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Xenon the Dragon
This is my entry for the robotic pet challenge. Xenon, named after the 54th element on the Periodic Table, is a fire-breathing dragon. I got my idea for this dragon quadruped when I was studying mythology. Surprisingly enough, although dragons probably didn't actually exist, many cultures feature dragons in their mythology. Finding the dragon a very fascinating creature, I researched them, started my creation, and eventually came up with Xenon. Xenon, who is autonomous, consists of three motors, one Intelligent Brick, an Ultrasonic Sensor, and a ton of LEGO pieces. One of the motors is for mobility (using gears to connect the other two legs), another motor for the tail, and the other motor is for the fire-breathing mechanism.

Posted by:

 CheshireCat150

Created:

 31 August 2010

Rate:

 

Tags:(?):

 roboticpet, xenon, dragon, fire, breathing, ultrasonic, sensor, walk, walking, quadruped, gears

Fire-Breathing Mechinism

Xenon is a friendly dragon and loves having people around. In fact, if you look closely at the video and pictures, you can see his rider, Ben. Equipped with an Ultrasonic Sensor, Xenon will detected any bad creatures that cross his path. He will then breath fire to defend himself and his rider, and keep breathing fire every few seconds until the creature goes away. In the video, the LEGO box takes the place of the bad guy. I used an old Bionicle piece for the fire and attached it so that when the motor moves and the mouth opens, the fire moves up and out a little. The forth picture shows how Xenon also raises his tail when he breaths fire.

Walking Mechinism

As shown in the in the picture, I used five gears on each side (ten gears total) and one motor to power the legs. I originally had two motors for the legs, but when I realized that it would still be able to walk with one motor, I removed the other one. Weighing almost exactly three pounds (1.4 kilograms), Xenon is the largest NXT creation I've ever made. He is about 1 foot tall (0.3 meters), 1 foot long (0.3 meters), and has a wingspan of about 14.5 inches (0.36 meters).

Programming

The programming is pretty simple. It consists of a few blocks inside a Switch Block inside a loop. The NXT will keep walking forward and moving it's tail (programming displayed in first picture) until the Ultrasonic Sensor detects something that is 10 inches away, then all the motors will stop, Xenon will wait a second, open his mouth and lift his tail, wait another second, and close his mouth and lower his tail (programming displayed in the second picture). Thanks to the loop, the Switch Block will start over and either start walking again if the object has left, or repeat the second process if it is still there.

Comments

28 comments
  • MySnailEatsPizza

  • I wish that you had used two motors for the walking so that it could steer.

  • Posted 996 days and 12 hours ago



  • inkheartbionicle

  • coooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllll

  • Posted 996 days and 5 hours ago


  • RobertMitchel

  • Very nice. The reason that dragons are in so much of ancient mythology is that they were probably dinosaurs, but the word dinosaur wasn't invented until much later. So they just called them dragons because they didn't have a better word.

  • Posted 995 days and 20 hours ago


  • superben21

  • Awesome creation!

  • Posted 995 days and 15 hours ago


  • Dinoguy7719

  • Awesome man, awesome. I think that dragons mentioned in mythology are dinosaurs. Really, I do!

  • Posted 995 days and 12 hours ago


  • Sim533

  • Hello, that looks nice! 5 stars out of 5.

  • Posted 995 days and 11 hours ago


  • COLEBUDDY436

  • there should be three motors, 2nd one for steering, and third to make him stand on hind legs to make him look more terrifying against bad creature, tail for stability on hind legs :3

  • Posted 995 days and 2 hours ago


  • NatoNX

  • Very nice. Definitely walks faster than mine. NatoNX

  • Posted 995 days and 1 hour ago


  • bluehat8

  • Excellent pet! You will definitely beat my crow entry for the pet contest! Does the 3rd motor open the wings?

  • Posted 992 days and 19 hours ago


  • Flasher2579

  • That is awesome! As a fan of dragons myself, I'd say you've got this contest in the bag!

  • Posted 977 days and 7 hours ago


  • abotisabotisabot

  • bluehat8, I think he used the 3rd motor to wiggle the tail.

  • Posted 974 days and 13 hours ago


  • CheshireCat150

  • Thank you very much everyone! :) I used one motor for the legs, one motor for the fire-breathing mechanism, and the third motor for the tail. I considered using the last motor for the wings instead of the tail, but I really liked how the dragon looks when he moves his tail while walking, and then how he raises his tail when breathing fire. The tail moving looked better than the wings flapping, so I stuck with using the motor on the tail. Thanks again everyone! -CheshireCat150

  • Posted 973 days and 11 hours ago


  • NikolaDjurovic

  • coolest walking mechanism ever.the ceativity award is yours!!

  • Posted 972 days and 14 hours ago


  • IndyAJD

  • It's very creative of you to make him breath fire. What a cool idea!

  • Posted 947 days and 17 hours ago


  • georgewww

  • plz include instructions

  • Posted 945 days and 11 hours ago


  • MySnailEatsPizza

  • Congrats on the honorable mention in the contest

  • Posted 944 days and 9 hours ago


  • evilnxt123

  • cool dragon

  • Posted 940 days and 20 hours ago


  • CheshireCat150

  • Thanks everyone! :) Sorry, georgewww, but I already took it apart. -CheshireCat150

  • Posted 939 days and 12 hours ago


  • en22rico

  • really cool

  • Posted 934 days and 11 hours ago


  • nix_Ox

  • Dude, this is one of the best projects I've ever seen! And don't underestimate me, I've seen a lot of projects!

  • Posted 875 days and 13 hours ago


  • CheshireCat150

  • Thanks en22rico and nix_Ox! I appreciate it. :)

  • Posted 752 days and 23 hours ago


  • cosmicinvaders

  • why do you name your projects after elements in the periodic table? you built another bot called Chlorine.

  • Posted 690 days and 12 hours ago


  • CheshireCat150

  • When I beta and alpha tested LEGO Universe, I named my pets after elements on the periodic table. I was taking Chemistry at the time, and I figured elements would make creative names for pets. :-)

  • Posted 655 days and 0 hours ago


  • cosmicinvaders

  • you could make 111 robots with periodic table names!

  • Posted 548 days and 11 hours ago


  • tahulengel

  • the coolest LEGO dragon I have EVER seen!

  • Posted 537 days and 8 hours ago


  • TDOG3488

  • AWSOME LOL COOL I LOVE it I ALSO LOVE DRAGONS. Can you make more robot dragon pets?

  • Posted 471 days and 1 hour ago


  • stormtrooper1611

  • thats awsome!


    stormtrooper1611 signing out.

  • Posted 407 days and 2 hours ago


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