Lego Mindstorms NXT
Released in July 2006, the Lego Mindstorms NXT is the next generation of the very popular programmable robotics kit available as a learning tool for educational facilities and for retail sales for home use, too. Children of all ages can find an almost endless number of ways to use these tools to custom design creatures, machines, and gadgets of all kinds and for many purposes.
The newest version of Lego Mindstorms NXT takes over where the first- generation kit, called the Robotics Invention System (RIS), left off.
The Lego Mindstorms NXT product line is based upon a brick-shaped computer, the NXT brick itself. This amazing little device can interact with as many as four sensors feeding data on light, sound, motion and distance all the while controlling one, two, or even three motors simultaneously.
And the workings of the Lego Mindstorms NXT computerized activity are all held together with RJ12 cables, which are very similar to the common telephone jacks that link telephones to computers, wall outlets, fax machines, and just about anything else that works in conjunction with a telephone. The RJ12 cables are not, however, compatible or interchangeable with the RJ11 telephone cables.
No computer, especially a robotic one, is complete without an LCD display and the Lego Mindstorms NXT comes fully equipped with a greyscale LCD display that measures 100 x 64 pixels. Four buttons allow navigation through user-interfaced hierarchical menus for programming.
The Lego Mindstorms NXT comes with a speaker, too, that plays sound files at sampling rates as high as 16kHz. This means your creation can sing, speak any language you want or invent, and even bark like your favorite dog, if desired.
The power supply to the Lego Mindstorms NXT brick comes from different sources, according to the market for which the particular brick is designed. People buying the Mindstorms kits for home or personal use will need six AA batteries for full function. The educational version runs off a Li-Ion battery that is rechargeable.
With the tremendous popularity of the first generation Lego Mindstorms series, it can only be expected that the second generation, the Lego Mindstorms NXT series released in 2006, will be met with the same enthusiasm. And with all things technology related, it's not too much stretch of the imagination to wonder what the inevitable next release will bring to the third generation of this wildly successful line of products for both home and educational use.
