This October, No Starch Press is publishing a new LEGO® title focused around the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 system. High-Tech LEGO Projects will show you how to build 16 creative technical inventions. With clear, full-colour, step-by-step instructions, you can build working devices for outdoor research, home security, spycraft, and more using the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 programming environment. Author Grady Koch is the creator of hightechlego.com. He has over 30 years of experience as a research engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, and has written or contributed to over 175 conference and seminar papers. High-Tech LEGO Project will be available late October.
HIGH-TECH LEGO PROJECTS
16 Rule-Breaking Inventions
by Grady Koch
INGENIOUS DEVICES THAT BREAK THE LEGO® RULES
High-Tech LEGO® hijacks the MINDSTORMS® EV3 revolution, showing you how to build creative technical inventions with practical applications. You’ll learn to build a dynamic array of working devices for outdoor research, home security, spycraft, and more.
Among the book’s 16 fascinating projects you’ll find a motion-activated animal cam, a Morse code transmitter, a laser security fence, a motion-sensing radar detector, an automated insect trapper, and a heat-seeking infrared cannon. Welcome to a whole new world of building! Every project brings together science, mechanics, electronics, optics, and software to create complex instruments for studying and measuring the world around you, all while maintaining the playfulness of LEGO. Each easy-to follow model combines illustrated instructions with step-by-step guidance on the engineering methods at play. As you build, you’ll learn:
- “Illegal” modding techniques (that may include drilling, cutting and soldering — Shh!)
- Different ways to work with diode laser modules
- Tricks for modifying EV3 sensors and motors
- The joy of hacking LEGO light bricks to make a flickering fireplace
- How to use MINDSTORMS to build your own contraptions!
Experiment on your own, and expand on your finished creations. Make a few adjustments so the Critter Cam triggers an alarm to scare away pests, or modify the Doppler radar to detect flammable gases. The possibilities are endless!
