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The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build


by Martijn Boogaarts, Jonathan A. Daudelin, Brian L. Davis, Jim Kelly, Lou Morris, Fay and Rick Rhodes, Matthias Paul Scholz, Christopher R. Smith, Rob Torok
by Chris Anderson

List Price: $29.95
Price: $19.77
You Save: $10.18 (34%)
Available: Usually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank: 3137
Studio: No Starch Press
Binding: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 350
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
Publisher: No Starch Press


FORMATS

  • Illustrated


EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
If you're serious about having fun with LEGO robotics, you've come to the right place. The team behind The NXT STEP blog--the authoritative online source for MINDSTORMS NXT information and advice--has packaged its considerable skills and experience in this book. Inside, you'll find some of the team's best ideas for creating cool and sophisticated models, including instructions for eight robots you can build yourself.

Follow along with the MINDSTORMS NXT experts as they explain the fundamentals of programming and design, accompanied by CAD-style drawings and an abundance of screenshots that make it easy for you to master the MINDSTORMS NXT system. You'll get an overview of the NXT parts (beams, sensors, axles, gears, and so on) and clear instructions for combining them to build and program working robots. The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book delves into the complexities of the NXT programming language (NXT-G) and offers tips for designing and programming robots, using Bluetooth, creating an NXT remote control, troubleshooting, and much more.

Here are just a few of the robots you'll learn to build in The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book:

  • RaSPy, a robot that plays Rock, Scissors, Paper
  • 3D PhotoBot, a robot that will help you take photographs that can be converted into 3D images
  • Slot Machine, complete with flashing lights and a lever
  • ScanBot, a robot that scans black-and-white pictures and displays the images on the NXT's LCD
  • Beach Buggy Chair, a roving, rambling robot
  • CraneBot, a crane-like grabbing robot

    LEGO fans of all ages will find this book to be an ideal jumping-off point for doing more with MINDSTORMS NXT. The only ingredient you need to add is your imagination!


  • CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 8 reviews)

    Very Informational!  
    You would need this book if you own the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Kit. Can't get it work without it!
    June 09, 2008

    Pictures and programming problems  
    The problem with this book is it has black and white photos of black and white pieces. They don't give a close up of what your adding to your structure. Writing is too small to look at without a magnify glass.
    Programming was screwed up in some places.
    May 23, 2008

    Very Interesting Book On NXT Robots  
    Lots Of good information on NXT G-code,Bluetooth programming for the NXT, and an informative guide to designing your NXT bots.I thought this book was well worth the money. The "LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide (Technology in Action) is a very good intro to this book.
    March 19, 2008

    Great book  
    The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build

    I read this book and I really enjoyed it. This was the first Mindstorms book that I read and it was really easy to understand and got me off to a quick start. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars was that the graphics and text are printed on an off white background and it made it a little harder to read and the graphics themselves are all black and white and some of them were a little hard to figure out the robot designs because of it. But dont let this keep you from getting this great robotics book. [...]
    January 06, 2008

    Wonderful Book That Needs Color!!!!!  
    'The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build' is an absolutely wonderful book with one MAJOR flaw in that the entire book is in black and white. Packed with 16 chapters written wonderfully with exciting examples and content, this would have been a easy 5 star recommendation but I simply cannot do that. Legos are bold, bright, and full of color, the decision to publish this in black and white was a terrible one. I understand this decision was made to no doubt save costs, but it shouldn't have been published (no matter how good the content is) in this form. Some books would benefit from color, some books require it and this is one of those cases. If you enjoy Legos and want to learn how to use Mindstorms NXT and all the fun, amazing things you can do with them this book will show you how, but I would wait for version 2.0 of this book with color. Not only is the black and white unfavorable, it's downright hard to follow.

    Great content, great layout, thumbs WAY down for no color

    **** RECOMMENDED
    October 24, 2007


    SIMILAR PRODUCTS

    The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor's Guide
    by David J. Perdue

    LEGO Mindstorms NXT
    LEGO

    LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide (Technology in Action)
    by James Floyd Kelly

    Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms NXT
    by Mario Ferrari; Guilio Ferrari; David Astolfo

    LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: The Mayan Adventure (Technology in Action)
    by James Floyd Kelly

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