1. Spatial Thinking and Communication
IAT 106
Spatial Thinking and Communication
Fall 2018
Lab 1-Part 1:
Spatial Thinking &
LEGO Digital Designer

2. LEGO-Lab(FUN ☺)
Part 1:
Discover and learn to use LEGO Digital Designer ©
Part 2:
Develop sketches of a two-gimbal system
Digital model: Use LEGO Digital Designer to build a digital model of the Gimbal system
Physical model: Build your Gimbal system using LEGO bricks.

3. LDD: LEGO Digital Designer
Virtually limitless number of bricks
Almost all LEGO Brick configurations
Generates instructions for how to build the physical model
Free Download from LEGO Website -

4. LDD: Main Window

5. LDD: Modeling View
Edit, Move, Rotate
Model View
Bricks Selection

6. LDD: Context Menu
Use Arrows to Rotate
Change Color as Brick Inserted

7. LDD: Inserting a new Brick
Collapse Brick Set
Choose Brick
If moved on existing brick it snaps
Brick inserted

8. Camera Control Rotate View or use keys 8,2,4 and 6 Brick inserted
Reset Tool
Used to create
‘fit to page’
Zoom in/out or use
wheel on mouse

9. The Icon Bar—in Build Mode

10. The Icon Bar--in VIEW Mode

11. LDD Has Three Operational Modes
3. Building guide mode
Brick inserted
1. Build mode
2. View mode

12. Building Tools The building tools are only Available in Build mode
Selection tool (V key). Use
the Selection tool to select
single bricks on the scene
Advanced Selection Tools
aka Contextual Toolbars

13. More Building Tools!

14. The Hinge Tool

15. Viewing Mode

16. Finding tricky, important parts
Turn it with a TurnTable
Turn a corner with an angle bracket

17. Live Demo:
LDD IN ACTION

18. Neat example Here’s a “car” built with LEGO:
slow-but-awesome/?a_dgi=aolshare_