Subject:
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RE: LEGO Purism
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Thu, 8 Aug 2002 21:25:39 GMT
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Original-From:
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Rob Limbaugh <RLIMBAUGH@GREENFIELDGROUPavoidspam.COM>
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Viewed:
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651 times
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This reminded of the scene in Apollo 13 where a guy at NASA dumps a bunch of
stuff on a desk surrounded by people and tells them "make this fit into this"
(he held up two different shape CO2 filters) using only what they had onboard
the craft.
Sometimes, it just doesn't matter what you *could* have.
- Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: The Gaff [mailto:the_gaff@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 3:40 PM
To: lego-robotics@crynwr.com
Subject: Re: LEGO Purism
> Why is everything Lego makes "pure"?
Because my chosen hobby is *LEGO* robotics, a distinct subset of robotics as
a whole. I am fully aware of the advantages of "opening my mind" to using
non-LEGO elements; I just don't want to. I understand that you feel
differently, but that doesn't make me wrong.
In my sick and twisted mind, it is desirable to work within the constraints
of a known system. There is a very finite amount of Mindstorms and Technic
stuff that LEGO makes, and it is within my ability to keep up with it all.
When LEGO introduces a new sensor, actuator, or Technic element, I can find
out, buy some, and incorporate them into my designs right away. I can build
with confidence that I have at my disposal the full spectrum of parts
available and make the best choices for my project. This lets me build
happily without obsessing about better ways to do it.
If I accepted non-LEGO solutions, I would never be satisfied with my
creations. I would know that there were infinite potential solutions to my
problems, and I would never get anything done because I would spend all of
my time trying to suss out the "perfect" solution. It would bother me
horribly to know that there was better hardware available than what I was
using - and there always would be. Serious robotics is a very, very
expensive hobby. (I am experiencing these exact problems with my car MP3
player project at present, by the way.)
I know - I have personality problems... but that's another topic.
> Why not embrace anything and everything which might move the state of the
> art forward?
Because I cannot afford it. If I was going to play with non-LEGO robotics,
there would be accelerometers, gyros, laser ranging, high-speed RF
communication, stereoscopic image processing, shape memory alloys, stepper
motors, servos, solenoids... to say nothing of all the tools I'd need to
machine parts and make them work nicely together. LEGO is plenty expensive
enough on its own.
Issac.
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