LEGO Put a Tiny Computer Inside a Brick
Description: One plastic brick in this ship felt the crash. Here's how a LEGO SMART Brick works: a custom chip smaller than one stud, a motion sensor, copper coils that read coded tiles, sense other SMART Bricks and charge the battery with no plug, and a tiny synthesizer that builds every sound live.
Our ship and every brick in this video are our own 3D builds (no LEGO logo; not a LEGO product shot). The motion-sensor close-up is an illustration of how such sensors generally work: LEGO has not published its part. The crash is shown slowed down.
Sources & Evidence
- LEGO SMART Play announcement (CES, 5 Jan 2026), The LEGO Group: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2026/december/lego-smart-play-announcement
- How we made the LEGO SMART Play system, LEGO.com: https://www.lego.com/en-us/smart-play/article/innovation
- An Inside Look at Lego's New Tech-Packed Smart Brick (18 Feb 2026), WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/exclusive-inside-look-at-new-lego-smart-brick/
- Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks (6 Jan 2026), BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmlnmnwzk2o
- Lego Smart Brick review (11 Mar 2026), The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/tech/891863/lego-smart-brick-play-review-star-wars-first-sets-throne-room-x-wing-tie
- Lego Smart Bricks introduce a new way to build (5 Jan 2026), TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/05/lego-smart-bricks-introduce-a-new-way-to-build-and-they-dont-require-screens/
- LEGO SMART Play: What can it do?, Brickset: https://brickset.com/article/128903/lego-smart-play-what-can-it-do
- Teardown of a 2026 LEGO SMART Brick (18 Mar 2026), Hackaday: https://hackaday.com/2026/03/18/teardown-of-a-2026-lego-smart-brick/
- The stud and tube principle (1958 patent) + LEGO's compatibility claim, LEGO History: https://www.lego.com/en-us/history/articles/d-the-stud-and-tube-principle
- How capacitive MEMS accelerometers work, Analog Devices (Analog Dialogue): https://www.analog.com/en/resources/analog-dialogue/articles/dual-axis-low-g-fully-integrated-accelerometers.html
- How near-field tags are read by a coil (inductive coupling), K. Finkenzeller, RFID Handbook notes: http://www.rfid-handbook.de/downloads/Active-load-modulation_Finkenzeller_20110413_final.pdf
LEGO and SMART Brick are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor or endorse this video.
#LEGO #SmartBrick #HowItWorks #Engineering #InsideDecoded Close description
Our ship and every brick in this video are our own 3D builds (no LEGO logo; not a LEGO product shot). The motion-sensor close-up is an illustration of how such sensors generally work: LEGO has not published its part. The crash is shown slowed down.
Sources & Evidence
- LEGO SMART Play announcement (CES, 5 Jan 2026), The LEGO Group: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2026/december/lego-smart-play-announcement
- How we made the LEGO SMART Play system, LEGO.com: https://www.lego.com/en-us/smart-play/article/innovation
- An Inside Look at Lego's New Tech-Packed Smart Brick (18 Feb 2026), WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/exclusive-inside-look-at-new-lego-smart-brick/
- Lego unveils tech-filled Smart Bricks (6 Jan 2026), BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmlnmnwzk2o
- Lego Smart Brick review (11 Mar 2026), The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/tech/891863/lego-smart-brick-play-review-star-wars-first-sets-throne-room-x-wing-tie
- Lego Smart Bricks introduce a new way to build (5 Jan 2026), TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/05/lego-smart-bricks-introduce-a-new-way-to-build-and-they-dont-require-screens/
- LEGO SMART Play: What can it do?, Brickset: https://brickset.com/article/128903/lego-smart-play-what-can-it-do
- Teardown of a 2026 LEGO SMART Brick (18 Mar 2026), Hackaday: https://hackaday.com/2026/03/18/teardown-of-a-2026-lego-smart-brick/
- The stud and tube principle (1958 patent) + LEGO's compatibility claim, LEGO History: https://www.lego.com/en-us/history/articles/d-the-stud-and-tube-principle
- How capacitive MEMS accelerometers work, Analog Devices (Analog Dialogue): https://www.analog.com/en/resources/analog-dialogue/articles/dual-axis-low-g-fully-integrated-accelerometers.html
- How near-field tags are read by a coil (inductive coupling), K. Finkenzeller, RFID Handbook notes: http://www.rfid-handbook.de/downloads/Active-load-modulation_Finkenzeller_20110413_final.pdf
LEGO and SMART Brick are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor or endorse this video.
#LEGO #SmartBrick #HowItWorks #Engineering #InsideDecoded Close description
