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Fan-Designed Mindstorms Release Next Tuesday

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the bot-bot dept.

EaglesNest writes "The Washington Post has a story describing Lego's new Mindstorms. Two years ago, Lego formed their own 'star chamber' to decide what the next iteration of Mindstorms would look like. Eventually reaching 14 people, the Mindstorm users panel had a huge impact on what will be released commercially next week." From the article: "One member was even able to pressure the company into building a part that makes its debut in the new Mindstorms set -- a rare event at Lego, which treats every individual piece with reverence. The new part is a connector that allows two long pieces to be joined at a 90-degree angle. The resulting toy has much more up-to-date technology than the original set, including a USB 2.0 port for fast downloads and Bluetooth for wireless connections. With the right parts and programming, a Mindstorms robot can dance in response to sounds or follow the beam of a flashlight."

4 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    With the right parts and programming, a Mindstorms robot can dance in response to sounds or follow the beam of a flashlight."

    You can do the same thing with teenagers and some ecstasy pills....

    --
    Monstar L
  2. Employment Costs by Black-Man · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Lego company just kept doing business as it always had... which was fine when the bricks were selling, but once the video game crowd eroded their sales - they tanked. Since, they have laid off a number of employees - not making the town they reside in happy but the alternative was much worse. They have also moved production off to eastern european countries where labor costs are reasonable and they can compete in the global market. The new CEO means business and I am optimistic they will survive and maybe thrive.

  3. Demo on Microsoft campus by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Steve Hassenplug, left, and David Schilling put some robots to the test at a conference this week on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash.

    When activated, the robot stood up and yelled "Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all."
  4. Re:great news but... by johnw · · Score: 5, Funny
    How does a company that makes plastic bricks lose over 200 million in one year?

    Probably the same way my children do - by leaving them all over the bedroom floor and having them disappear into the vacuum cleaner.