Nationwide LEGO Wind Turbine Competition!
Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) is building LEGO wind turbines in capital cities across the nation for Engineering Week!
Event details
The public’s imagination will be captured by participating in the construction of over 3,500 LEGO bricks to form a fully functioning three-metre tall wind turbine!
For a gold coin donation, members of the public will add LEGO bricks to the construction.
The wind turbines will be constructed simultaneously in popular public spaces across the nation on Friday August 24th:
- Brisbane: Queen St Mall
- Canberra: Garema Place, Civic
- Melbourne: Federation Square
- Melbourne: Monash University, Clayton campus
- Adelaide: Rundle Mall
- Perth: QV1 building
- … And a week earlier (August 16-19) in Sydney at Customs House in the city
Live video footage of the progress in each city will be broadcast at each site, setting up an inter-city rivalry to see who can complete their LEGO wind turbine first!
Raising awareness
A number of posters will be on display, and EWB volunteers will be on hand to speak to people, to raise awareness of:
- Australia’s greenhouse emissions per person compared to the developing countries EWB works in
- The impacts of climate change on these developing countries
- How EWB are assisting communities in developing countries to adapt to climate change, and to develop sustainably without reliance on greenhouse polluting technologies
- How Australians can help, by:
- Supporting EWB
- Reducing their emissions
- Switching their electricity supply to accredited GreenPower
LEGO design
The wind turbines were designed by EWB engineers with the assistance of me, Ross Crawford, using specialised LEGO computer design software (MLCAD).
The wind turbines will stand over three-metres tall with blades one-metre long, and will comprise more than 3,500 LEGO bricks!
Even the generators and gears are standard LEGO parts. They will sit inside the nacelle (the housing on top of the tower) and make the turbines actually spin or even generate electricity!
Sponsors
EWB would like to thank the following generous sponsors for making this event possible:
August 9th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Alternative Energy From The Wind
Did you know that wind has potential for power? It does not damage the environment plus its a powerful source of alternative energy. It is gaining popularity because other sources of fuel damage the environment and also fuel prices are now very high. When thinking of wind power you may think about windmills, but wind can also be turned into electricity. There are several countries in Europe using this power.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
What a fantastic idea and what a great way to have fun and teach young kids the use of alternative sources of energy ! Lego gets promoted too. A win-win situation! Ed
January 11th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Great information thanks heaps
June 1st, 2009 at 9:24 pm
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August 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Good event, this will improve the passion for diy wind turbines. There is a little difficult to make a wind turbine by bricks.
May 22nd, 2010 at 3:18 pm
We should provide a guide of small wind turbines. This will help more people to use small wind turbines.