Now for a little fun. Last year, LEGO released a series of motors, controllers, and power sources called Power Functions. It’s pretty amazing the things you can do with them, that is, how much more sophisticated LEGOs have gotten over the years. At least they have from the days when I was a kid.

Anyway, there’s a lot of information out there on LEGOs including videos enthusiasts have made of their projects. Here are just a few of the videos I found of LEGO applications:

This one shows all the Power Function goodies in one place and demonstrates their performance characteristics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Gvuzsngg8

Here’s a LEGO Servo Motor controlling a pneumatic switch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmjX2z8WYXE

And here is video of a LEGO Technic Extreme Cruiser 8081 with remote control: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRUf8S90vu0  

For a long time now, LEGOs have contributed to stimulating intellectual curiosity. Many an engineer can recall their first set of LEGOs and what they built, how it got them interested in engineering as a career, or how it nurtured their curiosity about building structures, engineering, construction, etc. This new generation of LEGOs continues that tradition.