This week’s project was a Lego Mindstorms EV3 Basketball Robot. The goal was to make a robot that demonstrates good defensive stance and movement using the IR sensor to detect when the ball comes near. See the video below to see the robot in action. We had to get a little creative to find an offensive player that was similar in size. Scroll further down to find the build instructions and software. This is our second robot we have made as a family using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Home Edition. This is follow-on project to our very popular LEGO Mindstorms Dancing Robot project. One of the things we love about the LEGO Mindstorms kit is that it is so easy to find great instructions for projects online, and it is also easy to share instructions and software with others. The real challenge to make the project truly shareable is to resist using any other LEGO components outside of the original set. For more Lego Mindstorms Project ideas, check out our LEGO Mindstorms Music Box, our Speedcuber Alarm Clock, our LEGO Mindstorms Dancing Robot, or our list of Our Favorite Lego Mindstorms EV3 Projects.
The Basketball Robot full build instructions can be downloaded through the link below: The basic software example used in the above video is available for download here: BasketballRobot.zip I highly encourage you to dig into the software and come up with new ways to make the robot move and react. This software is very simple and is just to get you started. It is the software used by the robot in the video. If you build the Basketball Robot or any other robots from our site, send us a link. We’d love to see what you’ve made and share your video on our Facebook page. To see more of our favorite Lego Mindstorms EV3 projects from around the web, go here. For more great EV3 projects, check out the videos below. I hope you enjoy this project. Please share your results with us if you try to build one of our robots!The NXTolaus is a Christmas robot that can be built with a single LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 set.When roaming around with a closed bag full of presents, it will detect you with its Ultrasonic sensor.
In that case, it will stop, speak some Christmas greetings and open its bag. Once you have taken out the presents, the NXTolaus will notice that using a hidden touch sensor at the bottom of the bag; it then closes the bag and “walks” away.Building instructions and NXT-G programThe building instructions can be used in LEGO Digital Designer.The cables are connected as follows:The NXT Dolly is a programmable camera dolly system for smooth camera movements based on LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT.It runs on rails and can either be programmed or controlled by a remote control. The dolly can be run seamlessly along the rails.The camera can be rotated and moved up and and down.Each of these movements is independent from the other ones and can be adjusted in speed and duration. Different sensors can be mounted on the dolly to support the programmatic control of the camera movements or to light the environment.The length and direction of the rails can be adjusted to allow for arbitrary tracking shots.
Igor is a humanoid robot prototype that I’ve built for LEGOWORLD 2010.It is controlled by four NXT bricks and features amongst others a color sensor and HiTechnic’s Infrared Seeker Sensor to allow for detection and following of Infrared beacons.NXTitzki is a basketball-playing robot that is named after Dirk Nowitzki, a famous German NBA player. It can be built with one single NXT 2.0 set.Building instructions for NXTitzki This is a NXT robot based on the Black NXT limited edition: a black raven that can “talk” and (independently) move its head and wings.Next to a lot of black TECHNIC parts, I used three original NXT motors; as there are no black ones, I spent some effort in both hiding them from the view of the user as well as integrating them into the general scheme of the raven (with the intention not to spoil the overall bird-like appearance). The Raven also integrates a sound sensor and is programmed presently to react to loud sound events.Building instructions for the RavenThe idea for The Slug appeared to me when I read an article about a small slug-like robot the NASA had developed to send it up to walls or even ceilings.
Though my robot has no phlegm on its “foot” (I presume it could be done but haven’t tried so far), it’s nevertheless mimicking the molluscan “one-foot creeping” and capable of moving in any direction (no walls or ceilings, yet!).The challenge (and fun) here has been to find a way to get a mobile NXT robot moving in other directions than fore-and-aft when its forward movement is propelled by one single motor only. My original thought on weight-shifting did not work in connection with “the foot” (though I tried a lot!) , hence I performed some trick with a hidden propeller wheel (an obvious enhancement in this context would be moving the front part of the “foot” laterally).This project has allowed me to learn a lot about strategies for building a rather complex and concurrently compact and solid NXT robot, alongside with gaining knowledge on different ways of redirecting the torsion of an NXT motor.Concentrating on the hardware aspects, I’ve kept the program very simple so far, enabling The Slug to creep and to dodge obstacles detected by the touch sensor only.
Future versions of the program may integrate the light sensor to creep away from bright environments use the sensors to “investigate” things The Slug encounters.This was my third NXT-based remote control. I built it for controlling the Hubble Telescope NXT model that I displayed at the World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi at November 2011.Two levers allow for control of a remote model in three dimensions, with three touch sensors for triggering additional functions. A color sensor might be used to display the connection state of the remote control.The projects on this page are designed for the version 1.X NXT kits shown to the right. No extra parts are required. Some of these projects are also buildable with the NXT 2.0 kit with the addition of the Education Resource Set. Click here for more information.Please uninstall any previous versions of LEGO MINDSTORMS software first. You’ll need administrator rights for the computer on which you want to install the program.
Use the link below to download a copy of the software for your NXT 2.0 from set 8547. The Safari Web Browser doesn’t recognize the download as a .We recommend Mac users download with Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Once you’ve downloaded this file, you’ll need to mount it as a Virtual Drive or burn it to disc to install. There are many free programs for mounting and burning, but since they’re third party programs, we can’t suggest any specific software or provide step-by-step instructions. 1. Once you insert the disc in your drive or mount the .ISO as a virtual drive, the “Autorun” window should appear. If it doesn’t, open the disc or virtual CD drive in “My Computer” and double click the file called “setup.exe” 2. Follow the instructions on screen to install the software. 3. You may need to restart your system after the installation is done. To start the program, double click the MINDSTORMS NXT Software icon on your desktop. The first time you start the program it may take a couple of minutes to be ready.