LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Fun Project - Learn How to Program in EV3

ev3 icon

In our programming courses for kids, like Scratch and EV3 and NXT courses, we love to make the learning path more fun. Because fun learning experience can help kids to get higher motivation and last for longer time. This article is based on our pratical experience in EV3 robotics course to show how to teach touch sensor step by step and help students learn to build a fun game with EV3 touch sensor. Students love this game so much! If you have a new and cool EV3 Brick, please try to follow the steps to learn interesting touching game. NXT works as well!

The download link of EV3 sample code for this article is at bottom. Please DOWNLOAD it. You may get inspired how to make your own fun game!

  • Step 1 make a simple tone - Let students write a simple program to let the EV3 brick make a simple short note. It's just a Sound block as below:
  • Step 2 wait for press and make a tone - Modify the program of Step 1 to wait for user press the touch sensor. Choose 2 (bumped) for action of touch sensor. Please check below:
  • Step 3 add a loop - It is quite strange for playing just a short note. It should response to users a beep whenever user click the touch sensor. How we can do? Let students make a try and we can wait to see anything good happen. A loop block need to be introduced here. We can make a name for this loop. A good name can be a maker to be found in EV3 software.

    • Many students learn the loop and control LEGO robotics in their own way. However, as a game deverloper, I am happily to make the course more fun and make gamification of LEGO robotics course. If we design a game rule to make users play. Users can try to click the rouch sensor in 10 seconds and compete who the winner is among peers. Students can play and compete while learning to program EV3. When they play with their work, they will focus on make their own game better and easily ignore the hard part of software programming. :)

  • Step 4 Time challenge 10 seconds - Make the loop last for excat 10 seconds. When time up, EV3 brick play a interesting sound, like "Bravo" to let user know game is over. The program is as below. But, how can we know how many times we click?
  • Step 5 count user's click and display - The concept of variables is somehow hard to students. Because understanding of variables requires user to think abstractly and logically. We just start from "A = A + 1". Let students learn from copying teachers' work to increase variable "count" everytime when enter the loop. And display "count" on the screen. Also wait for 5 seconds before exit of the program to get user have enough to learn the total click has been made.
  • Step 6 the number on the EV3 screen are fewer than user's click. - Students will might have the problem in their touch sensor game. By introducing edge detection for state change (one block for unpressed -> pressed and one block for pressed -> unpressed), EV3 brick can handle user's click much better. Program are as below.
  • Step 7 make ascend tone - When the number goes up, the tone frequncy is up. Higher tone make the player more nervous and excited.
  • Step 8 two players - Can we make this game for two players? The EV3 brick can show who is the winner after 10-second play. This will be advanced homework for kids to complete.
    • Download EV3 Sample code:
    thumb_touching_game.ev3 (23KB)