Page 12 - The Unofficial Guide to Lego Mindstorms Robots

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Welcome to MINDSTORMS

In this chapter:

• What Is a Robot?

• Mobile Robots

• What Is MINDSTORMS?

• What Now?

• Online Resources

This is a book about creating robots with the LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ Robotic Invention System (RIS)™. If you've always
dreamed of building and programming your own robots, this is your big chance—the RIS set makes it easy to get started.
There are a lot of enthusiastic RIS owners out there already: other people have built robots that pick up empty soda cans;
robots that seek light; robots that play tag; walking robots with two, four, six, or even eight legs; robots that can be controlled
over the Internet; working computer peripherals like a plotter and an optical scanner; and robots that simulate a Tsunami and a
tornado.∗ You can build anything you can imaging. RIS gives you a chance to breathe life into LEGO creations, making them
move and respond to their surroundings. You can create a tank that scurries into the dark, or a monorail car that traverses your
living room on a string. You can create robots that hop, walk, and drive around with a mind of their own.

Furthermore, by owning the RIS set, you become part of a worldwide community of enthusiasts. The RIS set is a common
ground for building robots; if you build something cool, other people will be able to build it too. Similarly, you can build and
modify other people's creations. LEGO bricks, therefore, are a kind of lingua franca for mechanical design.

You have many options when it comes to building and programming robots. LEGO bricks, of course, can be assembled in
many different ways. Part of this book is about building robots; it includes five projects that you can build yourself. But you
also have lots of options for programming your robot. Aside from the "official" software that comes with RIS, the inventive
MINDSTORMS community has produced a bevy of other options. The most important ones are described in this book.

∗ Internet links to pictures of some of these robots are included in the "Online Resources" section at the end of this chapter.