Coder Shah Posted March 10, 2023 Author Posted March 10, 2023 Mindstorms History 10 1999 - LEGO released LEGO Mindstorms RIS 1.5, set number 9747. This set featured improvements to the programming environment and documentation and added a few new pieces. LEGO also released an upgrade kit, set number 3803, so that owners of the original LEGO Mindstorms RIS could obtain the software, manuals and parts of 9747 without having to buy a new set. Link to the manual included with the set is here: https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.core.pdf/4129439.pdf On 3/6/2023 at 9:16 PM, legoROBOLAB said: Dear friend... very happy for the evocation of the 25 years of the RCX... and the MIT/LEGO collaboration... keep going... I'll be on this side to follow... Glad you like it! Feel free to contribute! Quote
Toastie Posted March 10, 2023 Posted March 10, 2023 13 hours ago, Coder Shah said: This set featured improvements to the programming environment and documentation and added a few new pieces. It should also be mentioned (this is not a "praise TLG thread", this is a "Mindstorms thread", is it? If not, just ignore my post!!!) that TLG decided to remove the power socket from the RCX, along with the rectifier and capacitors. That socket could be connected to a wide-voltage-range AC(!) as well as DC wall warts, or "power supplies". And that was so nice. In my opinion, this is the beginning of TLG solely reverting to usage of one-way = battery waste all over the place. TLG as the "environmentally friendly long-lasting plastic producer" ditched that true environmentally friendly usage of a power outlet. Maybe because of law-suits, who knows. But there is a way, you know. Even they may take the route of fighting for the better. Oh yes, you can use rechargeable batteries. Well, some do, others want 9V rather than 7.2V - not the point: TLG simply ditched it. And I bet that most users simply use alkaline batteries, throw them away when exhausted and put in new alkalines. They are dead cheap. BW, the RCX 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 bricks >all< run >all< available firmwares, be it 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0. Also, >all< RCX varieties run >all< 3rd party firmwares! So from 1.0 to 2.0 it is just - adding a few plastic pieces and instructions, and saving on a rectifier and a couple of capacitors. When you want to take the RCX vintage route, get an RCX1.0. They sell dead cheap on BL. And then just use the latest TLG firmware for the "RCX2.0" - or any third party firmware. I simply don't like to be kidded; 1.0, 1.5, 2.0. Yeah. 2 is more than 1.5. And much more than 1.0. All the best, Thorsten Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 11, 2023 Author Posted March 11, 2023 16 hours ago, Toastie said: It should also be mentioned (this is not a "praise TLG thread", this is a "Mindstorms thread", is it? Yes it is a Mindstorms thread, not a praise TLG thread, and your post is most welcome. Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 16, 2023 Author Posted March 16, 2023 Mindstorms History 11 1999 - Lego Mindstorms set 9735, Robotics Discovery Set was also released this year. It includes a blue programmable brick named the Scout, with an integrated IR sensor, two motors, and two touch sensors. You program it by changing settings on the brick, no computer required! This video by Nonsense Wars shows all the models you can make with this set. Quote
Toastie Posted March 16, 2023 Posted March 16, 2023 (edited) On 3/16/2023 at 6:11 AM, Coder Shah said: It includes a blue programmable brick named the Scout, with an integrated IR sensor, two motors, and two touch sensors. You program it by changing settings on the brick, no computer required! There is even more - I take the freedom to adding that to this thread, hope that is OK. The Scout is my favorite PBrick in the line from RCX to Robot Inventor. Why? Because it is blue The above-mentioned "integrated IR sensor" is the same type as in virtually all LEGO devices using IR communication in some way. In case of the Scout, this is the 38kHz modulated IR light receiver for LEGO byte codes, as you can program the Scout with a computer (via the LEGO IR tower for the RCX) - as you would do with Spybotics, RCX (and software-wise Cybermaster via TLG's RF tower) PBricks: They all understand LEGO byte codes. There are specific byte codes to each of the individual PBricks, but the basic programming codes are all the same. The NQC language reference is a very good source to learn more about these specifics (and the common features). There is also very nice TLG documentation on the individual byte codes out there. The Scout thus also features 38 kHz IR emitting diodes to respond to incoming data, as per the definition of the LEGO PBrick IR protocol. The Scout is capable of messaging in the same way as the RCX and Spybotics PBricks are. Furthermore, the Scout has a 3rd "motor output", which is driving a visible (red) fairly bright LED instead of a motor. The light output is always modulated according to LEGO visible link light (VLL) protocol, which is known to the MicroScout and CodePilot devices. In other words, using a LEGO fiber connecting the VLL output of the Scout to a VLL input of a MicroScout or CodePilot device turns on and off things, e.g. the built-in motor in the MicroScout, or