LEGO Mindstorms Booby Trap
The LEGO Mindstorms Booby Trap is a project inspired by the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. We decided to not only make the usual robot with build instructions and software, but to also have some fun attempting to re-create the opening scene shot by shot.
The Robot
The LEGO Mindstorms Booby Trap consists of a small platform with a touch sensor to sense if an object has been removed. If the object is removed, the platform lowers after a few seconds using the 2 large motors. Once the platform lowers completely, the medium motor engages the ball shooter to start shooting away.
The Movie
The movie was another big challenge for us. Our previous videos have been mostly simple single shots showing the operation of the robot. It was a bit more complicated to attempt a scene by scene imitation of Raiders of the Lost Ark which involves many shots and cuts. But it was a fun challenge!
Check out our attempt below and be sure to take a look at the original opening scene here for reference.
A few things I learned shooting a simple movie with the boys – the importance of storyboarding a scene to make shooting and editing as simple as possible, how helpful the supporting character is for creating the mood with his reactions, and how helpful good video editing software can be. I used DaVinci Resolve to edit the movie and add in sound effects and music.
Building Instructions and Software
The instructions for the LEGO Mindstorms Booby Trap are coming soon along with the software to program it. Here are a few more pictures of the robot up close.
Click here to download the Build Instructions. Below you can also see the speed build.
Click here to download the full program.
The program for the LEGO Mindstorms Booby Trap is pretty simple. The program tells the robot to monitor the touch sensor unit the button is unpressed (object has been removed). After a wait time, the large motors are programmed to lower the platform. The medium motor then shoots the balls after another wait time. After a final wait time of several seconds the large motors raise the platform back to the original position.
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For more of our LEGO Mindstorms projects and videos, subscribe to our Youtube Channel.
LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Dancing Robot
EV3 Basketball Robot
LEGO Mindstorms Music Box
Rubik’s Cube Alarm Clock
And check out some of the great books below for great Mindstorms lessons and ideas.
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This is extraordinary! My kids were watching Raiders of the Lost Ark literally just this evening! Love the gumball and the garage door details!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it. This one took a few weekends to pull off – creating the robot, shooting the video, and learning how to use a little more advanced video editor all took time. I still need to create the building instructions.
Your site is coming along really well! Keep at it – I love your new series “Rubik’s Cube Got Me Into College“
Worst ROBOT I’ve ever made, it does not work and the video is different from the building instructions, had to build for a school project and it was a fail. Very disappointed.
Hey Lorenzo,
Sorry to hear it did not go well. I would appreciate any feedback on why it didn’t work for you so I can improve the instructions. This isn’t an official LEGO project or anything, it’s something we made ourselves and decided to share how we made it.
You had to make this robot for school? What school do you go to?
Matt
it’s really weird that I cant open the file of the full program.