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Mindstorms' Next Generation

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the about-to-break dept.

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 :)

3 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Improved Speed? by __aaahtg7394 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Another advance is that the infrared transmitter now plugs into a computer?s USB port rather than a serial port ? to improve speed."

    Now, i can see switching to USB to improve compatibility, but to improve speed?! How fast can you really blast IR anyway? Is this mis-informed journalism, or bad marketing, or did i miss the memo about 12Mb IR tranceivers?

    I also found it somewhat amusing that his girlfriend was faster on the pickup than he was . Take that, gender-based stereotypes (thank god my friends don't read /. that much... all the girls i know would kill me for that one)

  2. Re:I remember Legos by Digital+Believer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Give me a break. Legos are maximally social, if you have any ambition. You can't build a truly inspiring moonbase or a decent ski resort or a reasonable cityscape without all of your friends' Legos alongside your own. And the base/resort/city planning stage requires a degree of collective problem-solving and negotiation skills you won't find in any snow fort or football team. Don't generalize from your own twisted childhood.

    My next-door neighbor and I used to play Monopoly in the middle of a Lego wonderland, using Lego vehicles to move around the board, Lego stands to hold our property cards and a powered Lego conveyor belt to pass money across the wide table to each other. Top that!

    --
    We can reduce ideas to bits and people to genes, but "can" does not imply "should".
  3. I take it back.... by josquint · · Score: 2, Insightful

    According to this "The RCX uses a 38kHz carrier, which is pretty typical for TV remotes. As for the sampling rate, the RCX runs at 2400 bps, which makes each bit approx 417us."
    So maybe there isn't going to be a speed gain(except maybe from PC to the IR transmitter.. rather moot i'd think)