197 of 202 people found the following review helpful:
Impressive evolution for MindStorms
My NXT set just arrived by FedEx this afternoon. I'm a parent of two (6 and 3-year old) so this is mainly for me for now. I was an early adopter of the first generation of Mindstorms, so naturally I pre-ordered the NXT. I've played with it for two hours, so these are my initial impressions:
- the new motors are Wonderful -- they work as motors or servos (you...
80 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
NXT could use some improvements
This is a fantastic but limited INTRODUCTION to robotics for children as well as for adults. What you get are, essentially, a small computer with some nice motors and some plastic body parts. The small computer (which is also the robot body) communicates with your PC to receive instructions to carry out. That's right - you must have a personal computer to use this...
My NXT set just arrived by FedEx this afternoon. I'm a parent of two (6 and 3-year old) so this is mainly for me for now. I was an early adopter of the first generation of Mindstorms, so naturally I pre-ordered the NXT. I've played with it for two hours, so these are my initial impressions:
- the new motors are Wonderful -- they work as motors or servos (you tell them which angle to go to). They look futuristic and robot-y
- it comes with an ultrasound distance sensor -- whoa that's neat!
- All of the sensors are "slick-looking", and seem to work very well.
- the brick display is quite nice, but the interface is a bit niggly. Lots of nested menus. My 3 year-old managed to delete the built in demo program by button twiddling. It was easy to restore, though.
- the box itself (the "out of box experience") is disappointing. You have to punch out some quarter-circles to allow it to hinge, but they're poorly serrated, so the tears come out ugly. The inner boxes are hard to open so you end up messing those up. In short, the previous mindstorms box was a great long-term storage solution. This one is going in the trash. As a first impression, it's pretty poor.
- back to the good: there's a "quick-start guide" that gets you building a simple robot that is run by a built in demo program. It's perfect: not difficult, but not trivial -- it makes noises and moves around. The kids were enchanted.
- the "powered by LabView" programming environment seems halfway between the nerd-y LabView system that you could buy from Dacta and the totally bozo thing bundled with the old Mindstorms. It doesn't have that "rocket scientist" feel of the old LabView environment, which is both good (it's more self-guided) and bad (I don't see how to zoom out so that I can see complex programs all at once, for example.
All in all, this thing is very impressive, has lots of staying power, and since it supports MacOS X, I'll actually use it, and will most likely pull out my old MindStorms and combine parts. Thanks, Lego -- keep up the great work!
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I built my first robot out of a cardboard box (I was inside) and, at the time that was pretty much the same way they did it on TV and in the movies. We've come a long way since then!
My entry point to the NXT robotic platform was in search of a faster, easier way of implementing remote sensing and data accumulation. I had been working with Crossbow motes, but found their "programming" tedious and non-intuitive. I checked out LabView first ($1,000 for the base level) and figured that for a quarter of that price I would get a taste of the software plus ready-to-use sensors and servomotors. I was pleased beyond my most optimistic expectations!
I won't repeat the other reviews other than to say that the first "rover" was done in less than 30 minutes (once I figured out that its parts were in the smaller box labeled "open me first") and I am a long way from being a Lego wizard.
What I want to do is clear up some of the confusion that might result from reading other reviewers' remarks about the software: for its intended purpose, the LabView "lite" is perfect. And what is that purpose, you might wonder: to enable kids ages 8+ to actually write robotics code, take measurements and control motion.
In contrast to "left-brained" logic with typed instructions (e.g. C/C++, BASIC, etc.) this is "right-brained" symbolic, intuitive programming. You don't have to write code for a "do loop", just drag a "loop block" and it will "do" what is needed. Variables? Just drag a "wire" from block to block and the data will be where you need it. Interrupts? You can have multiple threads and each can be waiting for specific data and react when it appears. Debug? Okay, it's trial and error, but the trials are short and the errors easy to fix.
As for execution speed of the compiler, I tried it on both a Mac and a PC (both about 1GHz and latest software, etc.) and found the PC to be significantly slower and quirkier but still very easy to use. (note: the install on my PC was a real pain, but trivial on the Mac)
Now for the good (read "geek") part: the Lego folks are making the SDK's for the processor and the Bluetooth interface available soon and there are alternative ways to create programs for the brick even now using C/C++ like instructions. The processor is ARM-based (it's everywhere, it's everywhere!) so writing assembler is not out of the question as there are plenty of tools available.
BUT! Don't fault Lego for not making kids learn assembler or C++ or for not making the memory 1GB rather than 256K. It's a toy!
Yeah right, a way cool toy. . ..
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Lego has again released a ground breaking product. This is a great way for anyone to get into robotics. No tools are necessary, not even a screwdriver. Everything is built using lego blocks. These are not the lego blocks that you might be used to. They are not the studded ones that snap together. These are Technic blocks ("studless legos"), which create a more human, less boxy look.
