Lego Mindstorm NXT Robot Kit Review

Introduction

After countless robot kits reviewed on our website that required deeper understandings of programming and how components are wired together we realized that many of our members not quite at that level. Furthermore, we also noted that many of the members take part in competitions across the globe designed for students in high school, junior high and elementary schools. We researched and found that many of these members were in fact thinking and/or using the Lego Mindstorm's system.



Of course there are many other platforms out there but hands down Lego Mindstorms kit is one of the more popular ones. Thanks to Lego we were able to do a full write up on the system!

Once we received the Lego Mindstorms Kit we quickly opened it up and began inspecting all the components that came in the kit. Much to our surprise we found this to be a great kit to not only start off with robotics but also do some pretty advanced stuff without having to completely understand all the details of a programming language let alone the electronics portion of it.

Overview

The Lego Mindstorms system provides many components to build just about anything you can think of and then some. You can choose to build from your own creativity or visit the Lego Mindstorms website for a wealth of building plans that can be used with the Lego Mindstorms kit!

Lego Mindstorms Features

• The intelligent NXT LEGO® brick features 32-bit microprocessor, a large matrix display, 4 input and 3 output ports, and Bluetooth and USB communication link
• Three interactive servo motors
• Four sensors: Ultrasonic Sensor, 2 Touch Sensors and the all-new Color Sensor
• Color Sensor has triple functionality: distinguishes colors and light settings, and functions as a lamp
• Easy-to-use software (PC and Mac) with icon-based drag-and-drop programming and 16 fun building and programming challenges
• All the LEGO® elements (612 pieces) you need for creating incredible robots
• Building instructions for the 4 amazing robots are included on the software CD.
• Personalize your robots with the Sound and Icon editors
• Share your project files with your friends with the Pack-N-Go project packager
• Batteries not included

Assembly and Construction

To make this part as easy and straight forward as possible we have recorded a multi-part step by step video of how to assemble and work with the Lego Mindstorms Robot Kit.

Support

We gave the Lego Mindstorms a 5 for support. They have a wealth of knowledge included in the kit. The kit comes complete with all the manuals required to build your first robot. Furthermore, the software (Lego Mindstorms IDE) comes with plans for building robotics. Lastly, the website itself contains a wealth of knowledge. Their kit was extremely easy to use while allowing the builders of the kit to make just about anything you can think of. Once you get used to the kit and build several of the projects found online - you will notice - you will need more components. But rest assured this kit contains plenty of parts to build many things.

Conclusion

Overall this is an excellent kit for those that have little to no knowledge of programming as well as working with electronic components. No soldering is required or advanced knowledge of electronics. Its a plug and play system. The Lego Mindstorms IDE is what blew us away. It was an easy drag and drop system that allowed you to quickly "program" the 32BIT controller to do a miriad of tasks.

We recommend this kit for those of you in school (i.e. grades 5-12 and into college).

Where to buy?

Lego
DIYbin.com