Video tutorials

In this video tutorial we demonstrate a really important concept for FIRST LEGO League competitions - you position the robot on the field with depending on timers and rotations. The issue with moving the robot for 10 seconds and then stopping is that every time it is in a different location. Same for rotations. The wheels will slip, the battery will change, something will happen and the robot will not be in the same place every time. This is not consistent and reliable.

With this 10 runs we demonstrate the consistency and reliability that could be achieved with a LEGO Education SPIKE Prime robot and a 2-states simple line following algorithm. It is not bad. Still there are some things you should consider when using this program and one of the things is the use of the timers

In this video tutorial we try to move forward with a LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor robot and we try to keep a straight line using the Motion Sensor. Without entering into the details of the programming we demonstrate what is the behavior of the robot when trying to keep a straight line with the Motion Sensor while we are participating in a FIRST LEGO League competition.

As an exercise try to implement the calibration of the minimum and maximum values for a single sensor. 

Implement the program for array initialization.

Follow the video tutorials for initializing arrays and implement the program. 

On the topic of following lines with a robot there is a way to make the robot follow the line a little more precisely. This method is called "Multi-states" program. Or at least we call it like this. In this tutorial you will see how we program 5 state for the robot line following program. This could be particularly important with FIRST LEGO League competitions where we must build consistent and reliable robots.

In this video tutorial we use the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Motion Sensor to reach a mission model on the field. It's a basic use of the motion sensor that we will extend in the next few tutorials and in the same time we take the opportunity to demonstrate what a MyBlock is and how to develop one. As a result of this video you will learn how to make the program easier to read and maintain by organizing the blocks in the program in special MyBlocks that couple them all together.

With this first tutorial on the Motion Sensor in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor course we demonstrate the basic algorithm for moving in a straight line with the Motion Sensor. From here all the other algorithms are modifications, and if you know the basic it will be easier to tweak the behavior for your particular challenge

Is it better to do fast turns or slow turns? Should you save some time by turning fast or should you be more precise by turning slow. Where is the balance? This video tutorial demonstrates exactly this for LEGO Education SPIKE Prime robot, their motion sensor and an ever occurring question on FIRST LEGO League competition which is how to find the balance and where is the balance.

Following the previous tutorials from the course, implement the calibration of the minimum and maximum values. 

One of the smartest things you could do in any software program is to extract logic in small reusable, simple, understandable units. In EV3-G these are called Blocks and we are going to extract the logic for finding a minimum and maximum for each of the sensors in a new block.

A common question is how to display arrays on the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 brick screen. Displaying values from an array is not different from any other display operation. In this tutorial, we would look at displaying two specific values. The minimum and the maximum for a specific sensor from the Advance Calibration Course Section

Following the Advanced Sensor Calibration course section, it is time to extract the logic for getting a calibrated value into a new block. This block will have an input and on this input, we give the port number. The block will return the calibrated value for this port number. We've built all the other blocks only because of this almost final video here.

This lesson shows how you could use the rotation sensors of the motors of a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot. This technique is very powerful during the competition. We give ideas on how to show the value of the sensor on the display, how to check if you have completed a given job or you are still doing it and other even more advanced topics. Understanding the rotation sensor is a must if you want to use the full capabilities of the motors.

In this video tutorial we take a next step in programming reliable and consistent robots and this is to learn how to stop at a second intersection. We need this because most of the time when we want to reach a mission model on a robotics competition field, the model will be located away from us and we must use all kind of technique to reach it. In this tutorial - we stop at a second intersection.

We use a sensor so the robot must be reliable and accurate right? Wrong. The robot is not reliable and accurate only because we use sensors and that's really important during FIRST LEGO League competition. There is a reason for this and in this tutorial we demonstrate and explain how the robot behaves with a basic use of the Motion Sensor to move straight. As a result you will learn why is it important not to stop at this stage and to go to the next level with more advance use of sensors.

In this tutorial, we show you how to display all the values from an EV3-G array on the EV3 brick display. We are using an array Read Operation along with a loop. We are also detecting the loop counter and using it as an index to an array. It's basically the only viable way to do it. The process is commonly referred to as - "Iteration over an array" (although we still do not have an iterator in the programming language, we promise that one day we would do the super advance videos on "iteration" using the LEGO MINDSTORMS robots")  

The scorpion is one of the most famous robots build with the NXT kit. In this lesson we are showing how to use the rotation sensor to program the scorpion and its strikes. The main challenge is how to return the spike for the same amount of degrees after it strikes. The other topic is how to use variable to keep the state of the scorpion. Both of this techniques are very valuable during the competition.

In this video tutorial we follow a line 10 consecutive times. In this way we demonstrate whats the consistency that you could expect from the robot when following a line with a multi-states algorithm.

In this 10 out of 10 tutorials we do 10 runs that demonstrated how consistent and reliable it is to stop at the second intersection. This is useful as it is one of the main ways to figure out how to position yourself on the field.

In this video tutorial we demonstrate a few ways to use the Distance sensor from the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor on FIRST LEGO League competitions. We don't enter into the details about programming as we do in the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor Programming course, because here we demonstrate the behavior of the robot when the sensor is use and we make the argument that you should always use sensors at FIRST LEGO League competitions

In this video tutorial we demonstrate the behavior of a LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor robot when we use the Motion sensor. The Motion sensor was also referred to as Gyro sensor in previous versions of the LEGO Mindstorms Robot. We do not enter into the details of the programming and you can download the programs from the course lesson, but we make a demonstration of how the robot turns to about 95 degrees when we try to turn it to 90 degrees, we explain why and we suggest a way to improve the behavior of the robot.

This animation demonstrates the principle of aligning to a line with two color sensors and a LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor robot. This is a useful concept for FIRST LEGO League competitions where you want to know exactly where you are on the field and to achieve consistent behavior. In the course lesson you will also find a live video tutorial where we enter into more details about aligning. We align the robot to a line by moving both sensors slowly until they both see a black line. When one of them sees the line we move only the other. At the end we return the first sensor back.

Following the Advance Sensor Calibration course section, we found the min and max values detected by each sensor. Now it is time for the real deal of the calibration. Detect the current value from the sensor and find what is the percentage of this value for the range between min and max. 

With this video tutorial we demonstration the consistency and reliability of the using an intersection to position on the field. We move forward and we stop at the first intersection. We detect the intersection with a sensor. In the whole 10 runs there isn't a single mistake and you can see the precision of the robot on each run. Check it out and experiment with the same program for your robot.

In this video tutorial, we demonstrate how to gently push an object to accomplish the mission. "Gently" means that we are pushing but not with force. If we push using force, the mission model will fall, and we will not accomplish the mission. We use LEGO Education SPIKE Prime and the Ultrasonic Sensor.

In this short animation we demonstrate how the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor Distance sensors could be attached to the robot and then use to stop at distance from a wall. This wall could be the border of the field or another mission model. We need an attachment, we need a sensor and we need the robot. In the live video in the lesson we enter into more details and explanations of how the sensor is used. Programs for the distance sensor are provided in the lesson and in the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor Programming course we enter into more details about how to program the distance sensor