LEGO Mindstorms cannon instruction. Football robots

This page contains instructions for assembling robots or mechanisms from the starter educational kit. LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 (45544)... In addition to instructions, you will find here a video showing the capabilities of the assembled models, and demo programs. For some models, recommendations are given on which applications can be used to remotely control robots and how to configure these applications.

Robot with large cardboard wheels

If you are eager to make a robot with large wheels from the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Educational Set (45544), but you do not have such wheels, do not be discouraged. You can make your own from thick corrugated cardboard. How to make a robot with large cardboard wheels so that the wheels turn normally and do not fall off, I suggest you read in this article.

Robot Artist EV3 Print3rbot

I really liked the project of the robot artist EV3 Print3rbot, which unfortunately uses non-standard parts that need to be 3D printed. I decided to build the same robot, but using only parts from the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 educational set (45544). And I did it, however, I had to add more rubber bands.

Control LEGO robot Mindstorms EV3 First Person

The robot, assembled from the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 constructor, you can easily control remotely from the first person. To do this, you will additionally need two smartphones, with installed application RoboCam for one of them. Let's take a closer look at the RoboCam app and learn how to use it.

Face detection on EV3

Using LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 and a webcam, you can experiment with indoor face detection. Any wheeled EV3 robot that can rotate in place and onto which you can attach a webcam is suitable for the experiment. The robot will scan the room, turning around, and upon seeing the faces, it will stop and twitch as many times as it sees.

Object Tracking on EV3

Using a webcam and the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 45544 educational set, it is quite possible to make a robot that tracks a moving object. The robot will be able not only to turn the camera towards the object, but also maintain a certain distance to it, i.e. drive closer if the object is moving away from the camera, or drive away if the object is approaching. We will talk about how to do this in this article.

Gymnast EV3

It is quite easy to do a gymnast performing various exercises on a horizontal bar if you have an educational constructor LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 (45544). I taught a gymnast to do three exercises, and you can teach him other different tricks as well.

Formula 1 EV3 racing car

A Formula 1 racing car can be made with the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 45544 Educational Set. The driver sits in the car and holds the wheel. The machine is remotely controlled from an Android smartphone.

LEGO EV3 Floor Washer

The robot floor washer moves by turning two discs parallel to the floor. Using rubber bands, you can attach rags soaked in detergent solution to the discs and then your floor will be a little cleaner.

LEGO EV3 Claw Robot

This robot with a claw can not only grab, but also lift objects. And he does both of these actions with just one motor. And due to the rubber tips of the claw, the robot can lift even slippery objects. And of course, what the robot grabbed, he can transport to another place.

Selenokhod from the constructor LEGO EV3

Selenokhod is a lunar rover created by a Russian team to participate in the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. V currently the project is closed, but an interesting structure with an equally interesting system of movement on the lunar surface remained. With the help of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 starter educational set (45544) it is possible to assemble a Selenokhod model, which will move according to the same principle and raise and lower its "head" in the same way.

Collecting the LEGO EV3 Hand Clock

In a basic LEGO educational set Mindstorms Education EV3 (45544) had enough gears and other parts to assemble a watch with hour and minute hands. In addition to accurately displaying the time, the watch emits sound signal every hour.

EV3 Crawler Drive Platform

In the educational set of the Mindstorms Education EV3 constructor, all robotics education in the classroom is carried out using a drive platform, on a wheel drive. I wanted to make exactly the same platform so that all the sensors could be installed on it in the same way, but only so that it could be moved with the help of caterpillars.

It was announced that within the framework of the regional qualifying competitions for the "RoboMir-2014" festival, another new nomination - "Football of robots" was announced. Therefore, we are opening on our blog a new series of articles dedicated to these competitions.

So, a little background ... The largest event today where robots compete in football is RoboCup (from the English. "Robot Soccer World Cup"- Robot Football Championship), which has been held annually since 1993. The official goal of the project is the prospect of creating humanoid robots-football players by the middle of the 21st century, capable of winning a football match against humans according to the FIFA rules. One of the nominations for this large-scale event isRoboCup Junior Australia (RCJA) GEN II Robot Soccer - thenWhat interests us, fans of building robots from Lego Mindstorms, most of all.

In addition to RoboCup, robo-football is played according to the same rules at the World Robot Olympiad, where our compatriots have achieved high results in recent years and even took 1st place in the senior age category at the 2012 Olympics in Malaysia.
It is worth noting that the competition of robotic football players always arouses particular interest at any events where it is held and is never ignored by the audience. After all, who will not be interested in observing the work of real artificial intelligence in action!

Now for the attention of all interested! What is needed in order to take part in this kind of competition?

First, the Lego Mindstorms constructor of any generation: RCX, NXT or EV3. The set of parts is, of course, individual for each robot, but the set electronic components must necessarily include: a programmable unit and three motors - without this, nowhere. Usually, for this kind of competition, the Basic + Resource Lego Mindstorms Education kits are sufficient (each of the generations has such kits).

Secondly, special sensors. To play robotic football, it is MANDATORY to use the Compass sensor and the IR sensor. The rest of the sensors can be used at the discretion of the participants, but it is worth noting that you can only use the sensors officially approved for use in the competitions in which you are going to participate (specify in the rules). Generally, regulations allow for any sensors included in Lego Mindstorms NXT, RCX, or EV3 kits, as well as some HiTechic certified products (for example, NSK1042 - NXT IRSeeker V2, NMC1034 - NXT Compass Sensor).

Thirdly, a special playing field and a ball. If everything is more or less clear with the playing field - the rules always indicate in detail the sizes and colors, on the basis of which you can either prepare the field yourself, or order it at a furniture factory, then with the ball everything is a little more complicated. The fact is that in order for a robot to play football, it must somehow "see" this ball, otherwise the whole game will turn into random and completely unreasonable movements of models and there is no longer any "artificial intelligence" out of the question. That is why the rules of the competition require participants to use an IR sensor - in order for it to "see" a special