ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

Getting Started with LEGO MINDSTORMS and Mastering LEGO MINDSTORMS  by  Barbara Bratzel and Rob Torok were published in Fall 2022.  [Update: Unfortunately, LEGO decided to retire the Robot Inventor in December 2022.]  ROBOTMAK3RS reached out to the authors to ask them about their work. About the Authors:   Barbara Bratzel is a teacher at Shady Hill School, a PreK-8th grade independent school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was first introduced to LEGO robotics by Professor Chris Rogers at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach at Tufts University. For the past 25 years, she has used LEGO robotics in the classroom to teach science, math, engineering, and programming. Currently, she runs a makerspace and teaches science and coding at the Shady Hill School.   Rob Torok is a secondary school teacher in Tasmania, Australia. He was introduced to LEGO MINDSTORMS more than 20 years ago when he purchased the original LEGO MINDSTORMS set (9719 Robotics I...

Anika Vuurzoon is a graduate student undertaking Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. She is well-known for her robotic animals as well as for bringing LEGO Friends and LEGO Elves sets to life with the incorporation of LEGO MINDSTORMS. Anika shares her creations all around the world including at the World Robot Olympiad. Anika’s entire family enjoys building with LEGO. They have a strong passion for nature & technology. Anika was one of the top prize winners of the Alexa-MINDSTORMS contest. How did you get started building with LEGO bricks? I started building with LEGO bricks as a child, and simply never stopped with it. My entire family (Mom, Dad, Ganddad, Sister) build with LEGO, and we build a lot together. Which project or projects are you the most proud of? Why? The Elves Treasure Chest. With this project kids have to solve a small puzzle, but it’s also a nice robot to just watch in case there are more kids than puzzles. Th...

Hub-to-Hub Communication Brings New Possibilities to MINDSTORMS MINDSTORMS recently added a new feature to the Robot Inventor that allows creators to connect two or more hubs together. These new programming blocks allow for new and creative multi-hub projects where one hub can communicate with another. Hub-to-hub communication opens up endless possibilities for creating remote control applications, dance companions, games, and complex animals. Below are some inspirational projects that use two or more hubs that are created by the ROBOTMAK3RS, a global community of robot experts. You can find most of these projects in the official the MINDSTORMS App in the Community section. Both building instructions and code available for you to try out. Get ready for a competitive, fast-paced multi-player game. Sanjay and Arvind Seshan (USA) create a quick-to-build multiplayer racing game called Color Catcher . This game allows two players to race to the color that is displaye...

Jason Alleman is well known for his LEGO kinetic sculptures and unique MINDSTORMS models. He has a degree in Engineering, and enjoy building models that have some kind of interesting motion. He is an inspiration to other LEGO builders, not only in terms of his amazing creations, but also in how he shares his creative process. His YouTube channel has over 500,000 subscribers. Most recently, he won the grand prize for the Alexa-MINDSTORMS contest. He is an avid rock climber, and can often be found at the top of a mountain. Jason once spent a year and a half traveling through North America living out of a car, camping, rock climbing, and hiking. How did you get started building with LEGO bricks? I’ve been building on and off since I was a child. I didn’t have a large collection growing up – a few Technic sets, some basic brick and a couple of Classic Space sets – but I was hooked from the start. I was especially fascinated by the mechanical capabilities of the Te...

MINDSTORMS Formula 1 Racecar Enter the world of Formula 1 with your own MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor racecar! Watch the video below to see Ahmad Sahar (Malaysia) build a racecar in just a few minutes. Using the elements from one set, he shapes his robot into a working racecar. He brings the car to life using the Robot Inventor App to program a remote control for the vehicle. Now, you can build your own racecar and test it out at the next Grand Prix! You can create many variations of this car with just one Robot Inventor set. For your inspiration, take a look at two more Formula 1 racecars created by the MINDSTORMS fan community. Get in the zone with this Formula 1 race car on the right built by Nino Guba (USA) .   It features motorized drive and steering with differential, exposed engine with moving pistons, an aerodynamic design and detailing all around.   Aside from being remote-controlled with the LEGO MINDSTORMS mobile app or compatible wireless controller, it is capable of f...

Machine Learning Extension LEGO MINDSTORMS announced today a brand new feature that is sure to excite all users. Machine Learning Extension is coming to the software in August 2022. This will allow users to implement new applications that were not possible before. Machine Learning has become exceedingly popular in recent years with applications in all sorts of industries from robotics to financial services to climate change. Now, even the youngest of robot enthusiasts and programmers have access to the world of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Comparing two classes Machine Learning on MINDSTORMS will work with both images and audio. For instance, you could train your model to recognize smiles and frowns on your face and have the emotion displayed on your hub. You could train your model to recognize when a red ball is present or not or identify a particular LEGO element. You can control your robot with audio commands that use your own voice. It is exciting to see what new p...

Yoshihito Isogawa is the author of the  LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Idea Book and the  LEGO Power Functions Idea Book  series, as well as other LEGO titles. In addition to creating LEGO moving models and conducting educational workshops and events using LEGO bricks, he is a judge for World Robot Olympiad (WRO) and for FIRST LEGO League (FLL) in Japan. How did you get started building with LEGO bricks? When I was about four or five years old, my parents bought me a LEGO set. Before then, I loved playing with blocks that were not LEGO bricks. A couple of years later, having saved my allowance, I bought an early version of the LEGO Technic series. I have enjoyed building with LEGO bricks ever since. Which project (or projects) are you the most proud of? Why? It is difficult to choose.   More than that, I feel pride and joy when I look at the creations of children inspired by my projects and books. Where do you find inspiration for new projects? Suddenly ...

Anton Vanhoucke is from Delft, the Netherlands. He is an online strategist at Fabrique, a strategic design agency, developing new services and communication strategies. Anton has always wanted to be an inventor and combines his love of invention with LEGO bricks. He is best known for his BB-8 as well as his vertical drawing robots. Anton is a MINDSTORMS Community Partner as well as a FIRST LEGO League coach. How did you get started building with LEGO bricks? I used to ask for LEGO every Christmas, as far back as I can remember. It just fascinated me the first time I saw it and I never stopped playing with it. My very first Technic set ever was the LEGO Technic 8841 Dune Buggy. It had a working steering wheel. I still remember the sore fingers from that time because studded technics bricks required more force than today’s studless bricks. After that, I remember a Polar Helicopter (8640) and a Plane (8855). I have always been fascinated by planes, and, today, I build lasercut ...