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 7: Building a Dragster

Dragsters that race and are designed for speed are a classic build and one that every builder creates at some point in their lives. I have operated the summer MINDSTORMS Robotics camp for several years and the dragster challenge is a favorite every year that the kids always want to compete in. Whether designing for yourself or competing against others, racing is a blast. In this chapter, we will build a dragster using this kit to see how it turns out in terms of speed and design:

Figure 7.1 – Top view of the dragster you will build in this chapter

In this chapter, we will break down the build and program as follows:

  • Building the motor frame
  • Adding the wheels with a gear
  • Developing the body of the dragster
  • Adding the body design
  • Programming the dragster to race and capture time