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105-422: Lego Mindstorms (sometimes stylized as LEGO MINDSTORMS ) is a discontinued line of educational kits for building programmable robots based on Lego bricks. It was introduced on 1 September 1998 and discontinued on 31 December 2022. Mindstorms kits allow users to build creations that interact with the physical world. All Mindstorms kits consist of a selection of Lego Elements, a "Smart Brick" (internally known as

210-572: A USB interface cable, and the NXT Intelligent Brick. It lets the robot autonomously perform different operations. The kit also includes NXT-G, a graphical programming environment that enables the creation and downloading of programs to the NXT. The software also has instructions for 4 robots: Alpha-Rex (a humanoid), Tri-Bot (a car), Robo-Arm T-56 (a robotic arm), and Spike (a scorpion) The Development of Lego Mindstorms NXT began in 2004. At

315-506: A coaxial power connector (also called a "barrel connector") , 5.5 mm outside, 2.1 mm inside. These were sometimes sold alone and sometimes available as part of other sets such as Lego Set 4563: Load N' Haul Railroad (Year: 1991) and Lego Set 10132: Motorized Hogwarts Express (Year: 2004). The Robotics Discovery Set was a more affordable and simpler package than the Robotics Invention Set. Instead of being based on

420-547: A children's toy, there have also been adult fans of the toys. In 2020, Lego introduced sets aged at 18+, generally some of their more expensive and difficult-to-assemble sets based on real world or fictional objects, such as the Concorde or Rivendell . The timing of these sets favorably aligned with the COVID-19 pandemic , with many adults purchasing these sets to work on during various lockdown periods. Popularity within adults

525-671: A collection of built-in program combinations. In order to program the Scout, a user must enable "power mode" on it. The Scout can store one program. The Scout is based on a Toshiba microcontroller with 32 KB of ROM and 1 KB of RAM, where about 400 bytes are available for user programs. Due to the extremely limited amount of RAM, many predefined subroutines were provided in ROM. The Scout only supports passive external sensors, which means that only touch, temperature and other unpowered sensors can be used. The analog-to-digital converters used in

630-531: A common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk. By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred , had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become

735-454: A computer using a Serial or USB IR tower. As the RCX is discontinued, support for the interface is limited on more recent operating systems than Windows XP. All RCX versions have a unique number printed on them, which could be registered on the now-defunct Lego Mindstorms RCX website. This was necessary to obtain technical support. The first RCX produced is marked "000001," and was on display at

840-530: A height of 149 cm (60 in), which makes it the tallest set and tower but the second in number of parts after the World Map. The company also initiated a robotics line of toys called 'Mindstorms' in 1999, and continued to expand and update this range until it was eventually discontinued in 2022. The roots of the product originated with a programmable brick developed at the MIT Media Lab , and

945-401: A large fan community based around building competitions and custom creations, and a range of films , games , and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund , Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from

1050-1012: A lower age bracket than the FIRST Robotics Competition . FLL teams consist of children between the ages of 9 and 14, and an adult coach. Lego Lego ( / ˈ l ɛ ɡ oʊ / , LEG -oh ; Danish: [ˈle̝ːko] ; stylised as LEGO ) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group , a privately held company based in Billund , Denmark . Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that accompany an array of gears , figurines called minifigures , and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Assembled Lego models can be taken apart, and their pieces can be reused to create new constructions. The Lego Group began manufacturing

1155-619: A partnership between Lego and the MIT Media Laboratory . The educational version of the products is called Mindstorms for Schools or Mindstorms Education , and later versions come with the ROBOLAB GUI -based programming software, developed at Tufts University using the National Instruments LabVIEW as an engine. Due to its user friendliness towards children, Lego Mindstorms has been used as

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1260-527: A platform for several child-oriented robotics competitions, most prominently the FIRST Lego League (FLL), but also World Robot Olympiad or Robocup Junior FIRST Lego League Challenge (founded as FIRST Lego League) is a robotics competition that uses Lego Mindstorms products. It was founded in 1998 concurrent with the launch of LEGO Mindstorms and continues to exist to this day. It is a collaboration between FIRST and The Lego Group to involve

1365-561: A programmable brick or "pbrick"), which serves as the "brain" for a Mindstorms machine. Each set also includes a few attachments for the smart brick (such as motors and sensors) and programming software. Unlike conventional Lego sets, Mindstorms kits do not have a main model to build. Sample builds are included with each version of Mindstorms, but the kit is open-ended with the intent of the user creating and programming their own designs. In addition to at-home use, Mindstorms products are popularly used in schools and in robotics competitions such as

