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EV3 Roundup

What a week it's been!  After the flurry of posts from CES about the new kit, things are starting to settle down a little.  I thought I would take this opportunity to consolidate as much info as I could about what we know about the kit.

The Official Promo Video


Youtube Playlist of all the EV3 videos currently found  **Well worth searching through**
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDDK_7TDkqfSkHvwwh8arWWTQoa-aPRI

Good intro by IEEE Spectrum - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89qtXe87c0

Cult of Mac at CES - http://youtu.be/5Ps_piSqAT4

TechCrunch 8 min interview with Camilla (Product Lead) - http://youtu.be/Tk36gOEBK6E

Engadget at CES - http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/lego-mindstorms-ev3-hands-on/


Specifications

EV3 Intelligent Brick
  • Stronger and faster ARM9 robotic processor
  • Embedded 16MB FLASH memory
  • 64 MB RAM plus SD expansion slot
  • LINUX operating system, released under open source
  • USB 2.0 interface allows for WiFi connectivity
  • 4 input ports: Connect up to 4 sensors at the same time, including your NXT sensors
  • 4 output ports: Now you can power up to 4 motors (Either Large, Medium or NXT)
  • Up to four intelligent bricks to be connected together (Yes, that’s 16 sensor and 16 motor ports!)
  • Matrix display with loudspeaker
  • Button interface with status indication
  • Enhanced on-brick programming
  • Bluetooth ® v2.1
  • iOS and Android compatible

Hardware
  • 3 Interactive Servo Motors: 2 large and 1 medium
  • 1 Touch Sensor
  • New IR Seeker Sensor measures distance, movements and detects objects, and acts as a receiver for the remote control
  • New IR Beacon remotely controls robot from up to 2 meters (6 feet) away
  • Improved Color Sensor detects 6 colors as well as the brightness of light sources
  • Backwards-compatible with LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: Connect your NXT Sensors and motors to the new EV3 brick.
  • Assortment of 594 LEGO TECHNIC® elements for easy, more stable building with improved functionality and movement capabilities

Programming Software
  • Downloadable software is PC and Mac compatible
  • Icon-based drag and drop environment for “building” programs with new interactive content that helps de-bug programming



The 5 'Hero' models of the Home Edition
http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-5-main-robots-from-ev3-home-edition.html

The Core and Expansion set models for the Education version
http://educationnews.legoeducation.us/Press-Kits/132/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-Education-EV3-Press-Kit

The EV3 has also picked up a few awards at CES including
  • PopMechanics - Editors Choice Award for outstanding Product Design and Innovation at CES 2013
  • Mashable's Favorite Tech From CES 2013
  • CES Hot Stuff Awards 2013
  • Techlicious 2013 Best of CES Awards



Recommended price is US$349.99 and will be available in the second half of 2013

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