Three MINDSTORMS experts have joined with the maintainer of the legOS HOWTO to produce the book that all advanced users of LEGO MINDSTORMS have been waiting for. Each author has written material based on his specialty. Dave Baum shows you how to take Not Quite C (NQC) to its limits. Ralph Hempel explains the ins and outs of pbForth. Michael Gasperi teaches you how to build numerous custom sensors with simple, systematic instructions. Luis Villa show you how (and when) to upgrade MINDSTORMS' built-in operating system to take advantage of the extra power of legOS, a complete C environment for the RCX.

"Extreme MINDSTORMS: An Advanced Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS" starts with an overview of the RCX firmware and includes a whole chapter on RCX 2.0. Next, the book concentrates on the steps needed to build Seeker, a light-seeking robot, and to program it in NQC. Later chapters extend Seeker's functionality using pbForth and legOS. The book concludes with two chapters on building both custom passive and custom powered sensors. These sensors can take LEGO MINDSTORMS to levels impossible to achieve with just the parts supplied in the box or available through normal channels.

Although LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT allows anyone to build complex inventions, there are limits to what you can do with what comes inside the box. This book shows you how to advance the NXT with more than 45 exciting projects that include creating a cool magic wand that writes words in thin air, building a remotely guided vehicle, and constructing sophisticated robots that can sense color, light, temperature, and more. All projects are explained with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, so you'll be able to create them successfully whether you're a novice or an expert. This book also shows you how to expand the programming software and use the alternative language NXC.

New input devicessuch as keypads, sensors, and even the human bodyare covered, along with fun games such as surfing, PONG, and SIMON. On the serious side, there are classic engineering challenges such as controlling an inverted pendulum, making a robot that follows a wall, and building several light-seeking vehicles. Some projects are just entertaining, such as the Etch-A-NXT; others are useful, such as a motorized camera mount that takes panoramic photographs.

This second edition accounts for the important changes found in the next generation NXT, and it also covers the original concepts in greater depth. Details are presented for practically unlimited expansion of the NXT inputs and outputs by using the I2C communications bus, and several power amplifier designs allow the NXT outputs to drive bigger motors. Instructions are also included for adapting LEGO Power Functions motors to work directly with the NXT. Table of Contents In the Beginning Extreme Software Making a Connection Contact Sensors Resistive Sensors Potentiometer Sensors Voltage Sensors 4.3V Powered Sensors Two-Wire Powered Sensors Light Sensor with LED Control LEGO Motor Interfaces Beyond LEGO Motors I2C Bus Communication Cool Combinations