The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots Paperback – June 14, 2014

I just got this book in my hands today and I am so glad I made the purchase. I have an 11 year old son who is STEM oriented and while I find the subject fascinating I have absolutely no experience with robotics. I really felt I was going out on a limb when I purchased the EV3 kit. The plans that come with the kit are impressive, but left me feeling lost. I want my son to understand how the components work together and then challenge him to solve problems and make him work for it a bit. This book is exactly what I was looking for!It starts out at the very beginning - preparing your LEGO set for use (even tips for aligning the stickers), installing the software, etc. Then it moves on to building a simple first robot. And this is where the book goes from useful to fantastic. After presenting a concept there are discoveries (or a series of them) which challenge the reader to use his or her knowledge to create a program to meet a specific goal. An early example is this:"Discovery #4:ROBOSPELLER!Use Move Steering blocks to make a program that enables the EXPLOR3R to drive as if it were drawing the first letter of your name. How many blocks do you need for that letter?"The discoveries get progressively more challenging and are rated for difficulty (based on the presumption that you started with no knowledge and are moving chronologically through the book) and time estimates.Lest anyone mistake this for a simplistic book for beginners, I will include a portion of a later discovery (#132) which claims to be challenging and I can only presume is since it's still entirely Greek to me:"TAMAGOTCHI!Can you turn LAVA R3X into a lifelike robot with different moods and behaviors? Use the infrared remote to command the robot to walk, talk, eat, and sleep. Create Numeric variables to keep track of the robot's health by monitoring its hunger level, energy level, and happiness.Make the energy level decrease with each step the robot takes, and make it increase when you command the robot to sleep..." and so on.I hope to update my review as we work through the book. If you are just getting started with LEGO robotics and are looking for something that walks you through learning while still challenging you, this book looks to be a stellar choice.

The best book out there is for learning Mindstorms EV3 programming. Purchased EV3 last year, and based on the included booklet and downloadable instructions (for the 5 out-of-the-box models, of which Laurens' is one - that says a lot about the author), able to build and operate the robot with basic block programming on the brick, or the included demo programs. But if you are to venture out of that comfort zone, that's where Laurens' book comes in handy (and is an essential read in my opinion). They should include his book as part of the kit!Lego messed up my EV3 order last year (they were convinced that their automated assembly line wouldn't have missed since they weigh each piece/packet and there are multiple levels of quality control that it's impossible to mess up the order - though you can find on youtube people posting instances where they got multiple parts of some nice accessories - lucky them), I posted my comment on Amazon, and Laurens happened to notice it, and help get the message through to Lego's QA, and things started moving, and after a month, got the missing pieces.He maintains an awesome site (robotsquare.com) that I scoured to compare between buying an education edition or the retail one, prior to buying my kit. I was aware of the site, but didn't pay much attention to the author until after I had had the issue with my EV3 order, and I ordered this book right after it was released to the public. My kid and I go through the chapters, and are in the process of working through the exercises. So far, everything looks good - and will update this thread once I've gotten a chance to go through it completely.

This is a great book. We have only begun, but it is already fantastic. It is not only information, but it is also a tutorial. The book includes 132 practice modules spread throughout the chapters which allow for an iterative process of learning. Additionally, the book contains 30 design modules that allow you to learn building techniques. My two sons and I (ages 9 and 11) are separately going through the book and practice/design modules with each of us tracking our progress on a tracking sheet. We do the modules individually and then collaborate to see how each of us is accomplishing the task. It's great, but it does still require you to think ahead and be organized. Just by completing a module, you don't necessarily become an expert on that topic. You will find that you will still need to play around with the features to better understand how they work. The first module that will test your understanding of previously introduced capability is Discovery Module #8 which tells you to have your EV3 make a figure 8. I was able to do it with four blocks (in the downloaded EV3 programming software from Lego).Great book for learning how to use your EV3 and for learning how to program.

My daughter is diving into using her Lego Mindstorms set and I thought this book would help get a general understanding on how to build, program, and operate the robot. I was surprised and impressed by how dense with information it is. Depending on the age of your child, it will likely need a parent to help work through some of the more detailed parts. Her first build was easy to follow, she did most of that part on her own, and was able to do some basic programming, making the robot move, turn, and talk. My one complaint is that it was published in 2014, and since, the Lego EV3 software has evolved. It works in a somewhat similar way, but looks different than the diagrams displayed in the book. I think it's time for an updated version to help avoid confusion for new users.