The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System
by Fay Rhodes

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System
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Book Summary Information

Author: Fay Rhodes
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-22
ISBN: 1593271700
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: No Starch Press
Product features:

Book Reviews of The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System

Book Review: Good book. . . only if you have the parts
Summary: 3 Stars

Even though this book is geared toward kids, I would not say it is completely "Kid friendly" especially if you just got the Lego NXT. If you want to build the frog, rabbit, or skunk you have to have the education resource kit in addition to the base kit. You will need even more parts to make the SIX other models; Fay Rhodes does tell you were to get the parts and sometimes shows you where you can substitute. In order to make the elephant, skunk, and peacock, you will need to use fishing line for the pulleys. I tried for over 30 minutes to attach the string on the skunk to get it to "spray" and I eventually gave up and tore it apart. The building instructions are not the best, the pins and other parts never fully attach.
It is hard to get the walking animals legs in alignment. I tried for 20 minutes to get the alligator to walk and it just would not work, but maybe that is because I built it wrong.

I admit, the animals are pretty cool. My favorites are the spider and the elephant.

Over all you should only get this book if you have the parts and you have some experience with the NXT.

Summary of The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System

Whether you're just beginning with your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set or are already an expert, you'll have hours of fun with these animal-like models that walk, crawl, hop, and roll!

The first part of the book introduces you to the NXT kit and reviews the parts you'll need in order to begin building. Next, you'll learn how to program with the NXT-G programming language, including how to make miniprograms called My Blocks that you can use to build larger programs. Finally, you'll learn how to build each robot and program it to act like its real animal cousins.

Learn to build and program the following robots:

  • Ribbit, a jumping frog
  • Bunny, a hopping rabbit
  • Sandy, a walking camel
  • Spiderbot, an eight-legged spider that avoids objects and walks forward and backward
  • Snout, a walking alligator that opens and closes its jaws
  • LEGOsaurus, a four-legged, plodding dinosaur
  • Pygmy, a walking elephant that raises and lowers its head
  • Polecat, a skunk on wheels that lifts its tail and shoots "darts"
  • Strutter, a peacock on wheels that turns and flutters its tail feathers

Troubleshooting tips help you avoid problems like misarranged gears and incorrect programming, while a list of Internet resources is included to help guide you in further exploration with the NXT. Teachers and home educators will appreciate an appendix with helpful suggestions for using the models in the classroom.

The models in this book have been tested repeatedly - and built successfully - by novice builders, so all you have to do is follow the directions and watch them go. Now, let the building begin!

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