Every child dreams of at least a small set of LEGO constructor. And smart parents know that this is a good desire, which is worth fulfilling, because working with details not only allows you to take the baby for a while, but also develops fine motor skills, affects the speech center, and promotes the development of engineering skills. In addition, with the help of the game, children learn about the world and society. That is why the company "LEGO" has developed many rulers for all ages. For example, the DUPLO series is suitable for babies of 1.5-5 years old, the FRIENDS line is designed for girls of 5-12 years old, CITY is suitable for boys of 5-12 years old, and for the older age a special set of LEGO Mindstorms has been released. It is worth talking about such an unusual constructor separately, because this is a whole complex for creating and programming.
LEGO Mindstorms RXT
First of all, it is important to pay attention to the difference between this set and other LEGO series. The fact is that the LEGO Mindstorms robot is not just a constructor, but a set of elements and power supplies that allow the figure to move and respond to stimuli.
The company first released such a designer in 1998. True, that version was little reminiscent of the modern one. It was a set of standard parts like axles, wheels and gears, which included a processor, an infrared bidirectional port, a display with a built-in speaker, and several sensors.
Of course, with such a set of details you can’t really imagine, and the number of instructions that can be found today, alas, was not. Nevertheless, it was this constructor that caused considerable stir and gave birth to the LEGO Mindstorms line. The creators did a good job of expanding the capabilities and resources of this series and soon launched a new version of the designer.
Mindstorms nxt
In 2006, the second generation of Mindstorms robots, called the NXT, went on sale. It is worth noting that there were several options for this series. In 2009, NXT 2.0 was released, which was slightly different from its predecessors and contained 613 dice. In it, in addition to standard basic parts, more advanced elements appeared, which made it possible to diversify assembly variations and increase the functionality of the set. NXT 2.0 also included:
- Programmable unit.
- 3 servomotors that can be used as rotation sensors.
- A color sensor that can detect primary colors.
- Two touch sensors.
- An ultrasonic sensor that can detect the distance to objects and react to movement.
- Many axial and gear mechanisms that allow the movement of individual parts.
Thanks to all these innovations, the robot assembled from the designer could sort small parts or balls by color, move and perform maneuvers, avoiding obstacles, etc. And especially advanced amateurs could program their fighter to build a rubik's cube. However, perhaps this is just a myth?
Mindstorms EV3
The modern EV3 set appeared on the market in 2013 and immediately found a lot of fans, because the composition of the designer was improved, it appeared even more diverse sensors and sensors. Its distinguishing feature was the LINUX operating system and increased up to 16 MB of RAM. In addition, the display has become larger, there is support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. All this allowed the creators to dream freely! Only on the official LEGO Mindstorms website the instructions are presented in 17 assembly options (there is a manual for only one model in the box) of the 601 available parts. And on amateur forums you can find more than 50 models!
LEGO Mindstorms Education
It happens that there are not enough details for the idea. Buying them separately in Russia is unrealistic, and you won’t start taking an expensive Technic series kit for the sake of one gear. The company took care of this too! Today, LEGO Mindstorms Education resource kits are presented for attention. They contain an even greater number of various details, so that your child will be satisfied. Often, it is Education that is used in educational institutions, as well as in leisure centers, where LEGO-design circles are represented. Indeed, together with the basic set you will get as many as 1418 parts from which you can create the most unimaginable robot!
Also, Education kits are used in world competitions. Pupils and students aged 10 to 21 years can participate in them. Otherwise, this Olympiad is called the International Robot Competition (MCP). In Russia, they are held in 4 stages, and the winners are awarded with a ticket to the summer robotics camp!