LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders: Ten Inventions to Spark Your Imagination |  | Authors: James Floyd Kelly, Matthias Paul Scholz, Christopher R. Smith, Martijn Boogaarts, Jonathan Daudelin, Eric D. Burdo, Laurens Valk, BlueTooth Kiwi
Creator: Fay Rhodes
Publisher: No Starch Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Rating:  19 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 408
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 8 x 1.1
ISBN: 1593271883
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.892
EAN: 9781593271886
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Product Description
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 robots for years, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders is packed with new and exciting techniques, advice, and robots that guarantee awesome results. And best of all, you'll only need one NXT Retail kit to build all ten of them! LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders will make it simple for you to construct even the most complex of these ten robots, all while you learn the ins and outs of the NXT kit. You'll learn to build and program: - CandyPicker, a candy-picking robot with built-in generator and remote control
- PunchBot, a robot that you program using old-fashioned punchcards
- M, a robot that sorts your M&M candies by color
- NXT Dragster, a super-fast racecar that will take you all the way to the drag strip
- BobBot, a versatile skid-steer loader, equipped with a ball grabber or demolition claw
- RoboLock, a security system for your robots
- The Hand, a robotic replacement hand to protect you from those dangerous cleanup jobs, like picking up your brother's gym socks
- SPC, a robotic vehicle that can park itself between two objects using front-wheel drive
- GrabBot, a robot that finds, grabs, lifts and moves objects autonomously
- The Bike, a two-wheeled robot that can balance and steer
Armed with the knowledge you gain from this book, you'll be inventing your own amazing creations in no time. Requirements: One LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set (LEGO set #8527). Make sure you have this set, and not the NXT 2.0 set (#8547), which has different building elements.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
 Robots that spark your imagination - In action video December 20, 2008
Laurens Valk (The Netherlands)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2P0OQOI25417F If you're interested in LEGO Mindstorms NXT, you should take a look at the robots in this video review. LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders has the building and programming instructions for these robots, and many more.
There are no parts needed other than those in the NXT kit, making this book the ideal expansion to your Mindstorms NXT set.
::IMPORTANT NOTE::
This book is written for the original LEGO Mindstorms NXT (#8527) set, and requires the LEGO parts from just this one kit.
As a result, it is NOT COMPATIBLE with the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (8547) version which has a different selection of LEGO parts, and came out in 2009.
When we (the authors) wrote this book in 2007-2008, we were not even aware of a possible new version of the MINDSTORMS NXT system, the NXT 2.0 in this case. We couldn't anticipate on this new kit, so the robots in this book were simply designed for the NXT (#8527). Unfortunately, the difference isn't well advertised, and NXT 2.0 set owners buy this book. It turns out that this leads to negative reviews which do not review our book, but rate the unexpected difference between the LEGO kits.
Before you buy any LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT book, carefully check which kit version you have, by following the links in this review above. If you still have the paper box that the set came in, you can tell the difference between the kits as well. The older NXT box is mostly orange (and says 8527), and the new NXT 2.0 (8547) is mostly blue. Note that if you do have the MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0, you are still able to buy an appropriate book for the kit. Just search on Amazon and check whether the book title contains "NXT 2.0". If it does, get such a book with your NXT 2.0 kit.
If you have the MINDSTORMS NXT (8527) kit, get this book!
If you have to choose one book to go with your NXT, get this book December 6, 2008
Stan Walker (USA)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
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
Great book for a snowy day! January 23, 2009
Patti R. Schiendelman
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!
Good stuff, for a change December 5, 2008
William Sommerwerck (Renton, WA USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
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.
AMAZING for the NXT in the GREY and GOLD BOX ! December 16, 2009
Marc Andre Bazergui (Montreal, QC, CANADA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
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