Also, to get ideas for interesting & challenging things for her to work on, you can search online for assignments: search "rcx assignment" or "mindstorms assignment" etc to find projects assigned to college students using these kits.
Best of all, they're fun.
Don't be so quick to dismiss LEGO Mindstorms. They're used successfully in AI courses at many colleges. She can spend a few hours writing really simple programs in the RCX code that comes with it, just to get the "feel" of what a program is. Then, you can download and install NQC (Not Quite C), a free, multitasking OS that's simple enough for a beginner yet capable of some pretty impressive tasks. There's a lot of free info available online, & you might want to look for a copy of Jonathan Knudsen's book "The Unofficial Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS Robots" to help get her started.
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Also, to get ideas for interesting & challenging things for her to work on, you can search online for assignments: search "rcx assignment" or "mindstorms assignment" etc to find projects assigned to college students using these kits. Best of all, they're fun.
Don't be so quick to dismiss LEGO Mindstorms. They're used successfully in AI courses at many colleges. She can spend a few hours writing really simple programs in the RCX code that comes with it, just to get the "feel" of what a program is. Then, you can download and install NQC (Not Quite C), a free, multitasking OS that's simple enough for a beginner yet capable of some pretty impressive tasks. There's a lot of free info available online, & you might want to look for a copy of Jonathan Knudsen's book "The Unofficial Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS Robots" to help get her started.