1470-505: A retail price of $ 199. Instead of being sold at toy stores, the product was sold at electronics stores like BestBuy and CompUSA , due to the relatively high cost of the set. The entire production run (of between 60,000 and 100,000 units) sold out within 3 months. The second edition of the RIS, Robotics Invention System 1.5, was released in the summer of 1999, with a third edition, RIS 2.0, launched in 2001. Despite being aimed towards children,

1575-402: A safe digital environment for children, including the protection of personal information and the heavy moderation of all uploaded user-generated content and communication. My Lego Network was a social networking site that involved items, blueprints, ranks, badges which were earned for completing certain tasks, trading and trophies called masterpieces which allowed users to progress to go to

1680-439: A second version, RIS 1.5, in the summer of 1999; and a third version, RIS 2.0, in 2001. The Lego Mindstorms product line was the first project of "Home Education", a division of Lego Education established by employee Tormod Askildsen in 1995. Askildsen, who had previously spent ten years working for Lego Education, had grown frustrated working with teaching professionals and wanted to create an improved educational experience that

1785-493: A serious form of play. Lego branched out into the video game market in 1997 by founding Lego Media International Limited , and Lego Island was released that year by Mindscape . After this Lego released titles such as Lego Creator and Lego Racers . After Lego closed down their publishing subsidiary, they moved on to a partnership with Traveller's Tales , and went on to make games like Lego Star Wars , Lego Indiana Jones , Lego Batman , and many more including

1890-429: A shipment of bricks delivered by clone producer Qman was blocked from passing through German customs due to concerns over the potential infringement of Lego's intellectual property. The recipient toy retailer initiated an appeal for donations to import containers of Lego clones from China to Germany and donate them to children's homes, which received more than € 350,000 within a couple of weeks. First launched in 1996,

1995-496: A system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: Their locking ability was still limited, and they were not yet versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; ABS subsequently replaced cellulose acetate as the manufacturing material five years later. A patent application for the modern Lego brick design was filed in Denmark on 28 January 1958 and in various other countries in

2100-724: A television series titled Nexo Knights made its debut for the Lego Nexo Knights brand. An animated series titled Lego Elves was released in 2015 and another titled Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale was released in 2017 for the Lego Elves brand. In 2016, Lego Bionicle: The Journey To One was released for the Bionicle franchise and Lego Friends: The Power of Friendship for the Lego Friends brand. In June 2019, an animated series titled Lego City Adventures

2205-407: A tolerance of up to twenty micrometres to ensure the bricks remain connected. Human inspectors check the output of the moulds to eliminate significant variations in colour or thickness. According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required. Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process. If

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2310-592: A tool to support educational constructivism , Mindstorms has become the first home robotics kit available to a wide audience. It has developed a community of adult hobbyists and hackers as well as students and general Lego enthusiasts following the product's launch in 1998. In October 2022, the Lego Group announced that it would discontinue the Lego Mindstorms line while continuing to support the Scratch -based SPIKE controller. The Robotics Invention System (RIS)

2415-616: A wave hit a cargo ship off the coast of Cornwall , England. Pieces have washed up over the ensuing decades, attracting attention from news outlets and social media. In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station , where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity , as a part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. In May 2013,

2520-564: A weekend-long event in which a Master Model Builder creates, with the help of volunteers—a larger-than-life Lego statue, which is then displayed at the new store for several weeks. Since around 2000, the Lego Group has been promoting "Lego Serious Play", a form of business consultancy fostering creative thinking, in which team members build metaphors of their organizational identities and experiences using Lego bricks. Participants work through imaginary scenarios using visual three-dimensional Lego constructions, imaginatively exploring possibilities in

2625-467: A year. The claim was reiterated in 2012. In April 2023, Lego broke ground on its first manufacturing facility in the United States. The new carbon-neutral factory will be located near Richmond, Virginia. It will amount to over $ 1 billion in investment once completed in 2025. The 340 acre site will have rooftop and ground solar panels and an on-site 35-40 MW solar plant, generating the equivalent of

2730-606: Is 4,240 newtons . Since an average 2×2 Lego brick has a mass of 1.152 grams (0.0406 oz), according to their calculations it would take a stack of 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 3,591 metres (11,781 ft) in height. Private tests have shown several thousand assembly-disassembly cycles before the bricks begin to wear out , although Lego tests show fewer cycles. In 2018, Lego announced that it will be using bio-derived polyethylene to make its botanical elements (parts such as leaves, bushes and trees). The New York Times reported

