Preface

Build and Code Creative Robots with LEGO BOOST teaches a range of interesting robotics projects with detailed building instructions. You'll learn how to use motors, sensors, and Scratch programming to build modern-day smart robots while developing your STEM skills in a fun way.

Who this book is for

This book will help 7-12-year-old children who want to learn robotics with LEGO BOOST to develop their creativity, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Teachers, trainers, and parents who wish to teach robotics with LEGO BOOST and Scratch will also find this book useful.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to the LEGO BOOST Kit, introduces you to the fascinating world of LEGO BOOST and the infinite possibilities of creation that it comes with. You shall understand how the hub works and how to connect the hub to your tablet.

Chapter 2, Build Your First BOOST Robot – Tabletop Fan, will show you how to build a simple table fan using the LEGO bricks and BOOST Hub given in the kit. You will be introduced to the world of programming and given a basic task to turn the fan on and off. A challenge to change speeds is provided in the Pursue section.

Chapter 3, Moving Forward/Backward Without Wheels, covers one of the most interesting ways to learn about the basics of movement and the importance of wheels – moving without wheels! With open-ended discussions, you shall explore various ways in which an object can move even in the absence of wheels. You will tinker with some cool activities to control the robot's movement in the absence of wheels!

Chapter 4, LEGO BOOST Rover, covers how to build your first robot with wheels. More concepts of programming, such as various kinds of turns, will be introduced in this chapter. You will be given more programming tasks, such as making robots move in specific shape patterns and eventually using loops to reduce data redundancy.

Chapter 5, Getting into Gear – My First Geared Robot, introduces you to the various kinds of gears available in the BOOST kit with their specific usage. You shall understand the concepts of gear ratio and gearing up and gearing down in detail and relate them to the term "torque." You will then build your own geared car with various gear combinations and explore firsthand how different gear combinations affect movement.

Chapter 6, Building a Forklift, covers how to build your own forklift robot and understand how a load is moved easily in industry using this vehicle. Your forklift will be completely autonomous and will pick up a load from one place, travel to the destination, and place it.

Chapter 7, Building a Helicopter, covers building a helicopter. We have probably all seen a helicopter and a few of us would have taken a ride in one too. How about building your own helicopter with rotating blades that can move from one place to another? You will be taught the basic concepts of flying and activities will be set accordingly.

Chapter 8, Building R2-D2, covers building an R2-D2 robot. Those of us who are Star Wars fans know R2-D2. With this activity, you will apply your knowledge of gears to create the movement of R2-D2 and complete some fun challenges.

Chapter 9, Building an Automatic Entrance Door, provides yet another simple but effective application of a distance sensor – automated entrance doors. You will build your own entrance door with the help of a pulley mechanism as well as a color sensor in this project.

Chapter 10, Building a Candy Dispenser Robot, teaches you how a color sensor works in real life. You shall build a cool candy dispenser robot that will drop different-colored candies based on the color of the LEGO brick detected by the color sensor.

Chapter 11, Building a Color Sorter Conveyor Belt, teaches you how to build a cool industrial application, a conveyor belt with a basic robotic arm. It will be able to sort three different colors at three different places using a color sensor.

Chapter 12, Building a BOOST Racing Car, covers how to build your own race car with a steering wheel mechanism. You shall learn about advanced concepts in programming and use the steering option to control this car. You will make this an autonomous car capable of traversing a complex path.

Chapter 13, Final Challenge, provides a final challenge that you will have to use your own creativity, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills to crack. You will have to build and code your own robot with no guidance from the book except hints and some common references. This will help students and parents understand how your learning has progressed through this book.

Chapter 14, The Grabbing Robot, covers how to build your own grabber robot that can grab things from one point and place it elsewhere. Like the forklift, this robot will be capable of holding objects of any shape. Students will learn about the complex application of gears and build a sturdy robot capable of grabbing and displacing.

Chapter 15, Obstacle Avoidance Robot, introduces you to the world of sensors and explains how color sensors work along with various practical examples. You will be introduced to the programming logic when sensors are involved.

Chapter 16, The BOOST Humanoid, covers how to build a humanoid structure using your BOOST kit and attach a color sensor to it at the bottom. You will learn about the basic concept of line following and then program the robot to follow the black line path given.

Chapter 17, The Moon Rover, covers how to build a moon rover that will be capable of sending sensed data to the main station and perform tasks such as dropping water in barren land and collecting samples from green land.

To get the most out of this book

To effectively perform all the projects hands-on, you must have a LEGO BOOST kit along with a laptop for programming. Basic knowledge of the Scratch programming language would be an added advantage.

If you are going to use Scratch 3.0 online, you must create an account there so that you can effectively save your programs and use them for future reference. If you are going to install it on your computer, please download it from here: https://scratch.mit.edu/download. You also need a set of six AAA-sized rechargeable batteries for your BOOST Hub.

After you are done reading this book, I would love to see you building more complex robots using your own creativity and innovation. Building a 3D printer is a worthwhile option to consider. You can also explore various LEGO-based robotics competitions and aim to participate in them to showcase your creativity and innovation.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://static.packt-cdn.com/downloads/9781801075572_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "Simply swap the motor ports in the if else condition and the robot will follow the left edge of the line."

A block of code is set as follows:

Figure 10.61

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Display Green brick detected before dispensing. Once the candies are dispensed, display Three candies dispensed."

Tips or important notes

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