LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 2.0 by LEGO Systems

The LEGO MindStorms Robotics Invention System is easy enough for kids, but powerful enough for high school and university-level students to make impressive use of it. Now you can create programmable robots that navigate obstacles, follow trails, or react to changes in light detected by its sensors. No programming experience is necessary; LEGO's intuitive software helps you along the way. According to LEGO, "A first-time user with basic PC skills can design, program, and build a simple robot within one hour." The box contains 727 LEGO parts, including the RCX "programmable brick", an infrared transmitter for sending programs to your robots, the MindStorms software CD-ROM, a full-color and beautifully-designed builder's guide, two motors, two touch sensors, one light sensor, and a large assortment of LEGO bricks, connectors, wheels, and gears. The RCX Programmable Brick The heart of the MindStorms kit is the RCX programmable brick. About the size of two decks of playing cards, the RCX uses sensors to take input from its environment, process the data, and signal up to three motors to turn on and off in forward or reverse at any one of 8 speeds. This "smart brick" can process over 1000 commands per second. The RCX uses an 8-bit Hitachi H8/3297 microcontroller running at 16MHz. It has 16K of ROM, 512 bytes of SRAM (for firmware) and 32K of external SRAM for your programs. It features a fully multi-tasking operating system (up to 10 simultaneous tasks), three eight-bit timers, three 500 mA outputs, and three inputs. The RCX also houses the battery power. What Can You Invent? What makes MindStorms so elegant is that its simple-to-learn programming can control robots that perform such complex functions. Robot construction is like putting together regular LEGOs, everything snaps together. The instruction book lays out step-by-step plans for seven robots. The MindStorms system has been used to create alarm devices that sense when someone passes through a doorway; coin-sorters that distinguish coins by detecting their diameter, a candy dispenser that dishes up sweets according to simple bar codes, and a wandering robot that takes pictures with an onboard camera. The devices are intelligent enough to follow paths (via markings on the floor), and move around obstacles.