2835-681: Is also based on a microcontroller from Toshiba . The unit was sold as part of the Droid Developer Kit (featuring R2-D2 ) and later the Dark Side Developer Kit (featuring an AT-AT Imperial Walker ). Lego Mindstorms NXT was a programmable robotics kit released by Lego in August 2006, replacing the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit. The kit consists of 577 pieces, including: 3 servo motors, 4 sensors ( ultrasonic , sound, touch , and light ), 7 connection cables,

2940-409: Is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to create their own digital Lego designs. The program once allowed customers to order custom designs with a service to ship physical models from Digital Designer to consumers; the service ended in 2012. Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from ABS plastic. As of September 2008 , Lego engineers use

3045-405: Is available as a free download and only features Lego-related content. It was designed to be a social network for children to be inspired, create and share their Lego builds, photos and videos with a like-minded community, whilst also providing Lego content in the form of product advertising, images, videos, campaigns and competitions. The app incorporates a variety of child safety features to provide

3150-496: Is programmed by uploading a program using a dedicated infrared interface. After the user uploads a program, the RCX can run it on its own without the need for computer access. Programs may make use of three sensor input ports and three 9 V output ports, in addition to the IR interface, enabling RCX bricks to communicate with one another. A built-in LCD can display information including

3255-605: Is the last commercially available Mindstorms set before the discontinuation of the theme announced in October 2022. It has four medium motors from Spike Prime, two sensors (distance sensor and color/light sensor) also from Spike Prime, a Spike Prime hub with a six-axis gyroscope, an accelerometer, and support for controllers and phone control. It also has 902+ Lego Technic elements. This set was discontinued in 2022 with Lego promising app support through 2024. Mindstorms kits are also sold and used as an educational tool, originally through

Lego Mindstorms - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-538: Is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holidays, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based on the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modelling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These prototypes are presented to

3465-1089: The Blackstone Group of New York while the remaining 30% is still held by Lego Group. There are also eight Legoland Discovery Centres , two in Germany, four in the United States, one in Japan and one in the United Kingdom. Two Legoland Discovery Centres opened in 2013: one at the Westchester Ridge Hill shopping complex in Yonkers , New York, and one at the Vaughan Mills in Vaughan , Ontario, Canada. Another opened at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey , in 2021. The first Lego store to open anywhere in

3570-719: The CoCo Toy Company in Beijing for copyright infringement over its "Coko bricks" product. CoCo was ordered to cease manufacture of the products, publish a formal apology and pay damages. Lego sued the English company Best-Lock Construction Toys in German courts in 2004 and 2009; the Federal Patent Court of Germany denied Lego trademark protection for the shape of its bricks for the latter case. In 2005,

3675-557: The Danish phrase leg godt [lɑjˀ ˈkʌt] , which means "play well". In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys. In 1949 the business began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, invented by Hilary Page in 1939 and patented in

3780-451: The FIRST Lego League . Versions of Mindstorms kits specifically intended for use in educational settings are sold by Lego Education. Children are the intended audience of Lego Mindstorms, but a significant number of Mindstorms hobbyists are adults. The latter have developed many alternative programming languages and operating systems for the smart brick, allowing for more complex functions. While originally conceptualized and launched as

3885-547: The NX CAD / CAM / CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimised by way of mould flow and stress analysis . Prototype moulds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production. The ABS plastic is heated to 232 °C (450 °F) until it reaches a dough -like consistency. It is then injected into the moulds using forces of between 25 and 150 tonnes and takes approximately 15 seconds to cool. The moulds are permitted

3990-701: The Lego Company sued Canadian company Ritvik Holdings Inc., which makes Mega Bloks , for trademark violation. However, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Ritvik Holdings Inc.'s rights to sell its product . In 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that the eight-peg design of the original Lego brick "merely performs a technical function [and] cannot be registered as a trademark." In 2020 and 2021, Lego sent cease and desist letters to small toy retailers and popular YouTubers in Germany. In 2021,

4095-409: The Lego website has developed over the years, and provides many extra services beyond an online store and a product catalogue. There are also moderated message boards that were founded in 2001. The site also includes instruction booklets for all Lego sets dating back to 2002. The Lego website features a social media app named Lego Life , which is designed for children under 13 years of age. The app

