- Lego Sort & Store
- Lego Sorter Machine Learning
- Lego Brick Sorter
- Automatic Lego Sorter
- Lego Sorter Diy Machine Learning
At least that’s what Paco Garcia found out when making his LEGO Sorter. This can become a huge job if you do it by hand, so he built a Lego sorting machine to do the job for him. We welcome our new LEGO-sorting overlord. Man Buys Two Metric Tons of LEGO Bricks; Sorts Them Via Machine Learning. BY Chris Higgins. May 21, 2017. As the machine continues running, it can. Lego Sort and Store. 4.0 out of 5 stars 154. More Buying Choices $65.00 (7 used & new offers) Ages: 4 - 10 years. Amazon's Choice for lego sorter.
![Machine Machine](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133282946/942370862.jpg)
As your LEGO collection grows, you will ultimately face the question: what is the best way to sort LEGO?
There is not one answer to the question of sorting LEGO, but there are ways that work better than others according to the size of your collection and your building style. For LEGO storage solutions head over here, or continue reading below for LEGO sorting methods you might consider:
➡SORT LEGO BY SET: using this method you would keep all the LEGO parts together that belongs to a set you may have purchased at a retail store or online.
PROS: the benefit of this LEGO sorting method is that you could easily rebuild the original set. Also, if you intend to resell the set, it is best to keep it together.
CONS: the downside of this method is that if you are building your own creations it becomes very difficult to remember which set a needed part is in. Also when you disassemble your creation you would have to go through each LEGO set inventory to replace the parts to the correct LEGO set.
SUMMARY: this is an excellent LEGO sorting method for collectors who don’t really “play” with their LEGO, or for fans who only build with LEGO according to set instructions. However it is not very practical for creative building.
But even as a free-style LEGO builder you may keep some of your sets together for some special reasons. For example; I collect the small LEGO Creator sets. I do not mix these into my regular LEGO storage system, but keep them in their original boxes.
If you are more of a collector-minded person you might prefer this LEGO sorting method because of concerns about loosing pieces if they are all mixed together. However if you have a nice sorting & storing system you shouldn’t have to worry about loosing pieces. And if you like, you can always keep the original instructions and rebuild it from your sorted and stored LEGO.
➡SORT LEGO BY COLOR: if you use this LEGO sorting method you would keep all parts together that are the same color in the same storage box, tub or drawer.
![Sorter Sorter](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133282946/856202142.jpg)
PROS: you can very easily build an all-red monster! ?
CONS: although you can find colors easily, you may not remember what parts you have in that color. Especially smaller pieces become difficult to find in a large box of various shape and size parts of the same color. And sometimes you just need a particular piece, and it doesn’t matter what color it is. But which box is it in?
SUMMARY: this is the preferred LEGO sorting method for sculpture and mosaic builders, who use very few different types of LEGO elements in their creations, but color is most important to them. However if you have a mixed-style of building it might not be the best choice for you.
➡SORT LEGO BY TYPE: using this LEGO sorting method you would separate your LEGO parts by type. Bricks go here, plates here, tiles over here… roof pieces in this drawer, minifigs in that compartment, etc.
PROS: are you looking for a window? You know exactly which drawer or box to look for it! You need that special little part with the clip? Right there! Hoover steamvac ultra model f5884-900 manual.
CONS: if you are building that same red monster, you would need to pull out several drawers or boxes to find all the parts you need in red.
SUMMARY: this is the preferred LEGO sorting method of organization for mixed-style builders. It is very easy to find parts for your creation. It is also very easy to clean-up afterward, especially if you are using a multi-drawer storage system.
➡SORT LEGO BY COLOR & TYPE: using this system to sort LEGO you would separate your LEGO pieces by both type and color. Those 2×2 bricks that you separated by color in the “color method”, and had all together in the “type method”, will now be separated by both type and color. So, red 2×2 bricks go over here, and blue 2×2 bricks go over there.
