Arduino-Controlled Lego Maglev Vehicle

Team Antipodes, a FIRST robotics team consisting of Emma, Kjersti, and Violet of Terra Nova High School in Pacifica, CA, built this sweet magnetic levitation vehicle, with a home-built 3-phase, 6-solenoid linear motor, on a Lego bed, all controlled via XBee wireless. It won an Editors’ Choice ribbon at Bay Area Maker Faire last month.

At the 2010-2011 FTC World Championships in St. Louis, Dean Kamen challenged the competitors to create something extraordinary, something that would change the world. We immediately thought to complete our original vision of a remote controlled hybrid maglev model that would inspire future engineers (other kids) and companies to make maglev advances that would build on our hybrid maglev idea.

The team has an extensive project page showing you how to build your own maglev. [via Arduino]