The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots

Packed with building and programming instructions for eight innovative robots, this book follows two astronauts through rigorous ground training. As the book progresses, the astronauts--and readers--learn how to build and program increasingly sophisticated robots.

Laurens Valk is a member of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners, a select group of MINDSTORMS experts who help test and develop new NXT products. He has been inventing robots with the MINDSTORMS NXT sets since their introduction and one of his robot designs appears on the NXT 2.0 packaging Valk is a co-author of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT One-Kit Wonders (No Starch Press) and a contributor to The NXT STEP blog (thenxtstep.blogspot.com). He lives in the Netherlands, where he teaches robotics.

Chapter 1: Collecting the Equipment for Your Robot
Chapter 2: Building Your First Robot
Chapter 3: Creating and Modifying Programs
Chapter 4: Working with Programming Blocks: Move, Sound, and Display
Chapter 5: Waiting, Repeating and Other Programming Techniques
Chapter 6: Understanding Sensors
Chapter 7: Using the Touch, Color, and Rotation Sensors
Chapter 8: Shot-Roller: A Robotic Defense System
Chapter 9: Strider: The Six-Legged Walking Creature
Chapter 10: Using Data Hubs and Data Wires
Chapter 11: Using Data Blocks and Using Data Wires with Loops and Switches
Chapter 12: Using Variables, Constants, and Playing Games on the NXT
Chapter 13: Snatcher: The Autonomous Robotic Arm
Chapter 14: Hybrid Brick Sorter: Sort Bricks by Color and Size
Chapter 15: CCC: The Compact Chimney Climber
Appendix: Transferring Programs to the NXT with USB or Bluetooth