Rent the LEGO Mindstorms EV3

For a single robot reckon on two to four hours. The set includes instructions for five main models and twelve further robots, but all of them use the same 601 pieces. So you do not build on, you rebuild each time. Either way, most of your time goes on programming and testing rather than building.

That depends on the model. EV3RSTORM, the largest of the five main robots, is 41.4 cm tall, GRIPP3R 36.6 cm, and SPIK3R measures 33.4 cm long. You need space on the table and the floor more than on a shelf: the robots drive, grip and walk, and for that clear space matters more than a plinth.

Not new. LEGO took set 31313 out of the range at the end of July 2020 and discontinued the Mindstorms line entirely in 2022. On the second-hand market prices are now often above the last Swiss shop price of CHF 449. Whether the motors, sensors and brick all still work is not something you can tell from a listing anyway. Here the set arrives checked and complete.

The building itself is rated 10 and up and is technically unremarkable: Technic construction with liftarms, pins and axles, no unusual tricks. What follows is more demanding: connecting the motors correctly, setting up the sensors and adjusting programs until the robot does what it should.

Not necessarily. Simple programs can be put together directly on the EV3 brick using the display and buttons. Beyond that there is the EV3 software for PC and Mac, a tablet app, and the Robot Commander app for driving the robots from a phone. Only the TRACK3R instructions come printed in the box; LEGO still offers the other models as PDF downloads.

You pick a set from our collection and we send it to your door for free. You build it, keep it as long as you like, and send it back when you are ready for the next one. After a month at the earliest, with no upper limit. Then you choose your next set.

There are three options: the single rental at a one-off CHF 42.–, the monthly plan at CHF 39.– per month and the yearly plan at CHF 29.– per month. Included are the complete set, the instructions, delivery to you and the cleaning. You cover the return, and the label is already in the box.

Yes. The monthly plan can be cancelled to the end of any month, with no reason and no notice period. You send the set back and that is that. The yearly plan commits you for twelve months and costs about a quarter less per month in return.

Every set is washed at 30 °C with soap after it comes back, dried, and checked brick by brick for completeness. Only then does it go out again. So you never get a set somebody else has been through unchecked.

Up to ten lost small pieces are no problem and are included in the price. It happens, vacuum cleaners are merciless. We only get in touch for larger damage or missing large pieces. You do not have to go over the carpet with tweezers.

Orders placed before 14:00 go out the same working day. After that Swiss Post usually takes one to two working days. We deliver anywhere in Switzerland and delivery to you is free.

A LEGO set is usually built once and then sits on a shelf or in a cellar for years. With us the same set passes through eight to ten people. For the same number of sets built, that is up to 90 % less newly produced plastic.