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Overview
High Tech LEGO® hijacks the MINDSTORMS® EV3 revolution, showing you how to build creative technical inventions with practical applications. You'll learn to build a dynamic array of working devices for outdoor research, home security, spycraft, and more.
Among the book's 16 fascinating projects you'll find a motion-activated animal cam, a Morse code transmitter, a laser security fence, a motion-sensing radar detector, an automated insect trapper, and a heat-seeking infrared cannon. Welcome to a whole new world of building!
Every project brings together science, mechanics, electronics, optics, and software to create complex instruments for studying and measuring the world around you, all while maintaining the playfulness of LEGO. Each easy-to-follow model combines illustrated instructions with step-by-step guidance on the engineering methods at play.
As you build, you'll learn:
Experiment on your own, and expand on your finished creations. Make a few adjustments so the Critter Cam triggers an alarm to scare away pests, or modify the Doppler radar to detect flammable gases. The possibilities are endless!
REQUIREMENTS: LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Home Edition Windows Vista or higher macOS 10.14 or earlier
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781718500259 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | No Starch Press |
| Publication date: | 11/04/2020 |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Sales rank: | 1,102,559 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d) |
| Age Range: | 10 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction xvii
What is MINDSTORMS EV3? xvii
What is Technic? xvii
What you'll need to build the projects in this book xvii
Who this book is for xviii
Who i am xviii
The projects xix
Online bonus projects xix
1 The motion-activated critter cam 1
Building the motion-activated critter cam 2
What you'll need 2
Building the infrared sensor head 4
Building the button pusher 7
Writing the software 11
Assembling the motion-activated critter cam 14
Using the motion-activated critter cam 14
Ideas for going further 15
What you learned 15
2 The LEGO-compatible laser 17
The diode laser module 18
What you'll need 18
Mounting the laser module 20
Drilling holes in the gearboxes 20
Rounding out the holes with a reamer 20
Powering the laser module 21
Modifying an electric wire cable 21
Connecting the Zener diode and resistor 22
Securing the laser and wiring 23
Adding a cover to the laser structure 24
What you learned 26
3 The laser security fence 27
Building the laser security fence 27
What you'll need 28
Building the LEGO-compatible laser mount 29
Building the sensor mount 31
Writing the software 33
Using the laser security fence 36
Ideas for going further 37
What you learned 37
4 Morse code transmitters 39
What you'll need 40
Building a manual message transmitter 40
Attaching the sensor and Intelligent Brick 41
Writing the manual message transmitter software 44
Using the manual message transmitter 45
Building an automated message transmitter 45
Writing the dot and dash programs 49
Creating dot and dash blocks with My Blocks 50
Creating letter blocks 50
Writing a message 52
Using the automated message transmitter 53
What you learned 53
5 Infrared message transmitters 55
Working with infrared light 55
What you'll need 56
The covert Morse code transmitter 57
Building the covert Morse code transmitter 58
Writing the software for the covert Morse code transmitter 61
Viewing your covert Morse code 64
Infrared Morse code receiver 65
Huilding the infrared Morse code receiver 65
Writing the infrared Morse code receiver software 65
Using the infrared Morse code receiver 67
What you learned 67
6 The automatic insect trapper 69
Building the automatic insect trapper 70
What you'll need 70
Modifying the box 71
Setting up the UV lamp 72
Powering the light 72
Building the lid release 73
Writing the software 75
Connecting the automatic insect trapper 77
Using the automatic insect trapper 78
What you learned 78
7 The motion-sensing radar 79
Building the motion-sensing radar 79
What you'll need 80
Building the sensor mount 81
Attaching the Digital Microwave Sensor 84
Connecting the connector cable and breakout board 84
Connecting the sensor to the EV3 Intelligent Brick 85
Writing the software 86
Using the motion-sensing radar 88
Ideas for going further 88
What you learned 88
8 The tower of Eratosthenes 89
Understanding Eratosthenes's discovery 89
Building the tower of Eratosthenes 90
What you'll need 90
Constructing the tower 91
Leveling the base 105
Understanding the angle of the sun 105
Equinoxes 106
Summer solstice 106
Winter solstice 107
Measuring with the tower of Eratosthenes 108
Measuring on a solstice 108
Measuring at an equinox and finding the latitude 109
Finding the tilt of the earth 110
Ideas for going further 110
What you learned 110
9 Hacking LEGO light bricks 111
What you'll need 111
Changing the colors of LEGO light bricks 112
Unscrewing the light brick 113
Reshaping the leads 113
Performing infrared and UV light brick experiments 114
Huilding a light brick that remains on 115
Creating a light beam 115
Calculating the magnifying glass's focal length 115
Building a worm drive to align the lens 116
Testing the light beam 120
What you learned 120
10 The flickering fireplace 121
What you'll need 122
Programming the BlinkM 123
Holding the BlinkM 124
Powering the BlinkM 129
Finishing the fireplace 131
Ideas for going further 134
What you learned 134
11 The laser light show 135
What you'll need 135
Front-surface mirrors 137
The law of reflection 138
Building the laser light show 139
Building the LEGO mirror mount 139
Building the baseplate 140
Building the mirror spinners 142
Building the EV3 Intelligent Brick mount 148
Assembling the laser light show 152
Writing the software 153
Using the laser light show 156
Ideas for going further 156
What you learned 156
12 The infrared thermometer and cannon 157
Working with infrared radiation 157
What you'll need 158
The remote sensing thermometer 159
Building the remote sensing thermometer 160
Writing the software 162
Using the remote sensing thermometer 164
The heat-seeking cannon 165
Building the heat-seeking cannon 165
Writing the software 175
Using the heat-seeking cannon 180
What you learned 180
Index 181