Lego Mindstorms
Hardware and software platform by Lego / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Lego Mindstorms (sometimes stylized as LEGO MINDSTORMS) is a discontinued line of educational kits for building programmable robots based on Lego bricks.
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Subject | Robotics |
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Licensed from | The Lego Group |
Availability | 1 September 1998 (1998-09-01)ā31 December 2022 (2022-12-31) |
Total sets | 91[1] |
Official website |
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 a programmable brick or "pbrick"), a couple of 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 the FIRST Lego League. Versions of Mindstorms kits specifically intended for use in educational settings are sold by Lego Education.
Children are the target audience of Lego Mindstorms, but a significant number of Mindstorms hobbyists are adults. Adult hobbyists have developed a large number of alternative programming languages and operating systems for the smart brick allowing for more complex functions.
While originally conceptualized and launched as 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.[2]