IPad Mini Holder

Happy Day Light Savings Time. Let us Spring forward into good weather.

Recently, a Knight of Bots Member, has created a handy device that will help with note-taking.
This consist of beams, pins, axles, and plates. This creation is programming free. Anyone can build it.
This project works with an iPad 4 mini. The gist of this is basically a creation that will hold your iPad, and then have a plate holder to hold your note pad. This is to help you take notes simultaneously with researching on your iPad.

The picture above is the front of the creation. As you can see it is the iPad and the notepad, being held by the invention.

From a left side angle we see the support of the Black beams. We also see the lifted bean as well holding and supporting the bottom of the iPad.

On the right side, you can see a better image of the support that holds the iPad. A three tier 9 hole beams are used. As well as a right angle beam to hold the iPad. 

Basically you can build this at home. With the right material you can build it. It doesn't have to be black, you can change the colour to your preference. 

Keep tune for the next blog post. Also keep tune for a Lego Digital Design Model of this. 

That's all folks.

EV3 Butler Bot

Oops, we did it again! A Knights of Bots has finished building an EV3 butler bot. Equipped with a tray and cup holder, its main purpose is to deliver items such as drinks and food. Butler bot is remote controlled.

Here is a picture and video of the robot:

Multiple Pics of different angles of robot here

This robot is made of:

1 EV3 Brick

1 Ultrasonic Sensor

1 IR Sensor

4 Large Motors

1 EV3 Infrared Beacon (remote)

ROBOT SPECS

At first, medium motors were used to lift the tray up and down. Unfortunately, the medium motors were not strong enough to lift the tray so the motors were switched to large motors. These large motors are connected to the rack gear system that lifts the tray.

A 40 tooth gear, 8 tooth gear, and 24 tooth clutch gear are used in this gearing system (shown below).

The tray caused butler bot to fall over. To fix this problem, a wheel was added to balance out the robot. The wheel is attached to a white beam. This beam itself is independent of the robot. The beam is placed inside a box made of other beams that is connected to the robot. When the tray lifts, the white beam and the wheel stay on the ground but the box lifts. This mechanism allows for the tray to lift while the robot maintains its balance.

PROGRAM

The entire program is placed within an unlimited loop block. Inside the loop is a switch block. The switch block is set to Ultrasonic Sensor, Compare Type 4, Distance 20 Centimeters. If the ultrasonic sensor senses an object that is less than 20 centimeters away, the program in the true section (this section is marked by a check mark) of the switch block will run. This program tells the robot to say "Object Detected", move back 1 rotation, and allow the person using the remote control to direct the robot away from the object. This program function prevents the robot from crashing into objects and allows it to be controlled from another room.

However, if the ultrasonic sensor does not sense an object 20 cm away, it will run the program in the false section. This program consists of a mini block titled "Remote_Buttons". The mini block program contains the instructions for Butler Bot to be remote controlled. It assigns each button of the remote a different function. Press both of the top buttons to move forward. Two of the bottom buttons to move backward. Top left to turn left, top right to turn right, bottom left to lift the tray up, bottom right to lower the tray, press no buttons to stop the robot.

Picture of the Full Program

Picture of the True Section

Picture of Switch Block in True Section

Note: The switch block in the true section tells the robot to keep backing up if it is still too close to the object.

Picture of False Section

Picture of the "Remote_Buttons" My Block

Picture of My Block Program in Flat View

Picture of My Block Program in Tabbed View

Here are links to buy the materials used for Butler Bot:

EV3 Home Edition Kit

EV3 Ultrasonic Sensor

EV3 IR sensor

EV3 Infrared Beacon (remote)

EV3 Large Motor

Happy building!

EV3 Hand Sanitizer Dispenser

It's been a while but a Knights of Bots member has just finished working on a Hand Sanitizer robot. It was made using the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kit.

Here is a picture and video of the robot:

This robot consists of:

1 EV3 Brick
2 Large Motors
1 Ultrasonic Sensor



This robot was harder to build than originally expected. At first, one motor was used to push down the handle. This idea did not work.  After many trials and failures, the L3GoBots Lady (link to her blog here) suggested a brilliant idea. One, that the robot use the power of two motors instead of one. Plus, the dispenser should pull down the handle instead of pushing down the pump for maximum force.



Below is a picture of the pulling mechanism:

A Steering Link and tow ball with pin is used to pull down the handle. The Link attaches to one of the holes on the motor instead of the middle of the motor where the axle hole is located.

Here are pictures of the steering link and tow ball pin:

Steering Link (Top) and Tow Ball Pin (Bottom)

The steering link and tow ball pin when they are connected

The entire program is placed within an unlimited loop block. First, it resets both motor B and C. Then, the program WAITS for someone to place their hand above the ultrasonic sensor. The robot will then say "Place your hand about an inch below the handle. Wait for hand sanitizer." After waiting for 0.2 seconds, the large motors will then pull down the hand sanitizer pump, allowing the hand sanitizer fluid to fall into waiting hands. The robot instructs the user to remove their hands from beneath the pump. It then politely sends them off by saying "Thank you! Good bye and have a nice day!" Afterwards, a wait block is used for 3 seconds.

