Learn Engineering with Lego: A Practical Introduction to Engineering Concepts

LEGO Mindstorms and SPIKE Prime are great products with vast capabilities, but are often so complex that many people don't know how to use them. LEGO provides a walk-through of a few projects to build, which are cool, but after building these many people get stuck on "now what?" This book answers that question by showing the underlying principles required to build their own ideas.

This book is a hands-on tour of how machines work with LEGO--there's nothing like building a machine with your own two hands to understand how it works. It includes aspects of software engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. As parts and associated engineering concepts are presented, they will be shown in their practical use with graphical step-by-step assembly instructions.

The concepts conveyed are mostly learned through building examples, with text explanation to reinforce the ideas being learned. Every engineering concept has a building example to go with it, in a quick build of less than 15 assembly steps. At the end of each chapter there's a project to tie the concepts of the chapter together of a little more complexity, involving 15 to 30 steps. These assembly steps are drawn with a computer aided design program that looks like the diagrams that LEGO produces for its products, so readers will be familiar with the look of the assembly directions.

What You'll Learn

• Layout a Word Blocks or Python computer program from scratch
• See how LEGO building elements are meant to be assembled
• Manipulate the power source of a rotating shaft from an electric motor
• Use gears to alter the speed and torque of a power train
• Change the motion from a rotating shaft to a desired action Basic mechanisms (turntable, differential, cam, ratchet, etc.) to
• Use sensors (motion, distance, light, color) to make interactive inventions
• Integrate mechanical, software, and electrical subsystems in a project

Who This Book Is For

The knowledge presumed in this book is basic familiarity in building with LEGO, having past experience with building a set of moderate complexity of more than a 100 pieces. Basic familiarity with operating a personal computer is also assumed, such as to install an app.

Likely interested readers are: LEGO fans looking for ways to build new and better inventions, middle-school and high-school age students who have an interest in science, math, and engineering, adults who like to learn how things work and tinker with inventions, and educators who use the SPIKE Prime set and are looking for new ideas for lesson plans.

LEGO Mindstorms和SPIKE Prime是功能強大的產品，但往往非常複雜，許多人不知道如何使用它們。LEGO提供了一些項目的步驟指南，這些項目很酷，但在完成這些項目後，許多人會陷入「現在該怎麼辦？」的困境。這本書通過展示構建自己想法所需的基本原理來回答這個問題。

這本書是一次關於如何使用LEGO機器的實踐之旅-沒有什麼比用自己的雙手建造一台機器更能理解它的運作方式了。它包括軟體工程、機械工程和電氣工程的各個方面。隨著零件和相關的工程概念的介紹，將以圖形化的逐步組裝指示展示它們的實際使用。

這些概念主要通過構建示例來學習，並通過文字解釋來強化所學的思想。每個工程概念都有一個相應的構建示例，只需進行不到15個組裝步驟即可完成。每章結束時都有一個項目，將該章節的概念結合起來，稍微複雜一些，涉及15到30個步驟。這些組裝步驟是使用計算機輔助設計程序繪製的，看起來像LEGO為其產品製作的圖表，因此讀者將對組裝指示的外觀感到熟悉。

你將學到什麼
- 從頭開始設計Word Blocks或Python電腦程式
- 看看LEGO構建元素的組裝方式
- 操縱電動機的動力來源以旋轉軸
- 使用齒輪改變動力傳動的速度和扭矩
- 將旋轉軸的運動轉換為所需的動作基本機制（轉盤、差動器、凸輪、棘輪等）
- 使用傳感器（運動、距離、光線、顏色）製作互動式發明
- 在項目中整合機械、軟體和電氣子系統

適合閱讀者
本書假設讀者對使用LEGO進行構建有基本的熟悉，並且具有過去使用超過100個零件的中等複雜度套裝進行構建的經驗。還假設讀者對操作個人電腦有基本的熟悉，例如安裝應用程式。

可能感興趣的讀者包括：尋找建造新的和更好的發明的LEGO粉絲，對科學、數學和工程有興趣的中學和高中生，喜歡了解事物運作方式並喜歡修補發明的成年人，以及使用SPIKE Prime套裝並尋找新的課程計劃的教育工作者。

Grady Koch is the author of several books about LEGO and the founder of the website hightechlego.com. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and 35 years of experience as a research engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, where he has built optical and laser instruments that have been flown on aircraft and orbited the Earth. He has three patents in the field of lidar for studying the atmosphere and is the author or contributor of over 200 journal and conference publications. Throughout his career, Dr. Koch has mentored many interns and found that students sometimes need a little help in making the transition of what they've learned in classroom to real-world practice. These ideas of applying knowledge to practice are incorporated into his LEGO books.

Grady Koch是幾本關於LEGO的書籍的作者，也是網站hightechlego.com的創始人。他擁有電機工程博士學位，並在NASA Langley Research Center擔任研究工程師已有35年的經驗。在那裡，他建造了在飛機上飛行和繞地球軌道的光學和激光儀器。他在利用激光雷達研究大氣層方面擁有三項專利，並且是200多篇期刊和會議論文的作者或貢獻者。在他的職業生涯中，Koch博士指導了許多實習生，並發現學生有時需要一點幫助將他們在課堂上學到的知識應用到實際操作中。這些將知識應用於實踐的想法被融入到他的LEGO書籍中。