High-tech Lego Projects: 16 Rule-Breaking Inventions

A collection of 16 fascinating scientific and technical projects to build with parts from the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robotics set and other components. A great addition to any STEM curriculum or home library.

High-Tech LEGO® Projects hijacks the MINDSTORMS® EV3 revolution, showing you how to build creative technical inventions with practical applications. This book’s 16 fascinating projects include a motion-activated animal cam, a Morse code transmitter for covert messaging, an automated insect trapper, and a heat-seeking infrared cannon.

Each easy-to-follow model combines illustrated instructions with step-by-step guidance through the engineering principles at play. You’ll learn “illegal” modding techniques, work with diode circuits, and add motion sensors to a LEGO-based Doppler radar. You’ll also become a whiz at hacking the MINDSTORMS programming environment, quickly snapping together blocks of code that control your brick-built contraptions through the EV3 Intelligent Brick.

Author Grady Koch carves out an exciting new niche for advanced builders. His approach synthesizes diverse fields of study, bringing together mechanics, electronics, optics and software to create complex instruments for studying and measuring the world around you, all while maintaining the playful LEGO aesthetic.

The book explains how to build models from start to finish, and scientific principles provide the backdrop to every design. This knowledge will empower you to experiment on your own, and expand upon the finished creations. Make a few adjustments, and the Critter Cam could trigger an alarm to scare away pests; modify the Motion-Sensing Radar to detect the force or concentration of flammable gases.

The possibilities - and capabilities - are endless!

Why make something that just sits on a table? With High-Tech LEGO Projects, you can build a dynamic array of working scientific devices for outdoor research, home security, spycraft, and more.