel to engage the switch rails. If you do this the switch rails will not fully travel to the straight position but stop about 3/8ths of an inch short.

**Glue baseplate**

*Important note: Observe all usage instructions and hazard warnings while using liquid glue.*

To complete assembly it is necessary to glue the baseplate back to the trackbed. One option would be to apply a tiny blob of plastic model glue to the top of the supports released during disassembly. However, this runs the risk that the glue will spread where it is not wanted and seize an internal part or that an internal part will be dislocated from its correct position while the baseplate is inserted.

It is therefore preferable to “dry assemble” the switch and use liquid glue (also known as MEK) to secure the baseplate to the trackbed. Check the internal parts one final time (for burrs and swarf) and assemble the switch. Test the operation and then use some temporary means to hold the switch together. I use copper wire, metal paper clips (the big ones with arms that fold over to open them) and modellers G-clamps with soft metal faces (and not elastic bands, sticky tape or masking tape as I’ve managed to glue all of these to the plastic models in my youth!) Once the switch is held temporarily, turn it over and make sure it still works (and doesn’t rattle!), then, when satisfied that all is correct, turn it back over and using sparing amounts of liquid glue (and being aware of where any excess will run) glue the baseplate to the trackbed.

***Thoughts***

**Lubrication**

As all the internal moving parts are plastic there seems little to be gained from attempting to lubricate a “sticking” switch. The “sticking” is most likely to be cause by wear on the bearings/sliders or from foreign matter causing an obstruction. If the former, there is very little that can be done. If the latter, a strong blast of air (from one of those cans of air for cleaning computer keyboards) is probably a better bet as most lubricants (being sticky themselves) will only cause the foreign matter to combine into larger obstructions or aggravate the situation by attracting dust, etc into the internal mechanism. Also, the most obvious places to apply lubrication (in the switch running groove, on the lever rod bearings, on the switch wheel bearing and slot and under the trip levers) are almost impossible to reach without disassembling the switch.

**Design – Brilliant or Flawed?**

On initial inspection the design of the internal mechanism seems brilliant – economy of parts, reuse of parts between left and right switches and simplicity of function. However, I believe that there is a major design flaw in the design that failed to allow for normal wear over the life of the switch. The position of bearing for the lever rod on the switch wheel is very close to a point of singularity. This means that as the bearings wear the mechanism (when activated from the trip lever on the curved branch running rail) can either change the switch rails to straight or lock them in position.

**Do you need to replace everything?**

The only internal parts needed are the switch wheel and spring. With just these two parts the switch rails can be moved from straight to curved to straight by “the big hand” and will lock in position. Adding the manual switch enables the switch rails to be changed from the side and adds the possibility for motorised/pneumatic operation. The curved branch trip mechanism seems to cause the most problems (and was totally jammed on the switch I disassembled that gave rise to this document) and is beginning to fail on a number of other monorail switches I have. I therefore omitted the trip lever and connecting rod when I reassembled my switch. This is not a problem for me as the curved branch of this switch enters a siding, so a train should never be set to run through it when set to the wrong direction.
> 8 votes

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Tags: piece-information, monorail
---


title: Which LEGO AT-RT is this?

text:
# Question
Title: Which LEGO AT-RT is this?
I made a LEGO AT-RT with the help of a video but I can't find it now. It looks like a clone scout walker but green and a bit different in design. I loved that AT-RT. I hope someone can help me find it. The legs look like the legs on the LEGO 75002 Walker:

# Answer
> 3 votes
A quick search found these two video's of AT-RT's in green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0sFAreiaPc

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbc\_k\_GwfRw

this AT-RT is also very nice and greenish (no video)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/legoarts/4917477074/in/photostream/

# Answer
> 2 votes
This may be the clone trooper you are searching for...

# Answer
> 2 votes
Are you thinking of the 20th Anniversary AT-RT? The legs are very similar but the head looks fairly different. It is grey with sand green and tan accents. The set number is 75261.

---
Tags: set-identification, star-wars
---


# Question
Title: Technic Medium Hub - What is the difference between Voltage L and S?
As a computer science with limited Electrical Engineering Knowledge, I wonder what the `VLT L` and `VLT S` modes (and the Current counterparts) in the TechnicMediumHub (Control+ Hub) Voltage device are?

I am in process of writing a .NET library for PoweredUp where I want to present a human readable interpretation of it.

