I’ve written an NXT article for the online Computing Unplugged magazine. The article, which is titled “LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: Robotics Beyond Building,” surveys the world of NXT and leaves you with one main thought: you can do so much more than simply build with the NXT set! Check it out here.
Dave Parker’s website, nxtprograms.com, is an absolutely outstanding resource. On his website, you’ll find a multitude of projects with building and programming instructions. The pictures for the building instructions are very clear and well done. He has several categories of creations:
The “Rattlesnake” creation under the “Animals” category is one of my favorites. Sometimes when I’m showing kids my robots, I’ll say, “Don’t worry–it doesn’t bite.” I couldn’t say that with this robot!
The official MINDSTORMS website reports that there were nearly 100 entries in the Winter Wonderland Building Challenge, and the results are now in! The Champion’s Award went to the robot Dancing Snowman (shown below) by Mini_Man176. You can find all the winners and see their robots here.
The official MINDSTORMS website is hosting yet another “challenge” or contest: the Camera Bot challenge. Can you guess what this challenge is about? I thought so. The website has this to say about the contest:
Lights, camera, action!
The MINDSTORMS NXT Camera Bot Building Challenge is asking you to create the NXT spy bot, paparazzi bot, photojournalist bot, or even a robotic fashion photographer.
We are looking for robots that can take still photos (not video), and we want you to also share the pictures taken from your robots point of view.
Get building! The deadline is February 29th. You can read the complete rule set here.
Previously, I made an excerpt from Chapter 4, “Understanding the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Pieces,” available on my website, but now I’ve made the entire chapter available on the MINDSTORMS website. If you’d like to read this sample chapter, visit the link below and look for my book’s section:
http://mindstorms.lego.com/Books/
The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor’s Guide
