Book Image

Smart Robotics with LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor

By : Aaron Maurer
Book Image

Smart Robotics with LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor

By: Aaron Maurer

Overview of this book

LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor is the latest addition to the LEGO MINDSTORMS theme. It features unique designs that you can use to build robots, and also enable you to perform activities using the robot inventor application. You'll begin by exploring the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS, and then delve into various elements of the Inventor kit. Moving on, you'll start working on different projects which will prepare you to build a variety of smart robots. The first robotic project involves designing a claw to grab objects, and helps you to explore how a smart robot is used in everyday life and in industry. The second project revolves around building a working guitar that can be played and modified to meet the needs of the user. As you advance, you'll explore the concept of biomimicry as you discover how to build a scorpion robot. In addition to this, you'll also work on a classic robotic challenge by building a sumobot. Throughout the book, you'll come across a variety of projects that will provide you with hands-on experience in building creative robots, such as building a Dragster, Egg Decorator, and Plankton from Spongebob Squarepants. By the end of this LEGO book, you'll have got to grips with the concepts behind building a robot, and also found creative ways to integrate them using the application based on your creative insights and ideas.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

Chapter 5: Building a Scorpion

Biomimicry is the study and application of creating products, systems, mechanisms, and solutions to problems based on biological processes and functions found in nature. It is incredible what we can learn from plants and animals to find solutions to our own problems.

One of the many fascinating animals on our planet is the scorpion, a creature that has some features perfect for robot building. In this chapter, you are going to build a scorpion robot designed around the famous features of this creature. In particular, you will be building the stinger and a body style similar to that of a scorpion, along with some additional features that the kit provides.

Here's what your build will look like by the end of this chapter:

Figure 5.1 – Completed Build

In this chapter, we will break down the build and program into the following sections:

  • Building the scorpion body
  • Building the tail
  • Adding the color...