4200-798: The Mindstorms 10th Anniversary event. The Lego RCX was available in new sets from 1998 (Lego Set 9719: Robotics Invention System 1.0) through 2003 (Lego Set 9786: Robo Technology Set, with USB cable). The original RCX 1.0 worked with existing Lego power supply products from the Lego Train theme, Lego Product 70931: Electric Train Speed Regulator 9V Power Adaptor for 120v 60 Hz - US version (Years: 1991 thru 2004), Lego Product 70938: Electric Train Speed Regulator 9V Power Adaptor for 230v 50 Hz - European version (Years: 1991-1996). Both of these products converted wall power to 12VAC , through

4305-617: The Mindstorms Robotics Invention System to complete set tasks, getting them familiar with the product. The Mindstorms product was launched concurrently with the Cybermaster, another Lego product spun off from the MIT programmable brick technology that was more in line with the traditional product philosophies of the Lego group. The Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System (RIS) was released September 1998 at

Lego Mindstorms - Misplaced Pages Continue

4410-661: The Mindstorms development team was neglected by upper management. As a cost-cutting measure, the Mindstorms office was shut down in 2001, and team members were laid-off or assigned to other projects. The Lego Group continued to produce the Robotics Invention System 2.0, selling around 40,000 units per year without advertising until the set was discontinued in 2006. The RCX is based on the 8-bit Renesas H8/300 microcontroller , including 32 KB of ROM for low-level IO functions, along with 32 KB of RAM to store high-level firmware and user programs. The RCX

4515-498: The Mindstorms product line, the basic set includes three motors (1 large 2 medium) and sensors for distance, force and color a controller brick based on an STM32F413 microcontroller and 520+ Lego Technic elements. Majority of these motors and sensors, including the hub, would serve as the electric components for the then-upcoming Robot Inventor set. Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor was announced in June 2020 and released later in autumn. It

4620-531: The NXT kit. Features of NXT directly based on requests of the MUP include the use 32-bit processor, more powerful motors, and Bluetooth compatibility. Promotion of Lego Mindstorms NXT was largely word-of-mouth based, because the company was in the middle of a financial crisis and did not have enough money for a large marketing campaign. Mindstorms NXT was unveiled in January 2006 at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show. At

4725-515: The PC, while the Scout accepts commands. The Scout brick must have all of its options set to "off" during this process. The Micro Scout was added as an entry-level to Lego robotics. It is a very limited Pbrick with a single built-in light sensor and a single built-in motor. It has seven built-in programs and can be controlled by a Scout, Spybotics or RCX unit using VLL. Like the Scout, the Micro Scout

4830-426: The RCX such as "Not Quite C" (NQC) and alternative operating systems for the brick like lejOS. The Lego Group briefly considered sending cease-and-desist letters to websites sharing the RCX's proprietary code. However, The Mindstorms team successfully argued that the embrace of the product by the hacking community proved that the product was worth developing. In order to foster this burgeoning community, an official forum

4935-579: The RCX, it had its own programmable brick called the Scout. An even simpler version of the Scout would be featured in two Star-Wars-themed Mindstorms sets. Lego also released a blue computer called the Scout , which has 2 sensor ports, 2 motor ports (plus one extra if linked with a Micro Scout using a fiber-optic cable ), and a built-in light sensor, but no PC interface. It comes with the Robotics Discovery Set. The Scout can be programmed from

5040-452: The Robotics Invention System quickly found an audience with adults and hackers of all ages; Lego company surveys conducted a few months after launch determined that seventy percent of Lego Mindstorms Hobbyists were adults. Shortly following the product's launch, adult hobbyists began sharing reverse-engineered versions of the RCX brick's Microcode and Firmware on the internet, leading to the development of alternative programming languages for

5145-447: The Scout only have a resolution of 8 bits, in contrast to the 10-bit converters of the RCX. There was a plan for Lego to create a booster set that allows programming the Scout from a computer with software such as RCX code. However, due to the complexity of this project, it was abandoned. The RCX can control the Scout brick using the "Send IR Message" program block. The RCX does all of the controlling, and therefore can be programmed with

5250-562: The United Kingdom in 1940 before being displayed at the 1947 Earl's Court Toy Fair. Lego had received a sample of the Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate , were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time. The Lego Group's motto , "only the best is good enough" ( Danish : det bedste er ikke for godt , literally "the best isn't excessively good")

5355-623: The United Kingdom to mark the opening of the games. For the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro , Lego released a kit with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots Vinicius and Tom . One of the largest commercially produced Lego sets was a minifigure -scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon . Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and contained 5,195 pieces. It

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5460-442: The activity of the muscle in the stump and send a signal to control movement in the attachment. A processing unit in the body of the prosthetic contained an engine compatible with Lego Mindstorms, which allowed the wearer to build an extensive range of customised, programmable limbs. Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many cultural works, including books, films, and art. It has even been used in

