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The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book (Full Color)

Name: The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book (Full Color)
Author: Laurens Valk
ISBN: 9781593275327

by Laurens Valk

June 2014

Beginner to intermediate

396 pages

11h 57m

English

No Starch Press

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The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Discovery Book: a beginner’s guide to building and programming robots
about the author
about the technical reviewer
acknowledgments
introduction
why this book?is this book for you?how does this book work?the discoveriesestimating difficulty and timefinding solutionswhat to expect in each chapterpart I: getting startedpart II: programming robots with sensorspart III: robot building techniquespart IV: vehicle and animal robotspart V: creating advanced programspart VI: machine and humanoid robotsthe companion websiteconclusion
I. getting started
1. preparing your EV3 set
what’s in the box?the EV3 bricksorting Technic elementsthe mission padcontrolling your robotdownloading and installing the EV3 programming softwareconclusion
2. building your first robot
using the building instructionsbuilding the EXPLOR3Routput ports, input ports, and cablesnavigating the EV3 brickturning the EV3 on and offselecting and running programsmaking your robot move with the remote controlconclusion
3. creating and modifying programs
a quick first programcreating a basic program1. programming palette2. start block3. programming canvas4. hardware pagedownloading and running a programmanually running a programdownloading a program without running itrunning selected blocksprojects and programs5. file organizationsaving projects and programsrenaming projects and programsfinding projects and programs on the EV3 brickmodifying project properties6. toolbarusing select, pan, and zoom toolsusing the comment toolduplicating one or more blockshelp documentation7. content editorbuilding the official EV3 robots and bonus modelsconclusion
4. working with programming blocks: action blocks
how do programming blocks work?the move steering blockthe move steering block in actionunderstanding modes and settingsportssteeringpowerrotations, seconds, or degreesbrake at endmaking accurate turnsthe sound blockunderstanding the sound block settingsfile namevolumeplay typenote or tonedurationseeing the sound block in actionunderstanding the SoundCheck programthe display blockunderstanding the display block settingssub modesfile nameclear screenradius and fillcolortext and font sizex, y, column, and rowthe display block in actionunderstanding the DisplayTest programthe brick status light blockthe on and off modes in move blocksmove tank, large motor, and medium motor blocksfurther exploration

