Synchropillar

I was invited by Syngress to join a team to create a "LEGO Mindstorms Masters" book, where we got to build whatever creations we want without restrictions to a particular set. We got to describe the science behind the design of the robots in as much detail as we wanted.

I created and wrote chapters for two designs, both having to do with LEGO pneumatics. The first design was PneumADDic II, and the second was Synchropillar, a pneumatic caterpillar designed using a technique I invented for controlling large numbers of pneumatic pistons in a coordinated way.

When I first got LEGO Pneumatics, I started trying to build circuits that behaved like the simple digital electronic circuits I learned about in college. It never worked. It took me a long time to figure out why, but I finally did.

With this understanding, I invented a new pneumatic circuit design technique called synchronous design. The technique is used almost exclusively in electronic digital design. The alternative to synchronous design is asynchronous design, long considered a black art.

Synchropillar is a pneumatic caterpillar much like my original caterpillar, but it uses half the number of pneumatic pistons and switches, and operates at twice the rate. I don't want to give too much away, as the book has not even gone to print yet, but I'm allowed to show images of the complete design.

Synchropillar Images