Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms

In My Opinion, this book is the Bible to people that use the lego mindstorms systems. I am a junior in high school, and this book gave me the ideas to go and put together an award winning robot for our school systems science fair. In fact, it gave me the key to a full scholarship at the local engineering school, since I am the first and only person to ever make a robot for the fair in their 20+ year history, AND the fact that I attracted people to my booth, judges and all with my playing the Matrix { THE BEST MOVIE } on my internal dvd. It so impressed the judges, I was even offered a job, but the guy didnt realize I am only 17 ( and got 2 already :-( ). Without the wonderful language Mr. Baum provided and the book to add to it, I would be a loser for real. All thanx are owed to him and to the invento of the lego system, whoever and wherever you are. Lego has been an addicting force in my life for years, I have my brothers sets from the 80's when he was a kid and Just add to the "Pile" (or so my moms calls it) of legos whenever something new and kewl comes out. Since my introduction to mindstorms, I have purchased 2 kits, and all the add-ons, All thanx to Mr. BaumThank you for reading on this far, although I bet ya just are scrolling past this juvenile hack of a coment as fast as you can.. I dont careAl

This book was, and still is, a pure pleasure. It ranges from the very basic gear-up gear-down and bracing / support constructs to the more complex inter-RCX communications. Dave Baum has done a wonderful job of bridging the basics to give the reader the tools to build more complex creations. The book points out many tools and resources for mindstorm aficionados and is not self centered on the author's creation, NQC. Many diagrams help with the actual construction on the robots, and engineering trade-offs are covered for each design. All in all, this book is a wonderful supplement to the mindstorms experience.

If you buy a LEGO Mindstorms buy this book. The construction information is excellent and very necessary for a useful robot. The book is good for an 11 year old (my son) as well as an adult. I have found using NQC, the programming language that comes with the book, to control the RCX was much more effective than either the software that comes with the Mindstorms or the ROBO LAB software from Dacta. Over a year ago my son started programs with the RCX with NQC, I wish I had the book then. This is a great way to introduce students to programming because it is fun. The true results of the programming along with the results of the construction techniques provide a great learning environment. The pictures make building much simpler that the books with the LEGO Mindstorms.

Yowza! If you're a pretty good Lego Mindstorms dabbler, this book could put you over the top. It is clearly written, thorough, and best of all - USEFUL! I haven't even cracked the CD open (it contains Baum's NQC - Not Quite C programming language) and have found this book invaluable. From gears and torque to engineering tips, this book is a trove of utility. When my killer robot gets backed into a corner, I know how to get him out. Now if only Lego would make a high energy anti-missile laser to mount on top ...

I really liked this book - even more than the O'Reilly book. The pictures are really clear and so it is easy to follow the directions. The other thing I liked was that the explanations help even if you only know programming but don't know much about engineering.