Basic Robot Building With LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0

Start building robots with LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT, fast! This gorgeous, full-color book shows off both the beauty and technical brilliance of LEGO Mindstorms NXT, and helps absolute beginners quickly gain true mastery through three start-to-finish, hands-on projects. You need ZERO knowledge of robotics and Mindstorms to succeed with this book: it painlessly covers everything you should know, whether you're a kid, a teenager, or a busy parent. John Baichtal guides you gently up the learning curve, gradually introducing new ideas and techniques, offering expert tips, and explaining every new term in plain English. Basic Robot Building with LEGO Mindstorms NXTcovers both simple programming theory and LEGO building techniques, so it's the only book you'll need to get started. Coverage includes: unboxing LEGO Mindstorms NXT and walking through what's included; Building a "backscratching bot" immediately, with absolutely no programming; connecting the NXT Brick to your computer, uploading programs, and navigating menus; writing simple programs; building stronger models; using mesh gears; working with NXT's touch, ultrasonic, and light sensors; creating more complex programming structures such as loops and variables; expanding Mindstorms NXT with third-party products, and much more. Packed with stunning full-color photos, this is the easiest LEGO Mindstorms NXT book out there -- and the most fun!

1. Introduction
2. Unboxing Mindstorms
3. Exploring the NXT Brick
4. Introduction to Programming
5. Project: Action Figure Ski Lift
6. Advanced Building Techniques
7. Know Your Sensors
8. Advanced Programming
9. Project: Bumper Car
10. Expanding on Mindstorms