LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination [Paperback]

James Floyd Kelly (Author), Matthias Paul Scholz (Author), Christopher R. Smith (Author), Martijn Boogaarts (Author), Jonathan Daudelin (Author), Eric D. Burdo (Author), Laurens Valk (Author), BlueTooth Kiwi (Author), Fay Rhodes (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2008

The creative minds behind The NXT STEP blog are back with a brand-new collection of innovative robots. Whether you're just getting started with LEGO robotics or have been building and programming robots for years, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders is packed with new and exciting techniques, advice, and robots that guarantee awesome results. And best of all, you'll only need one NXT Retail kit to build all ten of them!

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders will make it simple for you to construct even the most complex of these ten robots, all while you learn the ins and outs of the NXT kit. You'll learn to build and program:

• CandyPicker, a candy-picking robot with built-in generator and remote control
• PunchBot, a robot that you program using old-fashioned punchcards
• M, a robot that sorts your M&M candies by color
• NXT Dragster, a super-fast racecar that will take you all the way to the drag strip
• BobBot, a versatile skid-steer loader, equipped with a ball grabber or demolition claw
• RoboLock, a security system for your robots
• The Hand, a robotic replacement hand to protect you from those dangerous cleanup jobs, like picking up your brother's gym socks
• SPC, a robotic vehicle that can park itself between two objects using front-wheel drive
• GrabBot, a robot that finds, grabs, lifts and moves objects autonomously
• The Bike, a two-wheeled robot that can balance and steer

Armed with the knowledge you gain from this book, you'll be inventing your own amazing creations in no time.

Requirements: One LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set (LEGO set #8527). Make sure you have this set, and not the NXT 2.0 set (#8547), which has different building elements.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Kelly was accepted into the LEGO MINDSTORMS Developer Program (MDP) in early 2006 and helped to beta test the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit and software. He is a member of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners, a group that continues to assist LEGO with testing and growing the NXT product.

Matthias Scholz is a member of the LEGO Mindstorms Community Partners Program. His NXT-related Web site is extremely popular. He is also a frequent contributor to the well-known NXT blog, The NXT STEP. He majored in Mathematics at the University of Bayreuth and has held various positions in German IT enterprises.

Martijn Boogaarts was one of the initial organizers of LEGO WORLD. He has built several large demonstration models, including the Road-Plate-Laying-Machine, a working car factory (27 RCXs), and a Pinball machine.

Jonathan Daudelin has been competing in FLL since age 13. In 2007, his team won the First Place Robot Performance and First Place Innovative Robot awards at the World Festival after their robot achieved perfect scores in all three rounds. He is a contributor to The NXT Step blog and a co-author of "The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book" (No Starch) and "The NXT Robotics Competition Workbook" (self-published).

Laurens Valk is a member of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners who help test and develop new NXT products. He has been inventing robots with the MINDSTORMS NXT sets since their introduction, and one of his robot designs appears on the NXT 2.0 packaging. Valk is a co-author of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders (No Starch Press) and a contributor to The NXT Step Blog (thenxtstep.blogspot.com). He lives in the Netherlands where he teaches robotics.

Fay Rhodes is co-author of The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book (No Starch), a 2007 member of LEGO's MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP), and the only female contributor to the NXT Step Blog.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; 1 edition (November 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593271883
• ISBN-13: 978-1593271886
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Robotics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robots that spark your imagination - In action video, December 20, 2008

By 

Laurens Valk "MINDSTORMS NXT Author" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination (Paperback)

Length:: 2:37 Mins

If you're interested in LEGO Mindstorms NXT, you should take a look at the robots in this video review. LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders has the building and programming instructions for these robots, and many more.
There are no parts needed other than those in the NXT kit, making this book the ideal expansion to your Mindstorms NXT set.

::IMPORTANT NOTE::
This book is written for the original LEGO Mindstorms NXT (#8527) set, and requires the LEGO parts from just this one kit.

As a result, it is NOT COMPATIBLE with the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (8547) version which has a different selection of LEGO parts, and came out in 2009.


When we (the authors) wrote this book in 2007-2008, we were not even aware of a possible new version of the MINDSTORMS NXT system, the NXT 2.0 in this case. We couldn't anticipate on this new kit, so the robots in this book were simply designed for the NXT (#8527). Unfortunately, the difference isn't well advertised, and NXT 2.0 set owners buy this book. It turns out that this leads to negative reviews which do not review our book, but rate the unexpected difference between the LEGO kits.

Before you buy any LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT book, carefully check which kit version you have, by following the links in this review above. If you still have the paper box that the set came in, you can tell the difference between the kits as well. The older NXT box is mostly orange (and says 8527), and the new NXT 2.0 (8547) is mostly blue. Note that if you do have the MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0, you are still able to buy an appropriate book for the kit. Just search on Amazon and check whether the book title contains "NXT 2.0". If it does, get such a book with your NXT 2.0 kit.

If you have the MINDSTORMS NXT (8527) kit, get this book!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have to choose one book to go with your NXT, get this book, December 5, 2008

By 

Stan Walker (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination (Paperback)

I pre-ordered this as this book had a bike in it.

The book arrived on Thursday - way later than I expected. But it was worth the wait. And yes - it was the autonomous bike that my 11 year old boy built first - and suprisingly (given its complexity) without any adult help. It is such a cool bike that my son does not want to take it apart to build the Bobcat, self parking car and the dragster (which is the model you see on the front cover).

Any way - back to the book:
- Quality of models: very good seletion from easy to moderately hard

- Build Instructions: Extremely good - though it is black and white

- Programming instructions: OK - Might need some help with younger kids - but OK. It would be nice if the publisher had the programs downloadable - it is a bit of a drag following the steps for a 11 year old.

Overall, I love the models even from an adult point of view - a good combinations of machines and vehicles. The right balance of fun and learning through discovery. Only downside is it does not have any animals.

I never given a 5 star for a book before - but this one has earned it! Highly reccomended.

Stan

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but NOT for NXT 2.0, September 25, 2009

By 

Keith McMillen "Rookie FLL Coach" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination (Paperback)

This does look like an interesting book with several great projects. I was intrigued enough to order it along with the NXT 2.0 set, based on the Amazon recommendation. This book uses parts that are not in the NXT 2.0 (especially gears). You can not build some of these projects with just the parts in the NXT 2.0 set. As a novice to these kits I didn't know enough about them to even consider the differences. Now I need to find the pieces that I need to actually build these projects, because they are too compelling to ignore. I like the book, just beware of the differences between the older NXT set and the newer NXT 2.0 set.