Self-uprighting & line-following, balancing LEGO Robots: SPIKE Prime & Mindstorms Robot Inventor

Free building instructions & programs: https://legostudiovives.be/bouwideeen/

Self-balancing LEGO robots are not new, but this is the first time I’ve managed to get them to stand upright by themselves. Thanks to the wheel on their back, they can drive while lying down. Using their inertia, they can get upright by first accelerating and then braking abruptly.

The first part of this demo video was programmed with the Scratch word blocks in both the SPIKE app and the Mindstorms Robot Inventor app.

The 2nd part shows how to extend the robots with a light sensor so they can follow lines. This could also be programmed with the word blocks, but here I got a chance to already test out the new Pybricks firmware and code for the SPIKE and Robot Inventor hubs. I also demonstrate the great dual boot option that allows you to choose which firmware to boot your robot into, the standard LEGO firmware or the Pybricks firmware.
The SPIKE and RI Pybricks firmware is expected soon! I will keep you posted when it becomes accessible to everyone.

Let me know if you try out these cool robots!
Greetings from Belgium
Dimi

00:00 — RI Balancer
00:18 — SPIKE Balancer
00:35 — RI & SPIKE Get Up Demo
01:14 — Scratch code preview
01:29 — Add Lightsensor for Line-tracking
01:35 — Pybrics dual boot
02:08 — RI & SPIKE Line-tracking (Pybrics code)