Brick Technology has a keen interest in testing LEGO cars in all kinds of driving environments. This time they take a look at what it takes to give LEGO vehicles enough traction, mass, and stability to be able to traverse a sand-filled pit reliably. As you’ll see, it’s not just as simple as going with four-wheel drive.
The sand castles we built when we were kids were basic structures in the shape of buckets. On the other hand, Leonardo Ugolini uses sand to make true works of art. In this time-lapse video by Ivents Kulturagentur, Ugolini built a sculpture of one of the sandworms from 2021’s Dune, using sand from the movie’s set.
The HoMedics Drift is a production version of those sand drawing machines we’ve seen before. This soothing and meditative gizmo uses a ball bearing to draw endless geometric patterns in the sand. It also has colorful RGB lighting, and its designs can be controlled via a companion mobile app. Available in 16″ and 21″ sizes.
When companies mine the ground for precious minerals, what do they do with the materials they dug up and didn’t use? In the case of one kaolin mine in Bavaria, Germany, you turn the leftovers into a slope for sandboarders and skiers. Tom Scott takes us on a journey to the Monte Kaolino theme park.
Designer Yuki Kawae shared this soothing and relaxing video of patterns he created in his coffee table zen garden. With a slow and steady hand, Kawae used rakes of various sizes and spacing to achieve a number of intriguing and hypnotic geometric patterns.
Artist Leonardo Ugolini is known for building intricate sandcastles and sand sculptures. In this video, he shows off a beachside version of the Millennium Falcon, while narrating his process with the most soothing voice. Check out Leonardo’s TikTok channel for more of his incredible sand creations.
Using parts from a 3D printer, custom laser-cut components, and LED lighting RCLifeOn created this mechanical table that uses a magnet and a ball bearing to draw complex patterns in sand, only to erase everything it doodles. On the plus side, as soon as it wipes out an image, it gets to work on another.
Sand plotters are machines that moves a magnet and a ball bearing to draw geometric patterns in the sand. These machines usually move pretty slowly. On the other hand, Mark Rehorst’s large version draws very quickly, hypnotizing the cat who sits on the glass above it.
A while back, maker Ivan Miranda built himself a robot which could write words in the sand. He’s back to build an upgraded version of the machine which can draw much faster than the previous one. It uses 50 mini servos to doodle, two mini tanks to drive, and Arduino Mega controllers for its digital brains.
As a statement on climate change, conceptual artist Leandro Erlich created a surreal scene right in the middle of Miami Beach. The installation, titled “Order of Importance,” featured 66 actual vehicles buried under sand to create a traffic jam.
Ivan Miranda made a robot that can draw images on sand by etching one line at a time. It does take its time, and it would be nice if he could make it more portable and freewheeling, but it’s still a neat build. Skip to 1:40 to see the robot in action.
Artist Tim Bengel shows off the making of the first of his works from his upcoming Monuments exhibition – an incredible large-scale piece which appears out of nothing, after painstakingly dusting a sticky surface with black and white sand grains and gold leaf.
If you love artist Bruce Shapiro’s magnetic sand art, you’ll be glad to know that you can soon have one in your house as a table, and in a variety of wood veneer or hardwoods. It will have at least 25 built-in sand patterns that you can toggle via an app.
We’ve already seen skiing on sand dunes, so why shouldn’t sand snowboarding be a thing. Snowboarder Wojtek “Gniazdo” Pawlusiak took to the desert to shred some slopes with a little help from rally driver Kuba Przygoński and his Dakar-outfitted MINI. Photos by Marcin Kin.
Team BlackSheep headed to the desert of Dubai with its speedy TBS Vendetta drone to chase down a group of 1600hp Funco dune buggies as they tore up the sand. And no, that whine isn’t the sound of the buggies’ engines – it’s the drone’s rapidly spinning rotors.
“It’s so insignificant, yet so monumental.” Photographer Vik Muniz and designer Marcelo Coelho worked for four years trying to etch microscopic castles on individual grains of sand. More on Marcelo’s website.
Calvin Seibert recently shared some of the sandcastles he made on the beaches of Hawaii. As with his previous sandcastles, Calvin made structures that blur the line between organic and man-made.
This year, the annual sand sculpture festival has gone with the theme “HOLLYWOOD,” filling the beaches of North Somerset England with incredible sculptures paying tribute to movie magic. Runs through 9/2013. Hi-res pics here.
Artist Calvin Seibert creates sandcastles with wondrously smooth surfaces, comprised of squares, spheres, cylinders and other shapes influenced by both traditional and modern architecture.
Household Zen Gardens might seem like a trendy relic of the 1990s, but Simon Hallam’s Zen Table is a 21st century revamp using robotics to carve images into the sand from below. Amazing stuff.
Watch as musician Kenichi Kanazawa turns vibrations on a table covered with colored sand into an interactive work of art as it hits its resonant frequency. See more patterns emerge here.
An engrossing performance featuring scenes from the Uncharted 3 trailer by sand artist Natalya Netselya. Her medium is a perfect fit for the Arabian setting of Nathan Drake’s latest adventure.
