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)

Building the scorpion's exoskeleton

You will now use many of the white elements typically used for vehicles and robot body designs to create the look of a scorpion. Additionally, these pieces help secure the build and hide wires underneath to give the build a sleeker look. You will notice there are some wire clips used on the sides of the Intelligent Hub, so be sure to use these as you build to hide as much of the wire as you can.

You will now finish up the frame of the robot by adding the head and some structural elements before moving into the final details of the build.

You will need the following pieces:

  • One white 13L beam
  • Eight black connector pins
  • Two white panels
  • Four white pins with friction ridges
  • One curved white panel
  • One small curved white panel
  • Two gray connector pins with bush stops
  • Two red axle pins
  • Two teal round axle connectors

Begin by adding a black connector pin to each end of the 13L beam. Attach this...