Every child dreams of at least a small setdesigner "LEGO". And smart parents know that this is a good desire that 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 contributes to the development of engineering skills. In addition, through the game, children discover the world and society. That is why the company "LEGO" has developed many lines for all ages. For example, the DUPLO series is suitable for babies 1.5–5 years old, the FRIENDS line is designed for girls 5–12 years old, CITY is suitable for boys 5–12 years old, and a special set of LEGO Mindstorms is released for older children. You should talk about such an unusual designer 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.This set from other series "LEGO". 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.
For the first time, the company released such a designer in1998 True, that version was a little like the modern one. It was a set of standard parts such as axles, wheels and gears, to which was attached a processor, an infrared bidirectional port, a display with a built-in speaker and several sensors.
Of course, with such a set of parts is not particularlyyou will fantasize, but alas, there were not that number of instructions that can be found today. Nevertheless, it was this designer that caused a considerable stir and gave life 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 for sale.
Mindstorms NXT
In 2006, the second generation appeared on sale.robots Mindstorms, which was called NXT. It is worth noting that there were several variants of this series. In 2009, the NXT 2.0 version was released, which was slightly different from its predecessors and contained 613 cubes. In addition to the standard basic parts, more advanced elements appeared in it, which allowed to diversify the assembly variations and increase the functionality of the set. NXT 2.0 also included:
- Programmable unit.
- 3 servomotors that can be used as turn sensors.
- Color sensor, able to identify primary colors.
- Two touch sensor.
- Ultrasonic sensor capable of determining the distance to objects and reacting to movement.
- Many axial and gear mechanisms that allow you to set in motion the individual parts.
Thanks to all these innovations collected fromthe designer could sort the robot by color of small parts or balls, move and perform maneuvers, bypassing obstacles, etc. And very advanced amateurs were able to 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 2013year 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 the RAM increased to 16 MB. In addition, the display has become larger, support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth has appeared. All this allowed the creators to fantasize plenty! Only on the official LEGO Mindstorms website, instructions are presented on 17 assembly options (there is a manual for only one model in the box) out of 601 available parts. And on the amateur forums you can find more than 50 models!
LEGO Mindstorms Education
It so happens that for the idea is not enough anydetails. It’s impossible to buy them separately in Russia, and you won’t become an expensive set of the Technic series for one gear. The company took care of that too! Today, the attention is presented resource sets LEGO Mindstorms Education. They include an even greater variety of details, so your child will be happy. Often it is Education that is used in educational institutions, as well as in centers of leisure creativity, which presents circles "LEGO" -designing. Of course, 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 on worldcompetitions. Schoolchildren and students aged 10 to 21 years can participate in them. Otherwise, this competition is called the International Competition of Robots (MCP). In Russia, they are held in 4 stages, and the winners are awarded with a ticket to a summer robotic camp!
