10 Cool LEGO Mindstorms: Dark Side Robots, Transports, and Creatures: Amazing Projects You Can Build in Under an Hour [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Kevin Clague (Author), Soren Rolighed (Author), Miguel Agullo (Author), Hideaki Yabuki (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931836590 | ISBN-13: 978-1931836593 | Publication Date: August 10, 2002 | Edition: 1

LEGO MINDSTORMS let you design and program robots that can do just about anything!
The Dark Side Developer's Kit is targeted towards the young or novice LEGO MINDSTORMS designer, age 9 and up, although experienced MINDSTORMS fans will appreciate the unique possibilities offered by this kit as well. The Dark Side Developer's Kit includes special MINDSTORMS pieces that allow the user to create a host of Star Wars themed robots, creatures, and vehicles. It also comes with the Micro Scout, a mini-computer with 7 built-in programs, a motor, and a light sensor that brings the MINDSTORMS creations to life with a minimum of effort.

10 Cool LEGO MINDSTORMS Dark Side Robots, Transports, and Creatures: Amazing Projects You Can Build in Under an Hour provides step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations for users of all skill levels and proficiencies.

A blend of the hugely popular LEGO and STAR WARS lines. Appealing to fans of both, this book will allow readers to build unique creations using the special parts found in the "LEGO MINDSTORMS: Dark Side Developer's Kit" that mimic the robots, vehicles and creatures found in the STAR WARS movies.
From out of the box to up and running in less than an hour. This book teaches users how to create 10 amazing projects, each in under an hour.
8-page color insert. An eight-page color insert illustrates the complete projects in full-detail.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Called the "DaVincis of LEGOS," Mario and Giulio Ferrari are world-renowned experts in the field of LEGO Mindstorms robotics.
Mario Ferrari received his first Lego box around 1964, when he was 4. Lego was his favorite toy for many years, until he thought he was too old to play with it. In 1998 the Lego Mindstorms RIS set gave him reason to again have Lego become his main addiction. Mario believes Lego is the closest thing to the perfect toy. He is Managing Director at EDIS, a leader in finishing and packaging solutions and promotional packaging. The advent of the MINDSTORMS product line represented for him the perfect opportunity to combine his interest in IT and robotics withhis passion for LEGO bricks, which started during his early childhood. Mariohas been a very active member of the online MINDSTORMS community from the beginning, and has pushed LEGO robotics to its limits. Mario holds a bachelor'sdegree in business administration from the University of Turin. He is fluentin many programming languages and his background includes positions as an ITmanager and as a project supervisor. Mario estimates he owns over 60,000 Lego pieces. Mario works in Modena, Italy.

Giulio Ferrari is a student in Economics at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he also studied Engineering. He is fond of computers and has developed utilities, entertainment software, and web applications for several companies. Giulio discovered robotics in 1998, with the arrival of MINDSTORMS, and held an important place in the creation of the Italian LEGO community. He shares a love forLEGO bricks with his oldest brother, Mario, and a strong curiosity for the physical and mathematical sciences. He studies, works, and lives in Modena, Italy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (August 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931836590
• ISBN-13: 978-1931836593
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,328,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR RIS 2.0!!!, January 3, 2006

By 

a reviewer "a reviewer" (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 10 Cool LEGO Mindstorms: Dark Side Robots, Transports, and Creatures: Amazing Projects You Can Build in Under an Hour (Paperback)

The description should state this! My 8 year old son, who is a Mindstorms genius, has wanted this for so long! How disappointed he was Christmas morning. "This doesn't use my pieces, or even my RCX" he said--very disapppointing, and I think it should clearly say this is not for the CURRENT version of mindstorms. This book is completely useless to us, he cannot build ANYTHING in the book with his Mindstorms RIS 2.0 set.
We have another book from this line, and it is for RIS 2.0, and my son loves it.
Update: We learned this book is for the Lego Mindstorms "Dark Side Developer" kit (Star Wars). It is no longer made, but we found a set on ebay. Son loves it--and now this book, too!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Assemble your own Star Wars action robots, April 28, 2004

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: 10 Cool LEGO Mindstorms: Dark Side Robots, Transports, and Creatures: Amazing Projects You Can Build in Under an Hour (Paperback)

The robots described in detail in this book are really cool, and once you look at them, your patience will be tried until you get to the assembly stage. Constructing the robots is easy, each one is split into a series of small steps where the parts to be added are listed in a caption and the placement of the parts on the robot are highlighted on a second figure. We have all faced situations where we had to follow directions to put something together and struggled to make sense of the diagrams. In this case, that should not be a problem, these are some of the most understandable diagrams that I have ever seen.
The robots are all from the Star Wars series of movies and associated novels, which makes them even better. Most people with an interest in robots have seen the Star Wars movies, so it is wondrous to watch the robot gradually grow into something you have seen in action.
Lego Mindstorms is a robot kit that can be effectively used in class work from elementary school up though graduate school. In this book you will learn how to build some of the best robots, which will appeal to students throughout this spectrum.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly Good, January 2, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: 10 Cool LEGO Mindstorms: Dark Side Robots, Transports, and Creatures: Amazing Projects You Can Build in Under an Hour (Paperback)

This is a wonderful inspirational book! There are lots of mechanisms here that are good to play around with and modify. Every robot has some interesting functions - since it's using the Microscout only, everything (often two functions) is done with only one motor! It's also inspiring seeing what can be done with limited pieces. Every model in the book is built ONLY using DSDK parts!

The pictures (or rather, CAD renderings) are crystal-clear, thanks to Kevin's LPub. The downside is that they're black-and-white, but it's fairly easy to tell the difference between a white part and a red part.

There's not much commentary in this book - it's mostly instructions. That makes it easier to follow, but it doesn't help much if you have a question about modifying the robot.

Overall I rate it three and a half stars for good robots and good instructions but bad commentary. Still a good book, though!