Every time an American says "Legos" it somehow feels like a sharp spike has been driven through my brain. A high-up in Lego (I think it was the CEO) even went on record on video to say "The plural of Lego is 'Lego' ". It's like Sheep. You don't say "One sheep, two sheeps, many sheeps". You say "One sheep, two sheep, many sheeps". Similarly it's "One lego brick / piece, two pieces of lego, lots of lego". In the video he says "Many lego pieces" not "many legos". I know, I'm sorry, this is just another way of being a grammarnazi but please, use the right words and phrases. Now I'm off to go and hide again until someone pronounces "Solder" without the '"L"...
The lighting during the early unboxing on the white sheet is too dark. I imagine that the lighting elsewhere is ok because someone different set it up.
Not only that, but you can download all my models for free, modify them, and print them yourself. The profit I could make from this is minuscule. I'd rather let people have these pieces. Also, Efferman is a better modeler than me -- my page now just encourages you to buy from him!
Well..you cant run a company without bucketloads of sarcasm soo linus is screwed on that front. Its a side effect of owning a company....almost forgot you need to be cynical as frick also to survive
The question is over what timespan was he using this software? If it crashed 5 times in 30 hours, then that's a B+, if it crashed 5 times in 10 hours then that's a D at best.
It's Time To Stop Ummm I'm not sure how to deal with a comment on this level of idiocy, or if I'm the idiot - because I'm almost certain EV3 is 2 years older than Windows 10
It's not technically correct. LEGO is a company. You cannot play "with LEGO" or "with LEGO's" You play with LEGO bricks, kits, or products. And thereby, shortening them goes to either of the two popular methods.
I have always liked taran as a host, but this one feels like his best one yet. He stayed calm and serious. However, some passion shined through. Good balance and another great video guys!
I watched it all the way through some months ago, and I don't think I have ever learnt as much about anything in 3 hours as I did when watching that video
Well, the fourth generation is out for sale right now, and the EV3 is about to go out of production in June. Will there be a follow-up video on the new Mindstorms Robot Inventor anytime soon?
Some problems stated, like the controller, can be diverted by downloading an app to control the robot with Bluetooth. Also, it isn't overshadowed by it's competition. Mindstorms has its own competition called First Lego League where there is a set amount of missions to do a certain way. This has over hundreds of thousands of kids and over a thousand teams. I am part of a team and we usually got to the national competition and it was fun! There were teams from different countries (even though it's called a national level competition) that I got to meet with that were pretty cool!
My school used the NXT in computer science to learn programming, they got replaced with the Raspberry Pi 3 this year, and I am in the first year of students using them
I've had a paid job teaching after-school ev3 classes at elementary schools for a few years now and agree with almost everything you said (the exception being software crashes, which I rarely experience despite using potato pcs). One thing to quickly add is that the "medium" motor also starts up much more quickly and can go faster than the normal ones. Great review!
We used the NXT ones at school. As fun as they were, I hated the block programming, and found it incredibly confusing. I know there's third party apps, but I never got a chance to use them. I wish there was just an option for text-based programming in the base app.
I have two EV3s and also find this very annoying, but have found that if you arrange your program right so that it doesn't get longer than one screen wide it isn't mutch of an issue.
Older mindstorms software has horizontal scroll. I have the NXT 1.0 and some educational kits because i was part of a last wave of LEGO FIRST competitions about eight years ago. The software was so much better back then.
My uncle is like a kid with Legos he has been playing with mindstorms since the beginning and he is 60 now. Since I was little he has been teaching me how to program the mindstorms and build it and now I'm playing with it every single day!
This is going to be a long one: First, my experience, I have worked with the NXT and the EV3, and I tried to work with the RCX, but the one we had was broken, I was part of an FFL team, I was the programmer, co-leader, and building assistant, when LEGO launched the EV3 our school bought 2 kits, my friend bought one and later I also did buy one, I have built and programmed every single one of the EV3 "built in" missions and I also have built several other robots from scratch, that range from basic cars to Rubix cube solvers and multi-use interchangeable claw, do anything robots (those were for the FLL team, FLL stands for First Lego League, by the way).About programming, I have made my blocks all the way from my blocks that change centimeters into rotations for the wheels we used to my blocks that would decide what the robot should do based on how much time it had left in the competition. My opinion on the EV3 is pretty close to what you said, the best robotics kit would be a mix of Vex IQ and LEGO Mindstorms (I have used Vex IQ, last year on TSA), and I think the next generation is going to be just that, I have met Lee Magpili in 2013, if I recall correctly, and he was trying to not say too much about the EV3, later someone asked and he told us that he could tell anything about the EV4 or whatever they call the new one. By the way, Taran, I am pretty sure there is an easy way to scroll horizontally, but I do not remember.Final notes: that was an awesome review, even though I disagree with somethings you said, you reviewed it with focusing on the things consumers would care about, not the things that people like me would care about like the fact that it only has 4 motor ports, which is still an upgrade from the 3 the NXT had.
Thanks for your comment! Check out my VEX IQ review. I already spoke about the mere 4 motor ports on the EV3, comparing it to VEX IQ. The VEX IQ brain has 12 in/out ports, and so can support 12 motors at once!
What I like is the fact that it's not only just Luke and Linus that hosts the videos. You have people like him who appear every so often, not only providing a bit of a change of pace, but also gives the channel more life and vibrancy as it gives us the viewers a different perspective and viewpoint from the varying members of the organization! :)
Hi LinusTechTips crew, you can program the ev3 eith C#, using microsoft visual studios. I am workig on a project at my school. We put the Monobrick.dll in the brick of the ev3 robot, so it uses c# instead of mindstorm(standard lego ev3 program). Eith C# you can program the robot aswell and control it via your keys on your PC.
