Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Learning Lego Mindstorms EV3
Learning Lego Mindstorms EV3

Learning Lego Mindstorms EV3: Build and create interactive, sensor-based robots using your LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kit

eBook
€20.98 €29.99
Paperback
€36.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Learning Lego Mindstorms EV3

Chapter 2. Mechanical Design

In this chapter, we will build and program several models to demonstrate the basic principles of mechanical design. We will:

  • Explore the idea of mechanical advantage
  • Learn how you can increase either speed or torque using different combinations of gears
  • Build gearboxes with motors
  • Use the spur gears, beveled gears, and worm gears
  • Write a program to spin the motors a set number of rotations
  • Use the display on the EV3 brick

All of the models in this chapter can be built with both the EV3 Home Edition and EV3 Educational Edition kits.

Mechanical advantage

When designing a robot, sometimes we may want to build a fast robot that needs to get to its objective quickly. At other times, we may want a powerful robot. For instance, maybe the robot needs to push a heavy object, push another robot, or climb a steep hill. When it comes to a robotic arm, we might be trying to lift a heavy object slowly or lift a small object quickly.

However, we cannot have both speed and power. There is a trade-off here—if you increase one, you decrease the other. This trade-off is called the law of conservation of energy.

Mechanical advantage

LEGO bricks allow us to use several types of simple machines. The simplest would be the lever arm. You can easily create a lever with LEGO beams and pins. To balance a seesaw or a lever, the amount of torque or rotational force must be the same on either side of the seesaw. In the preceding image, we see a LEGO balance with unequal forces but equal lever arms. The longer the lever arm, the less force we need to rotate...

Motors

The EV3 kit comes with two large motors and one medium motor. Beyond the packaging, there are some other important differences between the large motor and the medium motor. The following list compares the features of the large and medium motor:

  • Large motor maximum speed 170 rpm
  • Medium motor maximum speed 250 rpm
  • Large motor torque when rotating 0.21 N∙m (Newton-meters is a unit used to measure torque)
  • Medium motor torque when rotating 0.08 N∙m
  • Large motor torque at standstill 0.42 N∙m
  • Medium motor torque at standstill 0.12 N∙m
  • Large motor mass is 76 grams
  • Medium motor mass is 36 grams

The large motor will be excellent to power the drive train of our robot, and if you need the extra speed, you can always gear the motors up. If you need more torque, you can gear down. The medium motor is about half the mass of the large motor. The medium motor actually spins about 50 percent faster than the large motor. The torque of the medium motor is only a fraction of the large...

Large motors and gears

We will be building a simple gear train with two gears powered by the large motor. The gears we are using are double bevel gears. Normally, when you think of a gear, you are thinking of a straight or a spur gear. The LEGO double bevel gear is essentially a spur gear in the middle, with beveled edges on both sides. Not only does this allow you to combine two double bevel gears aligned parallel to each other as we are in this section, but you can also combine them at right angles, as we will see later in this chapter. I chose this particular set of gears because they are included in both the Home Edition and Educational Edition kits. However, you could build a gear train like this using any set of dissimilar gears. The small gear has 12 teeth, and the large gear has 36 teeth. The motor will power the larger gear. We will find that every time the large gear spins once, the small gear will spin three times. So we are gaining speed, but at the cost of losing torque. This...

Writing a program

After we attach the cables, we will be ready to write a program to make the motor spin. Connect the motor to port D on your EV3 brick. Turn on your EV3 brick by pressing the dark gray button in the center of the brick.

After you start up the EV3 software, navigate to File | New Project | Program. This will start up a new program. You could easily start one of the many LEGO tutorials at this point. We will start with a blank sheet. The startup menu you see in the following screenshot is the main difference between the Home Edition version of the software and the Educational Edition. Additionally, the Home Edition does not allow you to do experiments.

Writing a program

You will see several icons at the bottom of the screen on the green Action tab of the Programming Palette. Drag a Large Motor block (encircled in red in the following screenshot) onto the Programming Canvas and place it next to the Start block.

Writing a program

Although not required, you can add a Stop block at the end of the program. You can...

Bevel gears at right angles

In the next example, we are going to build a gearbox using a 12-tooth bevel gear along with the large 36 tooth straight gear with double bevels. These gears actually rotate at right angles to each other. Since the motor drives the smaller gear, the output of our gearbox is actually slower than the motor. However, we will gain torque in this system, so we have a mechanical advantage of 3. We will be using the medium motor in this model.

Bevel gears at right angles

In the following five steps, we will build a gearbox with two gears at right angles:

  1. First attach two friction pins to the medium motor.
    Bevel gears at right angles
  2. Next, attach the open frame to the motor. The open frame is essentially our gearbox.
    Bevel gears at right angles
  3. Next, place the 8-mod axle (with stop) and the beveled gear into the medium motor. Make sure the axle fits into the motor.
    Bevel gears at right angles
  4. Now, insert the large gear and an axle into your gearbox. The teeth of both the gears should interlock.
    Bevel gears at right angles
  5. Finally, add a flag so you can see the rotations of the large gear.
    Bevel gears at right angles

Next, write this simple...

