ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

TOW3R

By Thomas Madeya

My contribution to #robotremix3 is TOW3R, named after the puzzle game “Tower of Hanoi”. If you don’t know the game you should learn about it first from

Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi.

I use the tires from both sets to create 3 “discs” of different diameter. TOW3R moves them around according to the rules of the game. Here are first photos I took to discuss the idea even before the actual build started

My first sketches for TOW3R already showed the key construction concepts:

Turntable driven by one motor to rotate to three different positions
Second motor to move the arm up/down
Third motor to open/close the claw

However, the ideas I had for the sensors did not turn out to be effective. The final model uses the color sensor to detect the position of the turntable, while the touch sensor detects when the arm reaches the up-most position.

Here is a video to TOW3R performing the minimal number of moves to solve the “Tower of Hanoi” puzzle game.

It took me several iterations of building and programming to get to the final model. Especially grabbing tires of different size with have more sensors and LEGO pieces at hand was a big challenge.

If you would like to learn more about how I solved that and several other challenges, please download the full story. Moreover, you can also download the EV3 project file.

The TOW3R Story (PDF, x pages) http://lego.brandls.info/random/rr3/the-tow3r-story.pdf

TOW3R.EV3 (LEGO MINDSTORMS project file) http://lego.brandls.info/random/rr3/tow3r.ev3

Building instructions are not available yet, but are planned to be created soon.

You can contact me at thomas@nano-giants.net.

The Seshan Brothers have done it again, this time they created a Xmas Edition of their famous PIX3L PLOTT3R printer.

That's the Seshan Brothers in minifig form ;)

Not only does this version prints a selection of different holiday greeting cards it is also designed in festive colours, using red and green LEGO elements from different sets combined with their EV3 sets.

Holiday Card Plott3r Automates Holiday Cards

Another really cool thing, don't know if you noticed, is that even the markers are LEGO! Check them out on shop at home https://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-MARKER-9-PK-5005147

Close up of the LEGO Markers

The project even ended up on the LEGO Group's Youtube channel. Check it out!!

If you want to learn more about the technology behind this project head over to the Seshan Brother's GitHub directory front page http://www.beyondtheinstructions.com/projects/ where you can find EV3 programs and much more.

Also be sure to go LIKE the PIX3L PLOTT3R Facebook page right over here: https://www.facebook.com/PIX3LPLOTT3R

Happy Holiday from the staff at The NXT Step (is EV3)

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/d71qmecyfs3z6sp/MINDSTORMS%20Year%20in%20Review%202016.pdf?dl=0

Guest blogger Hans Odenthal share's with us an amazing project built by his son.

This was built by my son Bram, 17yo from Trevianum in Sittard School in the Netherlands. It was for a study project that every student has to do at the end of the secondary school. That can be any topic and since he wants to start a career as software engineer, he choose a technical subject. Within borders, you can define your own project that of course need to be approved by the school.

He was inspired during a tech event and he saw the real robots. Since my company was a sponsor of these robots, it was easy to make an appointment to meet the real robots and to learn how the real one works.

For the study project, my son wanted to know if it would be possible to build a single robot with the same functionality as the real one, meaning:

The robot should drive in any direction using omni wheels
The robot can see the ball
The robot can drive towards the ball
The robot can grab the ball
The robot can shoot the ball
The robot 'knows' its location on the playing field

The robot has been build by Lego Mindstorms, with a total of 4 EV3 bricks, 9 large motors for the movement of the robot, a Pixycam camera for the vision, 2 large motors for grabbing the ball and 2 medium motors for the shooting. A gyro sensor is used to make sure that the robot only makes one full turn (360 degrees) when it is searching for the ball. Apart from the Pixycam, everything is regular Lego.

The result of his study project is shown on the picture below. The robot is able to drive, locate the ball (it should be in a range of 2,5 meters otherwise the camera won't see it), drive to the ball using a simple PID control algorithm, grabs the ball and shoot the ball

It is programmed in the normal EV3 programming environment, my son and I gives lessons in that. So programming was relatively easy for him (I helped him a bit with the PID controller).

Future plans? Not sure yet. Maybe I’ll take over from here and will try to improve the software and add more functionality. Meanwhile, click here to view the Flickr page with more pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129513068@N06/sets/72157678705135431/

If you too have a cool project you'd like to share on The NXT Step (is EV3) don't hesitate to contact us (click on Tell the editor) :)

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THE ULTIMATE MINDSTORMS COMMUNITY GIVEAWAY

BROUGHT TO YOU BY BAZMARC & THE SESHAN BROTHERS

The Seshan Brother and I've been discussing this over a month now. How could we give back to the amazing MINDSTORMS community while making room for our new projects? We came up with the idea of simply giving away our most popular robots!