One other things to consider is the robotics competitions that each of these are apart of. As a younger kid, I participated in the FIRST LEGO League, using that good old NXT brick. The programming sucked, but I still had an absolute blast doing it. Since then, VEX has introduced the VEX IQ challenge. There's quite a few differences other than the base robotics kit that each of these uses. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is just one of FIRST's four programs, of which it is the largest. They have FLL Jr., FIRST Tech Challenge, for middle-high school, and the FIRST Robotics Competition for high school. Each of these programs nicely nests into the next, introducing you to just the right concepts for the next. VEX only has two, VEX IQ and VEX, which is similar to FTC above. FIRST also greatly focuses on something that they like to call Gracious Professionalism, which is a way of competition with kindness and great admiration for all the other teams. You can get more points if you work together with other teams than if you work against them. In FTC and FRC, you are actually randomized in your alliances, so one team you are against in one round can be your ally in another. Because of this, I prefer the FIRST line of competitions, and thus I would recommend the EV3 (Or NXT, as those kits are still legal in FLL) robotics kits if you are interested in your child doing any sort of robotics competition in elementary school, which I would highly recommend. You can find out more info at firstinspires.org
We used 'Fischertechnik' kits in school.I really like them. They connect by sliding into each other.The software uses something that looks similar to UML or LabView that is quite powerful. Also, you can hook up non 'Fischertechnik' parts like PTC/NTC resistors, or replace the "brain" with an Arduino. The class above us built, for example, a door that only opens when you smile at it.
I own the lego mindstorm EV3! I started of playing with the RCX at school. Then I started programing using the NXT almost 5 years ago. And on September of 2014, I bought the EV3 and started growing on that.
Never thought I would say this. This review seems to have more thought and better structure than any of Luke's latest videos. Thank you Taran!! please continue reviewing stuff like this. its better than standard PC stuff, and I enjoy LMG crew, just disappointed with most of the Tech sector recently. Would like to know if you could do projects using raspberry Pi or intel systems like that, to make your own robots or whatever. seems like that would be very interesting.
Great review! Bought EV3 for our 10yr old son last year and have enjoyed the included projects and quality that LEGO is known for. Programming may seem rudimentary, but is quick to learn and makes projects quick to complete (I love being able to test individual blocks of code with different variables!). LEGO is a well-known brand within our household - I grew up with LEGO and now our son has buckets of LEGO scattered throughout his room - so EV3 was the obvious choice. This is the first I've heard about VEX IQ, and had not considered other options at the time. Perhaps if he becomes bored with the Mindstorm system, we will look into other more complex robotics kits. Thanks!
Played with RCX, NXT and EV3 from LEGO Mindstorms as well as VEX robotics systems (Not the VEX IQ but their metal/aluminium system where you can bend, cut and modify the metal parts to fit your build, very expensive tho. $2000 just for spare aluminium parts lol). Took part in competition overseas after winning the local nationwide competition (yeah my country is very active in robotics), represented my country and won prizes. Ahh great times.. Can't wait to get back in robotics :)
Well to be fair LEGO has always been pricy - On the other hand it'll last you a few generations. Of course that applies less so to the robotics theme here, so I can definitely agree with the argument.
LEGO is amazing quality which is why it is so expensive. I have never had a piece break just from using it (I did from stepping on it or smashing my LEGO)
i do have some old (probably over 15 years) moving pieces (those connected, flat 1 by 2s) that are breaking appart. but other than that, never had issues with breaking something
I hope this continues as a hopeful dad one day in the future and a present uncle I think videos like this on you channel really inspire and teach us consumer SOOO MUCH! THANKS TARAN!
My thoughts on the EV3: Definitely looks better than the original 2006 mindstorms haha. I do like the addition of the medium servo motors with the new kit too. But, like Taran said, there's overall nothing new from the previous generation. Somethings go backwards, somethings go forwards, so it kind of balances out. I absolutely hate the flowchart programming. I don't know why, but I can't wrap my head around it. Despite the fact i'm not very good at programming, I much prefer using RobotC with C++. The flowcharts are just...ugh. Ewww. Hardware wise, I definitely think the Vex kit is better. There's no giant slow battery hungry computer brick, and the parts allow for more capable builds. Especially the all metal Vex systems, those things are tough as hell, and can be made into tons of things. Not saying the EV3 is all bad-I went to a month long STEMM seminar camp thing, and we did battlebot competitions, using the EV3's. I know that sounds lame as can be, but my team built a pretty brutal wedge type robot that ended up tearing off more than a few wheels during grudge matches. We came in third overall, as I decided to include portal boxes and our gearing was too torque oriented lol, but after the bracket I switched back to a 1:1 and we dominated the grudge matches again. Overall, for a more serious robotics thingy whatever, I'd say Vex, but if you're looking for a quick robotics thing or just starting out, you can't go wrong with EV3. But seriously lego, fix your damn flowchart programmer. It's horrendous. Great video Taran! Heading over to the Vex IQ vid right now
I need to strongly disagree with the old technic lego being better than the new studless ones. With new studless legos you can make stronger, more complicated builds. It is more challenging for a hobbyist, but just take a look at different models from lego, and it is clear that technic has evolved a lot from old days. The normal stud connection is just a lot harder to be strong enough (and still small) for robotic use.
Aah, sorry for the misunderstanding. I think it's really hard for lego to keep their part catalogue small, but also offer enough pieces that builder don't feel like their building options are limited.
Got to the finals and regionals several times for the First Lego League when I was younger, it was a ton of fun and you'd be amazed what kind of stuff you can build with these things, and I have NEVER ran into an issue that was due to faults in my mindstorm kit. However Taran, the beams that come packaged with both the ev3 and the nxt are far superior structurally and in utility, especially in competition where smooth surfaces are leaps and bounds better for claws and skids.
