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The following
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The information provided
on this page has been well tested, but is provided "as
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with your equipment is your responsibility. Your mileage may vary.
Materials you will need:
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(2) 2 x 3 Lego Brick
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(2) 2 x 3 Lego Plates
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(1) Lego Electric Connector (I
purchased a whole bundle of these from
BrickLink.)
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(4) Diodes - 1N4001
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(2) Resistors - 33-ohm 1/2-watt
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(6) Infrared
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) - 276-143C
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(6) LED Sockets
Tools you will need:
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Soldering iron
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Needle nose pliers (A small
one is necessary, a larger one may also come in handy.)
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Small wire cutter
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Dremel (If you don't have one,
buy one. You'll thank yourself later)
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X-Acto Knife (For cleaning up
all of those plastic pieces you hacked off with the Dremel.)
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Drill (A drill press would be
my first choice, but you can do most, if not all, of the holes
without it.)
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Center Punch (Not required,
but real handy for drilling holes in the right place.)
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Drill Bits
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ABS Cement (Most hardware
stores carry this in the plumbing section.)
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Liquid Electrical Tape
Step 1: 2 x 3 Bricks
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From the bottom of brick, remove
both center posts. Repeat this step on both bricks.
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Drill three holes in each of the
bricks; two short sides and one long side. See picture below. I decided
that the center of each face would work well. The easiest way to
find the center is at the intersection of the diagonals.
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Cut the square slot for the Lego wire in the
bottom side
of one brick. Cut two slots for the Lego connector wire in the other
brick.
Step 2: IR LEDs
- Bend the leads of the IR LEDs. 90 degrees from
the bottom face of the LED and then roughly 45 degrees in the
direction of the neighboring LED. Be sure to get the LED orientation
right before bending the leads. The LEDs are arranged in series.
- Carefully insert the LED's and the sockets into
the brick
- Solder the two overlapping connections and trim the
excess wire.
- Coat the two freshly soldered connections with
liquid electrical tape.
- Repeat this for both 2 x 3 bricks.
Step 3: Diodes and Resistors
- Solder the diodes and resistor into a tight
configuration as shown below (top-left). To get the best solder
connection possible in this tight space, make sure the wires overlap
long ways. Avoid using a butt-joint, since it won't be very strong.
- Test fit the package in the brick. It should fit snugly inside along
the long side of the brick.
Step 4: Lego Connector Wires
- While the package is still in the brick, plan
the routes you want to take with the Lego connector wires. The wire
with the Lego connector should be approximately 6.5 inches long. The
wire joining the two beacon bricks should also be about 6.5 inches
long.
- Trim the wires as close to their routes as
possible. Not all of the wires will be the same length.
- Remove the diode/resistor package and solder
the Lego connector wires onto it.
- Coat the soldered connections with liquid
electrical tape.
- Reinsert the package and wires. Overlap and
solder the two remaining LED wires to the diode/resistor package.
- Trim the excess wire, and coat the exposed
metal connections with liquid electrical tape (bottom).
- Solder the last two wires onto the LEDs in the
second 2 x 3 brick.
Step 5: 2 x 3 Plates
- Remove any of the studs that interfere. There
will be more interference on the brick with the diode/resistor
package.
- Glue the bottom 2 x 3 plates onto both IR
beacon pods using the ABS cement.
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