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Lego Stud as an International Standard Measurement Unit

Because millimeters just aren't catching on here...
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Most kids who have been exposed to Lego eventually develop an innate stud length comparative measurement ability. They are a standard size already, and both Europeans and Americans of the same generation can think in Lego Stud Length without too much brain strain.
RayfordSteele, Mar 13 2012

Not an official source, but... http://www.robertca...asurements-en.xhtml
Legos seem to be metric. [MechE, Mar 14 2012]

Lego Dimensions http://goldfndr.hom...m/lego/legodim3.gif
Not official, but seems correct... [goff, Mar 15 2012]

All things Lego http://www.lugnet.com/
This site seems to have all information about Lego you could wish for... [goff, Mar 15 2012]

Danish units of measurement http://en.wikipedia...nits_of_measurement
How many skrupels is that? [PainOCommonSense, Mar 16 2012]

Anti-Ouch Lego Anti-Ouch_20Lego_20System
Solves that problem of herding Lego magnetically... [goff, Mar 20 2012]


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Annotation:







       Why was this idea not invented sooner?
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2012
  

       Probably for the same reason that we're not all speaking Esperanto.
Alterother, Mar 13 2012
  

       Sometimes the human condition drives me to despair. On the other hand, it sometimes drives me to drink, so it's a mixed bag.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2012
  

       You're welcome.
Alterother, Mar 13 2012
  

       For a graphics class I took I had to create a 3D model of a lego race car in SolidWorks. I measured the legos with the most accurate micrometer I have but could not find a precise measurement in millimeters to express what a lego is. The actual measurement may be an irrational number of millimerers. If SolidWorks had a lego setting my life would have been much easier. +
DIYMatt, Mar 13 2012
  

       Legos are dimensioned in inches.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2012
  

       Damn. Now you've made me verb a noun.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2012
  

       //Sometimes the human condition drives me to despair//   

       Many things used to drive me crazy then I realized I'm close enough to walk there whenever I want.
AusCan531, Mar 14 2012
  

       [MB] I found at least one source that says legos are metric based (and the numbers don't covert to anything sane for inches).
MechE, Mar 14 2012
  

       I assume you mean pitch, rather than length. If so, the base unit is precisely 8.0 mm.
spidermother, Mar 14 2012
  

       I have read previously that the lego unit is 1.6mm (not inches).
goff, Mar 14 2012
  

       The dimensions are clearly indicated on the Wikipedia Lego article. The height of a stud is given as 1.7 mm.
spidermother, Mar 14 2012
  

       Nope, I meant length. As in '4 studs long' = xx mm.
RayfordSteele, Mar 14 2012
  

       Based on memory, it seems likely to me that the @maz0n seller confused inches for millimeters.
Alterother, Mar 14 2012
  

       The overall dimensions of a mini-figure are close to an inch wide (hand to hand, they will fit side by side on a base plate with one stud between feet, so less than 24 mm total), noticealby more than an inch tall, and about three eights thick (except for ones with accesories, they will fit back to back, but not quite face to face, so slightly more than 8 mm thick). Thus his dimensions for a mini-figure are not that far off (but would be absurdly off in mm, and significantly off in cm).   

       Given that he's custom modifying his own minifigures, though, I don't think he's a good source for official dimensions or units.
MechE, Mar 14 2012
  

       [Rayford] Pitch (stud to stud distance) would have to be the standard. An eight stud block is slightly more than twice as long as a 4 stud block, as the clearance on either end an absolute, not a relative value.
MechE, Mar 14 2012
  

       There is another problem here. Buy a box of legos, get out your micrometer set, and start measuring. Find two exactly the same size? Good luck.
DIYMatt, Mar 15 2012
  

       [Rayford] - see link, but the dimensions of the brick appear to be multiples of the base unit (be it 1.6 or 1.7 mm), As DIY Matt says, I suspect that point is moot, as the tolerance on the bricks won't be .1mm anyway.
goff, Mar 15 2012
  

       //There is another problem here. Buy a box of legos, get out your micrometer set, and start measuring. Find two exactly the same size? Good luck.//   

       Hardly a problem. For day to day measurements, the manufacturing tolerance is inconsequential (and will tend to average out over distances anyway), and for precision measurements you simply apply the reference standard, defined in terms of another unit that is already has universal scientific acceptance (so in this case, precisely 7.06932355 potrzebie).
ytk, Mar 15 2012
  

       Lego is from Denmark, so I very much doubt it would be measured in Inches as I am pretty sure they have never had them. leg ( pron ley) = play, godt (pron got) = good.   

       I for one welcome our new ISO standard. We should apply colour pantone etc. using the same standard.
PainOCommonSense, Mar 16 2012
  

       I take some of that back perhaps it was a skruple (see link)
PainOCommonSense, Mar 16 2012
  

       I've always admired the Danish for their skrupulousness.
ytk, Mar 16 2012
  

       //leg ( pron ley) = play// That can't be right. The 'e' in modern Danish is not a diphthong. The vowels in the Danish pronunciation of lego are almost exactly the same as those in Italian 'prego' (as spoken by native Italian speakers; closer to 'prayer-gore' than 'pray-go', unless you're Scottish).   

       The 'e' is like that in English 'bed', but with the tongue further forward, as in Australian English. The 'o' is like 'caught', but again, with an Australian accent - the tongue far back in the mouth, and the lips slightly protruded.   

       That's why most discussions about how to pronounce lego are a little pointless. Most English dialects don't contain the correct vowel sounds at all, so asking whether it's 'leg' or 'lay', for instance, is meaningless. It's a bit like neither and both. In fact, it's rather like Australian 'leg' and Scottish 'lay'.
spidermother, Mar 16 2012
  

       The major point that most seem to miss is that the plural of Lego is 'Lego'. There's a word for that, I believe.
Alterother, Mar 17 2012
  

       and I though this was the title of Danish porn movie...
not_morrison_rm, Mar 17 2012
  

       <Alterother> Yes, Lego is like sheep. I wish someone would invent a small robot border collie to round my boys' Lego up though, it's everywhere!
goff, Mar 19 2012
  

       My parents used to complain about a phenomena that I only recently experienced while visiting the home of some in-laws: Lego lurking in deep-pile carpet, waiting to bite you on the instep at 3am. Sheep don't do that.
Alterother, Mar 19 2012
  

       [Alterother] Unless you have very deep pile carpet and vampire sheep.
MechE, Mar 19 2012
  

       Thank you for a month's worth of nightmare material. Now I'm afraid to go to the bathroom after bedtime. Satisfied?
Alterother, Mar 19 2012
  

       Of course the answer to the deep pile carpet lies within the environs of this website...see link.
goff, Mar 20 2012
  

       I'll take vampire sheep over ambush Lego any day.
FlyingToaster, Mar 20 2012
  


 

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