Lego Mindstorms
Lego Mindstorms (own spelling LEGO Mindstorms ) is a product series from the Danish toy manufacturer Lego . The core of the product series is a programmable Lego brick (RCX = Robotics Command System or NXT or EV3) as well as electric motors , sensors and Lego Technic parts ( gears , axes , perforated bars, pneumatic parts, etc.) to connect robots and other autonomous and interactive systems to design and program. A complement to Mindstorms are the Lego Spybotics , which have a programmable Lego brick with two motors and sensors. The forerunners of the Mindstorms series were the Cybermaster and Technic Control Center sets.
Marketing channel: integration into school lessons
Although the product is a technical toy , it can also be used as a teaching aid (as originally planned by Lego and MIT as a marketing channel). In class, it may as an example of an embedded system (embedded system), in which a microcontroller with electromechanical parts and sensors working together, can be used. Almost all types of mechanical systems with embedded systems, from elevator systems to industrial robots, can be recreated with Mindstorms. In addition, the area of “robotics” is included in educational plans, for example in the gifted courses at the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH) on school informatics, or throughout Germany as part of the Fraunhofer initiative “Roberta - Learning with Robots” and is usually implemented with Lego Mindstorms . In this context, action-oriented IT basics such as the EVA principle and control structures can also be dealt with. For Lego, this marketing channel is part of the lifelong customer loyalty to the products or brand, which is focused on by many toy manufacturers.
Systems
Mindstorms Robotics Invention System (RIS) 1.0 to 2.0
The Mindstorms versions RIS 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 differ only slightly in terms of hardware: In version 1.0 the RCX unit has a socket for external power supply, which was saved in the later versions; With version 2.0 the infrared transmitter ("tower"), which is connected to the computer, has been changed from a serial interface to a USB connection. The software of the older versions can also be updated to the latest version.
Mindstorms NXT
At the beginning of 2006 Lego presented a new Mindstorms system called NXT at the Consumer Electronics Show . In the meantime, version NXT 2.0 has been released.
Mindstorms EV3
On January 7, 2013, Lego presented a new Mindstorms system called EV3 at the Consumer Electronics Show , the first official announcement was made on January 4, 2013. EV3 is a further development (evolution) of the Lego Mindstorms NXT system.
The EV3 has been available since September 2013 and was marked as an expiring model in 2020. A real successor to the EV3 model has not yet been presented.
The EV3 set should be compatible with the NXT components: In principle, the new EV3 software is compatible with the NXT brick, but there are a few restrictions.
The innovations are:
- new brick:
- ARM 9 processor
- 16 MB flash memory
- expandable with an SD card (micro SD up to 16 GB)
- 64 MB RAM
- a Linux based operating system
- Support of a USB host mode and connection of WLAN dongles
- Bluetooth 2.1
- a larger matrix display (178 × 128 pixels)
- more buttons (4 direction buttons, 1 selection button, 6th button)
- Connection sockets for 4 sensors and 4 motors (NXT: 3 motors)
- IR beacon for interaction with the infrared sensor
Two starter packages are available, the Mindstorms EV3 Education Core (45544) and the Mindstorms EV3 Home Edition (31313) of the EV3 system. The Home Edition does not contain any data carriers, but the corresponding software can be downloaded from Lego's website. A printed assembly instruction for only one model is enclosed. Further building instructions and programming can be downloaded from Lego's website.
Comparison of the systems
| RCX | NXT | EV3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| publication | 1998 | July 2006 | September 2013 |
| Display | Monochrome segment LCD |
Monochrome LCD, 100 × 64 pixels |
Monochrome LCD, 178 × 128 pixels |
| processor |
Hitachi H8 / 300 16 MHz |
Atmel AT91SAM7S256 ( ARM7TDMI core) 48 MHz |
TI Sitara AM1808 ( ARM926EJ-S core) 300 MHz |
| Storage | 32 kB RAM 16 kB Flash |
64 kB RAM 256 kB Flash |
64 MB RAM 16 MB Flash microSDHC slot |
| Number of inputs | 3 | 4th | 4th |
| number of exits | 3 | 3 | 4th |
| USB host port |
|
|
|
| WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS |
|
|
 a
|
| Bluetooth |
|
|
|
Mindstorms 51515 Robot Inventor
In June 2020 Lego presented the new “Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor” (number 51515) to the public.
