Lego Mindstorms EV3 Core Set (45544) - includes a collection of lego elements, a printed manual (with instructions

for building the official robot, driving base, and some hints about how to get started with the ev3 intelligent brick),
porch tray to organize the elements, a usb-to-mini usb cable to connect the ev3 brick to your software, a compact
disk installer of the software but you can also download it from the downloads section of the lego mindstorms ev3
official website

A. Beams - are the stud less equivalent of technic bricks. This category includes straight beams, angular beams, and
frames. we’ll include thin beams and links in this category too. Beams can have round holes, which can fit pins, or
cross holes, which can fit axles or axle pins.
1. Straight Beams - the beams are measured by counting their holes.
2. Angular Beams - an angular beam with three holes before and seven holes after the bend is a 3×7 angular beam
3. Frames – specials beams, we prefer to these based on their shapes as O-frames and H-frames
B. Connectors – most parts in the ev3 set.
1. Pins and Axle Pins – hold beams together when fitted inside the beams round holes (smooth pins)
2. Axles and bushes – designed to transfer rotational movement
C. Cross Blocks – essential to studless building because they allow you to build and think- in 3D
D. Gears – rotating wheels with teeth that mesh with other toothed parts to transmit movement.
E. Wheels, Tires, and Treads – simplest and most efficient way for your robots to move is on wheels.
F. Decorative Pieces – there are many white panels, blades, and swords
G. Miscellaneous Pieces – special elements like a ball bearing and a steel ball
H. Electronic Pieces – here is what makes a Mindstorms set a real robotics tool kit.

THE LOBBY - Every time you launch the software, you shall see and unfortunately hear the phrase “the Lobby”. This
is a welcome screen that lets you access the main working features quickly,
1. LOBBY TAB –this tab brings you back to the lobby.
2. MENU BAR –you can access the different tools and working features that you will need in the menu bar. this
includes the file, edit, tools and help items.
the tools menu - the tools menu is located in the menu bar you’ll find many useful tools here:
a. Sound Editor - This allows you to record or import a sound and save it to your project, thus enabling your robot
to play custom sounds using the Sound block.
b. Image Editor -This allows you to create, import, or edit an image and save it to your project. Images can be
shown on the EV3 Brick screen using the Display block.
c. My Block Builder - This allows you to create custom blocks (called My Blocks) that contain small subprograms.
Grouping blocks into a single My Block is useful for creating a small sequence that can be used as a module in many
parts of a project or to make your programs look tidier. My Blocks can also have inputs or outputs for data.
d. Firmware Update - This allows you to update the firmware of your EV3 Brick. The firmware makes the EV3 Brick
work, and it should be updated if the LEGO Group releases new versions to fix bugs or add new features.
e. Wireless Setup - This allows you to configure the Wi-Fi network to connect the EV3 Brick using the Wi-Fi Dongle.
(You can access the same tool from the Brick Information tab of the Hardware Page.)
f. Block Import -This allows you to import new programming blocks made by the LEGO Group or third-party
developers (for example, to program your robot to work with a new sensor).
g. Memory Browser - This allows you to manage the files stored in the EV3 Brick’s memory. (You can access the
same tool from the Brick Information tab of the Hardware Page.)
h. Download As App - Using this tool, you can download a program as an app, making it appear in the Brick Apps
menu together with Port View, Motor Control, IR Control, and Brick Program Apps.
I. Import Brick Program - This tool will be our launch pad to proceed smoothly from Brick programming to actual
EV3 programming! In fact, it allows you to import a Brick Program saved in the EV3 Brick’s memory to the EV3
Programming Canvas so that, instead of starting from scratch, you can improve an existing program by using the full
EV3 Software programming capabilities.
3. ADD PROJECT TAB – this tab is used if you want to create a new project.
4. ACTIVITY OVERVIEW – this tab includes the following:
a. Model Expansion – provides building instructions and programs for sample robot designs using the combined
elements of the Core Set and Expansion Set.
b. Model Core Set – provides building instruction and programs for sample robots using the core set.
c. Quick Start – where you can find short videos to get started with EV3 robotics and software.
d. File – to get started with a new project, open saved projects or recently-opened projects.
e. Robot Educator – where you can access video tutorials to familiarize yourself to the EV3 software and hardware.
The sample building instructions and teachers’ guide are also found here.
5. VIEW – after searching for the resources using the search tab, you can click the view tab to go back to the activity
overview.
6. SEARCH –this contains projects regarding the ev3 hardware and software.
7. WWW.LEGOEDUCATION.COM/MINDSTORMS - this lego mindstorms education website link provides resources
for lego education users.