5565-415: The battery level, the status of the input/output ports, and the program currently running. Version 1.0 RCX bricks feature a power adapter jack in addition to batteries. In version 2.0 (as well as later 1.0s included in the RIS 1.5), the power adapter jack was removed. Power adapter-equipped RCX bricks were popular for stationary robotics projects (such as robot arms) or for controlling Lego model trains . In

5670-534: The bricks themselves, but as is common for trademarks , Lego group insists on the name being used as an adjective when referring to a product (as in "LEGO bricks"). Lego bricks have a reputation for causing pain when stepped on, often being humorously exaggerated as more extreme than that caused by even the worst injuries. The last significant patent for Lego bricks expired in 1978. Since then, competitors have produced blocks of similar dimensions and design that can be connected with Lego bricks. In 2002, Lego sued

5775-555: The chosen target demographic of Lego Mindstorms was intentionally narrow, in order to garner positive press by outselling expectations. The decision was made to aim the product towards 10 to 14-year-old boys, partly because it was Lego's main target demographic, and partly based on market research (not substantiated by the findings of the MIT Media Lab) which concluded that this demographic would be most attracted to computerized toys. This choice of target demographic directly informed

5880-641: The classic themes that continue to the present day include Lego City (a line of sets depicting city life introduced in 1973) and Lego Technic (a line aimed at emulating complex machinery, introduced in 1977). Over the years, the company has licensed themes from numerous cartoon and film franchises and some from video games. These include Batman , Indiana Jones , Pirates of the Caribbean , Harry Potter , Star Wars , Marvel , Minecraft and Wicked . Although some of these themes, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, had highly successful sales,

5985-675: The classroom as a teaching tool. In the US, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the educational division of the Lego Group. In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester , New York. "Lego" is commonly used as a mass noun ("some Lego") or, in American English , as a countable noun with plural "Legos", to refer to

6090-689: The color of the RCX brick (which was made yellow and black to resemble construction equipment) and the sample uses for the Mindstorms kit (such as making autonomous robots). Promotion of the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System began 6 months before the product was planned to launch. The product was first soft launched with the opening of the Mindstorms Discovery Center at the Museum of Science and Industry , where children could interact with

6195-552: The company expressed in 2015 a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes and less upon such licensed themes. Some sets include references to other themes such as a Bionicle mask in one of the Harry Potter sets. Discontinued sets may become a collectable and command value on the secondary market . For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , Lego released a special Team GB Minifigures series exclusively in

6300-532: The company said it would aim to produce its bricks without using crude oil , by using recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles, but in 2023 it reversed this decision, having found that this did not reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Since the 1950s, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including space , pirates , trains , (European) castle , dinosaurs , undersea exploration , and wild west , as well as wholly original themes like Bionicle and Hero Factory . Some of

6405-438: The company's footprint that year was "about a million tons of carbon dioxide each year" and that it was investing about 1 billion kroner and hiring 100 people to work on changes. The paper reported that Lego's researchers "have already experimented with around 200 alternatives." In 2020, Lego announced that it would cease packaging its products in single-use plastic bags and would instead be using recyclable paper bags. In 2021,

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6510-457: The company's senior management. The Lego Mindstorms team used the insights that MIT researchers discovered from testing the 3rd Generation Logo Brick ("Red Brick") in schools as the basis for the development of the mass-produced programmable brick. The physical programmable brick was re-engineered from the ground up, as the experimental programmable bricks were not designed for robustness or cost-effective manufacturing. The programming language of

6615-472: The creation of Mindstorms.com, Mindstorms Discovery Centers, and the FIRST Lego League . The creation of these experiences was done through partnerships with external groups that the Mindstorms team interacted with as equal partners, something that was uncommon for the Lego group at the time. To ease tensions between Mindstorms and more conventional products, the project team was given autonomy from Lego's product development process and instead reported directly to

6720-490: The development and promotion of Mindstorms NXT. The development team collaborated with four hobbyists considered experts in Lego Mindstorms fan community. These fans were collectively known as the Mindstorms Users Panel (MUP). They were shipped early prototypes of the Mindstorms kit and communicated to Mindstorms team members on a private internet forum. MUP gave extensive feedback on the hardware and design of

6825-413: The earliest iteration of the product, the program would be uploaded to the programmable brick via an infrared transmitter, while in later versions this was achieved via Bluetooth or a USB cable. Unofficial programming languages that can be used with Lego Mindstorms programmable bricks have also been developed There have been several robotics competitions which used the Lego robotics sets. The earliest

