Video tutorials

It's a box! It's a robot! It's a box robot.  Box robots are very popular on different robotics competitions involving LEGO Mindstorms like the FIRST LEGO League or World Robotics Olympiad. Let's start with a brief introduction and continue in the next videos with explanation on the features of the robot and why such robots are frequently used.

Here we start with a second box robot that we would like to build. It is in a way improvement to the first robot and we would take a look at its features. 

The second construction of the series along with a comparison with the first construction. The new robot requires more parts, but has a few more advantages. 

Five different robot chassis. This is the goal of the series. To present ideas for different design of the robots and especially the robot bases. If the base is stable and balanced, then in could easily be extended. Let's start with the most simple of the five. 

Gears could be a powerful tool for those who know how to use them appropriately. In this episode we introduce some of the basic terms and concepts behind using gears in your construction.

If you think that the quick pinless attachments shown in video 63 are quick enough, see this tutorial and you will find out that the quick pinless attachments could be even quicker. These attachments can work without motors but by using the inertia forces.

In Episode 58 we introduced you to a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Modular robot. In this tutorial, we show you how we reached that construction. We start from a construction found on the Internet and take you through the process of examining and improving it, till we reach a more stable and reliable robot.

In this lesson I would like to show you how to build a LEGO Mindstorms competition robot and tell you how we have designed the construction used in the videos so far. Surely it isn’t perfect, but it is a good start.

The robot uses one middle motor. This middle motor with the use of a few gear systems controls for different axsels. We have attached wheels on this axles so it is very easy to extend the robot construction for additional LEGO Mindstorms active attachments

Based on your feedback we've build a course for introducing new students to the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 programming and construction. It is designed for school groups, competition teams and students alone in home that can get our feedback on their progress

Tasks for introduction on building robots.

In this video tutorial we will show you three ways for making your robot stable on the field. We will present each one of them with their advantages and disadvantages - it's up to you to choose which one is the best for your case.

In this video tutorial we experiment with different ways of solving the sports mission for throwing the ball. We show seven different LEGO MIndstorms EV3 and NXT robot constructions and attachements. Most of the techniques could be applied for any mission involving throwing a ball or an object.

Let's try to integrate more of the things we have learned into a single attachment. One that could accumulate energy, conserve it and use it at the appropriate time. All this because of a Rubber Band and a Flywheel - and if you don't know what a flywheel is you should definitely watch this videos 

With this attachment we just share an idea. The attachment was build by an FLL team called Brother in Arms and they needed a way to turn two axles in different direction, one at a time. The attachment was not used in the final robot design and construction, but presents a nice idea.

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. 

Try to build the attachment following the instructions. Use it to actually solve a mission from any competition (like taking loops)

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

In this last part of the tutorial we actually lift the rocket modules and prepare them for lauch. First we have to collect them in the right order and them somehow lift them.

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.

We just had some enormous amount of fun with building and using a catapult/trebuchet. Yes they are quite different, but the result achieved in the lesson is something in the middle. Learn how to fire elements using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 or NXT robotics set. Challange yourself, your team or your students to build it and fire elements as far and as accurate as possible.

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.  

We challenge you to build a construction of cardan joints that transfers power to a maximum angle. Submit your solutions to [email protected] and win an award. Use the challenge in home or in the classroom. Initial Deadline is 18 of Aprill 2015.

Build a rack and try to lift the robot with this rack. 

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. 

A robot that contains balls and releases them. It counts how many balls to release depending on the "treasures" it has hunted on the field. This is part of the World Robotics Olympiad 2015 Elementary challenge.