Lego Mindstorms Interfacing (Tab Electronics Robotics) (Paperback)

by Don Wilcher (Author) "In a wireless system, electrical energy can move in two ways..." (more)
Key Phrases: transistor relay driver circuit, beetle bot, modified electric wire, Basic Stamp, Private Sub, Scout P-Brick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
(contains) a CD-ROM crammed with software and code libraries...well organized and illustrated throughout...a terrific vehicle for learning more. -- The Amateur Scientists' Bulletin, Oct. 11, 2002

Review
LEGO(R) Mindstorms(tm) Interfacing is the next step for the enthusiast interested in learning more about the computer-control aspects of robot construction. Written by an electronics systems engineer and hands-on enthusiast, this manual includes 12 projects covering different aspects of interfacing, including wireless technology and controls. The CD-ROM includes ready-made programs and circuit simulation models. (Library Journal )

During the Second World War, American toy companies were restricted from manufacturing toys because the materials were needed for the war effort. One exception to this rule was the Erector Set, invented and manufactured by A. C. Gilbert. Gilbert received an exception by going before a senate committee to plead his case. Before doing so, he had an open Erector Set placed in front of each of the senators. During the hearing, the senators naturally began to fiddle with all the parts. Before long, these elder statesmen were having a grand time building cars, bridges, cranes, and so forth. Gilbert's argument to the committee was that the Erector Set was a toy that helped develop the next generation of engineers and scientists, which was necessary to the long-term security of the United States. By the end of the session, the senators were having too much fun to argue the point, and Gilbert got his exemption.

Since that time the LEGO brick system has displaced the Erector Set as the construction toy of choice for future engineers, and with the introduction of the Mindstorms robotics system a few years ago, LEGO is now the undisputed leader. The LEGO Mindstorms is to the Erector Set what the Space Shuttle is to the Spirit of St. Louis. Today, it is much more than a toy. It has the makings of a flexible and mult-faceted laboratory tool and prototyping system.

Don Wilcher's new book gives us a tantalizing look into what can be accomplished by a dedicated Mindstorms enthusiast. One of the strengths of the Erector Set was that it was easy to adapt it to use things that were not included in the original set. Anything that could be screwed, bolted, soldered, or taped in place could be part of the system. The pre-Mindstorms LEGO was not as amenable to that kind of tinkering in the past, but today it constitutes a flexible and inexpensive system with near-endless possibilities.

The central thrust of the book is how one can use a variety of interfaces to control and interact with a Mindstorms device. The Robot Command Explorer language (RCX) is the language used to communicate with Mindstorms robots. LEGO MIndstorms Interfacing explains how to take this language and deliver commands and data to and from a Mindstorms robot using anything from a cast-off toy remote control to electronic switching circuits or a range of computer. The book also covers sensors, Basic Stamp controllers, interfaces written in Visual Basic, and several other programming languages.

Using these techniques, the Mindstorms system becomes a means of building prototypes for Proof of Concept (POC) development. Wilcher also reveals some of the many shareware and freeware programs that are out there for people working with Mindstorms systems. The book also contains a CD-ROM crammed with software and code libraries. Since the software is made to run in a Windows environment, I was not able to examine it on my Mac. But perhaps one of our readers who buys this book (see sidebar) can fill the rest of us in.

The book is well organized and illustrated throughout, with plenty of tables, screen shots, circuit diagrams and code examples. Be warned; this is not a book for the raw beginner. Some familiarity with the Mindstorms system is required before you tackle this book. It also helps to be familiar with some of the subdisciplines of robotics, such as computer programming, electronics, mechanical engineering, and so forth. If you have only a superficial knowledge about these subjects, this book may well be a terrific vehicle for learning more.

Amateur scientists should take note of the possibilities that are implied in Wilcher's book. Whether your interest is in robots per se or not, it is now clear that Mindstorms expertise is something that the amateur scientists should consider adding to one's intellectual tool kit. (Amateur Scientists' E-Bulletin )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 395 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1 edition (August 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071402055
• ISBN-13: 978-0071402057
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,160,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not worth the money -- beware, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

As an experienced circuit designer and a lego mindstorms enthusiast, I found this book very disappointing. I had suspicions about why many copies of it were being auctioned on ebay for $2 each. Now I know why. Right from the first chapter on, I am puzzled about what the hell the author is attempting to communicate. I fail to understand why he uses an obsolete Scout programmable brick (from the Robotics Discovery Kit), or for that matter, why he even interfaces a gutted RC transceiver to it. He doesn't even use it to remotely control the robot. No, he uses the Scout interfaced with a relay driver circuit to turn a wireless receiver on and off remotely as a lame example of wireless control. This is an example of wireless control? Yeah, a bad one if anything.

I'm also not sure of the audience he intends this book for. He put lots of circuit schematics and descriptions in it, but assumes the reader has basic elctronics knowledge, such as diode and transistor theory, as well as circuit analysis skills. If this book was intended for high-school age readers, they better be taking electronics or have had courses in it, or he will lose them with this content. My personal opinion is that this text has some potential as a reference in the 2nd year of a community college electronics program, but no serious circuit designer, programmer, or even hobbyist is gonna get anything new from this. Better info about sensor development and other programming languages is easily found on other lego mindstorms websites.

Another annoying aspect is the author's liberal use of acronyms for just about any set of words he deems necessary, whether it fits or not. There are more TLAs throughout this text than any military field manual ever contained. I don't need him to condense something so useless as 'stand-alone code' to SAC for future use.

The author does include a new and interesting method of object-oriented RCX prgramming with Python and VBA language using Excel. This is probably about the only redeeming aspect of this text for savy programmers, but it too is more of a 'type this' and 'run this' treatment that omits any useful explaination of the code and how it works. I believe the intended audience for this book may just find this way over their head if they are only capable of programming the RCX using RCX code, instead of using other more flexible and challenging languages such as NQC and Java.

Bottom line: if you are even mildly curious about this book, get it at an auction or buy it used thru Amazon (as I did--I only paid $2.50 + $3.50 s/h). Don't even think about paying full retail price for this text; it isn't worth it, and you'll be disgusted that you wasted your money on it. Better and more information on RCX interfacing can be found on the web at other lego mindstorm sites such as http://www.plazaearth.com/usr/gasperi/lego.htm

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book from a different approach, October 22, 2002

By	A. Chiou (Rockhampton, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have in my collection all of the books published on Lego Mindstorms. While everyone else focus on construction of a Lego model with an accompanying program to add functionality to the model, Wilcher takes a different approach.

This book is not for the absolute beginners. You do need to have some prerequisites in electronics and programming. The book only shows you how to carry out the interfacing between the RCX and the outside world (using eg. RC transmitter/receivers, Basic Stamp) but assume you know about potentiometers, resistors etc and also know how to use multimeters. This book is more for the electronically adept users who wishes to use RCX as part of his tools.

Overall, this is book that I would highly recommend to all who wish to use the RCX other than what all the books have on about. I gave it 4 stars (actually I would have preferred 4.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't have that!) as I would really would see Wilcher going in-depth for some of the projects.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take Mindstorms to the Max!, October 6, 2002

By	Tonya Witherpsoon (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews

In this book Don Wilcher provides step by step instructions and lab projects to use the LEGO Mindstorms RCX and Scout as a basis for many types of robotic inventions. Learn new types of software interfaces, data aquisition methods, diagnostic tools, and more. The CD included with the book provides computer programs and circuit simulations. I would recommend this book for anyone that has the desire to learn and experiment with electronic controls and software for robots.