Being a FRC Alum, and working with EV3 over the summer, I will say, it's a strong system for beginners and enthusiasts alike. There is a few things I think could be better, like the color sensor being more accurate and the bricks lasting longer.
I have the original NXT kit somewhere (I was awful about keeping my Lego sets together as a kid), and, for me, the real defining feature that sets Mindstorms apart is the Decades of compatible parts. Like Power functions, Mindstorms can supplement other creations using both normal bricks and Technic pieces. Sure, if you're just looking for a robotics kit, then it's not great, but you can do so much with it in combination with other Legos.
Yeah. Audrinos and your own stepper motors offer much more flexibility. I've seen people build their own 3D printers and PCB etching machines.. so cool!
I was using a an ev3 kit in FLL (First Lego Leauge) competition for 2 years, and we never experienced software crashes. I actually thought the kit overall was an improvement over NXT 2.0, the motors are more powerful, less awkwardly shaped, and support for a 4th motor opens up a lot of possibilities in competition. The software too is more streamlined and easier to use. I have an NXT 2.0 of my own so I have had a lot of experience with both systems.
I used the NXT kit in one of my elementary school classes... It was great. It allowed as much complexity as you could want while making it relatively easy to get into it.
You might want to have that checked, easy cracking or tearing of the skin can be a more advanced type of hyper mobile which can make getting stitches impossible meaning you ever were in an accident you might need to get wounds glued rather than stitched so they don't open up again. The more you know!
jon hues Lol I've been in plenty accidents, and the reason why my fingers bled was due to the fact the bricks stuck together so much. I'm just weak sauce.
jon hues Lol yeah, almost drove off a cliff cause of ice, then get slammed into a mountain. I also was in a roll over with like 7 other people. Just to name 2
There's actually a good reason that they removed the studs. If you stack a row of studded Mindstorms Legos together, the holes between stacked pieces are farther apart than they are between each other on each individual piece. So you can't actually line up the side-holes with another perpendicular piece. The side-holes will only line up after you stack six of them together. Their design actually gives you more options because they are perfectly regular across all axes. Also, the studded connections are great for playing and structures, but they don't hold. I teach in a robotics lab and when kids use the studs, their robots just fall apart. The robotics parts are better off without the studs.
RandomReviews Five words - That's not how it works. if you gear it down it increases torque (power) and reduces speed and if you gear it up it increases speed and reduces torque.
Good to see a review from Teran, this was a good video, I spent alot of time and money on building a A-hole box, but for the most part the ev3 sits stagnant because I haven't found anything else yet to build with the system. Pretty penny for it, extra pieces aren't too pricey, especially after paying for it, as a regular lego model builder goes, I get most of the satisfaction from completeing a project and moving on to something else, just the time to build something seems and completing it seems to be my niche...Keep up the good work yo! Maybe one of these days I will come up and check out the office and hang with you guys for a day.
I actually kind of liked EV3. I used to do Mindstorms Robotics competitions, and my final year my team got an EV3 set to upgrade our stockpile of Mindstorms pieces. I've programmed in both NXT and EV3 software and built with their pieces (I think we were somehow able to utilize the NXT sensors in conjunction with the EV3 brick) and I must say it wasn't terrible at all. I suppose I kind of prefer the NXT software, but EV3 software allowed my team to make more complicated programs for the competitions. Anyways, I hope LMG produces more videos like these, they are really nice!
I'm 15. I bought an RPi Model B Rev 2. what do i do with it, it lacks WiFi, I can't utilize Ethernet, and I don't have many decent power bricks on hand
Love Tarens reviews. Always so well covered. With him bringing a previous video out of his custom setup with multiple keyboards for adobe, I always hoped they would make a video where Linus helps Taren build a full LTT edition adobe workstation setup with extra short keys for adobe among other cool custom built parts. (Maybe with the 3D printer) Plus would be funny to watch Linus get frustrated as Taren talks about facts constantly as they try and build everything 😂
After working with a lot of EV3 kits over two years, I'd recommend sending the ultrasonic and gyro sensor to hell. Both expensive pieces of shit that barely works (at least the light/color sensor is an improvement from the NXT kits). The LabView software is absolute garbage when you start doing some real work with it (lags more than Crysis 3 running with my R7 250, crashes when creating My Blocks, updates are not pratical, at all, and the list could go on). At least the motors are good enough to be used with an Arduino.
Taran Van Hemert It's much better than the ultrasonic sensor (doesn't have issues with round shapes and objects, less prone to glitch out), but it could potentially have interference with light (but I've never encountered any issues with it). Also, sorry for the previous rage comment, I've had so many moments of my robot simply failing during a tournament (RoboCup) because of something that I simply couldn't take care about.
Lol, my robotics team had used Labview for almost 10 years before I became the programming leader and migrated one of our codebases to Java over the summer, wrote a tutorial, and competed in the next season using Java instead. LabView is one of the shittiest ways of programming mainly due to the software and some of the design decisions.
I completely disagree with your statements about the ultrasonic sensor. I participated in both regional and championship first lego league matches a few years back and can say that the ultrasonic sensor was the only way to go, it was never inaccurate and always measured distances perfectly, half of the time the reliable old touch sensor with an axle on it was replaced by an ultrasonic sensor that could save precious time and accuracy. It's range was never a limiting factor.
I actually owned the original RCX until a few years ago when I finally threw it away because a few parts stopped working. Absolutely fun and one of my favourite childhood toys!
I had a choice, buy a PS4 or this. I bought this and lost all interest after a month. Still made the right decision because now I'm a PC gamer, if I had the PS4 I wouldn't.