Everything talks to the central computer, which is called a "brick". It is maybe 1/4th the size of a "real brick". It has ports to connect to the four sensors and three servo motors. Additionally, the brick can connect to a computer using USB or bluetooth.
The three motors are controlled using your own programs. You have a great deal of control, you can specify the exact angle a motor should move. Also programming is easy, using a visual block-dragging software application. It works great on both Mac and Windows.
The four sensors are very cool.
Ultrasonic sensor: Can detect distance and movement. The distance sensor is very cool and can make for some cool programs.
Light sensor: Can detect brightness and color. The robot can be programmed to pickup only the blue or red ball, which is included.
Push sensor: Detects when something bumps against it. This is basically just a toggle switch.
Sound sensor: Detects the volume and tone of sound.
Lego gives you a number of plans to follow, as well as some basic plans to build off of. For example, the crawler and driver platforms allow you to start with either an "insect" or "car" type robot.
The brick takes 6 double A batteries. Rechargables work well.
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I am a software developer, and my boy is 10, I have been trying to get him into the fundimentals of basic programming without pushing him to much, but he hasnt shown much interest, I bought a NXT while working in the States, My kid is a Lego monster, his first step was to buy a box for all the commponents so they where in a ordered fashion, now hes disapeared for the last 5 days, hes writing his own programs, cursing and fixing when all goes wrong.., asking for help when hes really stuck, on the internet looking for solutions, this kit brings together so many skills.
Well Done Lego.
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The sensor and motor pieces have a more polished feel about them. They now use a 6-wire pseudo RJ-45 jack instead of a wired up brick. In the original, the sensor/motor pieces looked like regular Lego pieces with a special features sticking out one end, and now they feel like special feature devices that attach to your Legos. They feel more robust, but only time will tell. There are now 7 control pieces where as the original only had 5.
The new motors can be controlled down to the 1 degree level, but the precision seems to depend on how fast you run the motor. The coolest part is you can now read the motor's rotation, so they can act as rotation sensors too. The new motors contain gears within that gear down the rotational speed. Also they now terminate in a rotating hole, where as the original terminated in a rotating shaft. These two slight changes make a huge difference in the construction complexity near your motors. There are mow three motors, which is also a big improvement, but their dual use means you may not be able to use all 3 as motors.
The ultra sonic sensor is the coolest. It can read distance down to the 1cm level, and seems very accurate. It also looks very cool, like a pair of eyes. The sound sensor registers decibels, maxing out at to 100. I don't think it is an accurate measure of decibels, but relative volume is generally the important thing anyway. The touch sensor is tons better than the original, with a larger touch area that sticks out further. I've not worked with the light sensor as much yet, but it seems to work well, and is comparable to the sensor in the original set.
The new software is a great improvement. With the old package I felt like I had outgrown it in 15 minutes. This new package allows you to build a modular flow program as the old one did, but it also lets you get down to the logic and signal level. Your complex programs feel more like schematics than flow charts. It doesn't play annoying sounds on startup The help system is well done and actually helpful. There is more to do out-of-the-box before resorting to overwriting the firmware with a community-built OS. Also, the software says it requires XP SP 2 or higher, but it seems to run OK on my Windows 2000 box, having crashed once.
The new RCX unit is comparable in size and weight to the original. It feels more like a specialized device with a few connectors for attaching to Legos, where the original felt like a big Lego piece with some buttons. The buttons equate to left, right, select, and escape, and the hierarchical built-in interface is easy to navigate. It has a graphical mono LCD screen. You can download images and WAV files to the unit to use in your programs.
USB is so much easier to set up and use than the infrared COM port. I've not used the BlueTooth interface, but it also appears to be more robust and an easier setup.
The original version relied on the long black beams as the staple construction piece, which included both traditional Lego connectors on the top and bottom, and holes on the side for the MindStorms connectors. The new NXT system has almost entirely done away with the traditional Lego connectors, and now uses rounded end beams with MindStorm-style holes only. This may seem at first like a terrible decision, but it works very well in practice. You can still connect to your basic Lego set when building a base structure, and you can build a more complex structure with the tighter MindStorms pieces. This is a great maturing of the product line.
There are other examples of this maturing - There are few wheels, no more rubber bands, and fewer gears. There are many more connector pieces of various new designs, and new ball joint pieces. Overall there are fewer eye candy pieces, but more useful pieces.
No, the old and new MindStorms RCX and motor/sensor pieces are not compatible, but I don't think I'd want them to be. The new version is so much of a leap forward, the old technology would be holding
The packaging is inferior. I wouldn't mention this for most products, but I store my old MindStorms set in the original box. It had compartments to easily sort the pieces, but the new one is just a flimsy box with two cardbord boxes glued to the bottom to hold the NXT pieces. Expect to find a different solution for storing your NXT pieces. I'm switching to old Tupperware containers, and mixing my sets together.
