Lego Mindstorm NXT robots are smarter and stronger than ever!

Lego just announced their Mindstorm NXT which is (gulp) "smarter, stronger, and more intuitive than ever." The new toolset features a wide range of sensors allowing your bot to now sense and react to sounds and movement with improved reaction to both light and touch. The heart of the system is the NXT brick -- a 32-bit microprocessor which can be programmed by PC or now, Mac. The brick is USB 2.0 or Bluetooth enabled allowing for wireless instruction download -- sweet. Once programmed, the robot "then takes on a life of its own, fully autonomous from the computer." Hmm that reminds us, it's probably no coincidence that Lego made their NXT mascot above resemble Johnny 5 who, you will recall developed consciouness just long enough to feel the fear of being cast opposite Ally Sheedy. So think twice about programming in self-awareness, mkay?

[Thanks, tempusmaster]

[oBLIQUE @ Jan 5th 2006 3:24PM]

Looks like johnny 5 with an ipod on his chest

[Jay @ Jan 5th 2006 3:24PM]

Johnny Five is alive!!!

[Ruben @ Jan 5th 2006 3:25PM]

i remember having one of these when i was younger, i think its still in my closet somewhere. this thing was fun i think this one might be funner. i might buy this just to bring back the memories

[macstibs @ Jan 5th 2006 3:31PM]

I for one welcome my dog's new overlord.

[TracyInCary @ Jan 5th 2006 3:42PM]

You think he's afraid of being in a film with Ally Sheedy, when STEVE GUTENBERG is around? That guy's name is synonymous with "bad movie".

[Ben @ Jan 5th 2006 3:46PM]

The original Mindstorms was fantastic - and hacked to oblivion in an instant (Java programming anyone?). Lego originally tried to stop the hacking, but then saw sense and left the platform open. I really hope Lego embraces the hackers again with this one.

[Takashi @ Jan 5th 2006 3:50PM]

I'm not even into most Mindstorm stuff, but somehow I want one of these.

[Pedro @ Jan 5th 2006 3:51PM]

I for one welcome my tiny digital overload.

[delerious @ Jan 5th 2006 3:55PM]

OMG!! I hope this is what I see next in FIRST Lego competitions. A new division of two legged lego bots. And Mindstorms, from what I've known, has had a programming software available for the Mac for some time now. One of my friends has had the PC/Mac disk for a few months.

[Fatima @ Jan 5th 2006 4:25PM]

Ah yes i remember when i got the first gen mindstorms 8yrs ago...good times.



Nice to see how far they got since then.

[bolinfest @ Jan 5th 2006 4:53PM]

Did anyone ever get a version of the original Mindstorms software than ran on anything beyond Windows 98? I think if you had 2000 or later, leJOS was the only way to go, no?

[GoRobotics.net @ Jan 5th 2006 5:23PM]

Well, at least this version will run on a MAC out-of-box. Not sure about Linux though.

[Drewsef @ Jan 5th 2006 5:24PM]

rob0tz!

[rasterpix @ Jan 5th 2006 5:28PM]

Does it scream "No Disassemble!!" when you try to take it apart?

[Andrew donnellan @ Jan 5th 2006 5:36PM]

The real question is: does it run linux?

[mike @ Jan 5th 2006 5:41PM]

I am very pumped for this...



8 bit RCX to a 32 bit RCX is crazy...



newer sensors (that work much better) and more ports



looks like there can be a nice re-write or update to BrickOS...

[Justin Bell @ Jan 5th 2006 6:25PM]

Man, I wish I had these Lego kits when I was a kid.

[tempusmaster @ Jan 5th 2006 6:42PM]

It's a total revamp of Mindstorms - new controller, new mechanics, new software - almost everything. With the original Mindstorms it took hours to get your first robot up and running. With NXT the goal is for a novice to be able to get their first robot running within 20 minutes. Even the sensors have been redesigned - http://www.robots-dreams.com/2006/01/taking_it_to_th.html - and improved. The risk is that they will lose some of the existing Mindstorms fans since there is no compatability between the old Mindstorms and NXT. But they've enlisted a lot of the key fans, like the guy that did the Lego version of a Segway - the Legway - to advise and guide the NXT development. Right now they are inviting people to apply for 100 slots as part of the user/developer team - http://www.robots-dreams.com/2006/01/legor_mindstorm.html which will generate a huge amount of designs, content, and enthusiasm before the product hits store shelves in August.

[Galley @ Jan 5th 2006 8:34PM]

I'm sporting a tremendous woody!

[Dave @ Jan 6th 2006 12:04AM]

Ruben, you had a Johnny Five in your closet?

I am standing here beside myself.

[PowerMacX @ Jan 7th 2006 3:13AM]

A lot of improvements, but sadly the biggest shortcoming is for the most part still there: Only 3 motors & 3 generic sensor inputs (+ a new one for the ultrasound aka Johnny 5-head sensor).

Still, 32bits, Bluetooth, better motors & sensors, all good. Plus, Mac compatibility out-of-the-box is nice, although it was available in the form of NQC (Not Quite C) on the Mindstorms 2.0 set (not made by Lego though) as well as other free third party software.

[yamarnez @ Jan 7th 2006 10:06AM]

Yahoooooo, an I now have a kid, who is almost big anough for me to have a perfect excuse to buy this nice toys. (I mean, he is almost 3 months old ;-)

[TImerider @ Jan 9th 2006 3:36PM]

Sweet! Now has official Mac support! Now I can beg for it.

[Jason Anderson @ Jan 30th 2006 8:42PM]

I want it!