The NXTStep’s Brian Davis wanted to throw something over a waterfall. Why not a NXT, and log some data? Brian put a NXT brick in a segment of PVC, along with a 3-axis accelerometer from Mindsensors and a LEGO sound sensor.
On a recent trip to Niagara Falls, I was fascinated again with this huge, impressive natural feature. And thinking about the foolhardy souls that over the years have tried to survive going over the falls in a barrel, I did what was natural for me – thought about the NXT doing it. Of course, getting permission to throw something over Niagara Falls is unlikely to happen… and it’s dangerous, and retrieving it would be extremely difficult. But I could certainly do some test runs… so was born the “NXT in a barrel”.
I used an NXT slid into a 4″ PVC pipe segment, sealed tightly at either end with removable closeout plugs. To keep it from bouncing around inside, I used a hot-wire cutter to shape foam “bulkheads” to support and lock the NXT into place within the tube, and attached a 50′ line to retrieve it after. Then I went to a small local dam, started it, sealed it tightly, took a deep breath… and threw it over.
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