I own the EV3 kit, and I agree with most of these claims. One interesting part, through, is that nowhere in this video was the app mentioned - there is a free Mindstorms Commander app made by LEGO, which has incremental controls for the motors, and one can have complete control over the robot, remotely. No joystick required.
that is not true... if u look at this u buy 1. Hardware (Lego) 2. Hardware (Robotics) 3. software (PC Manuals and coding language) 4. Software (OS of the robot) ... and developing these is EXPENSIVE AS FUCK, because it takes a lot of talented people and a lot of time to make..... 5. Making the pices well 6. Lego Brand Same goes for apple and any other phone ..the software development is the biggest cut of the price ...
My mindstorms experience was good, but I must say that I had the educational set with the extension set, so I had more sensors and bricks. I think there should have been a fourth motor too.
MrDutchgaming123 I'm 15 and I've had it for 3 years now. I'm so used to it nowadays that I have a box full of the processors that are in the arduino, and use them for everything. Like a usb rgb controller for a case.
I just have to say, I've really been enjoying all of Taran's review videos, from robotics, to transportation methods. It feels really unique and genuine. Keep it up Taran!
I actually really like Taran's reviews
He is very professional, and he gets into the nitty gritty details. Oh, and he doesn't say, "Freaking," Every other sentence.
infinitelyExplosive Yeah, it's less pop culture references and forced jokes and more detailed with dry humour.
*every other FREAKING sentence
lol
He's rubbish and needs to gtfo...
i like how Taran lowkey complained that his boss wouldn't buy him lego's
What's funnier is that Linus put that line in the script.
when?
Every time an American says "Legos" it somehow feels like a sharp spike has been driven through my brain.
A high-up in Lego (I think it was the CEO) even went on record on video to say "The plural of Lego is 'Lego' ".
It's like Sheep. You don't say "One sheep, two sheeps, many sheeps". You say "One sheep, two sheep, many sheeps".
Similarly it's "One lego brick / piece, two pieces of lego, lots of lego".
In the video he says "Many lego pieces" not "many legos".
I know, I'm sorry, this is just another way of being a grammarnazi but please, use the right words and phrases. Now I'm off to go and hide again until someone pronounces "Solder" without the '"L"...
too polished, no stutters or dropped lines, no awkwardness. what the hell is this, guys, a ringer? :P
haha
the lighting is pretty bad. Does that count?
I think the lighting's pretty good, actually. Luke and Linus are just a lot whiter.
The lighting during the early unboxing on the white sheet is too dark. I imagine that the lighting elsewhere is ok because someone different set it up.
TaranToyTips
I'd subscribe to that.
ITS NOT A TOY!
[Triggered]
What kind of toys does Taran review? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
TaranToyTips is a channel I'd subscribe to in a heartbeat
What kind of "toys"?
TTT for short
T3
lmao
A series would be a good possiblity.
Taran.
Profiting from what people don't do.GENIUS
not profiting, he sells "at cost" which means he only charges what it costs him
Sureeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
dats why i called him a GENIUS
Not only that, but you can download all my models for free, modify them, and print them yourself.
The profit I could make from this is minuscule. I'd rather let people have these pieces.
Also, Efferman is a better modeler than me -- my page now just encourages you to buy from him!
THE MAN HIMSELF I FEEL HONORED hehe
MOAR TARAN!
All the Tarans!
Aravanus All the single Taran's! Wait, is he single?
He sounds more serioius in detail then both Luke and Linus. They're always to sarcasm in the latest monthes videos. (In my opinion)
Taran didn't even use any euphemisms. That's how you know he's serious.
taran don't play when it comes to play
sarcastic
Well..you cant run a company without bucketloads of sarcasm soo linus is screwed on that front. Its a side effect of owning a company....almost forgot you need to be cynical as frick also to survive
Crashed 5 times during normal operation and you gave it an A- ?? Didn't realize LTT was the new IGN.
could just be windows 10 to be fair.
Crashing randomly is better than crashing in certian functions so A- is correct mark (i would choose B+ but whatever)
The question is over what timespan was he using this software? If it crashed 5 times in 30 hours, then that's a B+, if it crashed 5 times in 10 hours then that's a D at best.
Good point.
It's Time To Stop Ummm I'm not sure how to deal with a comment on this level of idiocy, or if I'm the idiot - because I'm almost certain EV3 is 2 years older than Windows 10
we used them at a robotic course at my school a couple of years back :D
Lerbyn same
We used it in first Lego leauge
Same
AceTrooper404 we too
So? What do you think of them?
yes taran said "LEGO" and not "Lego's"
Which is technically the correct way, but no one really cares - Not even Danes.
Mansen jeg
Sebastian Egeberg XD er du sur?
I've always been of the opinion that Lego is already plural and that Legos sounds silly
It's not technically correct.
LEGO is a company. You cannot play "with LEGO" or "with LEGO's"
You play with LEGO bricks, kits, or products.
And thereby, shortening them goes to either of the two popular methods.
last time i was this early, LTT didn't have sponsors
Saif Aqqad lol
Saif Aqqad i like your profile pic
+Fizard i dont
But they were always sponsored, hell even the first video was sponsored
Short Circuit lol ik its just a joke m8
"and linus built it" haha gold xD
Tarans reviews are fantastic as always.
I have always liked taran as a host, but this one feels like his best one yet. He stayed calm and serious. However, some passion shined through. Good balance and another great video guys!
why dont you make your own channel Taran like seriously?
I do have my own channel.
Click on my face and check out the 3 HOUR PREMIERE TUTORIALLLLL!
Jenova he already has
Ahhh sheeit you just got a new sub
He does have his own channel. Look it up.
I watched it all the way through some months ago, and I don't think I have ever learnt as much about anything in 3 hours as I did when watching that video
He's really "taran" the competition!
If he makes too many fantastic videos, he could become Taran-ical.
Your puns are too cringy, they make me want taran away.
Pronounce "taran" as "tuh run".