Bazmarc & The Seshan Brothers

"We simply have no more room" said Sanjay.
"Our next project is going to be so big" said Arvind.

Click on this link to select the robot you would like to win (only 1 choice per person) ...hurry!!

Peace, Love and Robots for everyone! xx

Guest blogger Arie Elbelman talks to us about a cool MINDSTORMS related product;

CoderZ: Bringing robotics to every student in the world

CoderZ is an online learning environment where kids learn how to program virtual and real robots within the STEM pathways. Problem-solving, critical thinking, computational thinking, teamwork, self-paced learning, formative assessment, robotics, classroom engagement: CoderZ includes all of these concepts and more.

Discovering different new ways to engage the new generations with robotics and with STEM related fields becomes a bigger challenge everyday. That is why, tools like CoderZ are being developed to give teachers, educators, and robotics experts the possibility to take a deep breath.

CoderZ’s new version, which is now compatible with the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 (you can download your code through Lejos), enables students to program their own cyber-robot while acquiring 21st-century skills. Delivered with the “Coding Robots” curriculum, co-developed by Intelitek and Mr. Gary Garber, CoderZ becomes an scalable and effective way for students with different levels to experience the robotics world in class, and outside of it.

CoderZ has several gamified missions, motivating kids to accomplish them in order to move to a harder level. Also, CoderZ has a class management tool for teachers, coaches and mentors to track each student or team member progress and activity.

Starting with a friendly drag-and-drop Blockly visual editor, kids progress to code their virtual robot using Java. But if your team members or students already knows how to program in Java, they can start right away with it and complete the missions only using the text editor.

Recently, the CoderZ team added to their previous FTC, First Tech Challenge, version, the new version mentioned before, which is compatible with the EV3 brick. Right now, and in order for you to try it, the CoderZ team is offering a 14-day free trial which you can sign up for here.

Want to hear something cool? The CoderZ online learning environment even gives you the option of driving and programming your virtual robot on the moon, taking into consideration friction and gravity. And of course, increasing the kids’ engagement with the robotics world. Although, for now, kids’ won’t be able to try their robot on the moon after they download the program, but who knows what Elon Musk will create in the next few years.

Pay some atención! CoderZ’s STEM learning environment is available both in English and in Español… Si señor!

Learn more about CoderZ at http://GoCoderZ.com.

Readers of The NXT Step you can request your free trial here.

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Gijs and his cousin just finished building this really impressive roller coaster, best part of it? It's controlled my MINDSTORMS EV3 :)

The roller coaster is EV3 powered, it uses a color sensor for sensing the arrival of a train and then initializes the Mindstorms program loop.

Visitors are being sent on a mission to an alien world. After they get launched into space they orbit a potentially interesting planet and initialize the landing. Once landed they find a dangerous world with enormous monsters. A giant sand worm eats them at the end of the ride.

Video made by Motiontales (http://motiontales.nl).

If you have an amazing project powered by MINDSTORMS do let us know so we can feature you too on The NXT Step (is EV3)

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The maker movement has given inspiration to many talented builders and programmers. LEGO® and MINDSTORMS® have become a perfect platform for unleashing the creativity of many makers. Recently, we have seen LEGO machines that solve Rubik’s cubes, print photographs and cards, weave scarves, play games, and more. Here are three innovative 3D printers made with LEGO MINDSTORMS from makers in Montreal, California, and Pennsylvania.

EV3Dprinter by bazmarc

Inspired by 3D printers at World Maker Faire, Marc-André Bazergui (aka bazmarc), in collaboration with Thomas Madeya, created the first 3D printer made with MINDSTORMS. For Marc-André, the most fun part of this project was working with someone in a different part of the world: Thomas lives in Germany while Marc-André lives in Canada.

Dubbed EV3Dprinter, this amazing machine is able to print a variety of shapes by selecting the parameters on the EV3 programmable brick. In 2016, Marc-André updated this printer to use the FUNWELL® 3D Printing Pen V3. He added the ability to create your own coordinates and was then able to start printing text and any other design. Marc-André’s work has inspired others to make different versions of 3D printers made with MINDSTORMS.

In addition to the EV3 programmable brick, the key LEGO elements in his printer are three medium motors, one large motor, gear racks, and two large linear actuators.

