Accomplishing many tasks with a single attachment for the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) 2013 competition. The attachments are using many rubber bands. What is interesting is that it collects/lift/triggers many things at the same time. This is how you could save time and parts during a competition.
How do you detect a cross-section and move from following the main line to following the crossing line. In this series of video tutorials we are starting with a very simple solution that could work in most of the cases. It is especially useful for the FIRST LEGO League Trash Trek competition where there is such a section.
Would you like to resolve all the problems with the light/color sensors that you have? And to make all of them work in a predictable, stable way even when using more than one MINDSTORMS colour sensors.
When using Color sensors it is important to calibrate them depending on the light conditions in your venue. In this way, the calibrated sensor will show values between 0 and 100 independent of the light conditions. But using the default EV3 colour calibration available in the colour sensor block could lead to unpredicted problems that are difficult to track and resolved especially when used with multiple Color sensors. So in this series of tutorial we implement the calibration ourselves discussing the principles of colour sensor calibration.
This is the oldest and most classic problem in the field of robotics. Shaft in an opening. Basically robotics and in improvement of many of the actuators is about improving the solutions to such problems. Let's see how we ca do this using a mission model from the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition.
With this series of videos we are looking at FIRST LEGO League 2013 Nature's Fury competition and we are building a robot for accomplishing some of the mission. It would be a tutorial with at least four parts and we are building a complex attachment that could catch, lift and release different parts with only one motor and rubber bands. Not one, not two, but three movements with only one motor.
In this series we will do a short demonstration on the FIRST LEGO League Trash Trek 2015 solutions by one of the teams. These are example solutions with good tips and tricks along with some interesting strategies and videos directly from the team
The integral part "remembers" the errors that the robot has made in the past and we can compensate for those errors. This will make the robot return back to the line that we would like to keep it aligned.
It's inevitable. While following this gapped line we would reach a gap. The robot must somehow understand that there is a gap and must make a decision on what to do. For detecting the gap we use the Rotation Sensor. Not the most popular, but very convenient in many cases. Check out the video.
We should multiply the error by a certain number and then add it to the steering of the LEGO Mindstorms Steering block. In this way, by changing the coefficient we change how much/fast should the proportional part influence the steering of the robot.
Try to build the attachment following the instructions. Use it to actually solve a mission from any competition (like taking loops)
In this video tutorial, we would do a few experiments with the coefficients for the Integral compensation. There are actually two coefficients - "c" and "b"
The Department of "throwing" is ruled by rubber bands. Impulsive power release in a short amount of time. In this video we are building an attachment that throws a ball and accomplishes the FIRST LEGO League 2012 bowling competition.
This time we stop on "Using the Right Senses" mission, or actually on how to solve the "Right Senses" mission without "Senses" (sensors). To achieve that we use the carabineer counstructed in one of the previous tutorials, of course after a small modification.
In the previous part of the video lesson we showed how imprecise a chain LEGO Mindstorms robot could be if its positioning does not rely on sensors, but only on the use of move block. In this tutorial we will show the same thing, but using robot on tires.
The previous rubber bands video showed a way to trigger the rubber band without a motor. This video gives one more idea on how to lift an axle and in this way release the rubber band. Use the idea for you LEGO Mindstorms robot constructions.
Football with robots could be quite fun. Football with LEGO Mindstorms robots is one of the popular categories for competitions with LEGO Mindstorms Robots.
The FIRST LEGO League competition is similar each year. With a little experience you could accomplish most of mission. The goal of this episode is to introduce you to the course, its purpose and approach.
Using a number of axles, beams and rubber bands we collect many loops at once. This is an important part of every competition, mostly of the FIRST LEGO League.
There are many loops in the FIRST LEGO League competition. In this video we collect some of them by following the idea of the ELM team.
Many FLL competitions have a mission for demolition. You should always destroy something, but destroy it in a regulated manner and probably collect the destroyed mission model after that.
We keep the robot orientation straight while moving, but when we stop the robot could be in a different orientation. This applies for both using the Mindstorms Gyro Sensor when moving straight or the Mindstorms Color sensor when following a line. In this video tutorial, we will do a few examples of when an how this could happen.
You can collect the car for scrap or repair it. The ELM teams decide to repair it. This requires them to place the engine in the car and it's very interesting to think about this problem.
We've detected the gap. It's time to move over it. This is difficult because we have to detect where the line is after the 0.1 meters gap on the line following field.
Based on your feedback we have decided to show you the live process of building a complex LEGO Mindstorms Competition robot without having the whole robot ready yet. We would be making mistakes, showing them and taking up the challenges right in front of your eyes. The first construction would not be perfect but we would eventually arive at it.
One attachment to rule them all...We have seen it and it works -> solving most of the competition models with only one attachment. In this video tutorial without programming we would walk you through the principles and methods of using a single attachment for most of the FIRST LEGO League competition models. One can learn alot from using as few parts as possible to solve as many missions as possible.
In this tutorial of the series we would get into more details on how the flywheel works, what's its purpose and how the whole attachment is triggered with the first rubber band.
"The devil is in the details". We are improving the Rubber band attachment with a Flywheel by introducing a few small, but important modifications that make the whole robot attachment more stable and reliable. With the conclusion of the series this attachment could be used as a basis for some very interesting STEM demonstrations on energy accumulation and conservation.