Can Legos Compute?

No, Legos can't compute, but you can build a Lego Computer. I had assorted computer parts but no case for them. I also had a few thousand legos. So I decided to build a computer case from the legos.

Step 1: Lay out all parts of Computer

I inventoried all of my computer parts to make sure I wasn't missing anything important. I had a CD drive, a diskette drive, a motherboard, a hard drive, a power supply and all cables needed to connect them. I also had a mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Comments

[carebare47]

That case is practically sealed apart from the psu fan and the hole at the back and because its made of lego, the whole thing would start to melt within an hour.

[zack247]

-cough cough- i know this is a really old comment... and i apologize.

but you would be surprised how well legos actually stand up to the heat, ive had legos sitting out in the sun for several hours on a hot summer day and they are just like all the other legos, except the legos from outside were a bit more faded.

[a480641]

yes, LEGO which are made of ABS, will not melt until 221'F but not especially great above 176'F
if you add one or two fans and raise the motherboard off the base by about 1/4 or 1/2 inch, it'll be fine

[carebare47]

In that case, I'm going to make myself a lego computer case! =D

[zack247]

this thing is so interesting!

if i were to make one, it would have to be a tower, but instead of those bumpy lego edges, i would probably use those smooth pieces just to give it a cleaner look, i would try this but i definitely dont have enough lego to do it, i have a fair bit, but not enough for something as big as this.

[frosty1433]

floppy disk drives and legos are soooo 1998

[dungeon runner]

Yeah, everyone says that until it turns out they put something useful on one of those things ;).

Who's from 1998 now?

-Y

[Xellers]

Actually, legos can compute. It is possible to make a simple mechanical computer from legos. Also, the lego mindstorms bricks are microprocessors that can run simple robot programs.

[dungeon runner]

Yeah, there's been a lot of buzz on the webz on someone making logic gates with legos. Mechanical computers are absolutely fascinating, even when you know exactly how computers work.

I've seen four or five K'nex computers through obsessive googling. If it is as interesting to you as it is to me, then I eagerly await your lego computer :).

-Y

[SpeedStrikerXLR]

 OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! that is so awsome


Id so make that if I had lots of legos
I hove bionicles though

[Trainguyxx]

now, you have to try making a larger tower XD

=/ maybe even a server tower? lol

[Awsumsoss]

i love this

[TheCheese9921]

I plan on building my next pc in a freezer but I'm worried about frost n stuff of and williz its dude, dood is an infected hair on an elephants butt

[countable]

Condensation on the motherboard will be the biggest problem. If you ever brought something that had a little sachet of silica gel (it will say dessicant, throw away, do not eat on the side). Collect a huge load of those (or get them from somewhere cheap), open them up and sprinkle all the stuff around the bottom of the freezer. Cheap solution to an expensive problem.

[Vissy]

They are mostly used up by the time you get them. I see cooling issues being more of a problem than this.

[roastprof]

you can make logic gates out of lego, so a computer could be made completely out of lego lol it would take a lot of lego and space though.

[kenny94]

i found a lego mac:
http://gizmodo.com/5100933/lego-mac-tri+screen-macbook-and-other-cool-apple-prototypes. it looks really neat

[pie_lover123]

I think its a nice idea, but it seems that you ran out of rectangular legos before your casing was complete. It prolly would be better if you built it vertically and bolted all your pieces to the inside, and then added some lego hinges to one side for easy access. (and CA them all together.)

[Rodancoci]

Nice one. Very cool. It gave me a GREAT idea, which, of course, I will not reveal untill the instructable.

[tinkerC]

Please message me after, so I can see it.

[cormac3050]

Message me as well! sounds exciting!

[mwwdesign]

This sounds cool. Message me when it's up, so I know which one it is!

[cornflaker]

So that thing is running without a CPU video card, and sound card? :P (Yeah I know sound cards are pretty much always onboard now and the video card is sometimes too but I'm pretty sure I can see them sticking out the back of it lol)

[cornflaker]

Oh and a lan card... :P

[chrisman01]

Sweet! I'm in a computer repair class right now; I'm going to ask my teacher if we can make one!

[cormac3050]

Sweet! we have an old windows 95 pc gathering dust in the attic, I'm going to try make a lego laptop out of it!! will post photos when done.

[cormac3050]

sorry, its 98

[cormac3050]

What OS do you have on it?

[livesteamfan]

This is pretty cool. For me, I took the parts I had laying around and mounted them on a piece of 1/4" plywood. Everything is showing, motherboard hard-drive, I even took the cover off the cd drive. I'm running XP on this thing and it's better than my store bought computer that I now don't use. Also, I found that putting a fan on the hard-drive helps it run better because it stays at the same temp.

[computer41]

Wouln't everything melt from the heat coming from it?

This isn't any better probably far worse but thought it was amusing:

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/1852/p1010044qy7.jpg

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/2315/p1010045jr4.jpg

[Grey_Wolfe]

If it's an ITX motherboard, then it really wouldn't be worse. They run remarkably well in such confined spaces. The boards run fairly cool, actually.

[computerwhizkid42]

Nice! two of my favorite hobbies are legos and computers! What kind of hardware does it have inside (e.g. memory, video card, hard drive) , and how does it run?

[Mad Cat]

Good idea, but it looks kind of bad. Sorry. Someone should try and make one out of K'nex.

[zero838]

it would look better if it was all one color

[Xellers]

K'nex would be much worse! Just a neater job with legos would make a nice case.

[Mad Cat]

Lego would be better at making solid, smooth surfaces, but K'nex can make a much bigger case without using up as many pieces.

[Xellers]

True...

[cbehrle]

I laughed for at least 10 minutes when I saw this. it's very creative. I wish I had thought of it first.

[Sypran]

grr i can only do this for my old comp made in 95 or somthing. for my new computer that im useing is the big one that G4 made where its cost like a little over $3,000... i would do this with it to give it style but a super comp needs to breath

[the_burrito_master]

nice I would make a bigger case that could hold up every thing.