Below the dump of the Port(Mode)Information messages.

```
Port: 60
    IOTypeId: Voltage
    HardwareRevision: 1.0.0.0
    SoftwareRevision: 1.0.0.0
    OutputCapability: True
    InputCapability: False
    LogicalCombinableCapability: True
    LogicalSynchronizableCapability: False
    ModeCombinations: []
    UsedCombinationIndex: 0
    MultiUpdateEnabled: False
    ConfiguredModeDataSetIndex: []
    Mode: 0
      Name: VLT L
      IsInput: True
      IsOutput: False
      RawMin: 0
      RawMax: 4095
      PctMin: 0
      PctMax: 100
      SIMin: 0
      SIMax: 9615
      Symbol: mV
      InputSupportsNull: False
      InputSupportFunctionalMapping20: False
      InputAbsolute: True
      InputRelative: False
      InputDiscrete: False
      OutputSupportsNull: False
      OutputSupportFunctionalMapping20: False
      OutputAbsolute: False
      OutputRelative: False
      OutputDiscrete: False
      NumberOfDatasets: 1
      DatasetType: Int16
      TotalFigures: 4
      Decimals: 0
      DeltaInterval: 0
      NotificationEnabled: False
    Mode: 1
      Name: VLT S
      IsInput: True
      IsOutput: False
      RawMin: 0
      RawMax: 4095
      PctMin: 0
      PctMax: 100
      SIMin: 0
      SIMax: 9615
      Symbol: mV
      InputSupportsNull: False
      InputSupportFunctionalMapping20: False
      InputAbsolute: True
      InputRelative: False
      InputDiscrete: False
      OutputSupportsNull: False
      OutputSupportFunctionalMapping20: False
      OutputAbsolute: False
      OutputRelative: False
      OutputDiscrete: False
      NumberOfDatasets: 1
      DatasetType: Int16
      TotalFigures: 4
      Decimals: 0
      DeltaInterval: 0
      NotificationEnabled: False

```

# Answer
> 2 votes
L and S very probably refer to load and supply voltage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical\_load for details.

Experimentally, I have not observed any significant differences between these values in use (possibly because the source resistance is small).

# Answer
> 1 votes
There doesn't appear to be an obvious difference between these two according to a comment in the bricknil source:

> Voltage Sensor
>
> Returns the raw mV value (0-3893) which probably needs to be scaled to 0-9600.
>
> It contains two capabilities, although they both appear to do the same thing:
>
> * sense\_l
> * sense\_s

They appear to both return the same results in the same way.

There are some low-level ways that these could be different, but I'm not aware of efforts to reverse engineer the firmware and/or boards to that degree, and I'm not aware of documentation that covers this. The official LEGO BLE docs don't go into this level of detail about the voltage sensor.

Here are a couple speculative possibilities:

* It is common for analog to digital converters to have different modes of operation that trade off speed and accuracy. VLT L and VLT S could make use of different sampling modes and/or averaging. For example, ST discusses using averaging to improve their ADC accuracy here for the ST32 chips used in Powered Up parts.
* L and S could represent values at different stages in the power subsystem (e.g. regulated voltage vs battery voltage).
* These could be reserved for use in devices with multiple monitored cells. SPIKE Prime and Mindstorms both use 2 lithium cells in series. These cells are monitored individually, and it could be useful to access their values separately. This doesn't necessarily apply to Control+, but parts of the firmware are likely shared across devices.

I wish I had a better answer for you, but that's the best I could find from digging around. I hope that someone here knows more about this than I do. I'll certainly update this answer if I figure out anything more about this.

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Tags: powered-up
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# Question
Title: EV3 Ultrasonic Sensor block is not availible in the Home Edition software
I can't find the ultrasonic sensor block on the programming app on my computer. I am using the Lego Mindstorms EV3 Home Edition.

# Answer
> 6 votes
You can download the Ultrasonic sensor block (and Gyro sensor too) from the official MINDSTORMS website.

Look for "Ultrasonic Sensor Block" near the bottom of the downloads page.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Lego changed their website for LEGO MINDSTORMS, so you can download all needed stuff for EV3 or NXT from here: https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/mindstorms/downloads

---
Tags: ev3, mindstorms, ev3-g
---


# Question
Title: What is meant by the statement about "minifig replicas" in the 2020/2 catalogue?
The German Lego catalogue for the second half of 2020 contains several instances of a confusing statement on page 125:

> Jedes Set enthält die detailgetreue Nachbildung einer original LEGO Star Wars Minifigur.

In English:

> Each set contains the detailed replica of an original LEGO Star Wars minifigure.