Marc-André has modeled his printer in LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), and made the LDD file as well as the code file available for others. Take a look at his post on Instructables.com. LDD is a free LEGO CAD software and can be downloaded online.

To see a video explanation of the EV3Dprinter, watch the [bazmarc]session. To learn more about Marc-André, visit his website.

G-Code Pars3r by Cyrus

In 2016, a young maker in California, Cyrus Cuenca, created his version of a LEGO Mindstorms 3D printer in collaboration with Xander Soldaat. He used an inexpensive 3D pen, and wrote a custom G-Code interpreter. Since his printer accepts G-Code, his printer is able to print models like a conventional 3D printer. It uses four LEGO MINDSTORMS motors: three motors for the three axes, and one for the extruder. The printer is programmed in Robot-C.

Cyrus uses the Soyan Standard 3D Printing Pen. He has his code and other instructions for this project on his post on Instructables.com.

To learn more about Cyrus, visit his blog site.

EV3D Pi.G Print3r by Seshan Brothers

Sanjay and Arvind Seshan (aka Seshan Brothers) have been building dot-matrix printers (PIX3L PLOTT3R) out of LEGO MINDSTORMS since early 2016. Inspired by an actual 3D printer they received in December 2016, they began building a 3D printer out of MINDSTORMS in January 2017.

Their goal was to create a MINDSTORMS printer that resembled their Alunar iPrusa Clone in features and functionality. As a result, their printer features a large print bed with an 8-inch PEI plate on top. The PEI plate is largely to protect the LEGO from accidental melting when in contact with the tip of the 3D printing pen. The 3D printing pen they use is the Monoprice MP Select 3D Printing Pen.

From a programming perspective, the key requirement for their project was that it accept G-Code files which is used in traditional 3D printers. However, they also wanted the printer itself to be programmed in EV3-G, the standard programming language for MINDSTORMS to make this project more accessible to others. To accomplish this, they wrote their own file converter that would could interpret the G-Code into a file readable in EV3-G. This conversion process is done in Python.

As an added feature, they include a Raspberry Pi and small touch screen to the printer to support a user interface. The interface lets the user select prints.

To learn more about the development of this printer, follow EV3D Pi.G.Print3r on Facebook. Code and build instructions will be shared through this page as soon as they are available.

To learn more about the Seshan Brothers visit their website.

Where can you see these 3D printers?

Next weekend (May 19-21), all three of the above 3D printers made from LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3s will be featured at the 2017 Bay Area Maker Faire. Stop by their booth in Zone 2 to meet the ROBOT MAK3Rs in person, learn about how you can make one, and pick up a special collectible tile.

In addition, follow the MINDSTORMS EV3D Printers Page for updates and future events. Feel free to share your MINDSTORMS printer with this page.

Bay Area Maker Faire, the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth is a two-day event held in San Mateo, California. This is this the flagship event for Maker Faire, with close to 200,000 visitors each year. Maker Faire is a venue for makers of all types and ages: students, educators, crafters, tinkerers, scientists, artists, authors, engineers, and more. It is an amazing place for people to share what they have discovered and made. It is also a place where people become inspired. LEGO and MINDSTORMS fit right in!

From May 19-21, 2017, Marc-André Bazergui, Cyrus Cuenca, Sanjay Seshan, and Arvind Seshan represented the MINDSTORMS fan community at Bay Area Maker Faire. Read about their experiences below.

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BayLUG booth

Our community booth was located in Zone 2, alongside 3D printers, laser cutters, and the BayLUG exhibit. LEGO played a huge part in our area, drawing crowds to both the LUG exhibit and our exhibit for the entire weekend.

It was a great location for our booth which focussed on LEGO MINDSTORMS 3D printers and plotters. The booth was visited by a variety of people, including educators, families with children, companies, and the media.

EV3D Printers and Plotters

The reactions to see our printers were all the same, one of surprise and delight. People never expected to see a printer made with LEGO MINDSTORMS. We heard comments such as "Now I have seen it all!", "This is the most interesting thing I have seen at Maker Faire" and "I have a 3D printing pen, LEGO, and a MINDSTORMS set. I could do this too!"

Meet the ROBOT MAK3RS:

The booth was very busy all weekend

Marc-André brought two generations of 3D printers made with MINDSTORMS. The machines printed hundreds of little High-5 hands, Christmas trees, MAKE logos, and more. Thousands of people were excited to see Marc-André's EV3D Printer (made in collaboration with Thomas Madeya), and were really inspired to make one themselves. It was great that Marc-André already has his LDD and code files shared, as people expressed interest in making a printer themselves.