6930-481: The early 1980s, and Lego had previously commercialized some of this technology as classroom products in the Lego Dacta line. The programmable brick (or pbrick) was a refinement of these early concepts, which had limited range because they had to be tethered to a computer to run. Lego had been interested in mass-producing the pbrick since its creation in the 1980s, but at the time it was considered unfeasible due to

7035-638: The early 1990s. As of March 2024 , Lego operates 1031 retail shops, called Lego Stores, globally. The world's largest Lego store is located in Leicester Square , London. The U.S. stores include the Downtown Disney shopping complexes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts as well as in Mall of America in Bloomington , Minnesota. The opening of each new store is celebrated with

7140-590: The end of a child's limb. Iko was the work of the Chicago-based Colombian designer Carlos Arturo Torres, and is a modular system that allows children to customise their own prosthetics with the ease of clicking together plastic bricks. Designed with Lego's Future Lab, the Danish toy company's experimental research department, and Cirec, a Colombian foundation for physical rehabilitation, the modular prosthetic incorporated myoelectric sensors that register

7245-531: The energy of powering 10,000 American homes. In December 2012, the BBC 's More or Less radio program asked the Open University 's engineering department to determine "how many Lego bricks, stacked one on top of the other, it would take for the weight to destroy the bottom brick?" Using a hydraulic testing machine, members of the department determined the average maximum force a 2×2 Lego brick can stand

7350-414: The entire project team for comment and testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups . Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organisation for marketing and packaging. Lego Digital Designer

7455-579: The following years. Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers was released on DVD in February 2010, a computer-animated film made by Tinseltown Toons. A computer-generated animated series titled Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu began in January 2011 for the Lego Ninjago brand. Another television series titled Legends of Chima began in 2013 for the Legends of Chima brand. In December 2015,

7560-624: The former three countries and in Kladno in the Czech Republic . The Lego Group estimates that in five decades it has produced 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. According to an article in BusinessWeek in 2006, Lego could also be considered the world's number-one tyre manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million small rubber tyres

7665-855: The fourth in Carlsbad , California, the fifth in Winter Haven , Florida, the sixth in Iskandar Puteri , Malaysia, the seventh in Dubai , United Arab Emirates, and the eighth in Nagoya , Japan. A ninth is planned to open in 2020 in Goshen , New York, United States, and a tenth in 2022 in Shanghai , China. On 13 July 2005, the control of 70% of the Legoland parks was sold for $ 460 million to

7770-563: The games use dice . In Lego Games, the dice are Lego, with Lego squares with symbols on Lego studs on the dice, surrounded by rubber. The games vary from simple to complex; some are similar to "traditional" board games, while others are completely different. The first official Lego film was the straight-to-DVD release of Bionicle: Mask of Light in 2003 developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and distributed by Miramax Home Entertainment . Several other straight-to-DVD computer-animated Bionicle sequels and Hero Factory movies were produced in

7875-402: The inclusion of fans in its development process. The launch of Mindstorms NXT, measured in airtime hours, web content and magazine pages; generated more public interest than the entire company had previously accumulated in its entire lifetime. Lego Mindstorms NXT (Product no. 8527) was released August 1 of 2006. $ 30 million worth of kits were sold in the first year. The Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0

7980-557: The interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Moulding is done in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in the Czech Republic. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. One of Europe's biggest companies, Lego is the largest toy manufacturer in the world by sales. As of July 2015 , 600 billion Lego parts had been produced. Lego maintains

8085-429: The lack of computers in schools and households and the relative expense of electrical components. in the early 1990s Technology began to become more of a child's life, and the toy market accordingly began shifting more towards computerized toys. Many of Lego's attempts at producing electronic toys had languished at the point that Lego began developing MIT's programmable brick into a consumer product. MIT continued developing

8190-503: The largest model ever created, made of over 5 million bricks, was displayed in New York City; a one-to-one scale model of a Star Wars X-wing fighter . Other record breakers include a 34-metre (112 ft) tower and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway. In February 2015, marketing consulting company Brand Finance ranked Lego as the "world's most powerful brand", overtaking Ferrari . While Lego has generally been considered

8295-474: The latter context, the RCX might be programmed with Digital Command Control (DCC) software to operate multiple wired trains. The IR interface on the RCX is able to communicate with Spybots , Scout Bricks , Lego Trains , and the NXT (using a third-party infrared link sensor). The RCX 1.0 IR receiver carrier frequency is 38.5 kHz, while the RCX 2.0 IR carrier frequency is 76 kHz. Both versions can transmit on either frequency. The RCX communicates with