The EV3 – G Programming - where you build the programs for your robots. You’ll find descriptions of its various
controls below.
1. PROGRAMMING CANVAS – this is the work are wherein you drop the blocks to lay out your program.
2. CONTENT EDITOR – the text, image, video, sound and web cam icons in the content editor area are used for
creating a digital workbook for your projects.
3. PROGRAMMING TOOLBAR –you can control and adjust your program using the basic tools in the programming
toolbar.
4. PROGRAMMING PALETTES – IT is a library of the programming blocks that you need in your projects. these blocks
are organized in six different groups.
A. THE ACTION BLOCKS - control the output of your robots’ programs. they rotate motors, display text and images
on the ev3 brick screen, play sounds, and light up the ev3 brick status light.
B. THE FLOW CONTROL BLOCKS - control the flow of the program. every program sequence beginswith a start block
C. THE SENSOR BLOCKS – allow you to read the inputs for your program. fromthe ev3’s internal timer.
D. THE DATA OPERATIONS BLOCKS - use to write and read variables and arrays, manipulate data with math and
logic operations blocks, compare values, combine strings of text,and generate random numbers
E. THE ADVANCED BLOCKS - let you manage files and bluetooth connections, send bluetooth messages, keep the
ev3 brick awake , invert a motor’s direction, read raw sensor values, drive the motors without internal speed
regulation, and stop the program.
F. MY BLOCKS - the last palette on the right contains themy blocks you create or import into a project. initially, it’s
empty. the color of this block is turquoise. you’ll learn how to create my blocks in the latter part of the lesson.
5. HARDWARE PAGE – you can determine if the ev3 brick is connected to the computer in this page and check the
ports where the motors and sensors are connected, browse the ev3 brick’s memory,and more.

COMPILING PROGRAMS - to be understood by a computer, programs must be compiled. a compiler is software that
translates human-readable programming code into binary digits. when you click download and run, all the compiling
happens behind the scenes.
Hardware Page - is located at the bottom right of the Programming Interface. When no EV3 Brick is connected, most
of the icons and controls are grayed out. The Hardware Page has three tabs:
1. AVAILABLE BRICKS TAB - from here, you can search for ev3 bricks that are bluetooth enabled or that are
connected to your computer via usb, bluetooth, or wi-fi.
2. BRICK INFORMATION TAB - when the ev3 brick is connected, use this tab to check the battery level, the amount
of memory available,and the firmware version of the ev3 brick. you can change the name of the ev3 brick, set up the
wireless network,and browse files in the ev3 brick’s memory
3. PORT VIEW TAB - when the ev3 brick is connected, use this tab to check the readings of all the sensors and motors
attached to it in real time

>Medium Motor –This block controls the medium motor connected to any of the output ports (A, B, C, and D). Note
that the Medium Motor Block id only for operating a solitary motor.
>Large Motor –This operates one large motor connected to any of the output ports (A, B, C, and D). Apply the rules
in configuring the parameters of the Medium Motor to the Large Motor
>Move Steering –This block allows you to control two Large Motor at the same time. Aside from setting it to on and
off mode, this block allows you to program Large Motors to turn for seconds, degrees, or for a number of rotations.
>Move Tank – The same rules for Medium Motor parameters apply to Move Tank except that there are two power
level adjustments in this block. With this, you can make the two Large Motors in sync or in different power levels.
This will make the robot turn or steer in a particular direction.

