Book Image

Build and Code Creative Robots with LEGO BOOST

By : Ashwin Shah
Book Image

Build and Code Creative Robots with LEGO BOOST

By: Ashwin Shah

Overview of this book

LEGO BOOST is a feature-rich creative toolbox that helps kids to develop science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills in a fun way. The LEGO BOOST kit consists of motors, sensors, and more than 840 LEGO pieces to bring various multifunctional robots to life. This book will take you on an interesting and enjoyable journey where you will have fun building robots while developing your problem-solving and logical thinking skills. This book is an end-to-end guide that will take you from a beginner to expert level of robot building with LEGO BOOST and Scratch. Starting with the unboxing and a brief introduction to LEGO BOOST, you'll quickly get your first robotic model up and running. You'll understand how to use the electronic and non-electronic components and have fun building a range of intriguing robotics projects with increasing complexity and advanced functionality. Throughout the book, you'll work on a variety of amazing projects, such as building your own R2D2, a fictional character from Star Wars, that will pique your curiosity to learn robotics and help you explore the full potential of the LEGO BOOST kit. Once you've had fun working with the projects, you'll be introduced to an interesting challenge for you to solve by yourself! By the end of this book, you'll have gained the skills to build creative robotics projects with the LEGO BOOST creative toolbox, and have built on your logical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
14
Bonus Chapters

Chapter 8: Building R2-D2

Who isn't a Star Wars fan here? As a child, I would make sure to watch the latest offerings from Star Wars on the very first day of release. One of the reasons to love Star Wars is the number of crazy and fancy robots in the movie and the kinds of special actions they do. Of all these robots, I really loved R2-D2 from day 1. Its movement and unique design with a rotating head have always kept me glued to the character. Which is your favorite Star Wars robot? In this chapter, you will be building an R2-D2 robot and solving fun programming tasks:

Figure. 8.1 – R2-D2 robot from Star Wars

Let's first understand what a pulley is and how it works. A pulley is one of six simple machines used to make our pulling efforts easy. Some common applications of pulleys are as follows:

  • Curtains/blinds: A pulley is used to open and close the blinds and helps in pulling the curtains up and down.
  • Flower basket: A pulley mechanism...