Cyrus brought his version of a 3D printer, G-Code Pars3r, (made in collaboration with Xander Soldaat). During the weekend, Cyrus enjoyed working together with Marc-André, Sanjay, and Arvind to redesign his printer. In addition to his printer, Cyrus brought his new Graffiti CubeBot. This interactive cube allows kids to build LEGO mosaics. It can also move around using an app that Cyrus developed.

The Seshan Brothers brought their EV3D Pi.G Print3r as well as one of their PIX3L PLOTT3R robots. They printed hundreds of R2-D2s (a crowd favorite), Makerbots, and more on these machines.

Memorable Moments for the #MINDSTORMSmagic team:

Dhruv's prototype

Swati visits the booth

We particularly enjoyed the special visit by Swati Gupta and Guruvinder Singh from the MINDSTORMS Facebook group. Being able to connect with members of the MINDSTORMS community in person made Maker Faire extra special for us.

We are excited to meet our MINDSTORMS friends and glad to be able to inspire them.

"Seshan Brothers have inspired my son, Dhruv a lot. After attending Maker Faire, he is trying to design a 3D printer himself. The 3D pen came today and experiments are on!" - Swati.

Monoprice visits our booth

Maker Faire was also a great place to meet and discuss collaborative projects. Since we were using 3D printing pens in four of our robots in the booth, 3D pen manufacturers were very interested in our exhibit. Monoprice stopped by the booth to see their pen in action. Take a look at Monoprice's Instragram Post from their visit to our booth. The 3D Printing pen companies had no idea that their pens could be used to create 3D printers with MINDSTORMS and LEGO. They were all intrigued by this novel use of their tool.

Meeting Josef Prusa

Another memorable moment was meeting the 3D printing legend, Josef Prusa, from Prusa Research 3D Printers. Josef Prusa visited our booth to look at our 3D and dot-matrix printers.

The EV3D Pi.G Print3r is actually designed to look like the iPrusa printer. Therefore, it was particularly inspiring for us to meet Josef Prusa in person. Prusa was amazed to see what we had built using LEGO and MINDSTORMS.

Overall, attending Maker Faire Bay Area was an amazing experience for all of us. The best part of Maker Faire was being able to connect with the community, inspire other builders, share our innovative LEGO machines, and even spark new ideas for our next project.

Photo Credits: Marc-André Bazergui and Asha Seshan

SuperBots to the Rescue: A ReBrick Challenge

It's back....a MINDSTORMS ReBrick challenge with SUPER prizes!

"It’s time to do some superpower thinking and show us a Super Robot, a.k.a. SuperBot! Make it super cool, super geeky, super smart, or super fun, and show us what makes your robot a SuperBot – and what dilemma, challenge, or chore it rescues you from! The greatest SuperBot will send his or her creator on a super-duper trip to LEGO World Copenhagen."

Grand Prize: A trip to LEGO World Copenhagen in February 2018 where you will present your winning robot. If you want to see what it's like to got to LEGOWORLD in Copenhagen, take a look at this brief compilation video of the robots at the event.

Entry Deadline: Submit your entry by August 18, 2017 at 10:00AM EST.

Note: Before you start, please read the rules for submission carefully.

What makes a robot super? You do! Any robot can have super powers. No super power is too simple. Perhaps your robot can clear the table, explore new planets or climb up stairs. Perhaps your robot has the force (use the ultrasonic sensor), super strength (use gears/motor), or is super smart (can play a game). Use your imagination!

Last year's first place winners, Dave and Joe built a table setting robot. They won a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark for LEGOWORLD 2017. Watch the video below to learn about their design process and get some tips for your entry this year.

From the ReBrick contest page: "This robot is fully capable setting spots for up to 6 people by driving around a table and dropping pre-loaded forks, plates, and cups from complicated elevator stacks and a rotating drum. Using 2 EV3s, 5 motors, an IR sensor, and a ultrasonic sensor, this robot is large and complex."

"Remember, it doesn't have to work right the first time. Come up with an idea, build a prototype and then...make it better. Most of all, have fun with your project!"

In 2015, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Community Partners (MCP) were challenged to imagine awesome robots using parts from only a retail MINDSTORMS set and a LEGO Technic. The #ROBOTREMIX concept was born.

The first remix, in 2015 was with the Technic SeaPlane, in 2016 there was one with the TeleHandler and one with the DragRacer. For 2017, LEGO challenged the MCP to remix with the very big, super cool, LEGO Technic Jet Plane set! One challenge different from the other remix was the need to incorporate the Power Function motor found in that large set.

