Mars Base Command is a GO!

UPDATE: Bear with me for a day or so - I've received a LOT of emails requesting digital versions. While I'm hesitant to do so, I'm willing to investigate it again as an option. Pricing is an issue because I need to build in the fact that electronic copies are going to find their way onto the Internet... I'm just not sure yet. Plus a single digital copy can be printed numerous times and can be used for a team of 5 or 10 teams of 20 - it's the quantity of unit sales that will keep this project going, so how can I cover my time invested into this project and still make it affordable? How do I handle the Roster when it comes to a single digital copy being used by multiple teams? (Adding data for teams and individuals to the Roster takes time.) I have a lot of questions, so let me ponder for a day or so. - Jim

Thanks to everyone for their patience... the first module is titled "Mars Base Alpha: Plan B" and is available today - 100 pages, $14.50 from cafepress.com, spiral-bound. 3 Mission Models, Challenge Rules, Scoring information, Mission Forms, FAQ, and more.

It all starts at www.marsbasecommand.com

Be sure to read the information on the Join, Data, and FAQ tabs... then click the Alpha tab to get started. You can download the free Module Summary document (PDF) and read the story and other information and decide if you'd like to attempt the missions.

Good luck - have fun this summer - and look for information on the second module to be released over the next month or so.

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by Coder Shah in our MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity. 1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT...

ROBOTMAK3RS Review: LEGO River Steamboat

I thought the LEGO River Steamboat would be an interesting set for a ROBOTMAK3R review for a few reasons. First, the LEGO designer of the model is Marina Stampoli, a long-time collaborator of the late ROBOTMAK3R Vassilis Chryssanthakopoulo s. From earlier collaborations with Vassilis, I knew Marina was incredibly talented, with an eye for aesthetics and functionality. Her background in architecture is particularly useful for her relatively new position at LEGO. Her other sets include the Magic of Disney (21352), Message Board (41839), and Red London Telephone Box (21347). Second, watching Marina's reveal video and reading her designer interview made this set even more tempting to build. The gearing mechanisms running through the model gave way to many opportunities for automation using LEGO robotics elements. Since ROBOTMAK3RS is all about adding interactivity and automation to LEGO brick, I thought it would be fun to see where and how LEGO robotics could be added to this s...

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 3

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these Fall and Winter remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Braill3 by Jerry Nicholls Braill3 is an EV3-based LEGO Braille bricks reader. This robot uses its fingertip, made from three touch switches, to read messages written using the LEGO Braille bricks and will speak out what it detected. If it sees a simple maths problem it will attempt to solve it and give the answer as well. To learn more about the process of creating this machine, read Jerry's blog . Braill3 can be viewed here . Set Review: The Braille Bricks set is well thought out. The ratios of the letters is suitable for general use and the addition of some punctuation and arithmetic operators is excellent. There is a card showing what bricks there are and their quantities, but no form of sort...

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