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)

Adding the motors for the arms

Locate the following elements for the arms:

  • Two motors
  • Four black 3L beams
  • Six black connector pins
  • Two gray connector perpendicular pins

The required pieces can be seen in the following image:

Figure 9.12 – Parts layout

Start this section by connecting the gray connector perpendicular pins to the gray part of the motors. It is easier if you have motors facing down, to ensure you properly build the part in the right direction to fit on the main frame. This is illustrated in the following image:

Figure 9.13 – Gray perpendicular pins added to motor

Next, add a black 3L beam to the other end of the gray connector perpendicular pins and insert a black connector pin in the middle hole of the black 3L beam, as illustrated in the following image:

Figure 9.14 – 3L beam added to motor

The next step is to locate the black 3L beams that have...