Robot Educator

This was the first model i was asked to design, I had been working on it basically since i was first brought in in May 2010.  Getting a chance to build a new version of the first robot everyone builds was a real great honor and a wonderful experience.
I started with just trying to copy the old NXT Edu base set.  The new motor shape really didnt make this easy, and the new EV3 brick also made it hard to look good as well.  The CMU Engineering Content pack had a really good design too, but that was just too complex, it took too long to build. So i had to break down what was good and wasnt good about the old base set model.  Constructive criticism was tough, I used that model so many times and had so much to say about it, also..the designer sat just two desks down from me.
The old robot angle was never good for me.  When you looked at the screen and pressed the button, and programmed the robot to go forward, the robot would fall into your lap.   I want the robot to go away from me when i push the button, and that was the first design decision. Still, the angled NXT made for great photographs, that angle would make it to other robots, just not this one.
I did an awful lot of research with FLL teams and WRO teams that year.  I mean really studying videos and competitions before really deciding what to do.  Though I dont have actual numbers, I thought that about 95% of the robots i saw were flat on top, so the kids looked down at the robot naturally, and when they pressed any of the buttons the robot went away from them naturally.  This was another major design consideration.
The rest fell into place, at least for the base.  All ports needed to be accessible, along with the USB, USB host and SD card slots as well.  The charging port for the battery also needed to be easy to get to.  This placed the EV3 Brick precisely where it was in the final model, and all the rest became structural .
One of our Educational Specialist Consultants made the suggestion to add the pointer to the wheel, so i had just enough axle left to place it there and it really made a great detail for educators and aesthetic as well.  Thanks Yannick, thats all you.
The front of the model had to allow for all sensors and extra motor, i wanted to make sure you could make many different configurations.  I had to compromise a lot of my designs to 'simplify' the build of the sensors, but in general it came out great.  The US sensor had to be in the center, and low to the ground.  We had a lot of worry that it would read the ground, but it worked out right.  Touch sensor could really have been anywhere, but i really wanted to have it be a wall follower, pointed to the side.  That never fell through, though its easily buildable. There was a lot of debate about having a line follower with an off set color sensor.  I know it works, FLL kids did it in so many models, it just took me a while to prove it to everyone.  The Color cube or cuboid had a really cool development, i'd need photos to show that one. The motor module had to be super stable and really be part of the robot.  I envisioned that people wouldnt take it off once they put it on, but they had the option to.  Being able to grab any object was much simpler than kicking a specific object.  The color cube just happen to fit, but it can get duplo balls, or anything that can be seen by the US sensor and fit within the confines of the mousetrap.  That connection was a bit strange though, but it worked, though i wanted something much simpler, and maybe more elegant.  The gyro sensor didnt need to be at the front, it didnt need to be anywhere really.  It just had to be visible and easy to put on.  The back of the robot seemed like a good spot.  Though I would have liked to wire it a little better.
Its really something i worked really hard on, this robot will be used by hundreds of thousands of kids around the world, i hope they like it.  So much more of my experiences went into it, and its also my first.  You'll never forget your first.

Lifes Work

In University I never knew what I was going to do with my life.  LEGO had always been part of it.  Those Technic sets helped me through Structures 101 and even Machines and Mechanisms 101 as well.   I always wanted to model my Dynamics and Statics classes (300 level and 400 level) with Technic.  Aerodynamics classes were definitely not my strong suit, and though I wasn't much of a student, I do blame the establishment a little.    I graduated, and life was an open book.

  My first job was looking for models at some weird agency..that taught me how to spot talent, and maybe even start to nourish it.  Sometime after that I was given the opportunity to teach young kids how to dance, how to perform.  There i learned patience, and connection to others.  I learned how to work with kids and understand their needs, learned how to talk to them and teach them properly.  They taught me just as much as I taught them.  Then the LEGO Store, and there I found my passion, where i found my calling.  Maybe i didn't know it back then, but it would come to pass.  After finding my passion I found my 'River of shit' at the DEP.  And there I understood the passion, and the things i didn't want to do.  You should know both.   I crawled through, faster than I really should have, but I'm finally at the moment when i don't regret that.  When I left the LEGO Store, i didnt think i would be able to go back, but maybe letting go was the best thing for me.  I started on the path of no return, to teach, to explain and eventually master MINDSTORMS. 

And finally getting the opportunity to come here, to build on everything Ive learned in the last 7 years, and even the 5 years before that, and the lifetime before that as well.  I couldnt even begin to explain it all, but it truly is an honor to work on the LEGO MINDSTORMS EDUCATION EV3 project.  

Here it is, order it soon, and know that someone put their whole being into it. 

www.legoeducation.com.