Questions on or help for NXT books?

Recently, I received a negative rating on amazon.com for my NXT-related book Advanced NXT: The da Vinci Inventions Book where the reader complained about the comprehensibility of some of the building instructions to him and his students.
Although a negative comment is something any author has to get along with, and although I do agree with him that some of those instructions have their weak points (as a result of the trade-off I was forced to make between the depth of detail and the volume of the book), I am nevertheless grieved that he never contacted me for support on that matter - in the book, I state on various occasions that every reader is welcome to contact me via my contact page and ask for help with points that are unclear to him/her, for other questions, suggestions or in general for any feedback to the book.
Like most authors of books, it is my desire that every reader should not get frustrated but make the best from the book, and hence I try to provide help or answers to any questions that I receive via the contact page (or any other channel) as soon as possible.

So I again encourage everyone of you who has bought the book but feels the need for help: please use that way of contacting me at your leisure.

Same goes for The LEGO(R) MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book: me and my fellow authors are grateful for any hint, suggestion or question you have regarding it - you can use our forum for that (and some readers of the book have already done and received help there).

In general, that appeals to any (NXT) book around: most of the authors have spent a lot of their time, energy and heart on them and want to see their readers taking benefit of their efforts - and after all, you spent your money for a book, so why not use that option?

Thank you,
MP

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 2

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these summer and fall remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Remote controlled material handle r by Jozua van Ravenhorst (aka Mr Jo) This remix combines the LEGO Technic Material Handler (42144) with MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313) It uses the power of pneumatic cylinders to move objects around. By using a bluetooth remote control, very precise movements can be made with this model. Touch sensors in the base chassis prevent the turret twisting the cables that go through the turntable to much. The program has several protections to prevent over pressurizing the system for each of the 3 individual pumps and valves that control the 2 booms and claws. The real version of this machine is mostly used in waste material sites to bring the material to machines that sort and

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by Coder Shah in our MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity. 1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT

MINDSTORMS Retires!

2023 is the 25th Anniversary of the MINDSTORMS brand. For 25 years, MINDSTORMS has educated and inspired a generation of robot builders, both children and adults. Unfortunately, the LEGO Group decided to end the line on December 2022. Many ROBOTMAK3RS have been passionately involved with the development of MINDSTORMS through the MUP and MCP programs. Even with the newest Robot Inventor line, several ROBOTMAK3RS were invited to submit additional bonus models that were included in the official app. Regardless of the retirement of a major LEGO robotics product line, ROBOTMAK3RS continue to MAKE-SHARE-INSPIRE using all LEGO robotics platforms available to us. Here is the official statement from LEGO. Since its launch in September 1998, LEGO MINDSTORMS has been one of the core ‘Build & Code’ experiences in the company’s portfolio, carrying with it significant brand equity and becoming a stand-out experience for the early days of consumer robotics and leading to current Build & Code

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