14 DAY TRIAL // Legos are a great way to pass the time and put your brain box through some exercise, and so is every other construction set in the world, although not necessarily to the same extent. Now, you might even be able to combine them.
Construction sets are more or less the first means that becomes available to children to practice their ability to view things in three dimensions.
They have been responsible for many architects, but also designers and engineers. Lego in particular lends itself particularly well to the construction of mechanical vehicles.
However, there are many things, possible projects, that cannot easily be achieved through Lego alone, and that holds true for Tinkertoy sets and K’Nex sets, and the other dozens of construction sets out there.
Were you to combine them, however, it would all lead to many new possibilities. Unfortunately, you can't combine them, not to any relevant extent. The pieces can't interlink just like that.
Fortunately, 3D printing has the answer to this. A project by F.A.T Lab and Sy-Lab has enabled the creation of the Free Universal Construction Kit, which isn't actually a kit at all.
Instead, it is a 3D-printed adapter, or set of adapters, that allows you to combine the various different pieces from 10 different construction sets. That means Lego, K’Nex, Tinkertoys and seven others that aren't as well known.
Here is the complete list, for those who want to make sure what they would be getting into by acquiring the build kit, or the 3D virtual models that will allow them to 3D print them at home: Lincoln Logs, Zone, Lego, K’Nex, Krinkles, Tinkertoys, Fischertechnik, Gears! Gears! Gears!, Zoob and Duplo.
The Free Universal Construction Kit is up for download at no cost at all and will let kids tinker for hours on end while you prepare dinner or relax with your better half.
There is another benefit though: some of the construction kits above are made for young children. They are the sort that are outgrown fast. However, familiarity may cause children to stick to them and use them in increasingly creative ways. Being able to combine them with larger, newer, more brain-intensive ones will enable a smoother intellectual evolution without jarring the boy or girl out of their comfort zone.
Of course, whether or not the prints turn out fine depends on how good your 3D printer is. Assuming you have one. If you don't, it shouldn't be too long before a 3D printing service store opens in your region, if there isn't one already.