Swinging Monkey – Robot Swing with 51515

Description

This Swinging Robot Monkey can create swing motion by timing the curling of legs and body. With the included PDF building instructions and a single set of LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor 51515 kit, you can build this Swinging Monkey.

You can easily program the Robot Inventor Monkey Swing with Word Blocks in Scratch, or you can do advanced movements with Python. I have included programming files for both. The files are usable with the official LEGO MINDSTORMS app. It is fun to tune the parameters and see what happens to the movement. You can also experiment with lengthening and shorting the pendulum length. This influences the movement too.

If you have questions about the code after downloading, don’t hesitate to contact me.

This robot is the MINDSTORMS 51515 version of the SPIKE Prime monkey swing. I replaced the large motor in the body with two medium MINDSTORMS motors. The monkey’s face has a new design too. This way you can build it with your 51515 kit.

How the Robot Inventor Monkey Swing works

1. Start the program. The monkey can start its motion from a still position
2. Give a little push to accelerate the swing, if you are impatient
3. The monkey uses the internal gyroscope to time the movement and swing ever higher
4. To stop the monkey, just catch it at its highest point, and hold it still. It will also stop moving.

 

Included in the download

• PDF Building instructions with wiring
• Word Blocks / Scratch file for the 51515 Swinging Monkey
• Python File to make Monkey do 360 turns on a broomstick