This statement (that appears twice on the same page, once related to a minifigure of Leia Organa, once related to one of Luke Skywalker) leaves me utterly confused:

* What is special about these figures?
* Don't all the sets contain LEGO Star Wars minifigures?
* Aren't all of them "original" (because they're produced by LEGO for the Star Wars product line)?
* Then why are these figures "replicas"? What's the difference between a minifigure and a replica of a minifigure if both are (presumably) produced in the same factory, using the same moulds?

**What is that statement supposed to mean?**

# Answer
> 8 votes
These 2 sets 75243 & 75258 are 2 of the 20 years anniversary sets.

LEGO included in each of these sets an additional minifig on a stand based on the minifigs released during the first years. These initial star wars figures still had the yellow heads before they moved to flesh colored heads. So they have recreated / replicated these original minifigs.

The original (2000) minifig: princess-leia

The new replica (2020): princess-leia-(20th-anniversary-torso)

For comparison, a modern (2019) version of the same character: princess-leia-(white-dress-detailed-belt-crooked-smile)

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Tags: star-wars, marketing
---


title: Please help identify the LEGO set

text:
# Question
Title: Please help identify the LEGO set
Got the picture of the main fuselage with 3 troopers.

# Answer
That's ARC-170 Starfighter (7259)
> 4 votes

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Tags: set-identification
---


# Question
Title: Miniature Lepin box door stuck inside box itself
Yes, maybe the title may be confusing, but this image says it all:

I got a Lepin city set not too long ago, and it included this box. I have no idea how this happened but during use the door mysteriously got stuck inside the box. I'm not really surprised since the set came with an excessively loose head, but I need to get this door out of the box.

Part seperators are too big and bulky to fo the job, so that's not an option. I don't have any minifig crowbars either, and using my fingernails hurts and aren't strong enough. Alternatively I use that golden sword in the picture to grip the handle and attempt to pull out the door but the space available to move the door is very limited, and it gets too tight. Thus when I keep pulling the sword starts to bend, and eventually it loses grip and drops the door. I tried this method countless times and have had no luck.

What can I do? How can I get the door out of the box? (obviously it shouldn't require damaging parts)

# Answer
Finally, I did it. I wasted two days waiting for answers when the solution is actually very simple.

I just lifted the box cover with my fingertips just *a tiny bit*, so that there was enough space to stick something thin between the box cover and the box itself. I did not lift as much as possible because:

* My fingers would slip and drop the box lid again, because the remaining space to lift it all the way out would be too tight
* I need enough space to stick something thin in between.

Then I got a thin-blade knife, as zovits recommended, and pulled it down like a lever, making the other end go up and force the cover out. Easy!
> 2 votes

---
Tags: clone-brands, repair, disassembly
---


# Question
Title: What does coming soon mean on the LEGO store website?
I'm hoping people who are more familiar with ordering from the LEGO website can help me with trying to pre-order some items.

LEGO has announced a range of Super Mario sets with a lot of fanfare - YouTube Videos, advertisements, etc. The full range of planned products can be seen on their website: Lego Store Website (en-de)

However, with the exception of the Starter Course which is shown to be shipping on 1st August, the rest are announced as 'Coming Soon', and clicking through on individual items shows 'Coming Soon on 1 August 2020' (for example here).

I'm not certain how to interpret that - does that mean that sets are scheduled to be released on 1st August, or that they will become available for pre-order on that date?

# Answer
> 5 votes
"Coming Soon on 1 August 2020" generally means the time when "Add to basket" button becomes available (usually at midnight) so you can actually buy the set. This means you cannot really pre-order it in advance, unless there is some sort of VIP promotion (this is announced in advance), which works for some releases and allow sets to be purchased a day, week or two in advance.

If set is in high demand on release day it can quickly can be marked as "on back-order". That is your order is accepted, but shipping is delayed.

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Tags: lego-store
---


# Question
Title: Can you program Lego Mindstorms with the Scratch programming language?
My child is learning programming using Scratch in school. Can she program her Mindstorms using Scratch?

# Answer
> 9 votes
If you wish to program the EV3 with Scratch, then check out this project on github:

https://github.com/koen-dejonghe/ev3-scratch-helper-app

This software is a so-called helper app, that interfaces between the Scratch 2.0 offline editor and the Lego Mindstorms EV3.

The EV3 must be booted from Lejos (http://sourceforge.net/p/lejos/wiki/Home/), requires a wifi dongle and wireless setup.

The helper app will find the EV3 brick on the wireless network, and will execute commands invoked in Scratch as RMI requests on the EV3. The helper app also reports the status of the motors and sensors back to Scratch.

