LEGO Mindstorms

LEGO Mindstorms are toys that allow users to construct programmable automatons from LEGO pieces. Lego Mindstorms consists of a variety of sensors, motors, Lego Technic pieces, and a programmable control unit. Lego Mindstorms are both recreational and educational and are used in First Robotics competitions.

Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 was recently released. It features a larger set of 612 elements, a color sensor, and four new robot models.

A younger division of the First Robotics competition, the FIRST Lego League allows elementary and junior high school students to compete against each other. Each team designs and builds LEGO robots to complete specific tasks, using LEGO Mindstorm kits.

1. NXT brick, the programmable control unit

2. touch sensor

3. sound sensor

4. light sensor

5. ultrasonic sensor (measure distance)

6. 3 servo motors

7. variety of Lego Technic pieces

8. testpad

9. 2 plastic balls (red and blue)

Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen began as a carpenter, but moved into toymaking in 1932. In 1934 he christened his company Lego. They began working with types of interlocking plastic bricks in 1949, but did not hit on the current design until 1958. The product line has since been extended, with action figures, themed sets, electronic and computer programmable elements and tie-ins to media properties.http://cache.lego.com/downloads/aboutus/LEGO_company_profile_UK.pdf

1. LEGO Duplo: for younger children
2. LEGO Creative Building: large collections of bricks to foster creativeness
3. LEGO Themed Sets: special buildings, vehicles, and minifigures
4. LEGO Technic: mechanical and functional models
5. LEGO Mindstorms: programmable robotics with Lego pieces