Introduction to the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0

A Lego Mindstorms kit is composed of a “smart” brick, sensors, motors and standard Lego pieces. The brick executes programs (developed on a computer) that read information from the sensors and control the motors.

The first generation of the Lego Mindstorms was called “RCX” (Robotics Command eXplorer) and was first sold in 1998. The RCX brick was yellow and has the following characteristics:

• 1 LCD screen,
• 4 buttons,
• 3 input ports for the sensors,
• 3 output ports for the motors,
• 1 infrared transmitter,
• 1 speaker.

RCX brick (source: Wikipedia)

The second generation, called “NXT”, is available since 2006. I’ve owned this kit since few weeks.

My "Lego Mindsorms NXT 2.0" box

This kit contains the new NXT brick which has the following characteristics:

• 1 LCD screen,
• 4 buttons,
• 4 input ports for the sensors,
• 3 output ports for the motors,
• embedded bluetooth,
• 1 USB communication link.

NXT brick

In the sold kit, you will find, in addition to the NXT brick:

• 3 servo motors,
• 1 ultrasonic sensor,
• 2 touch sensors,
• 1 color sensor,
• 612 Lego pieces.

Servo motor

Ultrasonic sensor

Touch sensors

Color sensor

Sources:

• Official website: http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx.
• Official shop: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-2-0-8547?c=LEGO-MINDSTORMS-ByTheme.
• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms.