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I’m sure MIBO is old news to many folks since this amazing robot dog was
introduced by Jin Sato at least 5 years ago, but I figured I’d share my
experiences with building MIBO for those folks who aren’t familiar with MIBO or
are still interested. With the fact that MIBO is featured prominently in the
latest Shop-At-Home catalog, I wouldn’t be surprised if some parents come
browsing through LUGNET looking for info, too.
First off, I built MIBO from the instructions in Jin Sato’s book:
Jin Sato’s LEGO® Mindstorms™: The Master’s Technique
Available here (as well as from various bookstores):
http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=B565
Here’s MIBO on my kitchen table:
Gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/durbano/MIBO
I first built MIBO two years ago and built him again recently to relive the fun.
Getting the parts for MIBO wasn’t as straightforward as getting the
instructions. I started with the parts list included in the book and then had
to figure out what parts I had already and what I needed to acquire. Since the
vast majority of the parts I own are all from complete LEGO sets, the
Peeron set inventories where an invaluable tool in
figuring out what parts I already had. Peeron also helped me figure out if any
sets were available which had some of the additional parts I needed. In the end
I was able to get all the parts I needed from sets I had, buying additional
sets, and buying parts from Pitsco-LEGOdacta (now LEGO Education). I didn’t need to use Bricklink for
anything, although in retrospect I may have been able to save some effort/money
had I taken better advantage of that great parts resource.
While I already had an RIS 1.5 (really RIS 1.0 + 1.5 upgrade kit) I knew early
on that it made most sense to buy a second RIS to give me both the second RCX
and many of the additional Technic parts and bricks I would need. By that time
RIS 2.0 was out so I was also getting an upgrade out of it (although I obviously
could have bought the RIS 2.0 upgrade kit for much less money). While owning
two RIS sets get you a good way towards building MIBO, that is still not enough
to get you even close to having all of the parts you’d need.
In one sense, you can look at MIBO as an example of a great “Black-Beam Technic
Model” in the vein of many great LEGO Technic sets from back in the “studded
Technic” days. In other words, sets where the majority of pieces are black
studded technic beams. Of course some would argue the King of all sets in this
vein is the 8880 Super Car. Lucky for me I had an 8880. That was the set that
donated the most pieces to my MIBO project. Unfortunately for folks trying to
assemble the pieces for MIBO today, you can’t get 8880 from LEGO anymore and
you’ll have to pay premium for it on Ebay or Bricklink. A more general problem
is that LEGO doesn’t make many Technic sets with studded beams/bricks anymore.
Ironically, you have to look in other themes to get those parts these days.
In addition to 8880, the 8479 Barcode Multi-Set was also a primary parts source.
Another key set was 3801, the Mindstorms Ultimate Accessory Set, which I didn’t
already own and had to buy. This gives you the Mindstorms Remote Control, a
necessity for using Jin Sato’s MIBO RCX programs provided in his book, as well
as one of the five rotation sensors you’ll need. (Note for train-heads, you
also get the equivalent of a train-light kit, a plus for me!)
In addition to these sets I used various pieces from 7181, 3451, 8414, 9754,
8462, 8448, 8839, 8457, 8480, 8002, and 8001. Of course many of these sets
aren’t available today, but this list at least gives you an idea of how many
different sets you could expect to need to pull parts from to get everything you
need. Of course for some of these sets where I only used a few pieces, I could
have instead bought the individual pieces from Bricklink, but in my case I
already owned these sets and I was trying to keep the cost down.
Even with owning all of these sets, I still had to buy parts from LEGO Dacta to
finish MIBO. Key parts that you don’t often come across are the many Technic
Turntables MIBO uses, the Rotation Sensors (expensive!), the Micromotor (rare
for me was the top piece that wasn’t in 8480) and the Wedge Belt Wheel Tires.
Luckily all of these things were available from Pitsco-LEGOdacta.
While it is possible to use alternate part substitutions for some parts of MIBO,
in the end I matched every part type exactly with the exception of the ribbed
hose used for his tail (I used three pieces, instead of one part). I did take
advantage of some part color alternatives but was careful to stick close to the
picture on the front of the book and be consistent in my color choices. The
fact that the instructions are in black-and-white plus the lack of colors
specified in the parts list shows that the point in building MIBO isn’t much
about getting the colors perfect.
Was it all worth it? Definitely! MIBO is a great build and also a great piece
of Technic engineering! Jin Sato truly is a Master and you can learn a lot of
great building techniques from this model. Although I should warn, when you
finally get everything built and programmed, don’t expect MIBO to run wildly
across the room like a puppy. His animation is a bit deliberate (read: slow)
when he walks and sits, but if you appreciate the engineering challenges Jin
Sato had to meet, you’ll still feel a sense of awe as MIBO obeys the commands
from the remote control. Plus, with Jin Sato’s use of individual rotation
sensors at critical joints, there’s possibility for a great array of new tricks
you can teach MIBO beyond the basic sit and walk in the programs provided. All
in all, if you can afford the parts and are willing to spend the time finding
the right pieces, I found building MIBO to be a great experience and well worth
the effort.
Hope folks find this useful.
-Paul D’Urbano
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Pics, if you are interested, of my robot JACK
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| If you are interested, I finally figured out my mistake in uploading to brickshelf.com. The pics were taken with a webcam, so the quality of the pictures is nothing to brag about. Anyway, the link is: (URL) you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage (...) (20 years ago, 20-Sep-04, to lugnet.robotics)
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