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Mindstorms' Next Generation
davey23sol writes: "MSNBC has a 2.0 review of Lego Mindstorms here. Looks like they have put in an easier programming system for users, touch and light sensors, and some other stuff. The transmitters for the infrared transmitters are now USB instead of serial, too. The new system will be $200, and if you have Mindstorms now the upgrade will just be $20. It should all be available this month. I can't wait to get one (never got around to getting my Mindstorms kit)." This review may not go into $200 worth of depth, so I look forward to more detailed reader reviews (and more pictures) when this is widely available :)
another spot.. (from another thread)
It's an ap story, so it should be many places soon.
it's also at dailyherald.com
Remember... MS assumes only IT'S software exists...
It works fine in NS 6, btw...
"Yes.. no matter what the culture, folk dancing is stupid." -MST3K
Aug. 31 ? I?m a little disappointed in the 21st century. By now, everything was supposed to come in sleek shades of silver, especially the flying cars confidently whooshing overhead. We should be speaking Esperanto, perhaps even communicating telepathically. MOST OF ALL, where are the robots? With those earnest bundles of wires doing our hard work, we could have more time to plan vacations in space and reserve spots for our bodies in cryogenics labs. So the chance to make my own robot at home with the new version 2.0 of the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System sounded awfully appealing. Mindstorms, recommended for ages 12 and up, uses the familiar Lego interlocking plastic blocks that have entertained generations of children (and budding architects). But this kit has some important extras: touch and light sensors, for example, and a battery-powered computer ?brain? that can be programmed to make wheels spin and arms move. The commands are made with a few mouse clicks on a PC, thanks to software that comes on a CD and is downloaded into the Lego robot?s brain via an infrared transmitter. Lego, based in Billund, Denmark, introduced the Mindstorms line in 1998, and watched it become a huge hit not only with children but also with tech-savvy adults. Some tinkerers even hacked the Mindstorms code and made robots far more complex than those suggested in the Lego manual. Version 2.0 has the same pieces as its predecessor but promises much simpler programming. Instead of having to program motors individually, users can now simply tell their robots to move forward, zigzag or whatever. Another advance is that the infrared transmitter now plugs into a computer?s USB port rather than a serial port ? to improve speed. Due to hit stores in late September, Mindstorms 2.0 will retail for $200; people who own the original version can upgrade for $20. A programming tutorial that comes with the CD is very useful ? detailed enough for people not overly familiar with the linear logic of computer programs, yet quick enough so as to not insult your intelligence. The beauty of the system is that users can design robots themselves from scratch or build suggested models and animate them with programs that come with the CD. Though I really wanted to build something that would fetch the newspaper or drive me to work, my girlfriend was much more realistic. She quickly assembled an 8-inch-tall robot suggested in the manual. Since I have no engineering ability and limited patience, I decided to load into our new friend a program that came on the CD, though I did make some adjustments of my own. And so now our apartment is protected by a robotic security guard made out of Lego. When it detects a bright light ? an intruder?s flashlight, perhaps ? it starts beeping. If we squeeze its hand, it will stop beeping and shake from side to side, as if to express utter relief that we?re home. But if you?re a thief who fails to apply the reassuring squeeze, it will throw a little ball at you and beep some more. Take that, criminal. You?ve just stepped into a real 21st century apartment. © 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Kurdt
I'm not anti-social. Just pro-technology.
I was at Target yesterday and saw something
that claimed to be 2.0, so I guess it is already
"widely avaiable."
Homepage
legOS is an open-source embedded operating system for the LEGO Mindstorms, a LEGO brick with a brain. Compared to the standard software, it offers vastly superior performance and flexibility.
As of version 0.2.0, legOS features include:
* Dynamic loading of programs and modules
* Full IR packet networking
* Preemprive multitasking
* Dynamic memory management
* Drivers for all RCX subsystems
* 16 MHz native mode speed
* Access to 32k RAM
Not sure about you, but the crappy IDE click and drag blocks all over the place doesnt quite the cake for building a robot. I wish i had a block to try this OS out. Legos ruuulllll333!!