Adding reddit style voting on comments would be great
Agreed!
and make comments of comments another section
Making the "dislike" button actually do something would be nice, as well.
Yesto Surely UA-cam could just buy reddit??
It used to be on youtube if enough people disliked a comment the comment would just be deleted. I don't know why the fuck they took that away.
Taran is awesome. He needs more screen time.
Taran is getting better and better with each and every video. Professional and thorough. Nice work man!
Well, the fourth generation is out for sale right now, and the EV3 is about to go out of production in June. Will there be a follow-up video on the new Mindstorms Robot Inventor anytime soon?
Some problems stated, like the controller, can be diverted by downloading an app to control the robot with Bluetooth. Also, it isn't overshadowed by it's competition. Mindstorms has its own competition called First Lego League where there is a set amount of missions to do a certain way. This has over hundreds of thousands of kids and over a thousand teams. I am part of a team and we usually got to the national competition and it was fun! There were teams from different countries (even though it's called a national level competition) that I got to meet with that were pretty cool!
Why didn't you make this a two parter ? It is almost ten minutes
AHMED SALAH ten minutes is nothing...
FSXgta I'm just being sarcastic dude cuz of yesterday's video
AHMED SALAH right sorry my bad
FSXgta lol it's okay 😂
10 mins as a 2 part, your crazy, that would be 5 min videos, it clearly needs to become a new channel
Gimme a video done by only dennis, starring him, written by him, and edited by him
My school used the NXT in computer science to learn programming, they got replaced with the Raspberry Pi 3 this year, and I am in the first year of students using them
Daniel Dankers wow holy macaroni
AirportHobo Triggers Me I know right? I'm truly blessed
AirportHobo Triggers Me I find it utterly dashing myself
AirportHobo Triggers Me Lmao so original
Daniel Dankers want to fight me mate
You've gotten a lot better on camera. Not as cringe as before.
Definitely less cringe, and no cancer.
Still wouldn't know what to do with a sex robot tho...
jono3952 What do you mean? He IS a sex robot!
Taran is a really good presenter. I wonder why he is not making more videos or hosting such reviews.
I've had a paid job teaching after-school ev3 classes at elementary schools for a few years now and agree with almost everything you said (the exception being software crashes, which I rarely experience despite using potato pcs). One thing to quickly add is that the "medium" motor also starts up much more quickly and can go faster than the normal ones. Great review!
We used the NXT ones at school. As fun as they were, I hated the block programming, and found it incredibly confusing. I know there's third party apps, but I never got a chance to use them. I wish there was just an option for text-based programming in the base app.
lq I preferred the block programming. The new lego MINDSTORMS set that just came out has a python option built in to the base app
5:34 You could fine an ultrasonic sensor in the 45544 Lego Education EV3 set.
Just don't step on the lego bricks. 😂
Taran, please make more videos. Loved this one!
Lack of horizontal scroll alone is unforgivable, as it deters the making of larger programs.
I have two EV3s and also find this very annoying, but have found that if you arrange your program right so that it doesn't get longer than one screen wide it isn't mutch of an issue.
Older mindstorms software has horizontal scroll. I have the NXT 1.0 and some educational kits because i was part of a last wave of LEGO FIRST competitions about eight years ago. The software was so much better back then.
My uncle is like a kid with Legos he has been playing with mindstorms since the beginning and he is 60 now. Since I was little he has been teaching me how to program the mindstorms and build it and now I'm playing with it every single day!
This is going to be a long one: First, my experience, I have worked with the NXT and the EV3, and I tried to work with the RCX, but the one we had was broken, I was part of an FFL team, I was the programmer, co-leader, and building assistant, when LEGO launched the EV3 our school bought 2 kits, my friend bought one and later I also did buy one, I have built and programmed every single one of the EV3 "built in" missions and I also have built several other robots from scratch, that range from basic cars to Rubix cube solvers and multi-use interchangeable claw, do anything robots (those were for the FLL team, FLL stands for First Lego League, by the way).About programming, I have made my blocks all the way from my blocks that change centimeters into rotations for the wheels we used to my blocks that would decide what the robot should do based on how much time it had left in the competition. My opinion on the EV3 is pretty close to what you said, the best robotics kit would be a mix of Vex IQ and LEGO Mindstorms (I have used Vex IQ, last year on TSA), and I think the next generation is going to be just that, I have met Lee Magpili in 2013, if I recall correctly, and he was trying to not say too much about the EV3, later someone asked and he told us that he could tell anything about the EV4 or whatever they call the new one. By the way, Taran, I am pretty sure there is an easy way to scroll horizontally, but I do not remember.Final notes: that was an awesome review, even though I disagree with somethings you said, you reviewed it with focusing on the things consumers would care about, not the things that people like me would care about like the fact that it only has 4 motor ports, which is still an upgrade from the 3 the NXT had.
Thanks for your comment!
Check out my VEX IQ review. I already spoke about the mere 4 motor ports on the EV3, comparing it to VEX IQ. The VEX IQ brain has 12 in/out ports, and so can support 12 motors at once!
What I like is the fact that it's not only just Luke and Linus that hosts the videos. You have people like him who appear every so often, not only providing a bit of a change of pace, but also gives the channel more life and vibrancy as it gives us the viewers a different perspective and viewpoint from the varying members of the organization! :)
The Android app using bluetooth is a great way to control your robot. You should have covered that Taran...
Nooooo, as a technic/mindstorms user I love that they dont have the stud anymore.
I think Taran should do more videos, I think he's a great presenter
Linus, this was EPIC! Plz, would love more Lego/robotics content on this channel!