Below is an example program in Scratch, that allows you to control the robot with the arrow keys (after having pressed 'g'), or (after having clicked on the 'start' sprite) let the robot walk around until it meets an object that is too close, at which point it will make a left turn.

The robot itself should look something like this :

Have fun, and let me know what you think.

# Answer
> 8 votes
No, but you can use a very similar programming language: Enchanting. (I haven't tried it yet. It was recommended by the programming instructor).

# Answer
> 5 votes
Mitch Resnick at the MIT Media Lab is the developer of both Scratch and the original Mindstorms programmable brick, and the original Mindstorms programming interface was very similar to Scratch. If you have one of the original Mindstorms Robotics Invention System sets (and a PC of the proper vintage on which to run the software) she would probably find it similar enough to use without much trouble. (I recently rejuvenated my old Mindstorms sets with a $30 laptop bought online)

# Answer
> 1 votes
Scratch for LEGO Mindstorms EV3

One way is to use the open-source online programming environment Open Roberta Lab: http://lab.open-roberta.org there is also a wiki included for detailed information. Or just google Open Roberta at wikipedia.

Everything is for free.

# Answer
> 1 votes
On macOS, it is officialy supported, with the « New LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Home pre-release software for macOS ». I guess that will soon be the case on windows

# Answer
> 0 votes
Open Roberta wiki: https://wiki.open-roberta.org

Open Roberta Community: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/open-roberta

Best Thorsten

# Answer
> 0 votes
You can control an EV3 brick as it is (no added firmware) via bluetooth with Snap. This open source Snap extension can be find at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BycKtjGwKylicndOeXNkcXVlVG8

It allows you to control all the sensors in the LEGO box, the motors and the vehicle (if you need one). The documentation (and the blocks) is mostly in french :-(

All you need to make it work is Windows (7 or higher), Chrome and bluetooth (on your computer, the EV3 already has bluetooth).

# Answer
> 0 votes
Maybe also interesting for scratch users - we made a comparison between our language, called NEPO (wich is quite simular to scratch) and LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Software (EV3-G): http://roberta-home.de/en/comparisson-between-open-roberta-and-lego-mindstorms-ev3-software

---
Tags: mindstorms, programming, scratch
---


# Question
Title: Which official LEGO stores have the largest selection of bricks in their PAB wall?
Official LEGO stores offer the opportunity to fill a cup (small or large) with LEGO elements from a wall with shelves, usually near the back at the store. These are called PAB walls (Pick A Brick)

This is often one of the cheapest ways to purchase LEGO elements.

However, the size of the wall and hence the size of the selection, differs from store to store.

I was wondering, which stores have the largest wall ? In Europe I think it is the one at Disneyland Paris, but I could be mistaken. I'm also interested in other countries/continents...

# Answer
I cannot seem to find the official press release for Berlin flagship store re-opening in 2017, however various sources<sup>, </sup> state at that time it had the **Europe’s largest** ”Pick & Build“ wall. Latest news I could find related to this particular shop wall is couple of months old (in German). There's a picture representing all parts available for PAB with 144 parts/bins.

I've also found following picture on Imgur via Reddit post, showing the size of PAB wall
> 6 votes

---
Tags: shopping, pick-a-brick
---


# Question
Title: Please help identify the LEGO set from this picture
Got it from a bulk lot but lost pieces.

# Answer
> 0 votes
This specific set looks like it is from the "Lego Clone Wars Republic Gunship" set, due to the 3 cylinder like pieces.

# Answer
> 5 votes
This is part of Republic Gunship (7163)

Identified by Dark Red \[BL\] Cylinder Half 2 x 4 x 4, which is unique to this set.

---
Tags: set-identification
---


# Question
Title: How can I make controller ports round for my "Lego Gamecube"
Found my wife's old 2001 "Nintendo Gamecube" and then it sparked an idea. Once I was done it looked very nice but I still feel there is something missing! How can I make round controller ports?

# Answer
Perhaps something like this using 1x4 arches could work?

This does work out to being 2 modules too wide for 1:1 scale with a GameCube, but the trade-off in accuracy may be worth it to you to get the round ports. It appears to be only 1 module wider than your current design.

Here's more detail of the build steps:

## Step 1

## Step 2

## Step 3

## Step 4

## Step 5

## Final Build
> 11 votes

---
Tags: building, design, stickers
---


title: Help identify playing cards

text:
# Question
Title: Help identify playing cards
I'd like to design a poker scene similar to this one:

I've been able to find some individual cards such as the joker. However, I can't find the full 'hand' piece in the bottom right. Is that a real LEGO?