TOUCH SENSOR - is an analog and a simple tool that can detect when the red button located in the front part of the
sensor has been pressed or when it is released. It has a counter for pressed, released and bumped (both pressed
and released) actions. these actions are the inputs from this sensor to a program that will tell the robot if it hits
something. (port 1)
TOUCH SENSOR BLOCK - in the ev3 software is very useful in a program. with the right configurations of the
parameters, a robot can perceive its environment. this block gives you two options: measure and compare.
-MEASURE - gives a true or false reading whether or not the red button is pushed. you can program a robot to stop
moving when the touch sensor is pressed and speed up when it is released
-COMPARE - provides two more options: state and measured value.
-THE STATE OPTION - considers if the sensor is not pressed or is released (0), pressed (1), and bumped (2). The
number that corresponds to a specific state appears in the box once it is selected.

GYRO SENSOR - is a new sensor and one of the exciting things the ev3 has. it is a digital sensor that measures the
robot’s rotational motion on a single axis and the changes in its orientation. you can rotate the gyro sensor in the
direction of the arrows on its case. the sensor can detect a maximum rate spin of 440 degrees per second. It
interacts with flow control blocks of the ev3 software. these blocks get data from the gyro sensor. by default, the
gyro sensor is connected to input port 2 but you can also plug it to the other ports. use the port selector to make
sure that the sensor port number matches the port on the ev3 brick in which the gyro sensor is connected
1. MEASURE MODES:
-THE ANGLE MODE - outputs the rotation angle in numeric angle values (degrees) while
-THE RATE MODE - outputs the rotation rate in rate (degrees per second). in the rate mode, the block measures
how fast the robot is turning.
-IF you want to measure both the angle and the rate, then choose the ANGLE AND RATE MODES.
2. COMPARE MODE
-THE ANGLE MODE - compares the rotation angle to the threshold value using the selected compare type (e. g. =, ).
-THE RATE MODE - compares the rotation rate to the threshold value using the comparetype
3. RESET MODE - to reset the rotation angle to zero (0), set the block to. resetting the rotation angle to zero clears
the error and defines a new starting point for future angle measurements
the wait gyro sensor block the wait gyro sensor block works the same way with the other wait blocks except that it
uses the changes of rotation in angle and rate.

COLOR SENSOR - has the ability to detect an object, detect a normal and reflected light and follow a track. the digital
ev3 sensor is designed to measure the color or intensity of light that is received by the sensor. this ev3 color sensor
has improved features compared with the nxt color sensor. aside from detecting the ambient light and reflected
light, it can also detect the difference among the colors. port 3 is the default port of the color sensor.
1. MEASURE MODE - gives three options, whether you will use the block to measure the color of the object’s
surface, the reflected light intensity or the ambient light intensity.
2. COMPARE MODE - has the same options with the measure mode.
3. COLOR MODE - you can choose one or more colors from the set of colors. this is one of the improved features of
the ev3 color sensor. it can recognize seven colors – black, blue, green, yellow, red, white, brown – plus no color. the
reflected light intensity and the ambient light intensity modes compare the detected light intensity to the given
threshold value using the selected compare type

ULTRASONIC SENSOR - has a sonar feature and works with high frequency sound waves. it is used to measure the
distance of the object in front of it. like what the bats do, this sensor emits sound waves and measures the time the
waves reflect back to the sensor. by default, the ultrasonic sensor is plugged to input port 4. the ultrasonic sensor
you can take the distance of the object either in centimeters or in inches. the sensor can effectively measure a
distance between 3 and 250 centimeters with an accuracy of +/-1 centimeter. in inches, the detectable distance is
between 1 and 99 inches with an accuracy of +/-0.394 inch. the sensor cannot effectively sense an object that is
located beyond the given measurable distance. like the other sensor blocks, the ultrasonic sensor block has measure
and compare modes.
1. MEASURE MODE - works with the same principle as the measure mode of the other sensors, except again that
this is for the distance of the object detected by the ultrasonic sensor.
-ADVANCED – CENTIMETER MODE is similar to the measure – distance centimeter mode except that you have the
options to use a single ultrasonic signal or continuous signals that the sensor sends. note that the distance in this
mode is in centimeters.
-the same concept is true with the ADVANCED – INCHES MODE, only the distance is in inches.
2. COMPARE MODE - no difference between the principles. with this mode, the block allows you to create a program
which considers the detected distance that is compared with the assigned threshold value