Mechanical advantage


When designing a robot, sometimes we may want to build a fast robot that needs to get to its objective quickly. At other times, we may want a powerful robot. For instance, maybe the robot needs to push a heavy object, push another robot, or climb a steep hill. When it comes to a robotic arm, we might be trying to lift a heavy object slowly or lift a small object quickly.

However, we cannot have both speed and power. There is a trade-off here—if you increase one, you decrease the other. This trade-off is called the law of conservation of energy.

LEGO bricks allow us to use several types of simple machines. The simplest would be the lever arm. You can easily create a lever with LEGO beams and pins. To balance a seesaw or a lever, the amount of torque or rotational force must be the same on either side of the seesaw. In the preceding image, we see a LEGO balance with unequal forces but equal lever arms. The longer the lever arm, the less force we need to rotate the lever...

Motors


The EV3 kit comes with two large motors and one medium motor. Beyond the packaging, there are some other important differences between the large motor and the medium motor. The following list compares the features of the large and medium motor:

  • Large motor maximum speed 170 rpm

  • Medium motor maximum speed 250 rpm

  • Large motor torque when rotating 0.21 N∙m (Newton-meters is a unit used to measure torque)

  • Medium motor torque when rotating 0.08 N∙m

  • Large motor torque at standstill 0.42 N∙m

  • Medium motor torque at standstill 0.12 N∙m

  • Large motor mass is 76 grams

  • Medium motor mass is 36 grams

The large motor will be excellent to power the drive train of our robot, and if you need the extra speed, you can always gear the motors up. If you need more torque, you can gear down. The medium motor is about half the mass of the large motor. The medium motor actually spins about 50 percent faster than the large motor. The torque of the medium motor is only a fraction of the large motor. This makes the medium...

Large motors and gears


We will be building a simple gear train with two gears powered by the large motor. The gears we are using are double bevel gears. Normally, when you think of a gear, you are thinking of a straight or a spur gear. The LEGO double bevel gear is essentially a spur gear in the middle, with beveled edges on both sides. Not only does this allow you to combine two double bevel gears aligned parallel to each other as we are in this section, but you can also combine them at right angles, as we will see later in this chapter. I chose this particular set of gears because they are included in both the Home Edition and Educational Edition kits. However, you could build a gear train like this using any set of dissimilar gears. The small gear has 12 teeth, and the large gear has 36 teeth. The motor will power the larger gear. We will find that every time the large gear spins once, the small gear will spin three times. So we are gaining speed, but at the cost of losing torque. This...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Description

This book is for the hobbyists, builders, and programmers who want to build and control their very own robots beyond the capabilities provided with the LEGO EV3 kit. You will need the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kit for this book. The book is compatible with both the Home Edition and the Educational Edition of the kit. You should already have a rudimentary knowledge of general programming concepts and will need to have gone through the basic introductory material provided by the official LEGO EV3 tutorials.

What you will learn

  • Design a robot for optimum navigation and place sensors for optimal calibration
  • Control multiple robots through a master robot
  • Decipher the advanced programs developed by LEGO
  • Account for weight and balance issues in your design
  • Calibrate the sensors using buttons on the robot
  • Utilize core programming concepts such as loops, case structures, calculations, variables, and arrays
  • Enhance your programs with proportional and PID control
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Ireland

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€23.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 27, 2015
Length: 284 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783985029
Vendor :
Lego
Category :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Ireland

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€23.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Jan 27, 2015
Length: 284 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783985029
Vendor :
Lego
Category :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 61.98
Learning Lego Mindstorms EV3
€36.99
Building Smart LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Robots
€24.99
Total 61.98 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

13 Chapters
1. Engineering Notebook Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Mechanical Design Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Drive Train and Chassis Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Sensors and Control Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Interacting with EV3 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Output from EV3 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Advanced Programming Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Advanced Programming and Control Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Experiment Software and Data Logging Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Other Programming Languages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. Communication between Robots Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
12. Advanced Robot – Gyro Boy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.1
(14 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 28.6%
3 star 7.1%
2 star 7.1%
1 star 7.1%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Marc Helfman Jul 15, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I've been doing Lego Robotics ever since the original RCX kit came out in 1998. They finally got the software right with the EV3 and the more you delve into it, the more you'll appreciate it. This book does an excellent job of exploring all the EV3 has to offer.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Csaba Csanaki Mar 23, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a very in-depth, detailed book how to discover, learn and work with EV3.The book contains lot of codes, plans from simple to complex.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Glenn Nov 02, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Walks you through from the basics to the advanced level,on programming and provides inspiration to go farther.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
steven Mar 18, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a great book explaining how to learn to work with Lego Mindstorms EV3 with lot's of code explanations and building plans! This is a MUST HAVE for every EV3 user out there... for both Retail and Education owner!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
I. Luv Sushi Jul 10, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
For anyone wishing to take the Mindstorm EV3 beyond the realm of a toy, this is an excellent book. Using the knowledge gained I was able to build a custom robot utilizing all the sensors.Highly recommended.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact [email protected] with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at [email protected] using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on [email protected] who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on [email protected] within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela