 
The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor's Guide
Rating:  -
I'm a coach of a FIRST LEGO League team and I bought this book to help my son "get to the next level." I am making this book mandatory for every team member next season! It is informative, yet easy to read. It covers all the bases from good robot design to programming explanations. I can't recommend it enough!
Rating: -
This "Unofficial" book is very good. David does a great job of showing exactly how to build each project with informative snapshots from the program Lego Digital Designer. The programming was missing a little of information on what to fill in the for each module, but his comments provided enough information to fill in the modules. I did have a question for David and he responded with the answer I was looking for.
Rating: -
This is a great beginner/intermediate level book for both kids and adults. The building section is excellent at explaining HOW to use the technic pieces. The programming section is a very good primer for those new to the NXT-G programming environment and language. It sets you up well for the building & programming projects found later in the book. As a middle school teacher running a robotics club, I set some of my more advanced 6th graders to work on whatever project they wanted to from the book. They jumped into taking on the guard-bot and the golf-bot which are the more advanced projects. With little guidance from me, they were very successful and had a blast. That shows how well written and designed the book is!
Rating: -
The Unofficial Lego Mindstorms NXT Inventors Guide
Author: David J. Perdue
website: http://www.davidjpredue.com ; http://www.nxtguidedavidjpredue.com
Strengths: Very nice schematics, parts listings and visuals to highlight or the parts for the machines. Easily readable. Good for novice robot builders but also advanced users will find it helpful as well.
Weaknesses: The book has black/white text.
Novice/Intermediate/Advanced
Rating: 5/5
reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher, Olathe, KS: (dreric1kansas@aol.com)
Introduction
I have been working with robot kits for many years. I started with the Fischertecknik robot turtle which I built and was able to use with the logo interface with my Apple IIE. Later on I heard about Lego Mindstorms and bought a set to use. It was tough going and after much delay because of the programming and the light issues with the brick, I was able to get legos finally working. Since then, I have worked with several kits and working with PC and Macintosh interfacing. But I was still looking for more a more helpful guides to build more interesting robots. I think I found one in The Unofficial Lego Mindstorms NXT Inventors Guide.
This author David J. Perdue knows his stuff and Lego Mindstorms. He has been creating MINDSTORMS since 2001 and just won the NXT Camera Bot Building Challenge competition and is the author of Competitive MINDSTORMS (Apress, 2004). He has received three Special Mention awards for his creations on the official online MINDSTORMS and is a full time student, pursuing a degree in Management information Systems in Texas. So I opened the book to see what else I could find out and how I could use the book for my LegoMindstorms in the future.
In the beginning, it was difficult to use Mindstorms. For me the kit did not work at all. Working with Macintosh was not an option. There were minimal additional information for working with the robots beyond the parts, software and initial schematics. I had to use a PC. This version works with PC (needs Windows XP or higher and will or already have shipped Vista version) or Macintosh OSX (version 103.9 and higher). It was not until later that I learned from a Legos salesman that the light in the room could be an issue. Its little things like this that kept me and possible others, from doing more with robotics.
I was hoping that the book started with novice programmers and robot creators. This books has "novice " beginning information so this book can be used with those who are new to Lego Mindstorms or are upgrading to the NXT version. It is good to know that this advanced robotic author, is "down to earth" with his writing and when "speaking" the language of robots. I have not upgraded to the NXT version yet and so and wanted to see whether it is would be worth upgrading myself but if so how and what ways could the robots be used with this new version.
The black and white screenshots are integrated within the instruction. The visuals are large enough to read and decipher what you need to know. The lack of color does not really hurt. I really liked the screenshots and illustrations listings of the parts for assembly. However it would have been nice if they were in color (the parts are a multitude or colors. Tables do however include numbers, piece names and the place color however. When you need more information about the parts, they are all there listed and illustrated/ photographed.
Throughout the book, there are helpful ideas in the way of bold notes that are "peppered" throughout the tutorials. In addition, there are pointers that go along with the "balloons " which have text inside of them about related to the robot parts. Circles and arrows highlight the illustrated areas in the screenshots that the author is clearly targeting for his instructions. This makes the understanding of the parts even more explicit.
