Advent Calendars, Day 8

On day 8, the City advent calendar yields a mediocre tree with a cat stranded at the top, while the Castle guys get an archery target, bow/arrow, and quiver:

Advent 8

This gives our Day 7 guys ways to practice and hone their skills prior to entering into combat. The knight from Day 7 practices his archery; meanwhile, the firefighter from the previous day practices his skills, honed in years of experience:

Advent 8: Archery Practice Advent 8: Firefighter Reports the Cat

Tilted Twister – Mindstorms NXT Robot Solves Rubik’s Cube

I just came across Tilted Twister while reading Mike Walsh’s LEGO Blog (link removed, as apparently his site has been compromised). It’s a Mindstorms NXT robot that can solve the Rubik’s Cube!

The really amazing part is that it’s built using only the parts in the stock NXT kit.  Instructions are provided – I’m tempted to make one myself.  (Note however that you either need to buy a special color sensor, or modify the colors of your Rubik’s Cube so that white and yellow can be distinguished by the stock light sensor.