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.

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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And check out some of the great books below for great Mindstorms lessons and ideas.

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