Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Experience with Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0

We are planning on getting DS the Mindstorms for his 9th birthday in a few weeks. He has taken a few classes using the Mindstorm predecessor. He has built and programmed simple machines.

I am looking for input on additional sensors and books with plans to build more things. Quite a few of these books pop up on Amazon when I view the Mindstorms. Are the books worth the $$? Which ones should we get? What additional sensors or accessories should we get?

Also, how do you suggest we store it? Should I plan on plastic totes? I thought that the plastic boxes with sections might be good to keep the parts separated - the type sold in craft stores?

Thank you!

For building and understanding gears, etc., I think the "building robots with lego mindstorms nxt" is good (it's what we've been looking through, although haven't cracked into it deeply yet). It definitely emphasizes the building over the programming, so that might be another angle to look at unless your ds is very comfortable already with that part. Good idea on alternate storage, I never think about stuff like that but it would certainly help things go faster to sort most parts ahead of time.
Hope he enjoys it!

I can't help with book reccomendations personally.

Lego has area representatives that you can talk to. I spoke with someone from lego educate and he was very helpful.

I bought some lego storage containers from lego education to keep sets separate. (I did this a few years back) They have been nice to use.

We purchased Mindstorms NXT educational for Christmas. The boys have dived in and are enjoying the robot. If you buy the educational version, it comes with it's own tote. It also comes with a rechargeable battery and better software. As for the software, I don't have anything to compare it to, so I don't really know if it's better.

If you go onto Lego Education.com [url=http://www.legoeducation.us/store/][/url] they have other robots and activities for the kids to do.

DS nearly 8 received Mindstorms for Christmas - he has asked for it for 3 years and we finally believed he had the computer and reading skills to really do it on his own.

We were right - he started playing with it immediately and was able to do some basic programming. The building aspect is not at all challenging for him - he can build massive lego kits in no time - the programming is harder - but he is learning and the software is pretty intuitive (he has spent a bit of time learning Scratch and that helped).

So far for storage we have just used the box it came in which has been fine - but a plastic tub would be more sturdy. There are not that many pieces (chuckle - compared to all the other lego pieces floating around this house) so while a divided tub would be handy - I wouldn't say it is necessary. We have a few technic kits and I can already see my DS considering poaching pieces for what he wants to build.

He also received "The Mayan Adventure" and because we had to travel after Christmas that came in handy since he couldn't take Mindstorms - instead he read the book portions that make up the story (there is a story thread, and then a building and programming thread). Now he is re-reading the building and programming thread and we are going to start working through the projects. I like this because I think it can be hard to come up with "what do I do with this cool new thing I just got."

So far, the only problem I can see with Mindstorms is that 1)I have to give him more computer time and 2) he seems far less interested in the many other Lego (mostly Star Wars) sets he received from family for Christmas

Cat

Thank you for all of the information! What is the difference between the Education version and the NXT 2.0? Is there a preference from those who own the Mindstorms? I got a bit confused trying to compare to two items?

I will definitely get The Mayan Adventure. I noticed that the author has a second adventure book - The King's Treasure. It was release on Dec 1, 2009. It is the continuing adventures of the character in The Mayan Adventure.

Any insight into the difference between the Educational Resource kit and the standard NXT 2.0 would be greatly appreciated.

The education version doesn't go out of date as quickly and their are more add ons available. I would talk to a rep for more details. good luck

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....e_person_who_posted_about.html#Post64294


you might be interested in this too.

Scratch.com

Oh Boy - DS turned 7 today and we got him the Mindstorm NXT 2.0 and all I can say is please give me strength :-) He spent 3 hours tonight programming just the first beginning robot all over the house. He would set up challenges for himself and then would set to work programming the bot to complete the course he mapped out. Each challenge kept getting harder and longer as he built up the confidence. We had to beg him to stop so that we could have him blow out his birthday candles on the cake.....2 seconds to blow out candles and then right back to programming...My DH is a computer engineer and the two of them have been doing SCRATCH for about a year now so Mindstorm was really quick and easy for DS7 to dive into.
His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw just how many things he can build and the sky seems to be the limit on what you can make them do :-) I have this feeling that we will be programming all day tomorrow, and the next day and the next.... and I had better stock up on some batteries or look at getting the rechargable battery pack...he already found the website that showed all the add-ons you can buy including the compass adapter that allows your robot to know which direction it is heading...we are in serious trouble!! :-)

Try gettin him into a LEGO team. I think he would really love it. My dd9 joined one last year it has been an incredible experience for her. FLL is for 9-14 years old, but I believe they have a league for younger ones. You can find more info at www.USFIRST.ORG