Saturday, 29 October 2011

LEGO Man may be released from custody



The 45.5kg, 2.5-metre-tall mysterious Lego man that was found on a Florida beach in U.S. may soon be sprung from a holding room.

Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight said the Lego-man could be freed from the shed where he's been kept for two days.

The giant Lego appeared on Siesta Key beach Tuesday morning.

"No Real Than You Are" was written on its shirt, along with "Ego Leonard" and the number 8.

Local newspapers report the name "Ego Leonard" is the name of a Netherlands artist, but it was not immediately clear who was behind the work.

The story of the Lego man has gotten worldwide attention.

Knight says the Lego man is being well kept and hopes the giant fiberglass man can be placed on display somewhere in the community.


Source: The Star (link)

Friday, 28 October 2011

Giant LEGO man washes ashore on Florida beach



Police in Florida have been left baffled after an 8ft tall LEGO man turned up on a beach.

Weighing 100lb, the giant LEGO man appeared on Siesta Key beach on Tuesday morning.

Bearing the cryptic message "No Real Than You Are" across the shirt, the words “Ego Leonard” were also visible of the outsized toy replica.
  
Ego Leonard is the name of a Dutch artist, but it is unclear as to whether Leonard is behind the toy stunt or if it is the work of an imitator.

LEGOLAND officials said the LEGO man was a counterfeit and is not endorsed by the company.

The mysterious plaything will remain in the protective custody of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office until it is claimed.

A similarly gigantic LEGO man was washed up on Brighton beach in October 2008. (link)


A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort in 2008

No one knew at that time where the colourful model, with Dutch writing on, came from either.

One resident said: "It must have fallen off a boat. The children love it."




Source: Mirror UK (link)

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Ping Pong Robot made in China

A robot hits back a ball at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 9, 2011. 

Human-like robots developed by Zhejiang University in East China made debut on Sunday. The two robots as shown can capture the track of the ball by a camera installed inside before making reactions. The robots, 160 cm tall and weighing 55 kilograms each, took the university four years to develop. The university also aims to develop robots that can do housework.

The robots are able to track the movements of a table tennis ball and play back through a motion control system equipped with a built-in camera and an intelligence processing unit.

A robot plays pingpong with a visiting journalist at Zhejiang University.



Reference: XinHuaNet (link)

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Ford Explorer in LEGO!

Fancy a unique bright red Ford Explorer SUV at half of the usual weight?



Ford Motor Co. and the LEGOLAND Florida theme park has formed a partnership with unveiling of a full-scale Explorer replication with LEGO bricks. The bright red LEGOLAND Florida edition Explorer will be on display at the new 150-acre LEGOLAND them park in Winter Haven, near Orlando.

The LEGO Explorer’s debut took place at the car maker’s Chicago assembly plant, which normally turns out real Explorers.

Crafted by 22 Ford employees, the Lego Explorer is made up of 382,858 LEGO bricks. It took 2,500 hours (about three and a half months) to complete. The structure weighs 1,203 kg and is supported by a 348 kg interior aluminium base.


LEGOLAND Florida, which opens Oct. 15, is designed for kids from the age of 2 to 12 and has more than 50 family-oriented rides, shows and other attractions. The park has exhibits that use more than 50 million LEGO bricks and is divided into 10 zones with different themes.



In 2004, a life-sized LEGO replica of a Volvo XC90 was built, also for a LEGOLAND in California.