New Lego EV3 Mindstorms Hands On

I saw the Lego EV3 in person last night, and let me tell you how much I wish I had one right now. At a CES-related trade show on Monday, Lego was on hand with multiple demonstration units to show off the new features. There were motion-sensing cobra bots, ball throwing humanoids, and color sensing roulette wheels on display along with iPads and laptops to show us the programing.

The newly updated Lego robotics kit builds on the concepts of the NXT 2.0 system and then adds better app support, and updated programming interface, and a new infrared sensor. The programming interface is cleaner, but still visual. It still uses interlocking pieces to create the steps, if you’re familiar with NXT programming, but they worked on simplifying the interface and showing all programming options at once. There’s also better on-the-bot programming, which makes it so much easier to do group sessions or debug without having to do the computer-to-Mindstorms shuffle.

The mobile interface is improved, too. You can get a remote control app for the current Mindstorms on Android, but for the EV3, iOS support is available from the start. The Android or iPad tablet can be used as an interactive building guide to show you how to assemble your robot, and I was told a programming interface was being developed for mobile as well. The kit starts with instructions for five robots, but you can download additional guides — or just create your own.

The new EV3 was built to be hacked. The computing brick in Lego Mindstorms is the key piece that controls all the other components, and in the new EV3, the brick uses a Linux base, which opens up new possibilities for advanced play. I can’t wait to see the mods that come out on this one. The roughly 600 piece kit is expected to ship sometime later this year for $350. I can’t wait to actually build a robot — er, help my daughter build a robot.