LEGO has recently released audio and braille instructions for visually impaired builders, which is amazing. But is it enough? How do they find the right pieces, and in the right colour too? How could the experience be made even better? And then there are sighted LEGO fans, like myself, who have trouble finding the right pieces and little patience when looking. Could their time with the beloved brick also be enhanced?

I proudly present the Piecekeeper, the first voice-controlled building assistant. It holds containers in to which the LEGO elements are sorted and its control unit is connected to a PC or Tablet which runs voice recognition software and set instructions. Using an external computer and three motors, it could easily be implemented using LEGO Boost.

When one needs a certain piece, one simply asks the computer and the robot is directed to the corresponding container. A builder following instructions could simply say "next, please" and the right piece would be handed to him while the next step is displayed, spoken or even punched out on a braille reader. A 'MOCer' designing his own model could have custom part names so that he always knows what to ask for: "twisty connector," he says, and receives a twisty connector within seconds -- without ever breaking his creative flow!

And the best part? The builder says "thanks" and the container is returned to it's proper place -- zero table clutter!

(The images show 24 containers but it is LEGO, so the number can be changed as needed. For an idea of scale, take the graph paper in the pictures to be about two studs per square.)

The Piecekeeper

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