Tag: sensors

Light and Gryo Sensor Calibration

Some sensors need to be calibrated to make sure they work correctly. I’ve made an EV3 project to help my FIRST LEGO League teams calibrate their sensors and would like to make it available to all the kids out there doing FLL. Something similar was included with NXT for calibrating the light sensor, but the […]

Continue reading "Light and Gryo Sensor Calibration" →

The Maze Challenge: Great for all levels and ages

I teach several classes and camps for kids ages 8-14 using Mindstorms EV3/NXT. I teach small classes (about 8-12 students) with two kids, one robot, and one computer. We usually start out with the basics: robot parts, terminology, intro to the programming workspace, and basic robot movements. From there I start them on a series […]

Continue reading "The Maze Challenge: Great for all levels and ages" →

A Week in the Life #10: Candy Sorter

I teach an introductory course using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set. My students are 7th graders who are required to take the course and may not necessarily have any background in programming/building. My school is on a trimester schedule so the course runs for thirteen weeks at a time. For this particular trimester I have […]

Continue reading "A Week in the Life #10: Candy Sorter" →

A Week in the Life #7: Sensor Fun

This is the eighth of probably fourteen in a series of posts, each chronicling in detail the ins and outs of my Robotics class. I teach an introductory course using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set. My students are 7th graders who are required to take the course and may not necessarily have any background in […]

Continue reading "A Week in the Life #7: Sensor Fun" →

Pixy for LEGO: A smart vision sensor for NXT and EV3

Charmed Labs have just released a version of Pixy (a vision sensor for Arduino) for LEGO Mindstorms. It’s a smart vision sensor, with the ability to learn and track colored objects with a single button press. The new version comes with a cable to connect directly to EV3 and NXT bricks, plus a free software module for […]

Continue reading "Pixy for LEGO: A smart vision sensor for NXT and EV3" →

Programming Bluetooth on EV3

On 27 February 2015, a small group of EDGErs went to LEGOLAND in California for an EV3 Hackathon. This post documents one of the projects that came out of the event. Wireless projects using Bluetooth technology can be loads of fun and very engaging. They can definitely bring a “wow” factor into your lessons, and […]

Continue reading "Programming Bluetooth on EV3" →

Darkness or darker?

In this article, we look at the difference between fixed and relative thresholds in LabVIEW, that is the “darkness” and the “darker” settings in the Wait for Light Sensor block. Note: This article builds on “Exploring thresholds” by Josep Fargas. It is recommended that you read that article first. The examples in this article were […]

Continue reading "Darkness or darker?" →

WeDo curriculum resources

The WeDo kit can be used to achieve many curricular goals. The guide that comes with the WeDo software provides ideas of how to achieve mathematics, science, technology, engineering and language arts goals. Other teachers have also developed their own curricula using the WeDo. The list below is not complete – please add links to […]

Continue reading "WeDo curriculum resources" →

JumboBooks: An introduction to using microprocessors in LabVIEW

The Center for Engineering Education and Outreach at Tufts University has created JumboBooks, a set of educational tutorials to program different devices in LabVIEW. The microprocessors used include the Arduino Uno, BeagleBone, LilyPad, myRIO, and ProtoSnap, as well as a tutorial for LEGO’s EV3 brick. The tutorials were created for high schoolers and up, and can be downloaded […]

Continue reading "JumboBooks: An introduction to using microprocessors in LabVIEW" →