EV3 is the third generation of the Lego Mindstorms robotic series. It consists of a programmable brick, a wide assortment of blocks from the Lego Technic line, and an impressive array of sensors and motors. Put together and programmed correctly, these result in a stunning variety of robots whose function and complexity is limited only by your imagination.
EV3 provides a smooth entry into the fascinating world of robotics. By providing motors and sensors that are guaranteed to work and Technic pieces that enable flexibility in construction, it allows you to focus on the core of robotics: building and programming.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Components of EV3
- Differences between the Home and Education sets
- An overview of the brick
- Menu navigation
By the end of this chapter, you will be familiar with the components of EV3—in particular, the brick that acts as the brain of your robot. You will have turned it on and navigated its menus, taking your first steps along the path to robotic mastery.
In 1998, Lego, already a household name thanks to their sets of build-it-yourself toys, took the world by storm when they launched the Robotic Invention System: a set consisting of a programmable brick that can be connected to a small collection of sensors and motors. It was programmed using a simple visual programming language in which you connect a series of icons to control the flow of logic and consequently, the behavior of the robot.
Faced with the continual and overwhelming popularity of the customizable and programmable robot, Lego has kept releasing new generations of the robotics kit under the name Mindstorms, each one with better brick hardware, streamlined software, and an increased number of sensors and motors.
The Mindstorms series has been unique in the interest it has engendered in robotics enthusiasts. They have taken a child's toy and made it their own, and in the process, they have created an awe-inspiring collection of robots that even Lego could not have imagined.
EV3 was designed with this fact in mind. It is intended as both a toy for children and a robotics set for serious roboticists. It is the first release to run Linux and have its code released as open source (https://github.com/mindboards/ev3sources). Lego built EV3 to be truly hackable, and they have not disappointed. Its open nature has allowed enthusiasts to create their own firmware and toolsets, allowing it to be programmed using a variety of languages (C, Java, Lua, and so on). In the latter half of the book, we will cover one such toolset and use it to create robots of considerable complexity.