Lego Mindstorms Nxt One Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination

by Eric D. Burdo, Blue ToothKiwi, Christopher R. Smith, et al.

Book Overview

The creative minds behind The NXT STEP blog are back with a brand-new collection of innovative robots. Whether you're just getting started with LEGO robotics or have been building and programming... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593271883
• ISBN13: 9781593271886
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: No Starch Press
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.0" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

AMAZING for the NXT in the GREY and GOLD BOX !

Very Inspiring book, a must for any serious NXT fan who love to learn from the masters by inspecting every aspect of the designs for fun and inspiration (like i do) then it doesn't matter what NXT set you own or is available at school but if the book owner plans on building the actual robots (10 of them) and has little LEGO TECHNIC available beside the parts in the NXT, then you need the first RETAIL NXT kit that has been on sale since 2006. TODAY LEGO repackaged the same NXT brick in a new version 2.0 and changed the parts in the box! So this book may not be the best one to get along with a the new NXT 2.0 kit, the WHITE and BLUE box It is however a great gift to give someone with the original NXT 1.0 (GREY and GOLD box) or someone who just loves any NXT ideas!

Great book for a snowy day!

When Seattle schools were closed for snow (snow!), my son decided to make a project from No Starch Press's new book, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders. We really like this book - it consists of ten projects designed by the contributors to the NXT Step blog. The book is not for absolute beginners, but it's not too advanced if you have some experience with building and programming NXT MINDSTORMS. The projects include an M & M sorter, a NXT version of a Bobcat, and a drag racer. He chose the robot hand project - it's a hand that fits over your own hand; he liked the silly redundancy of the idea - it takes two hands to operate it! Like all the projects, this one has a parts list, an explanation of the project, pictures of the steps, and the programming code. The only criticism he had was that the pictures were in black-and-white, and a little dark, so it was sometimes difficult to see exactly what parts were needed. You can see the robot hand in action in the video - it rotates in both directions, and it's surprisingly dexterous. We really liked the fact that each project uses only the parts that come with the basic NXT MINDSTORMS kit; we've started projects from other books that turned out to require lots of other parts only available in really expensive and hard to find educational kits. Since there are nine authors, the projects represent a variety of approaches - it's like learning from a team of teachers. The projects are complete in themselves, but each project has suggestions for modifying the designs, and the authors encourage kids to think creatively and explore further. The book is full of fun projects, and gives kids tools to help create their own designs. We look forward to building more projects!

If you have to choose one book to go with your NXT, get this book

I pre-ordered this as this book had a bike in it. The book arrived on Thursday - way later than I expected. But it was worth the wait. And yes - it was the autonomous bike that my 11 year old boy built first - and suprisingly (given its complexity) without any adult help. It is such a cool bike that my son does not want to take it apart to build the Bobcat, self parking car and the dragster (which is the model you see on the front cover). Any way - back to the book: - Quality of models: very good seletion from easy to moderately hard - Build Instructions: Extremely good - though it is black and white - Programming instructions: OK - Might need some help with younger kids - but OK. It would be nice if the publisher had the programs downloadable - it is a bit of a drag following the steps for a 11 year old. Overall, I love the models even from an adult point of view - a good combinations of machines and vehicles. The right balance of fun and learning through discovery. Only downside is it does not have any animals. I never given a 5 star for a book before - but this one has earned it! Highly reccomended. Stan

Good stuff, for a change

It's dangerous to recommend an nxt book when you haven't built any of its models, but I'm going to take a chance and give "nxt One-Kit Wonders" an enthusiastic recommendation. (For those who might be confused, this book was originally titled "The LEGO MindStorms nxt Idea Book volume 2".) Quality-wise, nxt books are all over the place. There are near-disasters ("LEGO MindStorms nxt Hacker's Guide") and bitter disappointments ("Advanced nxt -- the Da Vinci Inventions Book" -- where are the robot knight and autonomous cart?). Rare are the books that actually deliver on their promises, such as "Creating Cool MindStorms nxt Robots". (The failure to provide a JohnNXT parts list showing which additional parts are needed is my only gripe. Coming up with your own list will drive you crazy.) "nxt One-Kit Wonders" is one of the best. The Candy-Picker is the first nxt device I've seen that doesn't use the computer brick. It exploits the high efficiency of the nxt motors (the RIS motors are similarly efficient) to allow a human-turned motor to power the picker. The SPC (self-parking car), GrabBot, and "the bike" are particularly appealing because they're excellent examples of autonomous behavior, the thing that (for most people) distinguishes a true robot from other machinery. Each project ends with a "further exploration" list of modifications or enhancements readers might wish to challenge themselves with. The printing quality is very good, lacking the muddy grays and blacks that afflict too many RIS and nxt books and make assembly drawings hard to interpret. The programming panels are small, but related blocks are almost always on the same page. Strongly recommended.