Video tutorials

A clutch is a mechanical device that is used for engaging or disengaging power transmission. Now we will see how we can make such a device using LEGO.

Some LED strips have a sticky backing covered by a thin plastic layer. You can peel it off and stick the strip directly. If your strip is different from the one we suggested in the shopping section, you might need to get a little creative.

The after season review continues. No. We are not publishing a single solution for the next season before it is over, but let's learn from the previous season. The current tutorial is about three missions at once on a single run with the robot. Most FIRST LEGO League teams try to accomplish one-two missions on a single run out of the base, and three is really what makes the difference

While we can pass the cables around the PCB, we decided that it would look more appealing if they were to pass from underneath the PCB. While this is an easy way to do so, those more tech-savvy can solder 3 terminal blocks to the PCB, as a way to bypass the drilling task and create an easy way to replace the LED strip in the future.

DIfferent wheels and tires will result in different behaviour of the robot. That is actually pretty common sense. The real question is what is the influence. Would the robot make smaller deviations if it has smaller wheels or it will make larger deviations? The tires could also be quite dirty or brand new. Or the wheels could be attached in different ways. 

On our LED strip, there are two extra wires for power and ground. We don't need them, so we cut them off. There is also an extra connector on the remaining cables. As we will be soldering them to the board, we don't really need this connector, so we remove it as well.

Should the robot be with a Front Wheel Drive or a Rear Wheel Drive to make it more precise? The answer is - front wheel will probably give you better results, but the wheel drive is not the most important thing. In this video tutorial on the LEGO Mindstorms Robots, we will do a few experiments to discuss the influence of the wheel drive on the precision of the movement.  

You’ll attach the lights to this stick, so choose its position carefully. Once the lights are attached, you can check where the center of weight is - that’s where you’ll mount the motor.

The LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set comes with two LARGE motors. But even though these motors look almost the same they are not quite the same. There are always some differences in their behaviour. If you have more than two motors, because you bought them or you won them somewhere at a competition, it is worth doing an experiment to find which pair of motors works best. 

A capacitor acts like a small energy buffer. It stores a little electricity and releases it when needed. When the controller or LED strip suddenly turns on or changes brightness, it can briefly pull a lot of current. The capacitor helps by smoothing out these quick changes, keeping the voltage steady. This protects the controller and LEDs from sudden voltage drops or spikes and helps everything run more reliably. In simple terms, the capacitor helps keep the power smooth and protects the electronics.

You could use the LEGO Steel Balls as a third wheel on the robot. It is a caster wheel. But this is steel and as we know from basic existence on this planet, where there is steel there is also rust. The steel ball could get quite rusty and this could have an influence on the behaviour of the robot

If everything is connected correctly, the Arduino microcontroller will light up, powered with 5V from the 9V battery!

The balance of the construction of the robot has a great influence on how it will move. This is especially true if you would like to move in a straight line. If the robot is slightly heavier on the right it will move to the right. Here we have two robots - a Five Minute robot and a Box Robot and we will discuss the differences in the constructions and why the box robot is much better than the Five Minute even though it is using the same parts. 

In a circuit, ground is the common reference point for voltage and the return path for electric current. After electricity flows through components, it needs a clear way to get back to the power source. All ground connections are tied together, so every part of the circuit shares the same reference point, and the current can flow in a complete loop. This helps signals stay consistent, and components work correctly. If the grounds were not connected, parts of the circuit could act unpredictably or not work at all. In simple terms, connecting all grounds keeps current flowing properly and the circuit working reliably.

The robot can move with different speed by applying different power to the motors. It will most of the time make smaller deviations when it moves slower. But you can't just move with a power of 10 all the time. This is a way too slow especially for competitions like FIRST LEGO League or World Robot Olympiad. In this video tutorial I would like to discuss the balance between motor power and robot movement error, how does the battery influence the power of the robot and to conduct an EV3-G experiment that will record the values of the Gyro Sensor along with the current power. 

Don't connect the voltage regulator to just any 5V pin of the controller. There must be a VIN pin, which is a dedicated powering pin for the controller. That is the pin through which you can power it with 5V, as it passes the power through a voltage regulator and other protections, which make sure the power is delivered safely.

This video tutorial contains a detailed description on how we accomplish the FIRST LEGO League 2018-2019 Into Orbit mission called Emergency Walk, which I think is one of the most interesting missions ever in FIRST LEGO League competitions. Join me in for a short explanation. 

If the battery holder already has such a cable attached to it, feel free to use it.

In the third run Nightbeast team solves Mission 04 - Crater Crossing and partly Mission 03 -  3D printing and Mission 014 Meteoroid Deflection:

1. Eject the 2x4 Brick by placing a Regolith Core Sample into the 3D Printer.
2. Crater Crossing
3. Tries to score a meteoroid( tries to shoot a ball)

Be careful not to connect any other red power cables to the one leading to the battery, as it transmits higher voltage, which, while harmless to us, can still fry your controller and LED lights. Once you solder the connection between the battery and the voltage regulator input 9V terminal, connect everything else in this project to the regulator's 5V output pin.

This is the first run of Team "Nightbeast", with which they solve M01 and M02 from FIRST LEGO League 2019 Into Orbit:

1. Starts with the Vehicle Payload
2. Places the Supply and Crew Payloads and rolls them to east.
3. Pushes the Solar Panel Array to the opposite side

The position of the voltage regulator won’t affect the balance much, so it’s best to place it near the DIP switch.

This is the fifth and the last run of the Nightbeast team. Robot goes out of the base, do missions:

1. M11 - Escape Velocity
2. M13 - Observatory 

and stays on the field. It's a common practice for the competitors to left the robot on the field after the last run. This allows them to do some important points at the end of the match. 

If the battery holder already has a cable attached, you can use that one.

In the second run Nightbeast team solves different tasks from two missions - M05 Extraction and M06 Space Station Modules:

1. Insert the Tube Module into the Habitation Hub port, west side 
2. Move all four Core Samples so they are no longer touching the axle that held them in the Core Site Model
3. Place the Gas Core Sample completely in Base

The position of the DIP switch doesn’t affect the balance much, so you can place it wherever you prefer.

There are a few main challenges with box robots and in the following tutorial we would like to resolve them. Read on and let's see how we could do this.