Hacienda Robotics

Construction Lesson: Parts

There are literally thousands of different LEGO parts, ranging from simple, general-purpose building blocks to specialized pieces intended for a specific purpose. For building robots you will see many different kinds of general-purpose bricks along with some very specialized ones. The set of bricks useful for building robots can be divided into the following groups:

Bricks
Plates
Beams
Pegs
Connectors
Axles
Bushings, pulleys and wheels
Gears

There are several specialized parts from the Mindtorms kits that are not included here. These include the RCX, motors and sensors.

Beams

Standard beams come in several different lengths with the smallest being the 1x2 beam. There is a beam with an even number of studs from 2 to 16.
	1x2
	1x2 with axle hole
	1x4
	1x6
	1x8
Half hole beams are so-called because, unlike standard beams, the holes are aligned with the studs instead of between them. There are two kinds of half hole beams. These are useful when you need to fine tune the spacing between gears.
	1x1, half hole
	1x2, half hole
Lift arms are similar to standard beams but they don't have any studs. They are available in many different sizes and shapes. Some are as wide as a beam while others are half as wide.
	1x3 straight, full width. Sizes of lift arms in this category include 1x3, 1x5, 1x9 and 1x15.
	1x3, half width. The half width lift arms are only available in straight configurations and come in lengths 1x2 through 1x7. The 1x2 through 1x4 lift arms contain axle holes on either ends whiles the longer lift arms contain only peg holes.
	1x5, half width.
	2x4, L-shaped
	1x7, bent (also available in 1x9 length)
	1x11.5, double bent

Activity

Build the coat hanger daredevil from "LEGO Crazy Action Contraptions"
Identify the parts used to build the coat hanger daredevil.