Lego Mindstorms is named after a book titled Mindstorms: Children, Computer, and Power Ideas published in 1993. Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 was released on August 1, 2009. Together, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 and NXT-G provide you with everything you need to create just about anything you can imagine. Robot creation is a three-step process. First you use Lego bricks to create your robot. Then you use NXT-G to write the program code that makes your creations work. Then you download the program code into the NXT Brick, a small microcomputer that is the brain of your creations, and then step back and watch them come alive.

Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0/NXT-G software runs on Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. It is easy to install and learn. You can download your program code into your creations using a USB cable. If your computer has Bluetooth installed, you can use it to wirelessly download your program code. Examples of the types of creations you can build include things like:

Of course, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 doesn’t limit you to the types of robotic creations listed above. You can use it to create pretty much anything you can imagine.

Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 for Teens has been designed to meet the needs of anyone interested in learning about robotic development using Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0. As this book will show you, building your own robotic creations is a lot of fun. It’s a lot more fun than any robot toy you can buy. This book will not only teach you the basic principles behind good robotic design but will also give you a solid understanding of the programming principles involved in the creation of NXT-G programs. By the time you are done with this book, you will have learned how to create all sorts of cool projects.

Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 is easy enough for kids as young as 10 years old to learn while at the same time is powerful to meet the needs of adults and advanced robotic hobbyists. It provides everything you will need to complete even the most advanced robotic project, including a powerful microcomputer, servo motors, and a variety of sensors that can detect color, light, movement, distance, and touch. Software features include editors that let you download and play sound files on the NXT Brick as well as an image editor that you can use to create graphics and display them on the NXT Brick’s LCD. There is even a remote control application that you can use to control your robots.

While previous robotic development and programming experience is helpful, it is not a requirement of this book. You only need have a good understanding of either Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X to get started. If you know how to operate a computer and are comfortable working with applications like Microsoft Office, you’ll be surprised how quickly you will pick things up.

Advanced robotic developers, on the other hand, will be happy to learn that Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0’s development framework provides everything required to develop advanced projects. As such, it is a great tool for quickly building and testing prototypes. It can be used to create stand-alone robots or robots that are designed to interact with other robots. You can even use certain Bluetooth-enabled telephones to interact with and control your robots. All you need to get up and running quickly is Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 and this book. In no time at all, you will be building and playing with all kinds of robots and mechanized systems and models.

As I mentioned, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 comes in two versions, a retail version that sells for around $280 and an education set. The education set contains everything that the retail version has plus a few additional components. This book is based on the retail version, although the education set can be used if that’s what you have.

The Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 kit comes with everything you need to get started except for a computer, which you will need to develop programs for your projects. Although there are dozens of third-party programming languages with varying levels of complexity that can be used, NXT-G is arguably the simplest and easiest to learn and is the programming language used throughout this book.

The Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 software will run on any of the following versions of Microsoft Windows.

In addition, the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 software will also run on all of the following versions of Mac OS X.

Although various versions of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are supported, this book will demonstrate the execution of NXT-G software on a system running Windows Vista. Regardless of which operating systems you use, the steps you follow and the program code that is generated is the same.

In order to install and operate Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 on a Microsoft Windows system, your computer must meet the minimum hardware requirements listed in the following table. However, for good performance, you will want to make sure that your computer exceeds these requirements.

If, on the other hand, your computer runs on Mac OS X, it must meet the following requirements.

Assuming your Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X computer meets the hardware and software requirements previously outlined, all you need to get started developing your own robotic creations is the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 kit and this book. It won’t take long before you will be creating all kinds of exciting robots, mechanized systems, and models.

This book uses a number of conventions in order to make it easier for you to read and work with the information that is provided. These conventions are as follows.

If you purchased an ebook version of this book, and the book had a companion CD-ROM, you may download the contents from www.courseptr.com/downloads.