Jon Bardin
AP website:
E CH test
= 37 13737
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/main.html?PACKAGEID=T
daily herald:
http://www.dailyherald.com/main_story.asp?intid
"Yes.. no matter what the culture, folk dancing is stupid." -MST3K
Not sure what protocal this uses, but at least with laptops, IR can do as much as 4Mbps, and serial is limted to 112kbps. So yeah.. improved speed.. maybe
I purchased the 1.0 version. Since then there has been a firmware upgrade which was signifigant, but that's about all. You can download the firmware for free for those of you with an older RCX brick -- http://mindstorms.lego.com/sdk2/. Serial to USB for the IR tower...all that means is that now I can't use a really old computer on the new Mindstorms. It seems they dumbed down the programming system. Most of the people really into this stuff use things like NQC (not quite c) or legOS, not the LEGO programming system.
What they really need is more I/O and a better array of sensors. You can break the 3 output/ 3 input barrier, but it's awkward. And how about sonar!
BTW, there is a big community for the LEGO fanatic, including Mindstorm lover. lugnet.com is the place to go for those of you wanting a social LEGO lifestyle.
Lego Online Shop - here you can choose your country, or here is the shop with all the products.
Will work for bandwidth
I got the Mindstrom 2.0 a couple of weeks back.
New in Mindstrom 2 are big blocks. Which are nothing but collection of small set of operations (know as small blocks).
Programmers will recognize these as subroutines.
The only other major change as compared to Mindstrom 1.5 is the support for USB instead of COM port.
Those of who think that just because programming is a lot easier with Mindstrom 2 you can build robots more easily are wrong.
Programming was never the difficult part. The difficult part to think of a design, finding the parts (you will always end up needing more parts than available in the set) and fitting the parts to form a strong structure.
Programming is a lot easier compared to desiging a good robot.
The System is only usable with Windows 98 and ME.
No Windows NT/2000 or other OS support.
Yeah, the CD does say win98 only, but it works fine with 2000. At least, it does on both my laptop and desktop...
LegOS is now at 0.2.5. You can get all the latest info (along with CVS access, etc) at SourceForge.
Why is there only one Monopolies commission?
...these sets?
Was this the car you were talking about?
Technic appears to be alive and well. Though I must agree with you about the dumbing-down and relentless merchandising of everything these days. Growing up, I thought LEGO was a lot of fun without having to attach the Star Wars franchise or any other marketing crap to the products. LEGO were (and still are) just plastic blocks that stick together, and they managed to compete quite successfully with video games when I was a young'un-- there was many an afternoon that my ColecoVision sat idle while I was furiously building space shuttles and F-15s.
I loved the Technic stuff, I had a huge box of miscellaneous gears, axles, etc, a couple of the motors, and also the pneumatic stuff. I also have a huge town setup from sets from the 80's, the very first model of their battery-powered train sets, and enough track to circle the whole town... all carefully stored away until I have enough space to set them up again someday. Hell, I'm 28 and I still pull out the things once in a while when I'm in a creative mood. Once a LEGO kid, always a LEGO kid, I guess.
~Philly
Why pay for the upgrade to a still relatively lame programming language when you could just go to legos.sourceforge.net and put together a true C/C++ GCC based programming toolkit and REALLY write code for the RCX?
RCX, dumber than my cat
1) noga.de is no longer maintained; legos.sourceforge.net is the canonical site now.
2) For a complete reference of all available free alternatives for Mindstorms on Linux, check the Lego Mini-HOWTO at the LDP. For more details on legOS and Forth (two of the most mature alternatives) check out Extreme Mindstorms. [shameless plugs, both]
3) There is, of yet, no way to run legOS or most of the other alternative environments on Mindstorms 2.0 from Linux because there are, ATM, no tools to control the USB towers that are standard with 2.0.
Thanks...
Luis Villa (legOS maintainer)
IAAL,BIANLY
For anyone who picked up Loki's port of Mindrover, they have something very cool on thier site.
This is a set of objects for Mindrover that simulate the functioning of Lego RCX components. They also have pre-built objects that represent two real-world lego cars, and all the appropriate 'wiring' to connect them.
The 'programs' that you create in Mindrover can then be downloaded to the Mindstorms, and you can then watch your Mindrover in the real world.
I think Loki might be getting around to porting it (they mentioned on thier newsgroups that they would be porting some more stuff for it - no link right now, though).