8400-748: The name was taken from a paper by Seymour Papert , a computer scientist and educator who developed the educational theory of constructionism , and whose research was at times funded by the Lego Group . The programmable Lego brick which was at the heart of these robotics sets underwent several updates and redesigns, with the last being called the 'EV3' brick, being sold under the name of Lego Mindstorms EV3. The set included various sensors such as touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader. The programmable brick could be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers. In

8505-573: The new gyro sensor), the EV3 programmable brick, 550+ Lego Technic elements and a remote control (the Infrared Beacon, which is only on Home/Retail mode). The EV3 can be controlled by smart-devices. It can boot an alternative operating system from a microSD card, which makes it possible to run ev3dev , a Debian -based operating system. Spike Prime was announced in April 2019. While not being part of

8610-406: The newly created home-learning division of Lego Education (Lego Dacta). The product line's name "Mindstorms" was intended to express the user experience of the product, it is named after Papert's book Mindstorms , as the user experience was similar to the educational constructivism concepts described in his book. The project's at-first low profile allowed the Mindstorms team the freedom to develop

8715-399: The next rank. The website had a built-in inbox which allowed users to send pre-written messages to one another. The Lego Network included automated non-player characters within called "Networkers", who were able to do things which normal users could not do, sending custom messages, and selling masterpieces and blueprints. The site also had modules which were set up on the user's page that gave

8820-402: The pbrick concept, creating a "Red Brick" version between 1994 and 1996 that improved the previous version. By the mid-1990s personal computers were relatively common in households and the components required to produce the pbrick went down in price, making mass production feasible. Development on what would later be known as the Robotics Invention System started in 1996 as the flagship product of

8925-581: The plastic cannot be re-used in Lego bricks, it is processed and sold on to industries that can make use of it. Lego, in 2018, set a self-imposed 2030 deadline to find a more eco-friendly alternative to the ABS plastic. Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at several locations around the world. Moulding is done in Billund , Denmark; Nyíregyháza , Hungary; Monterrey , Mexico; and most recently in Jiaxing , China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in

9030-412: The players usually build the playing board out of Lego bricks and then play with Lego-style players. Examples of the games include "Minotaurus", in which players roll dice to move characters within a brick-build labyrinth, "Creationary", in which players must build something which appears on a card, or "Ramses Pyramid", in which players collect gems and climb up a customizable pyramid. Like many board games,

9135-445: The product using operating procedures then-unorthodox to the Lego Group. Unlike traditional Lego sets, the Mindstorms Robotics Invention System did not come with step-by-step instructions. The kit also did not have a main model, nor was the play driven by storytelling. To bridge the gap between this new play experience and pre-existing Lego ones, the Mindstorms team created a lot of opportunities for users to engage with each other, such as

9240-521: The product was developed with help from members of the MIT Media lab. Lego decided to use a visual programming language for Mindstorms, inspired by the LOGOBlocks language previously used with programmable brick experiments, in order to make the product accessible to children who might be unfamiliar with programming. While the technology that Mindstorms was based on was aimed towards "all children",

9345-643: The show, Lego requested applications for a beta-testing phase, where 100 users, known as Mindstoms Community Partners (MCP)s would receive NXT kits at a discounted price months before launch. The intention of the MCP program was to build support for the product prior to launch, and receive feedback on the near-final kit. Fans involved in the MCP program provided a significant amount of PR for the set upon launch, such as alternate models, finished book drafts, and web content like blog posts. News outlets like Wired and CNN also provided free publicity for Mindstorms NXT by reporting on

9450-408: The subsequent few years. The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of blocks whose lengths measure twice the width, height, and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children. In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets. In 1997, more than five million Lego pieces were swept into the sea when

9555-446: The time, The Lego group was in the middle of a financial crisis. As part of the turn-around effort, the product line developed for release in 2006 would feature relatively few products that were guaranteed to be profitable. A revival of The Mindstorms Robotics Invention System was chosen as of these products, as Lego Mindstorms had a strong fan following and kits continued to sell well without advertising. Fans were extensively involved in

9660-502: The toy takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK , Spain , Germany , and Japan which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at their respective national markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, split into three stages. The first

9765-579: The user items, or that displayed picture compositions. My Lego network closed in 2015. Before My Lego Network, there were Lego Club Pages, which essentially held the same purpose, although the design lacked complex interaction. Merlin Entertainments operates eight Legoland amusement parks , the original in Billund , Denmark, the second in Windsor , England, the third in Günzburg , Germany,

