LEGO Mindstorms EV3
© 2013 LEGO Americas
Mixing lots of building opportunities with some unnecessary complexity -- not to mention a hefty price tag, the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 system ($350, www.legoeducation.us/mindstorms) is the long-awaited upgrade to LEGO Mindstorm. For those who care, it's kit number 31313. The brain of the system is the EV3 (short for evolution 3). About the size of a very fat bar of soap, the controller block comes with a one-color LCD screen and a primitive arrow-key menu system. We had hoped to find a touch screen interface and rechargeable batteries. Oh well... perhaps EV4. The battery issue is important, because those same 6 AA's power as many as eight controller ports that might include motors and sensors. The good news is that the EV3 now has bluetooth, so you can download an app called the LEGO Mindstorms Create & Command for your iOS or Android device. Once the bluetooth connection has been paired, the controls are more accessible and fun. There's also an infrared remote mode. The EV3 also has Micro SD expansion, and a USB port for connecting and programming from a Mac or Windows computer, providing you download the software. WHAT'S IN THE BOX? The $350 kit contains the EV3, three servo motors, a touch sensor, an IR sensor, a color sensor and 550 LEGO Technic pieces. The IR "seeker sensor" can now measure distance or detect objects, and an IR remote can control your robot from up to 6 feet away. This kit is backward compatible with LEGO Mindstorms NXT; the programming software is PC and Mac compatible, with icon-based drag and drop environment for “building” programs with new interactive content that helps de-bug programming. The screen I saw reminded me of Scratch. A “mission pad” can be used in a series of obstacle courses, and an app provides 3D building instructions, through collaboration with Autodesk. The new 3D instructions app allows builders to zoom in and rotate each step in the building process, making it easier than ever to assemble even the most sophisticated robot. HISTORY. The entire concept represents the continuation of the philosophical marriage between LEGO and the similarly named programming language, Logo (with an o) that originally started 30 years ago when LEGO's Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen contacted MIT's Seymour Papert following the publication of his book Mindstorms, in which he discussed the LOGO (Turtle programming) language, as a means to bring constructivist thinking into the computer age. This conversation led to the 1988 release of an "intelligent brick" designed to "bring LEGO creations to life via computer programming" (according to a current LEGO press release). In 1998, a mainstream edition of the controller brick was released, called LEGO Mindstorms RCX; a highly regarded product by our testers. The Mindstorms concept started to become stale, however, and other DIY programming options started to come to market. LEGO Mindstorms EV3 is an attempt to add some new power and spice to an old idea. Besides more raw computing power (a Linux-based ARM9 processor, with 16 MB of memory plus 64 MB of storage that is quite a step up from the original 512K), there are also ports for SD expansion and a USB connection to a Mac or Windows computer. There are eight ports -- four input and four output plus speakers and bluetooth which can be used to communicate with an app. From an educational/learning point of view, it is fair to raise the question -- does all this "snap together" follow the step-by-step instructions really have anything to do with robotics? LEGO purists might be critical of this point. A child using this kit might spend time following somebody else's ideas to complete one of the five very cool robots, rather than coming up with their own. And once they are built, it is important that they take the extra step to program the brick, instead of just using a drive-around toy. On the other hand, creativity and structure can be good partners.
$350, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac OSX
Teaches: math, logic, programming, creativity, STEM, robotics
CTR Rating: 86%