| Soon after its release, the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System (RIS) quickly became popular not only with its initial intended audience of children aged 11 and up, but also within a community of adult LEGO robotics enthusiasts that developed and spread worldwide with significant help from the Internet. Before long, hackers had deciphered the communication protocol and command set, and published the operational codes (opcodes) of the RCX’s interpretive operating system on the Internet for easy access by all software developers. This was a very good thing for LEGO fans and programmers, for it allowed them to create many new tools and software applications for the RIS.These applications are under continuous development, and many are based on open source or freeware programs. In the meantime, LEGO has released new versions since the first RIS, with minor updates always maintaining backward compatibility.
Not only has the RIS become very popular, but it has also renewed interest in robotics; LEGO continues to offer many additional robotics kits.This chapter will introduce the novice to these robots and explain exactly how, and perhaps why, they work the way they do.Overviews of how they function physically and how they are programmed both at high and low levels are presented, as well as their limitations and expansion possibilities. |
