Lego MINDSTORMS!

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Lately I've had a hankering to design and build stuff like I used to do at work (in another life)...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ulBRQKCwd4&feature=related[/youtube]

This looks pretty cool and very versatile. The starter kit costs about $250.00.

It sounds pricey, but it's about the same as a hand full of computer games and a video card...

Anybody have any experience playing with Mindstorms?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERBEpUPraiI&feature=related[/youtube]

i used to play a lot with the old version before nxt.
back then it was way more limited but still fun,
they also allow easy programming of visual sensors(ie webcam) logitechs cameras should work just as well as the lego brand one, at least the simple ones.

i made an automatic mouse clicker for mmo's using the old one
nothing more fancy than a delay->motor action but it worked.

Wow, interfacing a camera would be really cool.

The NXT 2.0 looks pretty powerful for a "toy."

I've already been brainstorming a project using the color sensor/path following abilities... I'm thinking of making an arm-bot on tracks that will follow colored tape strips. I think I could make "smart" colored block moving system sorta like the robot cranes I used to work on.

I have a ton of points on my Amazon visa card. I think I'm gonna hafta get a kit and a gyro sensor!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AToVUoZyWWk[/youtube]

The Chemical Engineering program at my school (Oregon State University) actually has a freshman course that students are required to take based around these (it also includes the use of MATLAB). It's designed to introduce them to programming and control systems, their term project is to build and program a robot to go through an "obstacle" course, with it ending the course in different manners depending on things like temperatures of hotboxes it records during the course.

^^^ That's interesting.

I knew they used these kits in junior high/high school, but I didn't realize they used them in college too.

I wouldn't have thought chemistry either... but I guess all flavors of engineers need those skills.

I downloaded the lego virtual creator. It's awesome, you can build stuff there then order all the parts

Once I for a job I'm so buying thousands of lego's <.< All my childhood lego's are dirty/dusty/sticky and I'm not touching them!

Back when I was on DSL before I had to moved and couldn't get DSL were I moved to I did a rack for My Modem, Main router, Guest Router, Hub.
http://twitpic.com/4zks3r

Then my first Modem crapped out and the replacement was known for overheating so I did something to force are into it.
http://twitpic.com/4zkwoj

^^^

Legos: Is there nothing they can't do?

EDIT:

I just found this book on Amazon: Extreme NXT (click)... It seems that there really isn't anything Legos and a NXT brick can't do (with a little hardware and software hacking)!

Good news everyone!(click me) I could totally build the first LEGO DOOMSDAY DEVICE!

What we need is Zometools MINDSTORMS!....... http://www.zometool.com/ Zometools could become the new Legos...

^^^Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

One thing I don't like about NXT 2.0 is that it only uses Technic building components. It's not even compatible with traditional lego blocks.

Another thing I don't like is that it's limited to 3 servo outputs, but there are some decent mechanical "multiplexer" designs that compensate for this... a bit.

Still, it's a really cool toy.

There's nothing quite like the feeling you get after building and programming something, powering it up, and watching it come to life...

It must be like the feeling God gets when he plays with legos.