Lego Mindstorm NXT Robot Kit

The Lego Company has long been a leader in the kids construction block market, churning out billions and billions of those little plastic bricks each year. The Danish company moved from selling just kits of blocks to themed products (Star Wars Legos, Spiderman, SpongeBob, Harry Potter Legos, etc.) to complicated Lego kits. Lego has tried to keep up with different kids segments, with Click-its for girls, and the Mindstorm NXT Robotic kits for older kids and early teens. At the heart of the Mindstorm kits is the NXT - the computer brains of the robot. It connects to various servo parts to make the robot or machine move, and to several sensors to detect light, sounds, touch, and nearby objects via ultrasound.

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How does the Lego Mindstorm NXT Robot work?

They call the NXT a "LEGO brick". Basically it is a giant LEGO piece with computer chips inside and a small LCD screen, with USB port for connecting to your computer to download programs, and other ports for connecting its sensors and servo arms. The NXT "sees" in shade of grey, allowing it to distinguish between light and dark and measure the light intensity of various objects and surfaces. The ultrasonic sensor lets the NXT measure distances and see objects (as far as 255 centimeters, or about 10 feet), almost like a bat in the way it uses sound waves. The sound sensor detects decibels and adjusted decibels, up to about 90dB. It is not very precise, but could be used to pickup clapping sounds or voice sounds (though not distinguish what is being said, just the loudness). The Lego Mindstorm NXT touch sensor is pretty simplistic, measuring when it is pressed (whether something touches it or it brushes up against something) or released.

The NXT brain has a 32-bit ARM microcontroller, 256K of flash memory and 64K of RAM, Bluetooth Class II V2.0 compliant wireless communication, 100 x 64 pixel LCD graphical display, and an 8kHZ speaker. It is powered by 6 AA batteries. The servo motors have rotation sensors, and can be set to turn anywhere from 0 to 360 degrees, and they can be run at various speeds. You can use them to have your robot roll or crawl, lift or lower a limb, whatever movement you dream up. The whole thing is controlled by the LEGO Mindstorm NXT software that runs on your computer. This is where you program your robot, and then upload the code instructions via the USB cable to the NXT controller. The software has a drag and drop programming interface - 4 models are included to get you started, but you can quickly come up with your own innovative designs and programming.

Building your own LEGO Mindstorm NXT Robots

The plans included with the Mindstorm package cover 4 robots you can build, with all the programming set up for you to get going immediately. The most famous one that looks like a walking, upright robot is called Alpha Rex. His two legs and arms are powered by the servo motors, allowing him to walk, and the ultrasonic sensor gives him a human-like face. You can even have a beating heart displayed on his NXT chest LCD display. Spike is the scorpion looking creature, it crawls around on six legs and has pincers, and has a servo-powered stinging tail. Ultrasonic sensor is again used for eyes. The Robo Arm is the next Mindstorm Project - it can lift, pivot, and grasp objects, using the touch sensor to know when it has something in its grasp. The final LEGO Mindstorm creature is the TriBot. This is a 3 wheeled rolling robot, with the light sensor allowing it to follow a path, and grasping arms in the front. The Mindstorm kit comes with over 500 LEGO Technic pieces along with the NXT controller, and you can access the LEGO.com website for additional instructions for building things like a working cuckoo clock or a sound bot. Their site also has programming help and complete programming code you can download for projects like this. There is even an Blog site devoted to the NXT, called NXTBOT.com, where you can keep up with the latest news in the robotics community and gets tips for more LEGO Mindstorm NXT projects.

How much does the LEGO Mindstorm NXT Robot cost?

You can order LEGO products direct from LEGO at shop.lego.com. The LEGO Mindstorm NXT kit retails for $249 and is recommended for kids 10 and older. You can program the Mindstorm NXT on both PC and Mac computers. LEGO Mindstorm Accessories: You can buy additional light sensors and touch sensors for $17, while servo motors cost $18. The ultrasonic sensor is $32 if you want to buy an additional one, and the sound sensor is $25. You can also buy a rechargeable battery pack for $50 and get rid of the AA batteries.

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