Video tutorials

Using everything that we've learned about LEGO Education SPIKE Prime competition programming we arrive at the final boss mission - how do we consistently reach a mission model at the other end of the field. Consistently. Every time. We use line following, motion sensor, counting of lines and border alignment. All the different concepts that we've looked at separately are now implemented together.

In this first part we stop at an algorithm that is the base for following lines and explains the basic idea for the proportion. A must watch if you want to understand the robot at its behaviour. At the end the program still wont work so check out Part 2 and Part 3 for the final steps.  

The Gyro sensor in LEGO Mindstorms EV3 sets is new for the sets and we answer basic questions about its usage. The sensor detect when the whole constructions turns at a particular angle, but there are a number of gotchas in using it.

Turning with the Gyro Sensor on a specified angle and stopping there have never been easy. It is not going to get any better. However, this is not a problem of the Gyro sensor. The problem is in the way we develop our programs.

We start a course for following a line with crosses and gaps. This is a challenge that one of the users at FLLCasts.com was trying to accomplish and asked us for advice. We present the whole challenge to you step-by-step. But first, let's also see the whole run of the line following algorithm. With this course, we also do an introduction of using State Machine as a programming pattern.

Very simple and basic introduction to the color sensor in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set. The first program is to stop at a line. Then we can move from stoping at line to counting lines and even more complex tasks.

In a competition environment like the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) or World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) the color sensor is more than useful. It makes positioning on the field quite easy and precise. 

Looking at the field we must first think of a strategy of solving this line following problem. There are rules that the robot must follow and these rules should be programmed in the robot. 

Counting lines and stopping on the third is the subject of this video. It is important to know how to do this in order to conduct more than one experiment in STEM classes (if we consider that each line is an experiment)

This video tutorial reviews the EV3 Gyro Sensor and the HiTechnic Gyro Sensor for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT robotics Kit. We compare the two sensors and demonstrate them in action.

This is where the confusion really comes. We are keeping the robot orientation straight while the robot moves, but at the end the, robot is not at the fiinal location that we would like it to be. The robot is still about 2-3 centimeters away after moving for about a meter.

The way you move the robot is always imprecise. Don't TRY to fight with this. Programming motors for competitions like the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) or World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) is not very different from programming the motors in the STEM classes. But there are a few things you should have in mind. 

We are introducing the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Ultrasonic Sensor. The first program is actually to detect an object and stop near it, at about 4 inches/10 centimeters. The ultrasonic sensor could be used during robotics competitions, but most of its use is for experiments.

Robot tasks to exercize how to position on the field using only motors. STEM classes could use it to demonstrate mechanical imperfections in constructions and how important using sensors in this LEGO Mindstorms Robotics sets is 

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.

The LEGO EV3 Mindstorms brick can be programmed from the brick itself. The motors can be moved forward/backward and even simple programs could be implemented without even touching the EV3-G software at the computer

First time programming the motors of the robot using the EV3-G software installed on a computer. We would explore how to move forward/backward and turn with the robot.

The robot detects an object. After the object is remove we want to make the LEGO robot move forward.

Complete introduction to the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Touch sensors from the very first step. In this video tutorial we program the robot to stop on touch sensor pressed. Again, this is based on your feedback that much of our tutorials in previous years were a little more advanced and that we have never made a proper introduction. A few more videos on touch sensor will follow after this

Football with robots could be quite fun. Football with LEGO Mindstorms robots is one of the popular categories for competitions with LEGO Mindstorms Robots. 

This tutorial is about how to follow a wall with an ultrasonic sensor. The example is with a border from a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition, but could also easily be applied to other competitions and problems.

We create a program for detecting when the Touch Sensor was Pressed/Released. Move until it is pressed, continue when it is released.

The way sensors and programs work in a robotics system is sometimes not-intuitive for a beginner, but nevertheless very logical. Building a program for a touch sensors for "Press->Go->Press->Stop" using the EV3-G software could be quite challenging at the beginning even for experienced teachers, students and robot builders.

Experiment with moving the robot in different geometrical figures. The tasks could be used in STEM classes for introducing students to geometry and math. 

Move the robot using the Move Steering block. We explore what the different values for Steering mean and how to use them. We also explore how the motor is configured to run for a number of rotations or seconds and what is the difference. 

We are working on the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) 2013 competition and its elementary part. The series will introduce three different concepts and this would be Arrays, Menus and Counting different lines. In the video you will see the robot working as it is in the final stage. 

We have previously aligned to lines with the Color Sensors. In this series we are doing the same program, but with Ultrasonic Sensors that are aligning the robot to a Wall.