The introduction introduces Lego Mindstorms, NXT, building , programming and starting and working with robotic projects. Here is an outline of the chapters and what is in store for you.
Part I in entitled "Introduction to LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT". In the Chapter 1, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT starts off with building robots, the programming of robots, activating robots and what can you do with robots and NXT. Chapter 2 is includes solid but easy to understand information about starting with the NXT robotic set.
Part II illustrates the building with 4 chapters. There is electronic pieces, understanding the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT pieces, the need and building sturdy structures, and working with and building with gears
Programming section is in Part III . Chapter 7 introduction has a nice introduction to the NXT-G system. Later 3 chapters involve advanced NXT-G programming a. There is also more in the form of unofficial programming languages for the NXT.
Part IV involves 6 robot projects and that is where your in-depth robotic education really begins. You are taught the author's Mindstorms method, and working with 6 nice in-depth but easy to understand projects.
Appendices are good resources. Appendix A has LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT piece library. The Appendix B NXT-G has nice quick reference guide section that includes information for advanced programming to perform more intricate tasks. The author details a lot of the complexity, not only with words but also visually illustrates how to and in what ways to to complete the array of blocks, sensors and programming information. While it is not easy to learn, this section takes you "once step at a time". Appendix C informs with other internet resources.
Conclusions
I recommend this book highly for its in-depth tutorials, the visual schematics and the quality of the reading that makes the information well understood. No one said building robots was easy but with this book, you will learn and go further than you thought you could achieve. What I like about this book and the way the author has crafted this book is that he actually invited you to build robots in a none intimidating way. The in-depth information, the visual assemblies and tables, and the easy to read information along with the tutorials will allow you not only start but develop your skills in robot building. You will learn to be creative but at the same learning the logic of the machines and how to build robotics. I know there are many books that teach Lego Mindstorms out there but I am glad I chose this one first.
Rating: -
I love the Lego Mindstorm kits, and I've always enjoyed No Starch Press's books. So I was excited to hear about their Unofficial Lego Mindstorms NXT Inventor's Guide (ULMNIG). These are two great tastes that taste great together.
Unfortunately, I was led a bit astray by the title. "Inventor's Guide", to me, summons mental images of crazy legos hacks, but that's not the goal of this book.
In the introduction, the ULMNIG describes its true intentions--taking you beyond the user guide and instructions that came with the Mindstorm kit. It does not assume any previous experience with Lego or Mindstorms, but helps you explore a broader range or projects and possibilities.
As an entry level book, I think the ULMNIG overwhelmingly succeeds.
The book starts with a description of the lego pieces, then provides basic guidelines for building sturdy structures and functional gear trains. For me, this was the weakest part of the book. Don't get me wrong. It has solid information, and should be useful for beginning builders. But it felt too short and too superficial for my tastes.
The ULMNIG then spends two chapters exploring the NXT-G programming language in detail. If you are going to use NXT-G, then you need to read these chapters. They provide a lot of information that will help you get the most out of your Mindstorm brick. They are also much clearer and more informative than the user manual. Reading these chapters will save you from hours of frustrating trial and error.
Finally the last half of the book covers six new robot designs. Four of these designs are radically different from each other. One is a differential drive with a ball castor. One is a four-wheeled steering vehicle. One is a six-legged walking motion sensor, and one is a stationary bot. There are also two variations on the differential-drive bot.
This gives you a nice combination of projects. The designs increase in complexity, allowing you to improve your skills as you progress through them. Building them will teach you a wide range of design techniques, while the variations show you how you can modify existing designs for other purposes.
The projects are definitely the highlight of the book. Working through the projects will teach you more about building robots than the rest of the book combined. And, once your finished, you should be ready to jump into your own projects.
Unfortunately, advanced builders/programmers might find themselves somewhat disappointed with this book. The ULMNIG hints at several advanced topics: building dynamic structures and third party programming languages. Unfortunately, these only get the briefest introduction. A few paragraphs each, tops. And the ULMNIG doesn't even mention other advanced topics, like third-party sensors and hardware, or attaching your own circuits to the NXT brick.
So, I would not recommend this book for everyone. But, if you've finished all the projects in the Mindstorm Users Guide, but your still struggling to build your own robots, then this is definitely the book for you.
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