I watched the entire video already
John Smith same
Wow you're soo cool
John Smith Lier the vid was released 1 minute ago =/
Online And offline vessel was a thing
Neon Nuke oh =/
Hi LinusTechTips crew, you can program the ev3 eith C#, using microsoft visual studios. I am workig on a project at my school. We put the Monobrick.dll in the brick of the ev3 robot, so it uses c# instead of mindstorm(standard lego ev3 program). Eith C# you can program the robot aswell and control it via your keys on your PC.
I'm in an FLL team, so this is going come in useful
Bob McCoy FRC FTW!
+Casey Thimm TEAM 201 FTW
Alumni of FRC 75 here! :)
Wait- how on earth is this useful to someone in FLL- shouldn't you already know all this stuff???
Matthew Tavatgis Maybe they just joined.
One other things to consider is the robotics competitions that each of these are apart of. As a younger kid, I participated in the FIRST LEGO League, using that good old NXT brick. The programming sucked, but I still had an absolute blast doing it. Since then, VEX has introduced the VEX IQ challenge. There's quite a few differences other than the base robotics kit that each of these uses. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is just one of FIRST's four programs, of which it is the largest. They have FLL Jr., FIRST Tech Challenge, for middle-high school, and the FIRST Robotics Competition for high school. Each of these programs nicely nests into the next, introducing you to just the right concepts for the next. VEX only has two, VEX IQ and VEX, which is similar to FTC above. FIRST also greatly focuses on something that they like to call Gracious Professionalism, which is a way of competition with kindness and great admiration for all the other teams. You can get more points if you work together with other teams than if you work against them. In FTC and FRC, you are actually randomized in your alliances, so one team you are against in one round can be your ally in another. Because of this, I prefer the FIRST line of competitions, and thus I would recommend the EV3 (Or NXT, as those kits are still legal in FLL) robotics kits if you are interested in your child doing any sort of robotics competition in elementary school, which I would highly recommend. You can find out more info at firstinspires.org
wow.. taran looks like an actual human being instead of a nerd from TV
We used 'Fischertechnik' kits in school.I really like them. They connect by sliding into each other.The software uses something that looks similar to UML or LabView that is quite powerful. Also, you can hook up non 'Fischertechnik' parts like PTC/NTC resistors, or replace the "brain" with an Arduino. The class above us built, for example, a door that only opens when you smile at it.
"..with only 4 total channels you'd better hope, that there are no other lego enthusiasts near by.." ahahaha such a fucking common problem i guess :D
It makes them very hard to use in educational environments. Instead of 8 teams, you need to have 4. Or split them up into separate rooms.
Burzum x Seeing as this is designed for schools, yes it is.
I own the lego mindstorm EV3! I started of playing with the RCX at school. Then I started programing using the NXT almost 5 years ago. And on September of 2014, I bought the EV3 and started growing on that.
YES MORE TARAN
Never thought I would say this. This review seems to have more thought and better structure than any of Luke's latest videos. Thank you Taran!! please continue reviewing stuff like this. its better than standard PC stuff, and I enjoy LMG crew, just disappointed with most of the Tech sector recently. Would like to know if you could do projects using raspberry Pi or intel systems like that, to make your own robots or whatever. seems like that would be very interesting.
more taran robot videos!!
Great review! Bought EV3 for our 10yr old son last year and have enjoyed the included projects and quality that LEGO is known for. Programming may seem rudimentary, but is quick to learn and makes projects quick to complete (I love being able to test individual blocks of code with different variables!). LEGO is a well-known brand within our household - I grew up with LEGO and now our son has buckets of LEGO scattered throughout his room - so EV3 was the obvious choice. This is the first I've heard about VEX IQ, and had not considered other options at the time. Perhaps if he becomes bored with the Mindstorm system, we will look into other more complex robotics kits. Thanks!
"linus would only buy it if i made a video" that somehow cracked me up
Played with RCX, NXT and EV3 from LEGO Mindstorms as well as VEX robotics systems (Not the VEX IQ but their metal/aluminium system where you can bend, cut and modify the metal parts to fit your build, very expensive tho. $2000 just for spare aluminium parts lol).
Took part in competition overseas after winning the local nationwide competition (yeah my country is very active in robotics), represented my country and won prizes. Ahh great times.. Can't wait to get back in robotics :)
Lego mindstorm cost way to much for What you arę getting.
Dominik Wiechowski yep
Well to be fair LEGO has always been pricy - On the other hand it'll last you a few generations. Of course that applies less so to the robotics theme here, so I can definitely agree with the argument.
Yes, but Legos are the Nokias of the toy world.
LEGO is amazing quality which is why it is so expensive. I have never had a piece break just from using it (I did from stepping on it or smashing my LEGO)
i do have some old (probably over 15 years) moving pieces (those connected, flat 1 by 2s) that are breaking appart. but other than that, never had issues with breaking something
I hope this continues as a hopeful dad one day in the future and a present uncle I think videos like this on you channel really inspire and teach us consumer SOOO MUCH! THANKS TARAN!
Last time i was this early, it was already released on Vessel
Wasn't expecting a Lego video on LTT. Keep the surprises coming!
My thoughts on the EV3:
Definitely looks better than the original 2006 mindstorms haha. I do like the addition of the medium servo motors with the new kit too. But, like Taran said, there's overall nothing new from the previous generation. Somethings go backwards, somethings go forwards, so it kind of balances out.
I absolutely hate the flowchart programming. I don't know why, but I can't wrap my head around it. Despite the fact i'm not very good at programming, I much prefer using RobotC with C++. The flowcharts are just...ugh. Ewww.
Hardware wise, I definitely think the Vex kit is better. There's no giant slow battery hungry computer brick, and the parts allow for more capable builds. Especially the all metal Vex systems, those things are tough as hell, and can be made into tons of things.
