Servo - March 2013

EV3 UNVEILED

The LEGO Group recently introduced LEGO® MINDSTORMS EV3 — a new platform for consumer robotics designed to introduce a younger generation to the excitement of building and programming robots while adding new flexibility for its devoted following of robotics enthusiasts.

EV3 is the result of three years of product development by an international team of LEGO designers, MINDSTORMS user enthusiasts, and leading technology experts, and will be available this summer.

EV3 comes with hundreds of LEGO bricks, plus four motors and five sensors — including a new infrared unit that can be used as robotic eyes or to allow a robot to follow a remote control.

LEGO is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the MINDSTORMS kit, and they really wanted to make the product more exciting to "an audience of children who have grown up with technology."

One of the biggest upgrades is the EV3 programmable brick — the heart of every MINDSTORMS project. The brick has been revamped internally and externally. The central processor is an ARM 9 chip, with 64 MB of RAM and 16 MB of Flash built in for storing programs.An SD slot allows the memory to be expanded, and there's a better display.

The biggest innovation is that LEGO has made it easier for the EV3 brick to communicate via Bluetooth with Android and iOS apps. That means you can use a smartphone or tablet to control a MINDSTORMS robot or give it new behaviors.

While the previous version of MINDSTORMS did offer Bluetooth connectivity,Apple devices wouldn't play with the system. Now — due to the addition of a secure Bluetooth chip — these robots can connect to iOS devices for the first time, allowing robots to be controlled from an iPhone or iPad.

There's also a USB port that allows users to connect any Wi-Fi dongle. The whole thing runs under a version of the Linux operating system, and LEGO promises to open up the system as much as possible to hackers with the release of detailed documentation and SDKs coming later.

To program your robotic creations, you can enter commands directly into the EV3 brick via its LCD or you can use the easy-to-use PC software provided. The set also includes a program that LEGO created with Autodesk that shows step-by-step 3D instructions for various projects.

The EV3 set will include instructions for 17 different robots, including walking humanoids and insect-like creatures. It will sell for $350 and will be available in the second half of this year.

In addition to the retail version, LEGO is launching an educational version, as well.

The educational version is actually a collection of kits designed for classroom use, and it features some unique components compared to the retail version, such as a gyroscope sensor that allows the construction of self-balancing robots, Segway-style.