# Answer
> 15 votes
These are all the playing card tiles I can find:

3069bpb264 : Tile 1 x 2 with Groove with Playing Cards Four Aces Pattern

3069bpx6 : Tile 1 x 2 with Groove with Playing Cards Full House Pattern

3069bpb337: Tile 1 X 2 with Groove with Playing Card Ace of Spades Pattern

3069bpb338 : Tile 1 X 2 with Groove with Playing Card Joker Pattern

Those last two part numbers are individual cards, both of which came from a Jester minifigure from one of the collectible minifigs series.

Also, those coins you see in the middle of the table are from part 70501c01 and 97053.

---
Tags: part-identification
---


# Question
Title: Duplo Locomotive: What is this inner part used for?
**Background**

I was forced to completely disassemble a duplo locomotive. My son played with it in a sand box and, guess what, it was not working anymore. I used a small brush to clean every single part (mainly axis and gears). I eventually managed to get rid of all the sand. Then I reassembled the locomotive.

**Questions**

I ended up with 2 small parts I could not figure out where to put them, neither what they are used for. Everything seem to work without these 2 parts - my son is happy again. These are curved parts, with a spring attached to it. They are on left part of this picture:

So what are these 2 parts used for, and where should I put them ?

# Answer
Skip on over to *YouTube* and watch this guy fix one of his toddler's jammed up trains.

Comparing your picture to his video, we can see the general area where the "hip springs" should be, but from my vantage point I can't tell if the pieces snap in somehow, or if they were broken off during disassembly. That's where you'll have to step in to make that assessment.

What are they used for?...

Hmmm... I don't know exactly, but after watching the video we know that the motor sorta floats top heavy, and maybe the "hip springs" help cushion any knocking due to the forward motion at start up. Should they be called "Thrust dampeners" instead? I just don't know.  Do you need 'em?...

Depends on individual temperament. How annoying would it be to get back in there?
> 5 votes

# Answer
They are protective locks. If something (let’s say kids hair, or part of their clothes) gets stuck and dragged inside the wheel, these tiny blocks will lock the wheels and make sure it doesn’t keep dragging whatever is stuck. As soon as you pull the stuck part back, the springs unlock.
> 7 votes

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Tags: part-identification, trains, duplo, electronics
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# Question
Title: Identify which set this bag of trunk and leaf pieces belongs to
Please help me identify which set this belongs to! Looks like pieces to a tree maybe? Inside the big bag there is a mini bag with some flame pieces and more green and brown pieces. The front of the bag says "2", 2011, and "135149".

# Answer
> 5 votes
This is bag # 2 of Set # 4209-1: Fire Plane

Based on the Trans-Orange Wave Rounded with Base Rim (Castle Dragon Flame, Seaweed, Water)

and the Green Wedge, Plate 3 x 6 Cut Corners

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Please help identify the LEGO set from picture
Got this from a bulk partly assembled.

# Answer
> 7 votes
It is Darth Vader Transformation (7251)

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Tags: set-identification, star-wars
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# Question
Title: Please help identify LEGO from this picture of the base
Difficult to find which set this piece belongs to.

Could anyone give me more information?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Baseplate, Raised 32 x 32 Three Level with Ogel Center Pattern

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Help identifying black slope piece with printed knobs, dials, and gauges
Can anyone please help with identifying the Design ID as well as the Element ID for this piece. It is a legitimate LEGO piece as can be seen by the name on the studs. However there is no information stamped inside like other pieces. Please help, Google search’s sometimes find the piece but no ID numbers that match with LEGO.

# Answer
Just got off the phone with LEGO. The official answer to this missing piece is as follows: Design ID#: 80405 Element ID#: 4251812

The official name, according to LEGO, is: Roof Tile 2x2/45deg, Control Panel

This information was confirmed by set number 10151 and a photo of the piece(same photo posted here).

While I cannot say you will find this piece with the above information, I can say with certainty that it comes directly from LEGO themselves.

Hope this helps others and thank you for the assistance.
> 7 votes

# Answer
This is Slope 45° 2 x 2 with 3 Gauges and 3 Knobs

Note that this part was last used in a set in 2004, so it may not have a known element ID. The instructions for that set do not include a part list with element IDs, and the replacement parts listing on LEGO.com for that set does not include this element.
> 5 votes

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Tags: part-identification, piece-information
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