Product Description

Build and Program Over 20 Challenging Design Projects in Just 30 Minutes Each with the New Generation of LEGO® MINDSTORMS®

More powerful and intuitive than ever, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT is a new robotics toolset that enables robot enthusiasts and hobbyists to build and program all kinds of projects. The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Hacker's Guide explores this new generation of LEGO MINDSTORMS, providing a collection of projects, how-to expertise, insider tips, and over 500 illustrations to help readers become expert NXT hackers.

This cutting-edge guide describes new advances that make LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT such a great robotics resource. The book explains the all-new NXT intelligent brick…the interactive servo motors with rotation sensors that align speed for precise control…the ultrasonic sensor that allows robots to “see” by responding to movement…the improved light and touch sensors that let robots detect color and feel…and much more. The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Hacker's Guide features:

• Expert, insightful commentary by a member of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Developer Program
• A hands-on account of the new technologies and expanded sensor capabilities of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT
• A collection of 10 hacking projects with step-by-step instructions for creating things ranging from solar power to ZigBee® technology to tank tread feet [“projects” appears twice.]
• A portfolio of 12 exciting design projects featuring R. Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome, Rem Koolhaas' Seattle Central Library, and the world's first NXT wristwatch
• Complete disclosure about a “secret” game that is hidden inside every LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit
• An in-depth guide to the NXT programming language
• A special LEGO factory kit offer available only for readers of this book

Inside This Groundbreaking NXT Reference

• Your First Robot • Stupid RCX Tricks • Save Your RIS • As Smart as a Brick • MOVE IT! With Servo Motors • Hmm, I Sense Something • Yes, But I Don't Know How to Program • Testing, Testing; Oh, Trouble Shoot • Katherine's Best Hacking Projects • Katherine's Design Fun House • NXT Programming Language Guide • NXT Elements • NXT Resources

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #499500 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 459 pages

From the Back Cover
Build and Program Over 20 Challenging Design Projects with the New Generation of LEGO® MINDSTORMS®

More powerful and intuitive than ever, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT is a new robotics toolset that enables you to build and program all kinds of projects. The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Hacker's Guide explores this new generation of LEGO® MINDSTORMS®, providing a collection of projects, how-to expertise, insider tips, and over 500 illustrations to help you become an expert NXT hacker.

YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT:

• The all-new NXT intelligent brick
• The interactive servo motors with rotation sensors that align speed for precise control
• The ultrasonic sensor that allows robots to "see" by responding to movement
• The improved light and touch sensors that let robots detect color and feel

LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT HACKER'S GUIDE FEATURES:

• 20+ projects that can each be completed in just 30 minutes
• Expert, insightful commentary by a member of the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Developer Program
• A hands-on account of the new technologies and expanded sensor capabilities of LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT
• A collection of 10 hacking projects with step-by-step instructions
• A portfolio of 12 exciting design projects featuring R. Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome, Rem Koolhaas' Seattle Central Library, and the world's first NXT wristwatch
• Complete disclosure about a "secret" game that is hidden inside every LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit
• An in-depth guide to the NXT programming language
• A special LEGO factory kit offer available only to readers of this book

Inside This Groundbreaking NXT Reference:
* Your First Robot * Stupid RCX Tricks * Save Your RIS * As Smart as a Brick * MOVE IT! With Servo Motors * Hmm, I Sense Something * Yes, But I Don't Know How to Program * Testing, Testing: On, Trouble Shoot * Katherine's Best Hacking Projects * Katherine's Design Fun House * NXT Programming Language Guide * NXT Elements * NXT Resources

About the Author

Dave Prochnow is an award-winning professional writer, editor, and contributor to numerous technical publications including MAKE, Nuts and Volts, and SERVO. He is the author of 26 nonfiction book titles for Addison-Wesley, F&W Publications, McGraw-Hill, and TAB Books; including the bestselling PSP Hacks, Mods, and Expansions (McGraw-Hill, 2006) and The Official Robosapien Hacker’s Guide (McGraw-Hill, 2006). In 2001, Dave won the Maggie Award for writing the best how-to article in a consumer magazine.

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Customer Reviews

JUNK!
What can be said that hasn't already been said but what the heck does building a library of leg bricks have to do with NXT? This author is a hack himself, THIS BOOK HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH hacking with NXT, Do not waste a dollar!

total waste of time
I got this book along with NXT set as a gift, so I was very excited to learn about mindstorms a bit out of manual. The book turned out to be jumpy, full with unrelated photographs, trivial or non-helping 'hacks', unfinished projects, and cheese illustrations. At least half of the book is totally unrelated to NXT. Language in which the book is written is supposed to be funny dialogue, but is actually outright shallow. I would not recommend this book.

What a turkey!
I bought this book (in person) not having heard about the infamous "all 1's" ratings on Amazon. A highly gifted Mindstorms building friend told me I'd managed to pick up the worst of all the books available for LEGO building.

I thought, "there must be SOME redeeming quality to this book," and indeed, the first few chapters seemed like a good read about the history and context of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT building.

Only then I did I realize what a "hack" this book is. What a "hack" the author is. And what a waste of time and money the entire experience has been. The first few chapters that I read with such interest contain no new insight into the history of the Mindstorms concept or line, and in fact read like a half-hearted attempt at a high school term paper on the history of a toy the author may have experienced at a friend's house.

The hacks included are hardly worthy of the name, and the entire product feels like an attempt to continue the "rep" of a poser trying to maintain his "cool" as hacker extraordinaire. It doesn't read like the author knows much of anything about the subject-at-hand. It in fact opens with an insult thrown at a much better (and better received) book on programming the NXT.

If you're in the market for an NXT book, buy the one he attempts to insult. Buy ANY other book on NXT than this one, in fact.