Lego MER rover

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 3:55 am

Anyone a Lego fan and a MER fan? Today, my girlfriend Emma took me to a KMart and bought a Lego International Space station, and a Lego Mars Exploration Rover.

The ISS was a good bit of practice for the main event. This because the MER took 4 hours to assemble with me finding parts, and Emma doing the assembly work.

This is a great toy!!

MER is around 15 inches across, nearly a foot hight, and despite having rubber wheels, is a very accurate representation of the MER rovers. It's a project to those aged 10 and over - so we felt reasonably confident getting it...

It has some fantastic features too: The thing folds up using actual Lego shock absorbers, the hi-gain antenna moves around, the steering is controllable and the robotic arm extends - all via turning of little knobs.

MER was $99.95 here in New Zealand, so I'm guessing it's probably $50-60 in the USA.

http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=7471

The images don't do it justice though - it has hundreds and hundreds of parts! Well worth the time and money in my view!

P.S. in New Zealand, the plural of "Lego" is "Lego". I find it very odd to hear and read the word "Legos". It just sounds weird damn it!

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 6:30 am

Mobman, letting the inner child loose?

Flatlander · Post by **Flatlander** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 7:19 am

Ooooo, they have the Wright Flyer, a Sopwith Camel and Fokker Triplane - neat!

Darkside Heartless · Post by **Darkside Heartless** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:00 pm

4 hours, it took 2 people 4 hours to make it. I built the K'nex roller coaster(the old one) in 2 by myself. I can build and program a walking robot in 45 minutes with Lego. Maybe I'm just an uber-nerd

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:38 pm

that website is showing the price exactly the same as you Mobi $89.99

i used to have this UBER Huge box of legos, that i had been colleting since i was like 2-3 years old, and sold it at 19. the box was APPX. 40"x20"x18 LWH, and was completely full up to the top flaps

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:05 pm

Hmmmm. Maybe the price here was a special deal? I thought $100 was bloody cheap for all that Lego!

Yep - it took 4 hours to build. Mind you, we had a couple of colour issues sneak through QA which meant disassembling a large portion of it to replace items with the correct colour!

I think that'd be about an average kinda time though. And yeah - it is a great kit! Give one to your kid!

Sting_Ray · Post by **Sting_Ray** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:22 am

I wonder when they'll make a LegoÂ® Thermonuclear Warhead with authentic explosion and vaporization effects.

I'd buy that.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:40 am

Lego Mindstorm sets are sweet. They interface with your comp, and they have a programmable central computer that recieves sensory input from about 10 different types of sensors (only 3 at a time tho) and has 3 motor outputs. I built a tank once that could push a 12-pound bowling ball, scare the heck outta my cat, and withstand a direct hit from a golf ball thrown at it.
$\/\/33+/\/33$.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:58 am

Heh... Mindstorms are nothing compared to what we do with Legos... puny RCX bricks are no match for our Handyboards with Motorola processors! Multiple processors (1 HB, 1 RCX) on an intelligent Lego robot playing a sophisticated game all by itself. Fun.