Some amazing ideas were proposed but only 4 could be selected to turn their ideas into actual models. After month of work, we are ready to present you with the 4 Robot Remix of 2017!

SAPHIRO, a beautiful blue dragon by Anton Vanhoucke from the Netherlands.

CR3AM ROULETTE, a funny pie in your face game by Andreas Baumgart from Germany.

StormLEv3L, a fantastic arcade like game by Michael Dobson and David Gilday from UK.

SpiroMonst3r, a spirograph machine by Guilherme Constantino from Brazil.

Stay tuned for posts on each of these creations, with a story from the creator, how they got their ideas, sketches they made, behind the scene pictures, building instructions or LDD files along with EV3 programs and of course, the video showing the robot in action!

We look forward to hearing from you, what do you think of these models? do you like the robot remix concept? Which one of these would you build first? Have you ever remixed MINDSTORMS and Technic sets before?

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Saphiro, the Blue Dragon

by Anton Vanhoucke

Meet Saphiro, the Mighty Blue Dragon! It was built from the LEGO MINDSTORMS 31313 set and the Air Race Jet 42066 set for the # ROBOTREMIX4 contest.

It all started with a small sketch submitted for the competition.

The completed model is 83 cm long and 63 cm wide and weighs 1.4 kg. The model was designed in 20-30 hours and contains 813 LEGO bricks. Creating an LDD and EV3 file took another 16 hours.

The final model remained fairly close to original sketch.

In addition to the dragon, a rotating platform was also built from the pieces in the two sets to showcase the model. You can see Saphiro in action, along with the rotating platform in this video.

You can control the dragon with the IR remote. The programming is fairly simple. The most complex aspect of this creation was the walking, since the left and right legs must be synchronized. Unfortunately, after walking just a few steps, the legs usually get unsynchronized. Therefore, the programming includes a timer that resyncs the legs every 10 seconds when no buttons are pressed. Watch the video below for some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the making of Saphiro.

You can build Saphiro too. Download the LDD file and the EV3 program file.

Hope you enjoy constructing and playing with Saphiro.

Cr3am Roulette

by Andreas Baumgart

This is the introduction to my RobotRemix#4 Cr3am Roulette, which was created using the LEGO MINDSTORMS 31313 and LEGO Technic Air Race Jet 42066 sets.

Cr3am Roulette is pure fun! And you will wish but one thing while playing this game: "Please, let it not be me!“

I came up with the idea when I saw a video of the a board game called "PieFace“ on YouTube. I thought to myself, "I have to make this with LEGO MINDSTORMS!"

The game’s goal is simple: be part of the small group that does not get whipped cream catapulted into their faces.

How it works: You start the game by cocking the catapult and pressing "enter" on the EV3 Brick. The catapult is now locked. Then, you place a nice large portion of whipped cream on the catapult.

Then, CR generates a random number at which the catapult triggers.
This number corresponds with a certain degree of engine rotation.

The player then pushes the touch button and rolls his/her number of moves (between 1 and 6). Then, the player places his face in the frame and turns the wheels slowly towards himself, using both knobs. 50 degrees corresponds to one turn. The end of each 50 degree rotation is announced with a tone. For example, if the player rolls a 5, he/she has to turn the wheels by 50 degrees 5 times.

Cr3am Roulette counts the turns and compares this with its previously generated random number. When the number is reached, the catapult releases! If not, it’s the next player’s turn. The next player rolls the number of his moves by pushing the touch button, places his/her head in the frame, and turns the wheels according to the moves. This goes on and on until the catapult strikes!

Watch the video below to see how Cream Roulette works.

Cr3am Roulette is relatively easy to assemble. During the design phase, the biggest challenge was designing a construction that was stable and compact at the same time. The parts of the 42066 set are quite suitable for this purpose.

Design Details:

The Catapult: The rotating catapult is attached to the front of Cr3am Roulette and locked with a closing mechanism. The rubber band from the LEGO MINDSTORMS 31313 set provides the tension force. The player manually tensions the catapult. A large EV3 motor locks it in place.

The move counter: The second large EV3 motor records the moves. The tires on the motor axle are rotated by the player. The software evaluates the rotations. The default is 50 degrees for a turn. This value can be adjusted in the program. A mechanical barrier prevents the motor from being turned back.

The frame: At each turn, the player must place his face in a frame so that in the event of triggering, the catapult hits properly. At the same time, the frame is decoration for the game which you can extend or modify it as you like. Adjust it so that the face of the player who looks through it is decorated beautifully!

