Attachments

The education version of the EV3 software, now available for free download, includes a number of excellent lessons based on a robot design called the 'Education Vehicle' or 'Driving Base'. That model was designed to be made with the education version of the EV3 kit. On THIS PAGE you learnt how to build with the home version of the EV3 kit a vehicle similar to the official Education Vehicle model. Building the home version of the Education Vehicle and downloading the education software allows you to do most but not all of the Robot Educator lessons. The home version has smaller wheels than the education version but simply modifying the programs so that movements of the large motors are multiplied a factor of 1.3 easily compensates for the difference in wheel sizes.

The Education Vehicle is designed to easily accept a number of attachments, and the PDF file that shows how to assemble the education vehicle from the education kit also shows how to make various attachments for that vehicle. This page below shows how most of the those attachments can also be made with the home version and attached to the home version of the Educator Vehicle. There are some limitations such as the need to substitute the IR sensor for the ultrasonic sensor and the impossibility of using the gyro sensor because it is not included in the home version of the EV3 kit.

In the images below please ignore the colors of the Lego pieces which may not be correct for the home version. The cables are sometimes not included for reasons of clarity.

Vertical color sensor attachment sequence

• You could attach the sensor like this:

Horizontal color sensor attachment sequence

• You could attach the sensor like this...

• ...or simply like this

Touch sensor sequence

• You could attach the touch sensor as shown for the color sensor in the previous photo, like this:

Ultrasonic sensor attachment sequence

• The infrared sensor has the same form factor as the ultrasonic sensor so you can simply follow the instructions given in the PDF for making the education vehicle with the education kit, replacing the US sensor with the IR sensor. The clearance between the IR sensor and the (smooth) floor will be about 2mm. If you want more clearance you could attach the IR sensor like this:

Gripper attachment sequence

• You should be able to construct this attachment without any modifications. Here are two photos of the home version of the educator vehicle complete with gripper attachment, color sensor and touch sensor. It's even possible to attach the IR sensor, the gripper attachment, the color sensor and the touch sensor at the same time! (In these two photos, the touch and color sensors have accidentally swapped places.)

Gyro sensor attachment sequence

• Since the home edition of the EV3 kit does not include the gyro sensor you can ignore this section.