February 26, 2007: Lego Auto Factory

A German school project: a huge tabletop factory, built all of Lego and run by several Mindstorms controllers. It actually assembles little Lego cars, a piece at a time, in the colors you choose. The YouTube video is poorly shot, has very low sound, and is sort of tedious as it follows the construction of a single car . . . and worth watching anyway because what it documents is so massively cool.

Some of the viewer commentary is also amusing, if you enjoy seeing just how badly some poor mundanes can miss the point. Though there were fun comments too, including one inviting us to think of all the poor little Lego people that this would put out of work.

And the capper: Among the brilliant middle-school-level (I think) Lego engineers, there was an artist with a sense of humor. Because at the end, the assembled car rolls down a ramp . . . and OFF THE TABLE. From creation to destruction, crash! I loved it.
-- Steve Jackson

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