Loop Block - Another important ad powerful block used in EV3 software is the loop block. This is very effective if you
want to perform a certain task over and over again. Like in the case of making a square program, using the linear
method takes you eight blocks to accomplish such task. The process is very tasking and time consuming. With the
help of the loop block you will just use two blocks, one is going forward and the other one going to the right or left
depending on how you accomplish the task.
The Unlimited Mode - The default mode for a loop is unlimited, once you drag a motor block inside the loop block,
the sequence will repeat forever.

The Loop Count - Selecting the count mode allows you to specify number of times you want your robot to run. In the
figure at right, the robot will move forward for one rotation and then brake. This will repeat for 5 times

The Loop Logic Mode - Choosing Logic in the mode selector is one of the most powerful programming techniques.
The block of codes inside the loop will repeat until it encounters a true or false logic signal through a data wire. In
this structure, if the distance is less than 50 inches the loop will terminate.

Brick Buttons - The brick button works like a touch sensor, it has three state; released (0), pressed (1) and bumped
(2). The only difference is that the brick has 5 buttons; the left (1), center (2), right (3), up (4) and down (5) buttons.
You can actually check two buttons, or more. The process will repeat unless Brick buttons are being pressed.

The Color Sensor - This mode has 3 sub commands, the Color, Reflected Light Intensity and Ambient Light Intensity.
It accepts 7 colors compared to NXT. The block inside will repeat unless it sees a color. Red is enabled in the diagram
it has a value of 5. If the robot detects it then it stops immediately.

The Reflected Light Intensity - A sub command in the color mode, it determines the dark and the light. The
configuration is similar to the wait for dark or light. It is used to get the threshold value inside the close area. The
threshold value depends on the available light in the room. The compare type has five comparison value, these are:
equal (0), not equal (1), greater than (2), greater than or equal to (3), less than (4) and less than or equal to (5). Click
the threshold value area then type the right value

The Ambient Light Intensity - Another command in the color mode, determines the light intensity outside the room.
The sunlight is the main source of light in this mode. Like reflected light, it has also 5 compare type.

The Gyro Sensor - detects an angle. The program below will stop if the specified angle is reached.

The Infrared Sensor Mode - The sensor tells the approximate distance of the robot to the object using infrared light.
It also communicates with the remote infrared beacon. It measures a distance like an ultrasonic sensor but it doesn’t
work with the remote.
Proximity Mode - The distance of the sensor from the object is measured. The sensor value ranges from 1% to 100%.
Increasing the value will return 100 as the maximum value.

Motor Rotation - measures the rotation of the motor. In the figure at right, the motor turns 45 degrees then brakes
until the motor at Port A spins exactly 90 degrees. In this case, the motor spins twice since the motor does not reach
90 degrees.

Touch Sensor Mode - This mode has three states; released (0), pressed (1) and bumped (2). In the example, the
motor will run forward at 50rpm unless the touch sensor is pressed then the robot will stop.
Ultrasonic Sensor Mode - This mode measures the distance of the sensor to the object. The sensor emits radio
frequency then it bounces back and determines its distance. It has also 5 compare types, it measures the distance in
centimeters, inches and presence/ listen. In the example at right the motor moves continuously until it reaches a
distance less than 50 cm then the robot stops.

NXT Sound Sensor Mode - This sensor supports the NXT sound sensor and distinguishes sound in dB and dBa. You
can also use this sensor if you want your robot to start and stop moving, once it senses a sound range.

Messaging - This mode is also useful especially if your robot wants to perform something once it receives a message
from another EV3 Brick.

Loop Interrupt Block - The EV3 language added this that could immediately terminate a particular loop. The block
calls for the name of the loop then terminates it. You can terminate a loop from inside or to end a loop that’s
running in a parallel sequence. The loop Robot will terminate once the touch sensor is pressed.