Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.892526
EAN: 9781590590638
Edition: 2
ISBN: 1590590635
Label: Apress
Manufacturer: Apress
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: November 11, 2002
Publisher: Apress
Release Date: September 18, 2008
Studio: Apress
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
LEGO blocks, originally mere children's toys, have everything to do with expressing creativity within a structured system. There are rules about how pieces fit together, but almost anything can be created within those restrictions. Building with LEGO blocks is a lot like writing software (a similarity Douglas Coupland emphasizes in Microserfs). Small wonder, then, that LEGO Mindstorms have been such a huge hit. In Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms, the reader gets an introduction to what Mindstorms robots can do, particularly in terms of sensing their environment and reacting to it.
Baum invented Not Quite C (NQC), a language that's closer to standard C than LEGO's standard RCX Code programming language. He uses both NQC and RCX code in this book to show how to build and program a series of increasingly capable Mindstorms robots. He starts with Tankbot, a single-minded critter that navigates its programmed route without regard for obstacles. Later chapters detail Bugbot (which uses insect-like feelers to sense obstacles and employs code to navigate around them), Linebot (which follows a dark line using optical sensors), and Scanbot (which heads toward the brightest light its swiveling head can find). A very cool Vending Machine robot dispenses small candies in response to infrared signals or a pattern of bumps on a card. Several other equally nifty robots (there are 14 in total) get the same attention, which includes information on their mechanical construction and their operating software.
Rather than rely on photographs, Baum uses computer-generated drawings of the various mechanical components. These show how the parts fit together with as much clarity as you can expect from a two-dimensional model, though exploded views might make certain assemblies even easier to understand.
Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms will prime your creative thought processes as you begin to design your own Mindstorms robots. It's a great introduction to Mindstorms for kids and grownups alike. --David Wall
Topics covered: Building and programming LEGO Mindstorms robots, including the functions of the various mechanical pieces, the operation of motors, and the capabilities of sensors. On the logical side, there are introductions to both LEGO's RCX Code language and Baum's own Not Quite C (NQC). The rest takes the form of a Mindstorms laboratory, in which Baum guides the reader through the creation of increasingly "smart" robots. Baum's code works with Mindstorms 1.0 and 1.5.
Product Description:
The LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System kit enables anyone to build programmable robots with an assortment of LEGO pieces that snap, slide, and click into place. In this exciting second edition from MINDSTORMS expert Dave Baum, you'll be able to take your robotics experiments to a new level.
Baum takes you step-by-step through the entire process of building and programming MINDSTORMS robots using both LEGO's RCX code and the author's own, more powerful programming language, Not Quite C (NQC). This edition has been updated with new programs that take advantage of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System 2.0 and includes instructions for building 14 different robots including Tankbot, Bugbot, and Brick Sorter.
With Definitive Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS, Second Edition, you will master the challenging yet always fun creation of your own robots from the ground up!
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I found the projects interesting and the introduction to Not Quite C NQC excellent. The author demonstrates how to connect the touch sensors and light sensors physically and then add programming code to control the logic that produces power from the central processor to a motor that powers a gear. The basics are simple to understand and the project increase in sophistication and complexity.
The book explains explains different types of gear ratios, differential gear combinations, power and speed gear ratios, pulleys, power connections, stop latch, levels, frames, sound, and how to simulate an actuator like a grabber.
The robotic behavior can be either conditional or remote controlled. I'm a programmer and this book helped me break into the world of robot programming, signal programming, multitask abstraction, and signal processing without having construct the hardware.
Lego Mindstorm is a much easier and faster way to build simple robots verses ... Read More
Rating:  -
This is a first impression, and may be upgraded later. The textual content, including appendices, is good. Unfortunately, the illustrations have inadequate contrast, and are difficult to interpret even under very bright light. This is due to extensive and unnecessary use of gray scale, both in assembly drawings and flow charts(!). While it is quite possible that Apress printed the grayscale much darker than Mr. Baum intended, I believe the decision to use gray scale at all was flawed. On the other hand, the use of isometric ("3D") projections is entirely appropriate. If reprinted with isometric line drawings (no gray scale) I'd probably rate it 5 stars (especially if I could trade in my gray scale version).
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