An infrared sensor is used to ensure that the play's face is in the frame, At the beginning of each turn, the sensor measures whether the player’s face is close enough to the frame; otherwise a tone will sound. No player gets off scot-free.

Use the following links to build you own Cr3am Roulette and have a lot of fun! Files to download: LDD File, EV3-Program

Credits:
Thanks to the MCP Hans-Peter Landrichinger for testing the game with his boys, the valuable feedback, and the video with the boys.

MINDSTORMS Experts at World Robot Olympiad Costa Rica

Four MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCPs) have been selected to be at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) International Finals hosted in San Jose, Costa Rica in November. These experts will be presenting some of their robotic creations at the competition as well as hosting workshops at the Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnologia (CeNAT).

Read a little bit about each MCP and the robots they plan to bring. If you are attending the event, stop by the Robot Experts Zone to play with some MINDSTORMS robots and talk to these Robot Experts.

Will Gorman

 MINDSTORMS Community Partner

Orlando, FL, USA

Besides being part of the MCP team for many years now, Will has also been involved with the development and launch of the EV3 retail set. Will is best known in the LEGO robotics community for his unique YouTube videos including the WiigoBot, MakerLEGOBot, and RoboFlush robots. Professionally, Will is a software developer and entrepreneur, and currently a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a Smart Data Discovery Startup, Corvana.

Will is bringing Fix the Factory with him to Costa Rica. This robot is a collaboration with Annika Brandsma. This is a life-size recreation of a LEGO game. You can see Will's other work on his YouTube Channel.

Watch this video of Fix the Factory in action and then come visit the Robot Expert booth in Costa Rica to play.

Marc-André Bazergui

MINDSTORMS Community Partner

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

 Marc travels the world with his robots, inspiring people of all ages with creations of popular fictional movie characters such as WALL-E and R2D2. He has been working at IBM Global Services for over 20 year and has been helping LEGO for the past 4 years as MINDSTORMS Community Ambassador. He was also involved in the development of the EV3 and contributed the design of a MINDSTORMS Bonus Model, KRAZ3, available in the retail software and Tablet App.

Marc-André is bringing Wall-E7, his EV3D Printer, as well as his newest mini R2-D2. To see his work, visit Bazmarc's Website. Learn about the making of Wall-E7 by watching the video below and come meet Marc-André in person in Costa Rica.

Sanjay Seshan and Arvind Seshan

 MINDSTORMS Community Partners

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

 Sanjay and Arvind are students at Fox Chapel Area School District. They got their start in robotics as an award-winning FIRST LEGO League team. They are the founders of EV3Lessons.com, a very popular website that teaches MINDSTORMS programming to 200,000 students in 175 countries. In addition, they are creators of numerous robots including PIX3L PLOTT3R which has been featured in Popular Mechanics and Forbes magazines. Their robot projects have been featured many times by LEGO.

Sanjay and Arvind are bringing Pix3l Plott3r Photo Booth, Color Catch3r, as well as their newest robot, Guess My Cod3, that is a reproduction of the classic game of Mastermind. Watch this video to see Guess My Cod3 in action. Come to the Expert Zone to play with these robots and talk to the Seshan Brothers.

To learn more about World Robot Olympiad, visit their website.

STORM-LEV3L

by Mike Dobson and David Gilday

STORM-LEV3L is a fully playable, physical realisation of a classic arcade platform-style game, brought to life through LEGO. This unique idea was inspired by the #robotremix4 challenge to create a design using only the elements from a LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 set, 31313, and a LEGO TECHNIC Air Race Jet set number 42066.

The Storyline:

In the game, astronaut Stev3, is trapped in a cavern on an alien planet after an asteroid storm forced down his spaceship. He was hurled from his craft on impact, and became disorientated and lost. You get to control Stev3 as he tries to escape the cavern. It is up to you to help him through the physical and mental challenges that must be overcome along the way. You must draw on all your ingenuity to find the way back to the spaceship as quickly as possible to escape from the hostile planet and return safely home.

Game Features:

There are a number of interesting features in the final design. The character is connected to a two-dimensional delta-style mechanism driven by two large EV3 servo motors. This can move him anywhere within the game area. Swinging platforms and a gate are driven by the EV3 medium servo motor which is also used to switch the Power Functions motor from the Technic set on and off. This motor, in turn, drives a collection of gears, conveyer belts and turbines which fully integrate with the game play. There are also several passive mechanical elements including a drawbridge and a ball contraption with which the player must interact. The game is played using a traditional-style hand-held joypad built around the EV3 infrared remote control.

