One of the EMW lift arms

The EMV has landed and is ready

The EMW is my largest and most complex project ever. It includes two RCX and a Scout working and communicating together. It is my entry for the Danish Championships in Lego building. The winner of the Danish finals will go to the World Championships in California this summer. The EMW project was very difficult to make and took many weeks to finish.

____________________________________________________________________
Official EnergyWaterMineral-module description (max 100 words):

The EMW can improve people's chances of surviving deep space travel. The EMW collects energy, minerals and water so people can get along when they later land. The EMW is three robots working together through signals. If the mission fails the MW-robots send a warning signal back. If so, people should not travel there.

The E-robot is a platform that collects energy and then lifts itself up. Through lights sensors the MW-robots help each other collect minerals and water in storage tanks. Meanwhile the E-robot raises itself up and follows the sun.

Everything is controlled by Mindstorms.
_____________________________

100 words is not enough - The Scout decides when to lift the hood and when the two MW-modules can drive out and start collecting minerals and water.  During collecting the two modules tell each other how they are doing. If one has collected enough, and the other is still missing something, both robots will start searching for the missing water or minerals. A light sensor helps the robots choose what to collect. Meanwhile the Scout raises the entire platform up, and solar panels at the bottom start collecting more energy by turning towards the suns rays.

Here is the grabber arm.

Here are the solar panels at the bottom of the E-platform.

Here the two MW-modules are ready to leave the platform after the hood is up.

Programming the Scout was not easy, because I wanted to do things that cannot be programmed from the display..

Here the first MW-module has left the platform and starts searching and collecting.

It is very cool to see the platform raise itself and then start turning slowly. It was very, very difficult to make this work because of the weight of the platform.

The final action is when the platform comes up and turns towards the sun (light). This is controlled by the Scout at the bottom. I had to mount it, so the light sensor pointed first down and then horizontally.

The two storage tanks for water and minerals fall down and stand up, when the hood raises itself. Even here tinkering was needed to make it work.

The two modules are talking to each other about the success or failure of the mission and will send a signal back to tell about the results and if people can expect to find water and minerals available.