Lego Mindstorms EV3 Essentials

Create and program complex autonomous robots using the third-generation Lego Mindstorms robotics kit

About This Book

• Create automated robots programmed on the EV3 brick or using Java
• Learn the fundamentals of robotics and create your own impressive mechanical minions
• Work through examples and construct functional robots as you become familiar with the hardware and software of the EV3

Who This Book Is For

If you are a robot enthusiast who wants to quickly get the most out of Lego Mindstorms EV3, this is the book for you. Prior programming experience is useful to get the most out of this book, but not necessary.

In Detail

Building robots from scratch can be a tough task, but the Lego Mindstorms EV3 robotics kit makes it easy to create them in minutes. Far more than a toy, the programming brick allows you to create functional robots while its open source and hackable nature will allow you to use the powerful LeJOS framework to create projects of increasing complexity.

This book provides a rapid and practical guide to building with EV3. Get up and running and swiftly learn how to construct and program automated robots using the EV3’s brick, motors, and sensors. Next, you’ll construct an obstacle-avoiding robot and learn how to program the EV3 brick before moving on to the advanced possibilities of the LeJOS framework. You will also learn how to install LeJOS, link your computer to EV3, and how to use it to program your Lego robots in Java. You will then quickly get to grips with using LeJOS by constructing an autonomous line-tracking robot. By the end of this book, you will be able to unleash the full creative power of Lego Mindstorms EV3.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introducing EV3
Chapter 2. Sensors and Motors
Chapter 3. EV3 Brick Programming
Chapter 4. LeJOS – Unleashing EV3
Chapter 5. Connecting with LeJOS
Chapter 6. Hello, World – Writing Our First Program
Chapter 7. Sensors and Motors – the LeJOS way
Chapter 8. The Line-follower Robot
Chapter 9. Sensing the Path
Chapter 10. Tracking the Line