NEW To Stop Motion? So you want to start animating now but you are not sure what to use or how to start. Well a good place to start is to find out firstly what is Stop Motion animation? The full guide to stop motion can be found on these help pages. You have tried some other Free Trial Stop Motion software but you have not tried iKITMovie. Well you have come to the right place. For a start no other stop motion software comes with 2,200 free sound fx included Already have iKITMovie or thinking about purchasing it then check out our stop motion Animation Software Help or our stop motion tutorials. It’s a great place to start when looking for some good stop motion ideas.Getting started with LEGO robotics can feel overwhelming because there are so many options. Here is a brief guide to the various kits. Quick advice: If you are new to LEGO robotics and working with children ten and older, the EV3 kit is probably your best bet. For a classroom, choose the educational version rather than the retail version.
If you have inherited old equipment, the NXT is still a reasonable choice. The RCX is so out of date as to be problematic. If you are working with young children, you may want to consider the WeDo set. Trying to decide between EV3 and NXT? Read Damien Kee’s EV3 vs NXT (the Educator’s Dilemma). Released in 2013, the EV3 is the newest LEGO programmable brick. The EV3 kit comes with the programmable brick, motors, sensors and LEGO Technic parts. Suitable for ages ten and up. Used in FIRST LEGO League competitions. The EV3 Software is an icon-based programming language. Software is easy to learn and has greater capabilities than the NXT Software. The educational version of the software includes data logging. The EV3 software is also available as an iPad or Android app. The tablet version is simpler than the full version; it contains icons from the green Action palette and the orange Flow Control palette.The EV3 kit comes in two versions, retail and educational.
Both sets include two large motors, one medium motor, a color sensor, and a touch sensor. The retail set also includes an infrared sensor, and a remote IR beacon. The educational set includes an ultrasonic sensor, a second touch sensor, a gyro sensor, a caster wheel, and a rechargeable battery. The retail kit comes with the EV3 software. Currently, the educational-kit software must be purchased separately. However, the educational version of the software will become a free download in January 2016. The educational software includes data logging, which is not part of the retail kit. The NXT was released in 2006. Although it has been replaced by the EV3, NXT materials are still available for purchase. However, LEGO is no longer providing support for the NXT. The NXT kit comes with programmable brick, motors, sensors, and LEGO Technic parts. Software is an icon-based programming language. Software is easy to learn, but has a relatively low ceiling. For high school students, a more powerful language such as LabVIEW may be more appropriate.
The MINDSTORMS NXT kit comes in two versions, retail and educational. Both sets include three motors, an ultrasonic sensor, and two touch sensors. The retail set includes more plastic Technic pieces than the educational set.The retail kit also has a color sensor. The educational kit includes a light sensor, a sound sensor, lamps, and a rechargeable battery. The retail kit comes with the MINDSTORMS software. With the educational kit, the software must be purchased separately. Beginning robotics kit for ages ten and under. Kit comes with motors, sensors, and a limited number of parts. Robots must be run tethered to the computer. Software has a low ceiling, but is very easy to learn. Kits of metal parts that can be used with LEGO Mindstorms. Larger, heavier, and sturdier than the LEGO Mindstorms’ plastic pieces. Motors are more powerful than the NXT or EV3 motors. Both kits require tools for putting together pieces rather than having pieces snap together as in LEGO MINDSTORMS.
Good for older students interested in building bigger and sturdier robots, but more time-consuming to build with than NXT or EV3. New cycles of Dr. E’s MINDSTORMS and WeDo Challenges Dr. E’s Challenges for November Dr. E’s Challenges launch a new seasonIn order to create a more globally consistent, quality and impactful program, we are excited to announce the following program updates: WeDo Requirement: The WeDo will be required for FIRST® LEGO® League Jr., beginning in August 2017. We feel the WeDo 2.0 will provide the best experience for participating teams. Both versions of the WeDo will be accepted, and in the 2016 season, all LEGO Education options can be used by teams. Inspire Set: Beginning in the 2016 season, all registered teams will use an "Inspire Set" which contains a LEGO model related to the year's challenge theme. The "Inspire Set" is a starting point for the teams' project and model, and will be an integral part of their program experience.
Accessible Coach Materials: Coaches are the key to increasing the reach of FIRST LEGO League Jr. Therefore, Coach materials will be updated to be easier to use and understand, especially for new and potential Coaches. Program Focus: Both LEGO Education and FIRST are putting a spotlight on the FIRST LEGO League Jr. program over the next couple of seasons. We believe that it is essential to inspire children in the sciences at such a critical age. We are developing ways to best support Partners in growing this program.Take a moment to look at our FAQ about these updates.We use cookies to give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. more information AcceptThe cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.LEGO Mosaics are fairly easy to build – depending of course on the size and complexity of the picture, image or pattern you have in mind.
(You might want to read the Introduction to Mosaic Building section.) If you are trying to build something more complex, like a portray from a photograph, you might find the information here useful. One of the best resources I found for LEGO mosaic building is Pictobrick. Pictobrick was crated by two university students as part of their studies in computer science. It is a software to generate mosaics from digital pictures. And it is available as a free download! The software is very easy to use. Trust me on that! If I can use it, you can too! I recommend following the tutorial when you first use the program. (See tutorial here: TUTORIAL) It will walk you through all the features. You will get the hang of it in no time! To be honest, I was a bit lost at the download page at first (the only part I got stuck), as I didn’t understand all the tech-jargon and what I needed to download exactly. Finally I decided to try as I was really curious about the software, as I heard only good things about it.
I use Windows, so I downloaded the zip file under the section called “Download practicable EXE-file (only Windows)”. I opened the “exe” file and voila! The software was there and it worked like a charm! Pictobrick is optimized for LEGO; meaning all the LEGO brick and plate sizes and colors are already uploaded. By default all bricks and/or plates are used to generate a mosaic in all LEGO colors, and the software will use the best combinations. But you can change this according to your preferences and available pieces. (For example to create a black & white LEGO mosaic, eliminate some colors, or to use certain size bricks and/or plates.) You can use the Pictobrick software to build both studs-on-top (with elements stacked on each other) and studs facing out (attached to a baseplate) type LEGO mosaics. You can even optimize your mosaic according to the cost of parts! Just playing with this software is a lot of fun! 😀 Once you are done, the software will generate a part-count and instructions that you can save and print out.
WHERE TO SHOP FOR LEGO MOSAIC PARTS: You will probably need lots of bricks and/or plates to create your LEGO mosaic (depending on the size you have chosen). One of the best places to get a good quantity is LEGO’s own Pick-A-Brick selection. If you have a LEGO store near you, you can use their Pick-A-Brick wall, or you can also order online at the Online LEGO Shop Pick-A-Brick Wall Your other best option is BrickLink. Make sure you generate a BrickLink Wanted List for all the bricks and/or plates needed according to the Pictobrick parts-list generated for your LEGO mosaic. This way you can find the sellers who have all – or at least most – of the parts you will need and save on shipping. I have found for basic bricks LEGO’s own store is cheaper. BrickLink however tends to have a greater variety and selection, also it is a great resource for the large, discontinued baseplates. LEARN FROM OTHER MOSAIC BUILDERS: You can also check out the websites and blogs of other LEGO mosaic builders. Th