5. waiting, repeating, my blocks, and multitasking
the wait blockusing the wait block settingsseeing the wait block in actionunderstanding the WaitDisplay programthe loop blockusing the loop blockseeing the loop block in actionusing loop blocks within loop blocksmaking your own blocks: the my blockcreating my blocksusing my blocks in programsediting my blocksmanaging my blocks in projectsmultitaskingusing multiple start blockssplitting the sequence wireavoiding resource conflictsfurther exploration
II. programming robots with sensors
6. understanding sensors
what are sensors?understanding the sensors in the EV3 setunderstanding the touch sensorcreating the bumper with the touch sensorviewing sensor valuesprogramming with sensorssensors and the wait blocksensors and the wait block in actionavoiding obstacles with the touch sensorusing change modesensors and the loop blocksensors and the switch blockconfiguring a switch blocksensors and the switch block in actionadding blocks to a switch blockusing flat view and tabbed viewrepeating switchesunderstanding compare, change, and measure modecompare modechange modemeasure modeconfiguring the modesfurther exploration
7. using the color sensor
attaching the color sensorcolor modestaying inside a colored linecreating the test trackcreating the programfollowing a linethe switch block in measure modereflected light intensity modesetting the threshold valuecomparing sensor values with a thresholdfollowing a line more smoothlyambient light intensity modemeasuring ambient light intensitya morse code programfurther exploration
8. using the infrared sensor
proximity modeavoiding obstaclescombining sensorsremote modebeacon proximity modebeacon heading modecombining sensor operation modesfurther exploration
9. using the brick buttons and rotation sensors
using the brick buttonsusing the rotation sensormotor positionresetting the motor positionrotational speedcalculating the rotational speedmeasuring rotational speed in a programunderstanding speed regulationseeing speed regulation in actionstopping a stalled motorfurther exploration
III. robot-building techniques
10. building with beams, axles, connector blocks, and motors
using beams and framesextending beamsusing framesusing beams to reinforce structuresusing angled beamsusing the LEGO unit gridusing axles and cross holesusing connector blocksextending axlesconnecting parallel beamsconnecting beams at right anglessecuring parallel beamsusing half LEGO unitsusing thin elementscreating flexible structuresbuilding with motors and sensorsbuilding with the large motorconnecting wheels and treadsconnecting beams to the motor shaftbuilding with the medium motorbuilding with sensorsmiscellaneous elementsfurther exploration
11. building with gears
gearing essentialstaking a closer look at gearscalculating the gear ratio for two gearscalculating output speedcalculating the required gear ratiodecreasing and increasing rotational speedwhat is torque?when do you increase torque?decreasing torquecreating longer gear trainscalculating the compound gear ratiofurther increasing torque and decreasing speedbalancing speed and torquefriction and backlashusing the gears in the EV3 setworking with the unit gridgears and half unitsgear trains around a cornerusing improper combinationsusing bevel and double-bevel gearsperpendicular connections on the unit gridconnecting perpendicular axlesusing knob wheelsusing worm gearsconstructing sturdy gear trainsbracing gears with beamspreventing axles from twistingreversing direction of rotationbuilding with gears and EV3 motorsfurther exploration
IV. vehicle and animal robots
12. Formula EV3: a racing robot
building the Formula EV3 Race Cardriving and steeringcreating my blocks for steeringmy block #1: resetmy block #2: leftmy block #3: rightmy block #4: centertesting the my blockscreating a remote control programracing autonomouslyfurther exploration
13. ANTY: the robotic ant
understanding the walking mechanismbuilding ANTYmaking ANTY walkcreating the opposite my blockavoiding obstaclesprogramming behaviorfinding foodsensing the environmentno color: sitting stillgreen: safetyyellow: foodblue: predatorsred: aggressionfurther exploration
V. creating advanced programs
14. using data wires
building SK3TCHBOTgetting started with data wiresworking with data wiresseeing the value in a data wiredeleting a data wiredata wires across a programusing multiple data wiresrepeating blocks with data wiresdata wire typesnumeric data wirelogic data wiretext data wirenumeric array and logic arraytype conversionconverting logic values to numeric valuesdisplaying numbers on the EV3 screenusing sensor blocksmeasure modecompare modecompare mode and beacon valuescompare mode and the touch sensordata wire value rangeadvanced features of flow blocksdata wires and the wait blockdata wires and the loop blockusing the loop indexending a loop in logic modedata wires and the switch blocklogic modenumeric modeconnecting data wires to blocks inside switch blocksthe loop interrupt blockbreaking a loop from the insidebreaking a loop from the outsidefurther exploration
15. using data operations blocks and my blocks with data wires
using data operations blocksthe math blockthe math block in actionusing advanced modepracticing with the math blockthe random blockthe compare blockthe logic operations blocklogic operationsnot modethe range blockthe round blockthe text blockcreating my blocks with data wiresa my block with inputediting my blocksa my block with outputa my block with input and outputstrategies for making my blocksstarting points for my blockssharing my blocks between projectsfurther exploration
16. using constants and variables
using constantsusing variablesdefining a variableusing the variable blockdefining variables with the variable blockcreating a program with a variablechanging and incrementing variable valuesinitializing variablescalculating an averagefurther exploration
17. playing games on the EV3
step 1: creating basic drawingsmy block #1: clearmy block #2: coordinatescompleting the basic programstep 2: adding pencil controlsmoving the pencil without drawingturning the pencil into an eraserclearing the screensetting the pencil sizefurther exploration
VI. machine and humanoid robots
18. the SNATCH3R: the autonomous robotic arm
understanding the grabberthe grabber mechanismthe lifting mechanismbuilding the SNATCH3Rcontrolling the grabbermy block #1: grabmy block #2: resetmy block #3: releasecreating the remote control programtroubleshooting the grabbersearching for the IR beaconbuilding the IR bugmy block #4: searchunderstanding the sensor measurementsunderstanding the search algorithmcreating and testing the search my blockcreating the final programfinding the beacondriving toward the beaconlifting and moving the IR bugfurther exploration
19. LAVA R3X: the humanoid that walks and talks
building the legsmaking the robot walkmy block #1: resetmy block #2: returnmy block #3: onsyncmy block #4: lefttaking the first stepsbuilding the head and armscontrolling the head and armsmy block #5: headavoiding obstacles and responding to handshakesresetting the legs and making the head movewalking until one of two sensors is triggeredresponding to the triggered sensorfurther exploration
A. troubleshooting programs, the EV3 brick, and wireless connections
troubleshooting compilation errorsmissing my blockserrors in programming blocksmissing variable definitionstroubleshooting a running programtroubleshooting the EV3using the hardware pagemanaging connectionsmanaging the EV3’s memorysolving problems with the USB connectionrestarting the EV3 brickupdating the EV3 firmwareavoiding data loss using a microSD cardprogramming the EV3 wirelesslyusing Bluetooth to download programs to the EV3finding a Bluetooth dongleconnecting to the EV3 with Bluetoothusing Wi-Fi to download programs to the EV3choosing between Bluetooth and Wi-Fisummary
B. creating on brick programs
creating, saving, and running an on brick programadding blocks to the loopreplacing a blockdeleting a blockconfiguring a block’s settingrunning a programsaving and opening a programusing the on brick programming blocksimporting on brick programssummary
Index
Copyright

Content preview from The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book (Full Color)

Chapter 5. waiting, repeating, my blocks, and multitasking

The previous chapter taught you how to program your robot to perform a variety of actions, such as moving. In this chapter, you’ll learn several programming techniques that give you more control over the order and flow of the blocks in your EV3 programs. You’ll learn how to pause a program with Wait blocks, how to repeat a set of actions with Loop blocks, how to run multiple blocks simultaneously, and even how to make your own custom My Blocks.

the wait block

So far you’ve been using programming blocks that make the robot move, play sounds, or display something on the screen. Now you’ll meet a block that does nothing more than pause the program for a set amount of time. This block, the ...

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The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming (Full Color)

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The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book (Full Color)

by Laurens Valk

Chapter 5. waiting, repeating, my blocks, and multitasking

the wait block

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