Page 12 - Lego Mindstorms

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About This Book

Each of the ten cool robots in this book is presented using a method that makes its con-
struction as easy and intuitive as possible. Each chapter begins with a picture of the com-
pleted robot, accompanied by a brief introduction to the robot’s history, its unique challenges
and characteristics, as well as any concerns that the robot’s creator wants you to be aware of
during construction.
The instructions for building each robot are broken down into several sub-assemblies,
which each consist of an integral structural component of the finished robot. (For example,
the first robot presented in this book, the Bug, is broken down into six sub-assemblies: the
Bumper, the Motor Mount, the Right Wheel, the Left Wheel, the Eye, and the Brow.) You will
see a picture of each finished sub-assembly before you begin its construction.
You will be guided through the construction of each sub-assembly by following the indi-
vidual building steps, beginning with Step 0. Each step shows you two important things—
what parts you need, and what to do with them—by using two pictures. The parts list picture
shows you which LEGO bricks you will need for that particular step, as well as the quantity
of parts required, and the color of the parts (if necessary). Since this book is printed in black
and white, we have used the following key to represent the colors:

B Blue Y Yellow

G Green Ppl Purple
M Magenta TLG Transparent Light Green

LB Light Blue TY Transparent Yellow
The instructional picture next to the parts list shows how those parts connect to one
another. As the robot’s construction progresses, it gets harder to see where parts get added,
so you’ll see we have made the parts that you add in each particular step darker than those
added in previous steps. Many of the steps also have a few brief lines of text to more fully
explain building procedures that may not be obvious from the pictures alone, or to discuss
what role this step plays in the larger scheme of the robot’s construction.
Once you have finished building all of the separate sub-assemblies, it’s time to put them
all together to complete the robot. The set of steps at the end of each chapter titled “Putting
It All Together” walks you through the process of attaching together the sub-assemblies.
Throughout the chapters you will see three types of sidebars:

Bricks & Chips… These sidebars explain key LEGO building concepts and
terminology.

Developing & Deploying… These sidebars explain why certain building tech-
niques were used with a particular robot and what purpose they serve.

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