PROS: this is the method used by LEGO fans with a huge collection of parts. Basically they may follow either the type or the color method, and when their storage box or drawer overflows, they split the parts into smaller, more manageable chunks.
CONS: this system can be overkill for LEGO fans that have a smaller collection. You would end up with lots of little drawers with just a few parts in them.
Lego Sort & Store
SUMMARY: this method is not something to start out with, but it can be a natural progression from the type or color method as your collection grows.
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Keeping your LEGO organized lets you focus on building rather than searching. If you use one of these LEGO sorting systems coupled with a good storage solution from the beginning of your LEGO hobby, you will save yourself a lot of “Where did I put that piece?” kind of headache.
If you start a system later, when you already have a sizeable LEGO collection, it may take a weekend to sort them all out, but it is totally worth it! So go for it! You will be very pleased with yourself! ?
You may also check out these posts for further ideas:
I teach an introductory course using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set. My students are 7th graders who are required to take the course and may not necessarily have any background in programming/building. My school is on a trimester schedule so the course runs for thirteen weeks at a time. For this particular trimester I have one class of thirty-two students and one class of thirty-four students. I meet each class for one 50-minute period each day, five days a week. I have thirty-four computers in my classroom and one EV3 kit for every two students. I’ve been teaching this class in its current form for two years, though I’ve been teaching Robotics for eight all together.
Object-oriented programming pdf. As a teacher I often waver between two approaches to unit challenges: 1) to narrowly define the scope of the challenge, so all students work on very similar projects and 2) to leave a challenge wide open so that students get to choose how they want to approach it. The first method allows me to more easily teach and assess specific concepts and the final project usually contains my desired outcomes. As a drawback, when students are given a narrowly defined challenge, there’s little free choice and therefore not a lot of buy-in. The second method increases student buy-in by allowing them free choice. It makes my job as a teacher harder because often times great projects will stray away from the main concept I want them to use; but of course I am loathe to shut down anything I see students engaged in, proud of, and working hard on.
Sometimes I find that sweet spot that combines the two approaches. That is how my sensor unit morphed into the Candy Sorter Challenge.
For this challenge I would start out with some basic information about sensors and a simple obstacle course challenge on my classroom tables.
You can see this team almost made it. This challenge has them use the ultrasonic sensor to sense the cup, the color sensor to stop on the green line at the end and also to sense the black lines and edge of table in reflective mode, and the gyro sensor to try to make 90 degree turns.
This next video illustrates my favorite mantra when working with sensors: Do Something, Sense Something, Do Something Else. Students often forget the last part when using sensors.
Lego Sorter Machine Learning
This next team made a common mistake. Either they turned because they used greater than their threshold instead of less than the reflective light of the white table or they told the wrong motors to move given what ports their motors were plugged into.
Some students like to add flair, like this group here that played a little music as their robot moved along:
After each group has completed the obstacle course, I used to provide this challenge: Build and program a robot that uses its sensors to accomplish a specific task. A pretty open ended challenge that allows for a lot of interpretation and a variety of projects. From my motivated students I received some really cool projects like these:
And while the above project copied a build supplied by LEGO Education, they at least designed the challenge themselves and solved it. I love how they use the touch sensor to tell the robot when to sense the color, thus negating poor readings by not having the color sensor in the right place.
I did however get a few projects that really didn’t go that extra step that I’ve come to expect or at least hope for from most of my students. While these projects weren’t bad, and some required some difficult work in programming, building, or set-up, they didn’t really get at the heart of using sensors at the level I was hoping for. Two examples below:
The two examples above show a robot that uses an ultrasonic sensor to detect objects and then picks them up, and the bottom one only uses the color sensor to determine what position the arm is in based on the location of that white beam that is sticking up. Neither of these rose to the level of complexity that I was hoping for, but they both were passable given the open-ended way I phrased my challenge.