A picture of the program is shown below. It was broken up into two pieces to make it easier to read.

A smiling face is shown on the EV3 robot while the program is running. Here is a picture of it:

Below are the links to buy all the materials listed in this article.

EV3 Home Edition Kit

Ultrasonic Sensor

Here is the link to download the EV3 Home Edition Programming Software:

EV3 Home Edition Programming Software

Happy Building!

The Spirit of Christ-mas!

You're a mean one Mr. Grinch! It's almost Christmas and one of the Knights of Bots member has designed, build and programmed a Church. We call it All Saints R.C. Church. Inside of this festive Church is a typical design of a Renaissance Roman Catholic Church. This Church changes with the season.

 

As you can see that wreaths and poinsettias are surrounding this marvelous beauty of art. 

Here are some closer views of the inside of the Church.

The Altar has two sets of Wreaths on each end right next tot the presiders chair in front of the tabernacle. 

              

  Another angle of the sanctuary. 

This is a view of the side of the church with some stain glass windows that are only visible to the people inside the church.

This structure has more than beauty, it has been programmed to play church chimes.

The loop is there to make the program repeat 2 times. Inside the loop is the two sound blocks that has the sound of the bells. A beautiful church model with beautiful chimes.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas! And A Happy New Year!

For more go to Brics2bots. -Antonio C.

Mini LEGO Amusement Park!!!!!

That's right folks, a Knights of Bots member has just finished building a mini LEGO Amusement Park named LEGOland Mini! Built at Brics~2~Bots Lab, this project took all summer to create. It consists of three rides, a Ferris Wheel, a Free Fall, and a Carousel. All LEGO rides were inspired by actual amusement park rides. A picture of LEGOland Mini is shown below.

Here is a video of LEGOland Mini:

About the Park

LEGOland Mini was built using EV3 kits. The Amusement Park rides are powered by the same EV3 brick. Pictures of the EV3 brick used to power the rides is shown below.

Here is a screenshot of the program used to run LEGOland Mini:

As shown in the program above, the rides are all activated using one touch sensor.

This is the program for the All_Rides My Block used in the program:

The All_Rides My Nlock consists of three My Blocks. Each My Block is the program for a different ride at LEGOland Mini. The individual my block programs will be shown and explained further in this article.

Motor Drop: The Free Fall

The Free Fall is powered using one EV3 medium motor, and one EV3 large servo motor. As shown in the video of the Amusement Park, the medium motor uses a rack gear to move the large servo motor towards the free fall ride. Then, the servo motor latches on to the handle and winds up the string holding the sitting mini figures on a gondola. After the gondola with mini figures reach the top of the Free Fall, the program pauses. Next, the medium motor quickly pulls the large motor away from the ride, causing it to detach from the handle holding the gondola of mini figures up and, in turn, the gondola with mini figures "free fall" down. 

A challenged was encountered while creating the Free Fall. The gondola fell down too fast during the ride; creating a very unpleasant and unsafe impact for the minifigures :-(. Since LEGOland Mini prioritizes minifigures' safety above all else (that and we don't want a minifigure law suit), we had to find a solution to this problem. One solution was to use the motor to bring the minifigures down, however that would defeat the purpose of the Free Fall.  After all, the "falling part" of the free fall is actually gravity and mass at work. Then, after experimenting, researching, and discussing, a great idea came forth. Actual free fall rides aren't really "free falls". If they were, then the rides would become deadly. Engineers control the speed of the free falls by slowing them down. This stunning realization lead to this idea: we can use gears to slow down the fall and make it safer for minifigures to ride on.

After testing out various gearing configurations, we finally found one that worked. Here's a picture:

The programming for the free fall was relatively simple (there is a picture of it below).

Note: The audio block in the program titled "SCREAM" is the screaming sound you hear when the minifigures fall down. This is a feature added into the program to make the ride more realistic.

Working with Gradual Increase in Speed: The Ferris Wheel

Ferris Wheel (Front View)

Ferris Wheel (Side View)

The Ferris Wheel uses one EV3 motor. Shown in the Amusement Park video, the EV3 motor spins the Ferris Wheel. However, while watching the video you may have noticed something unusual about this ride; the Ferris Wheel's speed increases and decreases. This idea came from a Youtube video made by Builderdude35 titled: How to Program a Motor Acceleration MyBlock in EV3-G. In this video, he explains a program that gradually increases the motor speed. Upon watching this video, the creator of LEGOland Mini was inspired to try this idea out on the Ferris Wheel.

