Lego Mindstorms NXT Robotics Announced 190
Denver_80203 writes "Just when you thought Lego Mindstorms was grinding its last gear, comes the announcement of Lego Mindstorms NXT Robotics Toolset, with sleek servo motors, an ultrasonic sensor which allows robots to 'see' by responding to movement, a sound sensor which enables robots to react to sound commands (including sound pattern and tone recognition) improved touch and light sensors, and a and a programmable brick with at least 7 or 8 RJ11 type jacks. Robot fun! Out in August 2006, and in true Lego style will cost $249." Wired has a preview of the cover story about the new kit on their site.
Wired Article Innacurate (Score:3, Insightful)
(From one of the images, I'm guessing of a magazine spread)
"Building Blocks" - "Two-by-four" lego blocks vs. Technic Blocks a.k.a. Studless legos
-Okay, firstly "Technic" was a brand of lego's geared towards the technological kids like me who liked to play with motors and buttons. Second, the RCX had 4 holes that could be used with studless legos anyway, all they did with this new thing was add a few more and take off the studs.
"User Interface" - "Non-intuitive interface, RCX Code Commands, PC Only" vs "Intuitive GUI, drag-and-drop icons, PC and Mac"
-Whoever said RCX 1.0 wasn't intuitive is crazy, programming with the RCX was about the most basic type of programming I've ever done in my life. You dragged little blocks around to configure the order of the program. You would drag, for example a "Wait Ten Seconds" green block over someplace and then put a "Turn the motor on" purple block right below it. Then you'd download it to your brick (okay, this was a little sketchy at times with IR) then turn it on, select the number of the program and press play. How much simpler could you get? Not to mention it had tutorials that showed everything down to animating how to put in the batteries.
"Power" - "Two Motors" vs. "Three motors, redesigned for smoother operation"
-Uh, actually the RCX could power up to three motors too, it just typically came with two.
"Connectors" - "Two-wire analog cables" vs "Six-wire digital cables"
-Well yeah, the more the better, but I'd imagine homebrew stuff is simpler than digital, I've never done any so correct me if I'm wrong
I've always heard about Wired being sketchy about their reporting, grr...
Nevertheless, it seems like a cool device, especially with bluetooth
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)