Not saying the EV3 is all bad-I went to a month long STEMM seminar camp thing, and we did battlebot competitions, using the EV3's. I know that sounds lame as can be, but my team built a pretty brutal wedge type robot that ended up tearing off more than a few wheels during grudge matches. We came in third overall, as I decided to include portal boxes and our gearing was too torque oriented lol, but after the bracket I switched back to a 1:1 and we dominated the grudge matches again.
Overall, for a more serious robotics thingy whatever, I'd say Vex, but if you're looking for a quick robotics thing or just starting out, you can't go wrong with EV3.
But seriously lego, fix your damn flowchart programmer. It's horrendous.
Great video Taran! Heading over to the Vex IQ vid right now
Good job Taran, both the things you picked out to talk about in your script and the actual delivery of said script were on point.
I actually like the NXT block programming over the EV3 one. In competitions, like when I was working with FTC, I like the NXT better as well
This year, I'm going to the highest class in my school (I'm 7th Grade) and I got a Robotics twice a week with EV3! Yay! Now I know what its like :D
please check the fischertehnic kit. it's awsome an you can also programme with it
I must have been living under a rock, because this is my first contact with Lego Mindstorms (or any robotics kit for general consumers actually).
I need to strongly disagree with the old technic lego being better than the new studless ones. With new studless legos you can make stronger, more complicated builds. It is more challenging for a hobbyist, but just take a look at different models from lego, and it is clear that technic has evolved a lot from old days. The normal stud connection is just a lot harder to be strong enough (and still small) for robotic use.
I didn't say the studded system is better. I actually prefer studless. But it's missing some important pieces at the moment.
Aah, sorry for the misunderstanding. I think it's really hard for lego to keep their part catalogue small, but also offer enough pieces that builder don't feel like their building options are limited.
would love to see Taran do a robotics channel on here for mindstorm and raspberry pi builds
I love this! Taran was amazing! More vids with Taran! Like if u agree!!! :D
Got to the finals and regionals several times for the First Lego League when I was younger, it was a ton of fun and you'd be amazed what kind of stuff you can build with these things, and I have NEVER ran into an issue that was due to faults in my mindstorm kit. However Taran, the beams that come packaged with both the ev3 and the nxt are far superior structurally and in utility, especially in competition where smooth surfaces are leaps and bounds better for claws and skids.
Oh hey Taran
Oh, hai, doggy. Wait...
Being a FRC Alum, and working with EV3 over the summer, I will say, it's a strong system for beginners and enthusiasts alike. There is a few things I think could be better, like the color sensor being more accurate and the bricks lasting longer.
Please, more Taran and Dennis
Happy N7 Day
I have the original NXT kit somewhere (I was awful about keeping my Lego sets together as a kid), and, for me, the real defining feature that sets Mindstorms apart is the Decades of compatible parts. Like Power functions, Mindstorms can supplement other creations using both normal bricks and Technic pieces. Sure, if you're just looking for a robotics kit, then it's not great, but you can do so much with it in combination with other Legos.
More videos by Taran please!!
Nice work Taran! Refreshing change of pace from Linus and Luke's reviews.
Yay! Taran's back!
Taran, good to see you on screen. like the differentiation you bring to the contents of the channel.
I wonder if Taran has played with Arduinos?
You bet he has. I think he did a video about them.
Yeah. Audrinos and your own stepper motors offer much more flexibility. I've seen people build their own 3D printers and PCB etching machines.. so cool!
mbavalo yeup! ive done that! pretty fun stuff
Taran was bathed and fed in sarcasm when growing up. Man, he has no chill! love it!
I got an nxt kit like 2012 I was so mad when ev3 came out
Aww, but at least it was a better deal, eh?
Its true EV3 is pretty bad compared to the last two mindstorms kits
Yes, if you are making very large and complicated programs, EV3 is much better than NXT.
ethan's universe it isnt better, just slightly easier
i mean if you make a really large program, EV3's computer is much more capable of executing the program.
I was using a an ev3 kit in FLL (First Lego Leauge) competition for 2 years, and we never experienced software crashes. I actually thought the kit overall was an improvement over NXT 2.0, the motors are more powerful, less awkwardly shaped, and support for a 4th motor opens up a lot of possibilities in competition. The software too is more streamlined and easier to use. I have an NXT 2.0 of my own so I have had a lot of experience with both systems.
I like this guy
I used the NXT kit in one of my elementary school classes... It was great. It allowed as much complexity as you could want while making it relatively easy to get into it.
My robotics class in school uses these, my only issue is that taking apart the Legos make my fingers bleed.
You might want to have that checked, easy cracking or tearing of the skin can be a more advanced type of hyper mobile which can make getting stitches impossible meaning you ever were in an accident you might need to get wounds glued rather than stitched so they don't open up again.
The more you know!
jon hues Lol I've been in plenty accidents, and the reason why my fingers bled was due to the fact the bricks stuck together so much. I'm just weak sauce.
I mean this in the best way possible, but im actually glad you were in accidents before xD.
jon hues Lol yeah, almost drove off a cliff cause of ice, then get slammed into a mountain. I also was in a roll over with like 7 other people. Just to name 2
There's actually a good reason that they removed the studs. If you stack a row of studded Mindstorms Legos together, the holes between stacked pieces are farther apart than they are between each other on each individual piece. So you can't actually line up the side-holes with another perpendicular piece. The side-holes will only line up after you stack six of them together. Their design actually gives you more options because they are perfectly regular across all axes. Also, the studded connections are great for playing and structures, but they don't hold. I teach in a robotics lab and when kids use the studs, their robots just fall apart. The robotics parts are better off without the studs.
They need stronger motors so then battle bots can be a thing
Brian Richards One word: Gearing
RandomReviews Five words - That's not how it works.
if you gear it down it increases torque (power) and reduces speed and if you gear it up it increases speed and reduces torque.
jon hues Gear it down. A bunch of my friends did it, and i won.
