Book Image

Building Smart LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Robots

By : Kyle Markland
Book Image

Building Smart LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Robots

By: Kyle Markland

Overview of this book

Smart robots are an ever-increasing part of our daily lives. With LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, you can now prototype your very own small-scale smart robot that uses specialized programming and hardware to complete a mission. EV3 is a robotics platform for enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels that makes prototyping robots accessible to all. This book will walk you through six different projects that range from intermediate to advanced level. The projects will show you building and programming techniques that are used by engineers in the real world, which will help you build your own smart robot. You'll see how to make the most of the EV3 robotics platform and build some awesome smart robots. The book starts by introducing some real-world examples of smart robots. Then, we'll walk you through six different projects and explain the features that allow these robots to make intelligent decisions. The book will guide you as you build your own object-tracking tank, a box-climbing robot, an interactive robotic shark, a quirky bipedal robot, a speedy remote control race car, and a GPS-navigating robot. By the end of this book, you'll have the skills necessary to build and program your own smart robots with EV3.
Table of Contents (9 chapters)

Software

We will write two programs for the GPS Car. The first program is a simple GPS test program, and the second is the autonomous navigation program. Before we start programming, we will need to prepare the EV3 software for use with the third-party hardware.

Preparing the EV3 software

The dGPS and compass require specific software for them to be used with the EV3. Both sensors have their own programming block, which allows you to program the third-party sensor like you would program a standard EV3 sensor. Thankfully, the software is available for download for free from the manufacturers' websites. All we need to do is follow a few steps to download the third-party software and import it into the EV3 programming environment...