Stop Making THIS MISTAKE With Your LEGO Gyro Sensor

The LEGO gyro sensor is notoriously difficult to work with. Whether it's the EV3 gyro sensor, LEGO 51515 gyro sensor, or a third party gyro sensor for LEGO MINDSTORMS, you may be making a critical mistake that is holding you back from extracting the most performance for your LEGO MINDSTORMS robot. After watching today's tutorial, you will have a better understanding of how a LEGO gyro sensor works and how to minimize issues like gyro drift.
If you are using a LEGO MINDSTORMS gyro sensor to build an FLL robot or just a MINDSTORMS hobbyist at home, you will benefit from understanding the inner workings of the LEGO gyro sensor, which is the topic of today's video.
🔴 Watch my LEGO MINDSTORMS 51515 Review: • LEGO MINDSTORMS 51515 ...
🤖 See all of my LEGO 51515 Tutorials here: • LEGO 51515 Tutorials -...
CONTENTS
0:00 - Introduction
1:18 - Rhetorical Question
1:47 - Misunderstanding the Gyro Sensor
2:17 - What a Gyro Sensor Actually Measures
3:23 - How a Gyro Sensor "Measures" Angle
4:17 - Understanding Gyro Sensor Calibration
6:42 - Understanding Gyro Drift
8:02 - Best Practices to Minimize Gyro Drift
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#builderdude35 #legogyrosensor #legomindstorms

[@jefftaylor6719]

At FLL Competitions, I always instruct my team to boot the EV3 on the floor in a quiet corner of the pit before heading out. There are 2 reasons for this. Booting on competition tables are a poor choice because someone is always bumping the tables. The second reason took me a few years to understand. Most competitions use large sound systems during the competitions. That massive sound produces vibrations which can be picked up by the sensor which can mess with the initialization. The pits are usually far more quiet than the competition floor. In the pit you should always check with a test program to verify the sensor is working properly. If not, shut and and reboot again until it works right before heading to the competition tables.

[@Unbrickme]

The robot inventor hub's angle output is kinda strange, since on some axes when it reaches 180, it immediately jumps to -179 up until zero. Negative numbers really mess up the code, so I always just use the angular velocity block and I have a basic code that measures the actual angle based on the angular velocity. Very useful for measuring 0-360 on certain axes

[@Builderdude35]

The new LEGO 51515 gyro certainly has its quirks. The observation you noted is actually not unusual because this gyro is set up to measure heading relative to 0 degrees, where one direction is positive and the other is negative. It "jumps" from 180 to -179 because you are crossing over from the "positive" side to the "negative" side. You can think of 180 like the way 0 functions in the number line as a value between negatives and positives, except it feels weird because 180 is definitely a positive value. The 51515 gyro actually has a 5 degree dead zone in one of its axes, which limits some of what you can build. I have a more thorough explanation here if you are interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5qwmH2KqriAbbs

[@dluders]

In FLL competitions, sometimes team members bump or lean on the FLL Game Table while their robot's Gyro Sensor is calibrating. In their haste, they unwittingly introduce error into their robot turns....

[@Builderdude35]

Thank you for your sagely wisdom yet again!

[@schulercd]

Thanks Kyle for continuing to make great informative videos about the EV3 and Spike. I learned even more about the gyro sensor today. I'm going teach it to my FLL team for sure. Thanks again!

[@Builderdude35]

You're very welcome! Thanks for supporting the channel over the years!

[@not_billkill4495]

New video about the hardest thing to master in ev3 So excited

[@Builderdude35]

Thanks! Now you'll have to see if it lives up to the hype!

[@BTTFF]

Thank you, you just saved my life! I was going crazy with my Gyro angle reading going up forever.

[@eranbrown617]

First time FLL mentor & appreciate this contribution!

[@ericgolombek9037]

I have been watching your videos for years and you continue to be awesome! I have always wondered what the impact of the position of the gyro sensor is. I feel like putting it to the side or forward is going to make a difference. But putting it dead center is tricky. How do you adjust for the position of the sensor on the robot?

[@Builderdude35]

You are absolutely correct, the gyro sensor position on the robot makes a difference, although it's not critical as long as your choice of placement is reasonable. Ideally, the gyro should be located between the two drive wheels so its rotation axis is concentric with the axis around which the robot turns. There's no specific way to calibrate for other placements as far as I know, but close to the ideal position will work fine too. In some of my past videos, I had the gyro on the side of the robot and it also worked reasonably well

[@BobHamburger_MIT_EE]

Kyle, I'm pretty certain that the gyro sensor employs a MEMS force gauge, and the primary measurement is actually angular acceleration, not velocity. It integrates once to get angular velocity, and again to get angular measurement -- all of which means that the drift and accumulating offset errors are even worse than we think they are.

[@Builderdude35]

Hi Bob, as far as I know, the LEGO gyro is a MEMS vibrating structure gyroscope, which measures angular velocity. This is by far the most common (and cheapest) was to manufacture gyro sensors right now. But if I am in fact wrong on this, please let me know! More info on vibrating structure gyro sensors, if you are interestd: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrating_structure_gyroscope?fbclid=IwAR3ikF_Hqi7N4qcOhQ2iAgTHcwAd-Twmn9nveWB4W2m10V2xbybD5GDrHBY

[@learntodiscover]

Great video. Thanks!

[@Builderdude35]

You're very welcome! Did you learn something new today?

[@sarp_ege_solen]

kyle, I have a question for you.Is this gyro sensor the same as the gyro sensor in rc drift cars? If not, how can I make it similar to the ones in the rc car?

[@justadude7455]

Personally not a fan of the gyro sensor for making turns, but great video regardless. Thanks for the new content!

[@Builderdude35]

I consider myself in that camp as well, for me it's too unreliable. What do you prefer for making turns?

[@Grzehu993]

Hey Is possible to make program on ev3 gyroboy (self balancing robot) with stering from app to control his movment to go where you want, when he is self balancing himself?

[@PanLukasz]

So young So smart THANKS!

[@daviddezellturner]

thanks for saving me from such a *heinous* mistake

[@Builderdude35]

I figured I'd save you from doing something so despicable 😂

[@lelouchjoestar7591]

@@Builderdude35 dude where is the gyroscopic sensor located in a robot?

[@davidwestmusic01]

Real world practical experience: there is no motion on the "Earth".

[@IllusionQuest16]

2:16 - lol "unBASED"

[@Builderdude35]

In other words... Cringe

[@IllusionQuest16]

@@Builderdude35 Do you play the Double Bass

[@techwith_tj]

New Video(Premiere). I don't like Premiere I want you to go live. I like your vids Tanmay from India

[@Builderdude35]

Hi Tanmay, I have a live video in the plan sometime in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

[@techwith_tj]

@@Builderdude35 omg This is the first time a big youtuber like you has replied to me

[@nickvillareallycool5228]

your intro is cringe af dude step away from the camera

[@nickvillareallycool5228]

like youre so offputting i literally cant watch the video just talk over images jesus