As I embark on my second year as a FIRST Lego League coach, I am reviewing the materials that made my first year successful as well as deciding what tools to use in the upcoming year. There are several books that I used extensively during my first year, and I plan to use all of them in my second year as well.
• Classroom Activities for the Busy Teacher: EV3
• The Lego Mindstorms EV3 Idea Book
• The Lego Mindstorms EV3 Discovery Book
• The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming
I wanted to take a few minutes to share what I loved in particular about The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming book. If you are new to Lego Mindstorms robotics and the EV3, this book starts from the beginning introducing you to the EV3 hardware and software. You won’t feel left behind. Each concept that is introduced builds on the prior one while preparing you for the next. As the author, Terry Griffin, states, “This book is for anyone who wants to learn how to create programs to control their EV3 robot, whether you’re a young robotics enthusiast; an adult teaching children about robotics; a parent; a FIRST Lego League coach; or a teacher using the EV3 in a classroom.”
You can use The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming with the retail EV3 set
If you already have experience programming the EV3, The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming will stretch your skills. A lot of EV3 programmers write simple programs without utilizing variables, data wires, or My Blocks, let alone attempting the use of arrays, writing/reading a file, or multitasking. If you work through all the chapters and projects in this book, you will gain a full understanding of the power of the EV3 software as well as an in-depth programming experience that makes use of all those programming constructs.
Each page of The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming contains just the right amount of text and supplemental diagrams. The reader will be able to easily create the sample programs in the EV3 software as they follow along with the programming diagrams. The use of full-color along with the detailed explanations makes it easy to transfer the programs from the page to the actual software. If you run into trouble, however, you can download the sample programs from the No Starch Press website.
Instructions for building the TriBot robot are also included. The TriBot is simple to build, provides just the right amount of flexibility for the sample programs, and gives the reader the ability to bring their programs to life. While reading about the sensors and programming constructs in the book, the reader can create the sample programs in the software and run them to test their success at learning the concept.
In my FIRST Lego League class, I used The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming to teach my kids the concept of line following with a twist. Chapter 7 the WallFollower program: navigating a maze extends on simple line following techniques by having the TriBot follow the walls of a maze. I love how the book explained the right-hand rule to traversing a maze along with breaking down the individual tasks the robot would need to handle. The TriBot needs to use the ultrasonic, or infrared, sensor to follow the wall. It must also handle running into the wall in front of it as well as dealing with an opening to the right side. The kids on my team tackled each task one at a time until they were ready to string them together and traverse the maze. It was fantastic to see how serious they were about getting it right along with how proud they were of their success.
Check out this video of our robot in action as it works its way through our maze.
The Art of Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programming currently sells on Amazon for $25.84 (hardback) or $15.37 (Kindle).
GeekMom received this item for review purposes.