First, the Ferris Wheel starts out at a motor power of 5. Then, the power/speed gradually increases until the motor power reaches 15. Next, the motors stop and reverse, decreasing speed and going in the opposite direction. The wheel's power/speed will then decrease until the power reaches 0, causing the ride to stop.

Here is a screenshot of the program used for the Ferris Wheel (I broke the pictures of the program into two pieces to make the programs easier to read):

The program used for the Ferris Wheel is a bit different from the program used in Builderdude35's video. Instead of gradually increasing motor speed, the Ferris Wheel program increases and decreases motor speed. In addition, the Ferris Wheel program has a Loop for Motor Rotation to establish a target power. The program will loop for x amount of times until this target power is reached. Whereas is Builderdude35's program, his program uses a loop for count; which controls the number of times the program loops. Unlike our program, this program has no set target power.

The Carousel

The Carousel uses one EV3 Medum Motor. The Medium Motor spins a 20-tooth Double Bevel gear, which meshes with a 20-tooth Bevel gear. This causes the Carousel to spin, as shown in the video of the Amusement Park. 

The programming for the Carousel was similar to the program used for the Ferris Wheel. The ride's speed gradually increases and decreases.

Here is a picture of the Carousel's program (I broke the program into two pieces to make it easier to read):

LEGOland Mini News

LEGOland Mini might evolve into a larger Amusement Park in the future... 

Happy building!

A LEGO Power Functions Creation

One of the Knights Of Bots members recently began to work with LEGO Power Functions (also referred to as LEGO PFs).  After about a week of experimenting, the member came up with a weird LEGO Power Functions contraption (shown below).

The contraption

A picture of it from the bottom

Here is a video of the contraption at work:

The contraption was inspired by a book titled, The LEGO Technic Idea book: Fantastic Contraptions, by Yoshihito Isogawa. This book is filled with pictures of fantastic LEGO contraptions (hence the title). Upon reviewing the book, we were inspired to try out some of his brilliant ideas. 

This creation/contraption is a combination of two of the gearing systems found in Isogawa's book. Both gearing systems are powered by a LEGO PF rechargeable battery. The first gearing system is very simple. It consists of an old LEGO Technic motor (Electric RC Race Buggy Motor 2002) which actually has two axle holes for turning attachments, a bevel gear with twelve teeth, and a double bevel gear with 20 teeth. The gears result in a spinning motion, as shown below. This system can be found in pages 52 and 53 of the book.

The second gearing system, in my opinion, is very interesting. It is powered by a LEGO Power Functions Medium-Motor. There are 3 double bevel gears with 20 teeth and one double bevel gear with 12 teeth.

 As shown in the video below, the motor spins the 12 tooth double bevel gear to mesh with the 20 tooth double bevel gear. As the motor changes directions, the double bevel gears shift in the corresponding direction. If the motor was spinning to the right, the double bevel gears would shift to the right, causing the two gears to mesh with the double bevel gear on the right. If the motor were to shift to the left, the two gears would shift to the left, causing the to gears to mesh with the double bevel gear on the left. This gearing system can be found on pages 148 and 149 of the book. This gearing shift is what makes this contraption unique.

Feel free to make the contraption described in this article. If you would like to purchase the LEGO Power Functions kit, the LEGO Technic motor, or Yoshihito Isogawa's book, the links are at the end of this post. The link for Isogawa's website is down below too.

LEGO Technic motor

Power Functions M-Motor

LEGO Power Functions Motor Set

Yoshihito Isogawa's book

Yoshihito Isogawa's website

The Desktop Helper

Have you ever wanted a robot that assists you while you're doing work? Recently, one of the members of Knights of Bots finished working on a robot that does just that. The robot is Desktop Helper. It was made using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 set.

The Desktop Helper

Desktop Helper can do two things: play music and hold pencils. To play music, simply wave your hand in front of the ultrasonic sensor. Doing so will cause the robot to play the chorus of "Don't Worry be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.

To use the pencil holder, press the button. After pressing the button the pencil holder will move down so you can collect your writing utensil or place a writing utensil inside the holder. Press the button again for the pencil holder to move back up.

Here is a video of how the Desktop Helper works (remember to turn the volume up so you can hear the music):

To program Desktop Helper we used LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Home Edition software. While programming our member encountered a problem, the EV3 could not store sounds that were longer than approximately 8 seconds. In order to play a song, one would have to use a sound editing software to chop up the song into 8 second intervals and save each piece of the song. Then, the song blocks would have to be put together, in order, in the program. Our member used a song editing software named Audacity (a free program) to break the song into intervals. Our mentor/coach (L3GoBots Lady) helped us break the song into intervals. Then each song piece was saved as a sound block and put into the program. However, the song pieces were placed in a different order to make the song fluid.

A screenshot of the Desktop Helper Program

You may have noticed from reading the program (or watching the video) that while playing the song the robot displays a smiley face. Here is a picture of it: