The launch of MINDSTORMS EV3 also marks the unveiling of a social media hub for all things robotics, which allows users to create a profile, post their creations and like and follow other builders.

“A lot of children today do not distinguish between physical and digital play so by having the digital building instructions alongside the physical model, with an ability to rotate and zoom in 3D, the process starts to make a lot more sense.” “When you build a MINDSTORMS robot, you build from all surfaces, so you actually build in 3D,” said Camilla Bottke, MINDSTORMS project manager at LEGO. In this 3D virtual environment, users can zoom in on a part, rotate the model, or pause the animation to see exactly how parts need to be fitted together.

Providing an alternative to traditional paper building instructions, the 3D building instructions powered by Inventor Publisher allow MINDSTORMS users to digitally view and interact with the LEGO components of all five EV3 hero models during each step of the building process, making it easier to assemble the sometimes complicated robots.

That collaboration led Autodesk to the development of innovative 3D interactive building instructions for the LEGO ® MINDSTORMS ® series of programmable toy robots and, on September 1, 2013, customers were given access to those instructions via the LEGO MINDSTORMS 3D Builder App Powered by Autodesk® Inventor® Publisher – available for iOS and Android tablets – that works together with the world’s leading construction toy brand’s third generation robotics product, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3.

What can make robots even cooler? That’s the question The LEGO Group and Autodesk asked when they announced a partnership earlier this year.

Lego mindstorms 3d builder