Philip Allsopp: Celebrating 60 years in Engineering - Tribute by the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers, December 3, 2005

Lego Mindstorms / Raspberry Pi

In working with the latest Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit, after testing the built-in infrared (IR) and Bluetooth connectivity, the next step was enabling wireless (WiFi) communication. Unfortunately the position of the EV3 brick on the base Lego Mindstorms Robot (LMR) model built did not allow connectivity of an external USB wifi dongle. The workaround developed uses a Raspberry Pi to relay instructions received via WiFi to the LMR via Bluetooth. The 'hack' developed is shown:

1. Base Lego Mindstorms robot

2. Components used: L-R mini-bluetooth keyboard, rechargeable battery pack, Raspberry Pi model B,Edimax USB wireless dongle, USB-to-mini charging cable, Bluetooth USB dongle

3. Added velcro to secure the battery pack to the RasPi (shown with Wifi and Bluetooth dongles inserted).

4. Finished product - LMR unit with battery powered Bluetooth/WiFi-enabled Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi B+ case closed

 

Raspi B+ and B models (with Arduino in background)

Finally a suitable and reasonably priced RasPi B+ case, justifying replacement of the prior LEGO version. Shown adjacent to prior B model - virtually the same footprint. Arduino board /accessories shown in background (detached for the photo) did run noticeably faster on the B+.