San Francisco, CA, October 9, 2013—LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® EV3, The LEGO Group's newest robotics kit, combines mechanical elements and motors with a programmable brain to allow users to build, program, and control real working robots. This latest version of LEGO MINDSTORMS has far more capabilities than previous versions, making it possible for anyone to develop and create sophisticated robots. But with so many possibilities, it's hard to know where to start.

The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Laboratory (No Starch Press, October 2013, 432 pp., $34.95, ISBN 9781593275334) offers an in-depth guide to the many features of the new EV3 kit. Author Daniele Benedettelli, robotics expert and member of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Expert Panel, digs deep into the potential of EV3, while also teaching the fundamentals of robotics. Readers learn how to use gears, beams, motors, sensors, and programming blocks to create five impressive robots, including a bipedal dinosaur and a multi-purpose vehicle that can even clean the floor.

But the book doesn't stop with just building and programming the robots—Benedettelli also dives into technical topics like refining robot movement, dealing with measurement noise, electronic versus mechanical differentials, even implementing robot behaviors using state machines. "The EV3L Scientist's Apprentice" comic story keeps things fun, while "Experiment" sections will have readers modifying the robots. "Digging Deeper" sections go into advanced topics like robot localization, handling errors, and motor speed regulation.

"EV3 truly puts robotics in the hands of everyone," says Benedettelli. "But there are certain fundamentals of robotics that you need to understand in order to start making your own models. I hope my book will give builders the foundation that they need to create their own amazing robots."