Tug of War Battle Bots

Each group needs:

• 1 LEGO robot with interchangeable parts including gears, extra LEGO for weights, and wheels; see Figure 1; LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robot, such as EV3 Core Set (5003400) at https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-mindstorms-education-ev3-core-set/5003400#lego-mindstorms-education-ev3

Figure 1. The activity setup for the battle bots tug of war challenge, including accessories.CopyrightCopyright 2010 Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Alternative: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Set:

Note: This activity can also be conducted with the older (and no longer sold) LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set instead of EV3; see below for those supplies:

• 1 LEGO robot with interchangeable parts including gears, extra LEGO for weights, and wheels; see Figure 1; LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot, such as the NXT Base Set

To share with the entire class:

• track to keep robots in alignment, such as a strip of wood (see Figure 1)
• string to tether together the two robots
• computer and projector to show the Tug of War Battle Bots Presentation (PPTX) (EV3 version) or the Tug of War Battle Bots Presentation (PPTX) (NXT version)