9870-583: The very well-received Lego Marvel Super Heroes game, featuring New York City as the overworld and including Marvel characters from the Avengers , the Fantastic Four , the X-Men , and more. In 2014, Lego created a game based on The Lego Movie , due to its popularity. Lego Games launched in 2009, was a series of Lego-themed board games designed by Cephas Howard and Reiner Knizia in which

9975-682: The world was in Sydney, Australia, in 1984. Located in the Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre it was not only the first dedicated Lego retail outlet, but it also had displays including many iconic Australian items such as the Holden FJ, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House as well as buildings from Amsterdam, dinosaurs and an English Village. Known as The LEGO Centre, Birkenhead Point, the store closed in

10080-541: The world. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involved extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which was often pushed to its extreme limits. The capabilities of the Mindstorms range have also been harnessed for use in the Iko Creative Prosthetic System, a prosthetic limbs system designed for children. Designs for these Lego prosthetics allow everything from mechanical diggers to laser-firing spaceships to be screwed on to

10185-623: Was Botball , a national U.S. middle - and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. Other Lego robotics competitions include FIRST LEGO League Discover for children ages 4–6, FIRST LEGO League Explore for students ages 6–9 and FIRST Lego League Challenge for students ages 9–16 (age 9–14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico). These programs have offered real-world engineering challenges to participants using LEGO-based robots to complete tasks. In its 2019–2020 season, there were 38,609 FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams and 21,703 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams around

10290-439: Was created in 1936. Christiansen created the motto, still used today, to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. By 1951, plastic toys accounted for half of the company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, wrote that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although

10395-506: Was delivered directly towards children. Home Education decided to incorporate technology into their products based on market research that concluded that children found learning that involved technology interesting. Lego Mindstorms started development in April 1996. The concept for the set was based on technology created in partnership with the MIT Media Lab. MIT Media Lab had been experimenting with combining Lego and programming since

10500-473: Was established on the Lego website and a "right to hack" clause was added to end user license agreement of the Lego Mindstorms software. An official software developers kit for the RCX would later be released on the Mindstorms website. A number of products focusing on the RIS were released by adult hobbyists, including how-to books, and unofficial sensors and hardware. A convention for Lego Mindstorms hobbyists, named Mindfest, started in 1999. Despite strong sales,

10605-878: Was further pushed by the release of The Lego Movie and the reality series Lego Masters . By 2024, nearly 15% of the sets released in the U.S. were aimed for adult builders. Lego pieces of all varieties constitute a universal system. Despite variations in the design and the purposes of individual pieces over the years, each remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made presently, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six bricks of 2 × 4 studs can be combined in 915,103,765 ways. Each piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged, they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that manufacture Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometres . Primary concept and development work for

10710-566: Was launched on 5 August 2009. It contains 619 pieces and five sensors; two touch sensors, and one sound, light, and ultrasonic distance sensor. The NXT 2.0 uses Floating Point operations whereas earlier versions use Integer operation. The kit costs around US$ 280. EV3, the third generation Mindstorms product, is a further development of the NXT. The system was released on 1 September 2013. The Lego Mindstorms EV3 set includes motors (2 large servo motor and 1 medium servo motor), sensors (2 touch sensors, ultrasonic sensor, color sensor, infrared sensor, and

10815-635: Was released for the Lego City brand. In 2021, an animated series titled Lego Monkie Kid was released to support the Lego brand of the same name. Mindstorms (book) The Lego Mindstorms programmable construction set system is named after the book. In 2017, thanks to Papert's family, the book was made freely available online here . Papert describes the Turtle as an "object-to-think-with" and discusses many code examples of Turtle Graphics . This article about an education-related book

10920-676: Was surpassed by a 5,922-piece Taj Mahal . A redesigned Millennium Falcon retook the top spot in 2017 with 7,541 pieces. Since then, the Millennium Falcon has been superseded by the Lego Art World Map at 11,695 pieces, the Lego Titanic at 9,090 pieces, and the Lego Architect Colosseum at 9,036 pieces. In 2022, Lego introduced its Eiffel Tower . The set consists of 10,000 parts and reaches

11025-461: Was the flagship product of the first generation of the Lego Mindstorms line. It is a commercialization of technology produced by the MIT Media Lab in collaboration with the LEGO group. The RIS featured the programmable Robotic Command eXplorer (RCX) microcontroller, as well as 9V Lego-compatible motors and sensors and a selection of Lego parts. The original RIS was launched fall of 1998. It was replaced by

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