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With Lego Mindstorms and your computer,

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you can build and program robots that do what you want. Airing on TV in 1998,

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this is the commercial that sparked my interest in robotics and programming.

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It's for the Lego Mindstorms RCX robotics invention kit, which a kid

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could use to build and program almost any kind of robot they could imagine.

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Lego Mindstorms has been an enormous source of learning, fun, and inspiration

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for millions of kids and adults. And if you don't believe me, just search for

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Mindstorms on YouTube to be blown away by some of the incredible things that

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people have built and programmed using these kits. And the LEGO Group has

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continued to update the Mindstorm's platform over the years with RCX, NXT,

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and finally EV3, the kit I'll be reviewing today. I know I'm three years

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late to the party, but this is still their flagship robotics kit, and I

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wanted to see how it stacks up against new competitors like VEX IQ. That and

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Lionus would only buy it if I made a video. So, here we go.

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Corsair's ML fans feature magnetic levitation technology and custom

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engineered rotors to provide a high performance, low-noise experience. Learn

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more at the link in the video description. Opening up the box, we see a bunch of

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disposable bags full of Lego pieces and

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no storage tray. The first generation of Mindstorms came with a storage tray, but

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ever since then only the educational versions have had them, which is a shame

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really. I consider it essential to have something like this for organization.

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How much would that have cost, LEGO Group? Anyway, to complete your first

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mission, all you need to do is follow the characteristically excellent paper

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instruction booklet, which walks you through the first stage of building and

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running your first robot. You can drive it around with the included IR remote,

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and it's preloaded with a demo that autonomously knocks tires around on the

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included testing mat. The paper instructions then prompt you to download

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the free EV3 programmer app, which is

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very easy to install and get started with. Other companies take note. Kids

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and Terren do not have the patience to wrestle with poorly designed software.

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And the EV3 software itself is actually

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fantastic. There's been a lot of development since generations 1 and two.

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Each of the five featured robots and the 12 additional robots come with

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instructions for building and programming. This involves the placing

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and modifying of programming blocks onto

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the programming canvas. You're introduced to motor control first, then

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loops, switches, variables, multitasking, and functions, which are

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called myblocks. Following along with these step-by-step programming

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instructions is easy, and the complexity of both the robot and the programming

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increases from one mission to the next. You are also given the option to load

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the finished programs for each mission. I'm glad that they did this, but it's a

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bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's good if you want to doublech

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checkck your own solution, but on the other hand, like answers at the bottom

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of a crossword, it makes cheating easy, potentially taking out a lot of the fun

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and learning. Again, though, it's clear that a ton of research and development

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has gone into the EV3 software. When you modify variables, the icons change to

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match. When you add a sound or an on-screen image to your program, you get

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to hear or see a preview on your computer, which helps a lot if you need

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to debug a script. And each mission comes with a short video that shows you

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exactly what your robot will do if programmed successfully. This process

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can feel a little slow sometimes, but you're probably learning more than you

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think. The method of programming is quite simplistic. This is important to

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keep the barrier of entry low enough for kids, but it also results in a lower

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learning ceiling. Fortunately, there are several third-party options for

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programming the EV3 brick if you want more control and complexity. There are a

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few things I did not like about the EV3 software. Worst of which was how it

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inexplicably crashed about five times during normal operation. They might want

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to look into that. So, I'd give it a solid A minus. Let's move on to the

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hardware. I was not impressed. In fact,

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I was pretty disappointed. The EV3 is in

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many ways a step backwards from the

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previous generation NXT 2.0. First of

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all, the EV3 brain brick, which requires six AA batteries, takes at least 20

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seconds to turn off and even longer to turn on. That's as long as my work

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computer. And Linus built that. Turns out the EV3 brain is literally booting a

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complete Linux OS. And this software

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bloat means that it needs more RAM and a better CPU than it otherwise would,

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which just drives up the price. Now, there are many features on the EV3 brain

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that I do like, such as the SD card slot, the Bluetooth and wireless

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connectivity, and the RGB LED behind the buttons, but the EV3 actually comes with

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fewer sensors than the NXT 2.0. It's got

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a color sensor, just one touch sensor instead of two. And the ultrasonic

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sensor is replaced by the infrared sensor that pulls double duty as

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distance sensor and as receiver for the beacon. The infrared beacon or remote

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control has five buttons and a switch that can select one of four channels.

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The problem here is that there are only 11 possible ways to use these buttons.

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And the lack of joysticks means that there's no proportional control. And

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with the standard control scheme, if you want to control a third or fourth motor,

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you'll have to switch to another channel. But with only four total

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channels, you'd better hope that there are no other LEGO enthusiasts nearby

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with beacons of their own. Compared to radio control, infrared is awful anyway

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with short range and frequent disconnections. The large EV3 motors,

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however, feature several welcome improvements with attachment holes in

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positions that offer more build flexibility. They're even backwards

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compatible with NXT, which is pretty cool. EV3 also comes with a new medium

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motor. It's weaker, so you won't use it to power a drive shaft, but its shape

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makes it better for attachments like arms and claws. I just wish that there

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were two of these included for the price. Let's talk about the rest of the

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pieces. Now, the most iconic Lego piece is probably the 2x4 studded brick. This

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is classic LEGO, and it's easy and quick for kids to attach and detach while

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still ensuring a strong connection. So, it may surprise you to learn that all

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the Lego pieces in the EV3 kit are studless. They've been designed to be

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attached using pins and axles instead.

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It's great in theory because it allows for a predictable 8 millimeter

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three-dimensional grid system. But here's the problem. When they removed

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the studs, they removed half the attachment points on a typical beam. So,

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studless beams cannot be stacked on top of each other without extensive

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additional support. One solution would be a double or triple wide beam, but the

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LEGO Group doesn't make any pieces like that. So, they've effectively removed

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functionality that we used to have and never bothered to replace it. There's

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actually a lot of Lego Technic pieces that really should exist but don't. I

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even 3D modeled a bunch of them and I sell them at cost on Shapeways where

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people are still willing to pay unreasonable amounts of money to get

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them. Despite all of that, Lego Mindstorms is still great and it still

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plays an important role in getting kids interested in STEM fields. I just don't

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see the same enthusiasm as I do from the Technic and Power Functions teams who

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continue to push the boundaries by releasing interesting and even insane

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sets like this one. But Mindstorms has

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just stagnated. And it's especially

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apparent when you look at the competition. Vex IQ came out several

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months before LEGO Mindstorms EV3 and

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the electronic hardware is objectively better in almost every single way

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without compromising quality. Check out that video review over here. So, here's

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the conclusion. People still ask me all the time if they should buy VEX IQ or

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Mindstorms, and I tell them, if you're more interested in robotics and

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programming, get VEX IQ. But if you're

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more interested in building and engineering and you already have Lego

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Technic pieces, Mindstorms or Power

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Functions is the better option. Ultimately though, the best robotics kit

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would be some miraculous fusion of VEX IQ inspired electronics and Lego Technic

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pieces. I certainly hope that the LEGO group will step up their game for

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Mindstorms Generation 4. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks a lot

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for watching everyone. Give the video a like or a dislike and get subscribed if

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you aren't already. Also, you can buy some LT merch or shop at Amazon using

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our affiliate link. And please let us know in the comments below what your

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Mindstorm's experience has been like, and have you tried the EV3? What did you

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think of it? And if you're looking for something else to watch, check out the aforementioned VEX IQ review for one of

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the best robotics kits on the market. or check out my Mechenoid review for the

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absolute worst robotics kit on the market. And I'll see you next time.