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This is my first robot set so I really have nothing to compare it to.
Navigating the NXT is simple. You can program straight from the NXT or download files you build with the computer software. The sensors work as advertised. The programming logic blocks are simple to use and allow for advanced programming. Editing and saving files is easy so you do not have to continuously connect to the computer. Bluetooth people should be especially happy.
I decided to start easy with Spike. The kids, age 5 and 6, love to help build and play with the robots.
The instructions for building and programming the robots pictured on the box are in the software that you load form the cd.
In short:
Pros
- Good quality
- Easy to use but can make complex functions
- Fun
Cons
- data cables can be a pain to manage
- need to get a way to organize the pieces such as a tackle box
I highly recommend this set. Probably best for 12+ age group.
Note: the books for NXT are not out until December/January. The ones available are for the older set. Also, you need 6 AAs.
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This is a fantastic but limited INTRODUCTION to robotics for children as well as for adults. What you get are, essentially, a small computer with some nice motors and some plastic body parts. The small computer (which is also the robot body) communicates with your PC to receive instructions to carry out. That's right - you must have a personal computer to use this system.
The main limitation is in the robot computer. It has a VERY small amount of memory to store programs, and the memory is not upgradeable. You only get a few Kilobytes of storage! This severely limits the size and complexity of the programs that you can create for your robot to a few dozen instructions at a time before reconnecting to the PC and downloading again - and less if you want your robot to make sounds.
If Lego had used flash storage, like the kind used in digital cameras, for its programs, then this would have improved the product 1000 percent, allowing for incredible programming potential and maybe even justifying Lego's very high price. With upgradeable storage you could even give your robot an extensive vocabulary.
It's too bad that a product with this high cost and so much potential was limited by short-sighted engineers at Lego.
Here's hoping someone comes out with a similar product with something like SD card storage.
Oh, and the software, for creating programs for the robot, is quite limited as well. Plus the update that came out in August 2007 only fixes Vista compatibility and allows some extra compression for programs, and Lego has the audacity to charge an extra $20 for people who bought the NXT before May of this year! What a shame.
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My son is just turning ten in a few weeks. He has a week between camp ending and school beginning so I bought him an NXT in the hopes that he's learn to like programming. His mom and I are both software engineers but, until now, he's said he doesn't have any interest in programming and wants to be a physicist (nice intention but do you wanna starve kid, we asked?).
So... I ordered this "toy" and after assembling our first robot my son -- who wouldn't get near any of our compilers -- was HOOKED. He's writing programs to control the robot, all the sudden interested in learning logic and workflow, and giggling when his compiled programs make his robot do funny things. He especially likes programming it to torture the dog which we all (except the dog) find funny.
The gist is ... I've hoped my child would someday gain some interest in programming and thanks to this toy that's finally happened. Thanks Lego...
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I am thrilled with NXT. It is all I expected and more. I have been useing Lego Mindstorms Robotic Invention System 2.0 for a few years now and I love working with robotics. Here are some points most people will want to know:
+ I was suprised to see that NXT is entirely studless. This makes it a bit difficult to make robots with the pieces of both RIS 2.0 (current-gen) and NXT (next-gen).
+ The programing system is a lot more complex. Some people have coplained about this. However, I really enjoy it because it gives you so much control over your creations, but it can be a little tricky to understand at first.
+ The motors a wounderful! Now you don't have to measure only in seconds, you can also measure in degrees or rotations. It will change my robots forever!
+ The speaker on the NXT brick can now play much more complex sounds. You can even program it to speak words.
+ For those who want to make very simple programs, there is a new feature on the NXT brick that allows you to make those simple programs on the screen without connecting to a computer.
+ All the sensors work great. The ultra-sonic sensor is a dream come true.
+ Here is a small item that may interest only me. The set comes with two red and blue plastic balls. I have always found it difficult to find good sized balls for my robots, but now I have some!
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I pre-ordered a got the new NXT box last week. I built the alpha-rex. It was fun. Here are my impressions so far...
1. The motors, sensors are well designed and works great.
2. I found a single defective piece in my set which is very uncharacteristic for lego. However, it was still usable.
3. The bluetooth gave me some problems on the second day of usuage. My laptop (Dell Precision M70) and the NXT brick couldnt connect. I had to use USB to download. I dont think its serious issue as it had worked fine previously.
4. The labview software was intutive and straight forward. However, I believe that a 10 year old will need some lessons to get used to it.
5. The display interface on the brick is very intutive. It could have been better with backlight...but then again I think that would eat up the battery faster..
6. The packaging is very disappointing. I plan to buy separate plastic boxes for storage.
Overall, I am very excited and happy with the product. I cant wait for the bluetooth resources that lego will post on their website, which will let me do some cool stuff...i hope :)
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