Building system
Mindstorms uses the relatively simple plug-in system from Lego Technic .
Based on this, Lego also offers various building instructions for various robots on their website.
Competitions
With the Lego Mindstorms system, international competitions such as the World Robot Olympiad or the First Lego League are regularly held for schoolchildren .
See also
literature
- Uwe Haneke, Matthias Mruzek-Vering: The LEGO Mindstorms manual - playfully about computer science with EV3 robots. dpunkt.verlag, 2018, ISBN 978-3-86490-424-0 .
- Trella Sebastian, Thorsten Leimbach: Roberta Programming with LabVIEW. 2014, ISBN 978-3-8396-0692-6 .
- Frank Knefel: Lego Mindstorms NXT - Introduction to robot programming with NXC and Roberta. Open Source Press, 2013, ISBN 978-3-941841-85-7 .
- Matthias Paul Scholz: Building and programming robots: an introduction to Lego Mindstorms NXT. 2nd, revised edition. mitp, 2012, ISBN 978-3-8266-9446-2 .
- Matthias Paul Scholz, Thorsten Leimbach, Beate Jost: The EV3 robot universe. mitp, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8266-9473-8 .
- Matthias Paul Scholz: Lego shooter. Six robots with the Zamor launcher for Lego Mindstorms EV3. mitp, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8266-9399-1 .
- Fraunhofer IAIS: Roberta Vol. 1 - Basics and experiments for Lego Mindstorms RCX. Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8167-7808-0 .
- Fraunhofer IAIS: Roberta Vol. 1 - Basics and experiments for Lego Mindstorms NXT. Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8167-7807-3 .
- Brian Bagnall: Maximum Lego NXT: Building Robots with Java Brains . Variant Press, 2007, ISBN 0-9738649-1-5 .
- Dave Baum: Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms, 2nd ed.APress, 2002, ISBN 1-59059-063-5 .
- Ferrari et al .: Building Robots With Lego Mindstorms: The Ultimate Tool for Mindstorms Maniacs . Syngress, 2001, ISBN 1-928994-67-9 .
- Benjamin Erwin: Creative Projects with Lego Mindstorms (book and CD-ROM). Addison-Wesley, 2001, ISBN 0-201-70895-7 .
- Dave Baum, Michael Gasperi, Ralph Hempel, Luis Villa: Extreme Mindstorms: an Advanced Guide to Lego Mindstorms . Apress, 2000, ISBN 1-893115-84-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roberta - Learning with Robots. iais.fraunhofer.de, accessed on November 14, 2014 .
- ↑ robotics courses. TUHH hrsg = dual.tuhh.de, January 22, 2014, accessed on January 22, 2014 .
- ^ Roberta network. iais.fraunhofer.de, accessed on November 14, 2014 .
- ^ Saskia Diehl, Franz-Rudolf Esch, Dominika Gawlowski: Marketing strategy: Brand loyalty for the whole life. (No longer available online.) Handelsblatt, November 24, 2009, archived from the original on November 4, 2012 ; Retrieved November 9, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ mindstorms.lego.com
- ↑ roberta-home.de ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ dienxteebene.blogspot.de
- ↑ http://robotsquare.com/2013/07/16/ev3-nxt-compatibility/
- ↑ Mindstorms EV3: Lego announces new robotics kit . Heise online . Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ↑ Jetro de Château: The new MINDSTORMS is here! In: HispaBrick Magazine, June 12, 2020 , accessed June 14, 2020
- ↑ Build a robot. - Mindstorms LEGO.com. Retrieved June 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Website for the World Robot Olympiad from “Technikitzt e. V. "
- ^ "Hands on Technology" website for Central Europe: first lego league
