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 10 out of 10 tutorials we do 10 runs that demonstrated how consistent and reliable it is to stop at the second intersection. This is useful as it is one of the main ways to figure out how to position yourself on the field.

In this video tutorial we take a next step in programming reliable and consistent robots and this is to learn how to stop at a second intersection. We need this because most of the time when we want to reach a mission model on a robotics competition field, the model will be located away from us and we must use all kind of technique to reach it. In this tutorial - we stop at a second intersection.

On of the most precise ways to position on the FIRST LEGO League and other competition fields is to follow and align and in this tutorial we demonstrate exactly this - how consistent and reliable this method is to reach specific mission models. In this way you know that every time you will be at the right place, which is great.

With this video tutorial we demonstration the consistency and reliability of the using an intersection to position on the field. We move forward and we stop at the first intersection. We detect the intersection with a sensor. In the whole 10 runs there isn't a single mistake and you can see the precision of the robot on each run. Check it out and experiment with the same program for your robot.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate a really important concept for FIRST LEGO League competitions - you position the robot on the field with depending on timers and rotations. The issue with moving the robot for 10 seconds and then stopping is that every time it is in a different location. Same for rotations. The wheels will slip, the battery will change, something will happen and the robot will not be in the same place every time. This is not consistent and reliable.

In this video tutorial we show how you can build robots that position on the field consistently and reliably by following and line and then aligning to a line. We also demonstrate the concept of "double align" which is quite powerful and even if there were some mistakes they will be handled.

The LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set comes with two LARGE motors. But even though these motors look almost the same they are not quite the same. There are always some differences in their behaviour. If you have more than two motors, because you bought them or you won them somewhere at a competition, it is worth doing an experiment to find which pair of motors works best. 

This is one of the last tutorials in the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime programming for Competitions course and it demonstrates what we've all been waiting for - how to reach a mission model from base in a reliable and consistent way when the mission model is on the other end of the field. Naturally what we use are all the different concepts that we've learned in the course and the tutorial is more advanced than the other so if anything is not clear take a look also at the different tutorials an concepts in the course.

The robot can move with different speed by applying different power to the motors. It will most of the time make smaller deviations when it moves slower. But you can't just move with a power of 10 all the time. This is a way too slow especially for competitions like FIRST LEGO League or World Robot Olympiad. In this video tutorial I would like to discuss the balance between motor power and robot movement error, how does the battery influence the power of the robot and to conduct an EV3-G experiment that will record the values of the Gyro Sensor along with the current power. 

This is the first video tutorial from the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime programming course in which we use a sensor and we've selected to use the motion sensor. The Motion sensor is allows us to detect how the robot is turning in a 3 dimensional space time continuum or to put it simply - we use it to move straight with the robot. That's it. We want to move straight - we use a sensor, and the Motion Sensor is a good choice.

In this video tutorial we follow a line 10 consecutive times. In this way we demonstrate whats the consistency that you could expect from the robot when following a line with a multi-states algorithm.

On the topic of following lines with a robot there is a way to make the robot follow the line a little more precisely. This method is called "Multi-states" program. Or at least we call it like this. In this tutorial you will see how we program 5 state for the robot line following program. This could be particularly important with FIRST LEGO League competitions where we must build consistent and reliable robots.

With this 10 runs we demonstrate the consistency and reliability that could be achieved with a LEGO Education SPIKE Prime robot and a 2-states simple line following algorithm. It is not bad. Still there are some things you should consider when using this program and one of the things is the use of the timers

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the classic algorithm for following a line with robots. It is widely used in FIRST LEGO League competition and could be applied to LEGO Education SPIKE Prime and to other robots also. The algorithm follows a line by moving to the left and to the right and trying to stay at the edge of a black line.

We use a sensor so the robot must be reliable and accurate right? Wrong. The robot is not reliable and accurate only because we use sensors and that's really important during FIRST LEGO League competition. There is a reason for this and in this tutorial we demonstrate and explain how the robot behaves with a basic use of the Motion Sensor to move straight. As a result you will learn why is it important not to stop at this stage and to go to the next level with more advance use of sensors.

In this video tutorial we use the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Motion Sensor to reach a mission model on the field. It's a basic use of the motion sensor that we will extend in the next few tutorials and in the same time we take the opportunity to demonstrate what a MyBlock is and how to develop one. As a result of this video you will learn how to make the program easier to read and maintain by organizing the blocks in the program in special MyBlocks that couple them all together.

The EV3 Gyro sensor is quite powerful, but there are some little tricks when using it. In the previous episode we showed a hardware solution to the problem and now we are exploring how could the sensor be calibrated from the EV3-G software. Thanks to Sharon and Faye (full names omitted) for the request for this video.

Is it better to do fast turns or slow turns? Should you save some time by turning fast or should you be more precise by turning slow. Where is the balance? This video tutorial demonstrates exactly this for LEGO Education SPIKE Prime robot, their motion sensor and an ever occurring question on FIRST LEGO League competition which is how to find the balance and where is the balance.

Many teams are having troubles with the EV3 Gyro Sensor and its drift. In this video we are showing one way to fix this behaviour and get an accurate measurement from the sensor. 

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the use of the motion sensor and how it could be use to turn precisely to 90 degrees. We demonstrate some of the caveats of the sensor and how sometimes it does not work as expected. Like you set the robot to turn until the sensors detects 90 degrees and at the end the robot is not at exactly 90 degrees.

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.

Tasks for the Gyro sensor that you can use in STEM classes, while preparing for a competition or just to explore how the sensor works.

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.

Let's explain the problem of just waiting for the Gyro sensor to detect an angle and think of why the robotics systems work like that.

The Gyro sensor can be positioned horizontally, vertically or at a random angle. Have you ever wonder what does the gyro detect when it is positioned vertically. This is the subject of this video tutorial for the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Gyro Sensor.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the importance of properly shielding and protecting the light/color sensors of your LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor robots. These principles generally apply for all kind of robots. The problem is that external light sources from the venue could change the behavior of the robot - like have you ever been to a competition venue where the lighting just makes the robot behave in different ways? - well this tutorial is for you!