RandomReviews So what? He's still right
jon hues I know that I'm just saying that bigger motors are necessary
Good to see a review from Teran, this was a good video, I spent alot of time and money on building a A-hole box, but for the most part the ev3 sits stagnant because I haven't found anything else yet to build with the system. Pretty penny for it, extra pieces aren't too pricey, especially after paying for it, as a regular lego model builder goes, I get most of the satisfaction from completeing a project and moving on to something else, just the time to build something seems and completing it seems to be my niche...Keep up the good work yo! Maybe one of these days I will come up and check out the office and hang with you guys for a day.
I have an educational ev3. AMA
florens pauwels are you broke now
PC Master Race yep
florens pauwels I take a high school class on this robot
I actually kind of liked EV3. I used to do Mindstorms Robotics competitions, and my final year my team got an EV3 set to upgrade our stockpile of Mindstorms pieces. I've programmed in both NXT and EV3 software and built with their pieces (I think we were somehow able to utilize the NXT sensors in conjunction with the EV3 brick) and I must say it wasn't terrible at all. I suppose I kind of prefer the NXT software, but EV3 software allowed my team to make more complicated programs for the competitions.
Anyways, I hope LMG produces more videos like these, they are really nice!
i'm 14 and just think it´s too expensive, so i learned with a arduino and rpi when i was 10
You dang kids are so smart, these days...
I'm 15. I bought an RPi Model B Rev 2.
what do i do with it, it lacks WiFi, I can't utilize Ethernet, and I don't have many decent power bricks on hand
Sick support - Should have thought of that before you bought it
ksells I did but now I still have no money
Love Tarens reviews. Always so well covered.
With him bringing a previous video out of his custom setup with multiple keyboards for adobe, I always hoped they would make a video where Linus helps Taren build a full LTT edition adobe workstation setup with extra short keys for adobe among other cool custom built parts.
(Maybe with the 3D printer)
Plus would be funny to watch Linus get frustrated as Taren talks about facts constantly as they try and build everything 😂
After working with a lot of EV3 kits over two years, I'd recommend sending the ultrasonic and gyro sensor to hell. Both expensive pieces of shit that barely works (at least the light/color sensor is an improvement from the NXT kits).
The LabView software is absolute garbage when you start doing some real work with it (lags more than Crysis 3 running with my R7 250, crashes when creating My Blocks, updates are not pratical, at all, and the list could go on).
At least the motors are good enough to be used with an Arduino.
lolzvid what do you think of the distance sensing capabilities of the IR sensor?
Taran Van Hemert It's much better than the ultrasonic sensor (doesn't have issues with round shapes and objects, less prone to glitch out), but it could potentially have interference with light (but I've never encountered any issues with it).
Also, sorry for the previous rage comment, I've had so many moments of my robot simply failing during a tournament (RoboCup) because of something that I simply couldn't take care about.
Lol, my robotics team had used Labview for almost 10 years before I became the programming leader and migrated one of our codebases to Java over the summer, wrote a tutorial, and competed in the next season using Java instead. LabView is one of the shittiest ways of programming mainly due to the software and some of the design decisions.
I completely disagree with your statements about the ultrasonic sensor. I participated in both regional and championship first lego league matches a few years back and can say that the ultrasonic sensor was the only way to go, it was never inaccurate and always measured distances perfectly, half of the time the reliable old touch sensor with an axle on it was replaced by an ultrasonic sensor that could save precious time and accuracy. It's range was never a limiting factor.
Ark
It's range is quite good, I believe better than the infrared sensor, but with round and/or small objects, the ultrasonic sensor sometimes works.
We need more Taran videos, they're always really well put together, informative and gripping!
"Programming "... Move block here and block there
Pienimusta ? that's still programming
It's an entry point for kids at a point when they're still learning their native language let alone a programming language.
thats what programming is though,,,? the blocks represent code.
I actually owned the original RCX until a few years ago when I finally threw it away because a few parts stopped working. Absolutely fun and one of my favourite childhood toys!
I had a choice, buy a PS4 or this. I bought this and lost all interest after a month. Still made the right decision because now I'm a PC gamer, if I had the PS4 I wouldn't.
I own the EV3 kit, and I agree with most of these claims. One interesting part, through, is that nowhere in this video was the app mentioned - there is a free Mindstorms Commander app made by LEGO, which has incremental controls for the motors, and one can have complete control over the robot, remotely. No joystick required.
Its way to expensive. Who wants to pay 500$ for Hardware that costs 100?
Your buying the design, just ask everybody who still buy iPhones with less than $300 of hardware in them for over a $1000
Unfortunately that's really it, you're paying for the brand.
that is not true... if u look at this u buy 1. Hardware (Lego) 2. Hardware (Robotics) 3. software (PC Manuals and coding language) 4. Software (OS of the robot) ... and developing these is EXPENSIVE AS FUCK, because it takes a lot of talented people and a lot of time to make.....
5. Making the pices
well 6. Lego Brand
Same goes for apple and any other phone ..the software development is the biggest cut of the price ...
I agree
tHrall388 and vex iq?
My mindstorms experience was good, but I must say that I had the educational set with the extension set, so I had more sensors and bricks. I think there should have been a fourth motor too.
i have this myself and i hate it. the programming is terrible
matty amicaterra arduino is much better, they should review it next, idk how they would, but they could.
Arduino is very good ;) I have it for 1 year now ;) Im 14 y/o xd
MrDutchgaming123 I'm 15 and I've had it for 3 years now. I'm so used to it nowadays that I have a box full of the processors that are in the arduino, and use them for everything. Like a usb rgb controller for a case.
I have a plan to make a 8x8x8 rgb led cube, using multiplexing
same
I just have to say, I've really been enjoying all of Taran's review videos, from robotics, to transportation methods. It feels really unique and genuine. Keep it up Taran!