So again I was stuck with how to leave the challenge open-ended, make it interesting to get buy-in, but also make sure the students use the sensors at some level of sophistication. Part of the problem is in defining what I mean by “use the sensors at some level of sophistication.” And I’ll admit to you that sometimes I’m not sure what I mean by that because life is life and nothing is ever as planned out or fully realized as I would like it to be the first time around. So upon reflection what I was really looking for was for the use of a switch and multiple actions by a robot based upon multiple conditions read by a sensor.
And the way I found to do this was to have my students build color candy sorting machines. Give a 13 year old a bag of colored gumballs and you’ve got them hooked! I had seen these machines on youtube before, but had never done the challenge in my class. But when I tried it, it was like magic. Each group of students came up with their own method of sorting, so I was able to see multiple solutions for the same challenge, which is one of my goals. I did have some students that altered the challenge to separate the “warm” and “cool” colors – red, yellow, orange, versus green, blue. While this didn’t require multiple conditions, I gave full credit the first time a group came up with this.
Before I show you some examples here’s some technical notes on this challenge.
- I use large gum balls, which I buy from a local store. There’s many different colored candy you can use, but these seem to do the job. They’re distinct colors, and can be conveyed easily by LEGO technic pieces.
- I hand out the gum balls in a plastic bag. Each group gets two of each color and no replacements. This stops them from eating any (usually).
- I pair two teams together for this challenge (4 students total). I find that they need more motors and some use two bricks with bluetooth communication between them.
- For grading I give full marks (A) to any team that successfully sorts five colors consistently. I give a B for students that only get a few colors, or use reflective light to sort into two categories only, or build a machine that is not consistently accurate. I give a C for a good idea that is not executed well, and Incomplete for students who don’t try or turn in junk, which rarely happens.
- Here is a slide show I use with my students. It exposes them to the project, has them examine some existing candy sorters, teaches them how to use the color sensor and how to program switches. It doesn’t provide them with full solutions, but does provide a good starting point.
This first video shows a static drop, with a moving sorter. The sorter uses a rack and pinion to move it. On the bottom of the sorter they placed four castor wheels to add some smooth movement.
I had them test different parts of this machine as they were building it.
This next one uses 3 motors operating gates (and a fourth option if all motors remain open) to separate four colors.
Another approach used by a team was a sort of vehicle that moved back and forth.
Finally this next team really knocked it out of the park, building a well oiled machine with two conveyor belts that smoothly moved the gum balls into separate containers.
And next are two of the sorters that sorted the warm and cool colors:
I had the students make their own videos about these projects and I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
To summarize, the candy sorter machines gave me almost universal buy-in with my students. They allowed for multiple solutions for one problem and required reading a sensor in multiple conditions and using a switch to program the robot to respond to those conditions. If you try this with your class, please provide links to videos, I’d love to see what your students come up with.
As always I welcome comments, questions, and critiques.
Lego Brick Sorter
Resources
- Using Switches to program a Candy Sorter (PPTX, 3MB)
Also in A Week in the Life
Automatic Lego Sorter
Ian Chow-Miller covers the highs and lows of his introductory robotics class for 7th graders.
- A Week in the Life #10: Candy Sorter
I began coaching FIRST LEGO League in the South Bronx with 2004's Mission to Mars and taught my first Robotics' course a year later with RCX and Robolab. More than a decade later I have moved 3,000 miles to WA State and I still coach FLL and teach Robotics (EV3 and iPads now). Somewhere along they way FTC was given to me to coach as well as girls' Soccer and I couldn't be happier, though free time is a luxury. I love Robotics' because there is no 'right' answer and I learn something new every day. I have a beautiful wife and two lovely boys who are master builders of LEGO (though they may not officially be recognized as such).
- Using Video to Assess Robotics Students - 21 November 2018
- A Week in the Life #12: Dr. E’s Challenges – Robot Monsters! - 9 February 2017
- A Week in the Life #11: Sumobot to Battlebot - 28 June 2016