The EV3 intelligent brick contains a digital map of the level allowing seamless player control and interaction with the play area objects. In-game sound effects, musical demo mode and scoring system also add to the fun.

Are you ready to face the challenge and excitement? Can you achieve the perfect score of one million points? Build instructions and code can be downloaded here.

In 2015, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Community Partners (MCP) were challenged to imagine awesome robots using parts from only a retail MINDSTORMS set and a single LEGO Technic set. The #ROBOTREMIX concept was born.

The first remix in 2015 was with the Technic SeaPlane. The two remix challenges in 2016 featured the TeleHandler and the DragRacer. In 2017, we saw the very first remix incorporating a Power Function motor in the huge LEGO Technic Jet Plane.

This year features one last robot remix challenge proposed by LEGO and this time it's with the Hovercraft Technic set!

Some amazing ideas were proposed, but only 4 could be selected to turn their ideas into actual models. After months of work, we are ready to present you with the four Robot Remixes of 2018!

Presenting Catfish by Anton, Food Truck by Young-jun, The Plan3 by Ahmad, and Hungry Hippo by Joe.

CATFISH, a fantastic creation with life like behavior by Anton Vanhoucke from the Netherlands

FOOD TRUCK, original vehicle with lots of play-ability by Young-jun Yi from South Korea

THE PLAN3, in memory of Vassilis Chryssanthakopoulos by Ahmad Sahar from Malaysia

HUNGRY HIPPO, a fun game to play with friends by Joe Meno from the United States of America

We will roll out a post for each of these creations when they are ready. We will share a story from the creator, discuss how they got their ideas, preliminary sketches they made, behind-the-scenes pictures, building instructions or LDD files and, of course, the EV3 programs to go with it. You can also expect a video showing the robot in action!

Have you ever remixed MINDSTORMS and Technic sets before? Contact the admin if you would like to have your #robotremix featured on The NXT Step blog.

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The Billund Table: Sand Art with LEGO MINDSTORMS

LEGO® MINDSTORMS® can be used to create humanoids and rovers, machines of various kinds, and even beautiful works of art. Andreas Baumgart proves this with his project, the Billund Table. The Billund Table is a design that uses LEGO MINDSTORMS to move a magnet under a glass plate using rotary and linear motion. A steel ball and fine sand is placed on top top of the glass plate The magnet moves the steel ball over the plate through the sand, creating beautiful harmonious movement and impressive patterns. In order to ensure the ball’s smooth movement over the table, the construction, the magnetic forces and the resistance of the sand had to be coordinated.

The goal is to keep the design as simple as possible, directing the viewer’s attention to events on the table. The code makes the ball draw continuous patterns into the sand. The speed is set so that the ball makes its tracks almost silently and, thus creating a calming, almost meditative, effect for the viewer.

Andreas Baumgart was inspired by Bruce Shapiro’s "Sisyphus Table" to create this project. He has other exciting projects that you can see on his website

SPIROMONST3R

by Guiherme Constantino

This Robot Remix is a combination of the LEGO MINDSTORMS set 31313 & LEGO Technic 42066 Air Race Jet. For this remix design, Guiherme Constantino designed a spirograph. A spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces curves. A traditional spirograph requires the user to move their pen in a gear wheel. This remix version is powered by LEGO MINDSTORMS.

SPIROMONST3R was displayed at STACK IT in the United Arab Emirates where many people got to see it in person.

The Design Phase:

I began with just a hand-drawn design of my idea. I was inspired by Jason Alleman's spirograph design that uses a Power Functions motor. I decided to build a spirograph because it is a fun toy that brings back memories of my own childhood. It reminded me of playing with my grandmother which had a great impact on my life. I thought a MINDSTORMS version would be something fun to engage children and their parents.

Turning my idea into reality turned out to be much more challenging than I expected. There are lots of existing designs for a spirograph and I wanted to make mine a little different. It took several iterations before I came up with the final design.

How it Works:

SPIROMONST3RS effectively uses pieces from both sets. The power functions components of in the Air Race Jet is used in a special way. The power functions motor continuously turns the turnable. The medium motor disconnects and reconnects the system when a touch sensor is pressed, using a gear shifter. The large motors move the arm with the pen. To change the pattern that is printed, simply move the liftarm that is connected to the motor.

The user can insert up to three pens at a time to make their colorful design or draw with one pen at a time.

If you want to make one too:

Build instructions and code can be downloaded here.

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to Guilherme Lima for providing assistance with the design and programming. Thank you also to Asha Seshan for assistance with writing this article.

CATFISH

by Anton Vanhoucke

This Robot Remix is a combination of the

LEGO MINDSTORMS Set 31313 & LEGO

Technik 42076. The inspiration for the catfish

comes from the amazing fishes of Professor Ikuo

Yamato

The Design Phase :

I began with a drawing. Then, I made crude prototypes to test a lot of different mechanisms and

weight distributions quickly. I also invested a lot of time in a propulsion system that was only

in the end. I also wrote 10 different programs until I was happy. I think I took the fish completely

apart about 20 times during the desing process.

How it Works :

I'm especially proud of the movement. Using only 3 motors, I was able to animate one mouth, two fins, forward movement, and 3 tail segments. I strived to come really close to true fish behaviour in terms of size an frequency of movements.

Programming Complexity :

I spent about 30 - 40 hours programming the fish. It's hard to synchronize all movements. It is

therefore hard to transition smoothly from one movement (eg. standing still) to another (eg. a slight

left turn). All possible transitions have been made because of the fact that the button is remote

controllable.

There are 620 parts in the 31313 set and 1020 in the 42076 box. The fish has 530 parts. I built a

fishing rod with the leftovers, but you can't catch the fish with it!

If you want to make one too :

Build instructions an code can be downloaded here

Fan created logo designed by Marina Stamboli, Greece

In honor of LEGO® MINDSTORMS 20th ANNIVERSARY the LEGO HOUSE in Billund, Denmark held an exhibition from Sept 1st to 16th 2018. Of course there was also the traditional celebration cake for all the employees that have been involved with MINDSTORMS throughout the years.

#MINDSTORMS20 Celebration cake, Billund, Denmark

The large MINDSTORMS family

The exhibit featuring 20 years of creations from fan around the world

In September 2018, LEGO® MINDSTORMS celebrates it’s 20th anniversary.

The journey began in September 1998. That year, the LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX Robotics Invention System was launched after nearly a decade of collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop an “intelligent brick” that would bring LEGO creations to life via computer programming, motors, and sensors. The late Seymour Papert developed the ideas behind the “intelligent brick”. Together with MIT’s Media Lab, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, and LEGO, Papert helped to develop MINDSTORMS.

Shortly after the launch in 1998, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and inventor Dean Kamen, founded FIRST* LEGO League – a robotics competition for middle school students. Today, the competition has grown to 35.000 teams with over 250.000 children in 88 countries.

What started with LEGO MINDSTORMS in 1998, sparked the expansion of new offerings for children and playful adults to explore robotics and coding. LEGO now has an entire spectrum of products for children to learn coding: LEGO MINDSTORMS and WeDo were created by the educational division LEGO Education, LEGO BOOST was developed for younger children, and the newly launched LEGO DUPLO Train gives preschoolers a great way to start coding.

Since the launch of MINDSTORMS a large and very passionate community of robotics and LEGO fans have played a vital role in inspiring children, future engineers, and software developers, by pushing the limits for what you can do with LEGO MINDSTORMS. This exhibition in front of you is a tribute to all the inspiration the fans have given to the robot builders of tomorrow. The community is organized through www.robotmak3rs.com

* For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

Below is a video edited by robotmak3rs' Ahmad Sahar featuring every robot that was presented at the exhibit.

LEGO MINDSTORMS Milestones:

September 1998: The Robotics Invention System is launched simultaneously in the United States and the United Kingdom. Two expansion sets, RoboSports and Extreme Creatures, are also made available.  
September 1999: The Robotics Discovery Set, Ultimate Accessory Set, Droid Developer Kit and the Robotics Invention System 1.5 are released in the United States.
February 2000: The Robotics Invention System 2.0, Dark Side Developer Kit™ (a pre-programmed, remote controlled robot kit), Vision Command System™ (a PC camera expansion kit for the RIS), and Exploration Mars™ (themed robot challenges, building instructions and games for the RIS) expansion set are unveiled at the American International Toy Fair in New York.  
August 2006: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is launched  
April 2007: FIRST LEGO League exceeds 100,000 participants for the first time.  
May 2008: LEGO MINDSTORMS is inducted to the Carnegie Mellon University Robot Hall of Fame.  
August 2009: The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 platform iteration is released.  
January 2013: The 15th anniversary of LEGO MINDSTORMS is celebrated and the next generation platform, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, is unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  
September 2013: The third incarnation of LEGO robotics, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, is launched worldwide.