causes them to make beep sounds. In addition, the Scout has a built-in visible light sensor, which is also hardware compatible to accepting LEGO light fibers. The Scout has free programming space for only 396 LEGO byte codes - which means pure fun to program this thing!!! You need to think three or more times about every programming step - but when using NQC you can still accomplish a lot with this beautiful PBrick. Why only 396 bytes? Well, as @Coder Shah said, it features an interface, that allows you to program the Scout without a computer using the symbols on the LCD screen. I never did that, because NQC allows you to do so many more things. The Scout also features a myriad of built-in sounds - it is fun to use them. So only small freely addressable memory space is left ... Spoiler BTW back in the days, Dave Baum, the father of NQC changed the way NQC handled program jumps upon my inquiry: Jumps in NQC were always of the type long, which needs 5 bytes. Most of the time, short jumps are good enough (occupying only 3 bytes!), and the LEGO byte code protocol knows both. So Dave changed that; from that time on, only when necessary, long jumps were used. Which in turn allowed me to operate my switch drive decoders using Scouts and MicroScouts to operate up-to 8 switch points on my train layout. The memory monster RCX, with 8kb of free RAM did surely not care about these 2 byte/jump savings ... And finally, there are a number of very useful programs in the Scout Software Development Kit (SDK) 2.5 from TLG to program and monitor the Scout (with a LEGO IR tower) should you not want to use NQC or the like. And yes, back in the days, TLG provided SDK's, believe it or not. Best wishes, Thorsten Edited March 18, 2023 by Toastie Quote
Toastie Posted March 16, 2023 Posted March 16, 2023 (edited) @Coder Shah I believe the direct TLG predecessor of Mindstorms (RCX) is the Technic Cybermaster line, with the two Technic sets 8482 (starter set) and 8450 (expansion set). They were released in 1998/99. There are many videos on Cybermaster on YouTube - this is one in a fairly long playlist created by YouTube user mnptbrag: Cybermaster features a serial (RS232) RF tower; the shape of this tower is exactly matching that of the (RCX/Scout/Spybotics) IR tower. The Cybermaster PBricks understand LEGO byte code, beep in the same way as the RCX does when switched on, have three 9V touch sensor inputs, two built-in motors (tacho motors that is!!!), as well as one 9V motor output. They came with their own programming environment on CD, but can also be programmed (as of today) using NQC. Just to make the line-up in this thread as comprehensive as possible ... and this reply should be between "Mindstorms History 04" and "05", I believe Best, Thorsten Edited March 16, 2023 by Toastie Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 18, 2023 Author Posted March 18, 2023 @Toastie Great stuff, keep it coming! Quote
Toastie Posted March 19, 2023 Posted March 19, 2023 On 3/18/2023 at 11:06 AM, Coder Shah said: Great stuff, keep it coming! OK, this repository on MediaFire, shared by user "JarSTx" is featuring RIS, DDK, NXT, EV3 Mindstorms CD ROMs (as ISO files). This is a bit ahead of upcoming posts here, but it would be weird to just share individual subfolders. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ohsruj4zmjy9g#ohsruj4zmjy9g All the best, Thorsten Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 22, 2023 Author Posted March 22, 2023 On 3/20/2023 at 5:44 AM, Toastie said: OK, this repository on MediaFire, shared by user "JarSTx" is featuring RIS, DDK, NXT, EV3 Mindstorms CD ROMs (as ISO files). Nice find @Toastie, thanks! Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 23, 2023 Author Posted March 23, 2023 Mindstorms History 12 1999 - MIT organized Mindfest (https://www.media.mit.edu/mindfest/mindfest1999/exhibits.html) this year. This was the first ever gathering of Mindstorms fans. You can watch Seymour Papert's keynote speech here: Quote
Coder Shah Posted March 30, 2023 Author Posted March 30, 2023 Mindstorms History 13 1998 - Kekoa Proudfoot was one of the pioneers in hacking the LEGO Mindstorms RCX programmable brick. Here are the slides from his talk on October 7, 1998. http://www.mralligator.com/rcx/talk/ Quote
Coder Shah Posted April 5, 2023 Author Posted April 5, 2023 Mindstorms History 14 1998 - The first ever First LEGO League competition is held. Quote
Coder Shah Posted April 13, 2023 Author Posted April 13, 2023 Mindstorms History 15 1999 - The first Star Wars LEGO Mindstorms set, 9748 Droid Developer Kit was released. It came with the Micro Scout, which had a motor and a light sensor, with 7 programs built in. Quote
Toastie Posted April 15, 2023 Posted April 15, 2023 ... and - the little MicroScout it is programmable! In mode "P", it carefully listens to TLG's visible light protocol (VLL) signals (http://www.elecbrick.com/vll/). TLG's CodePilot sets understand these as well, with a slightly different code set, though. This is documented in the SCOUT SDK available here: https://pbrick.info/index.html-p=184.html. Personally, I never got why TLG did not promote these very nice features much more - they were simply buried in their SDKs. It was all up-to the community. As is it/was with all their programmable/electronic stuff. As if they did not know or did not care (at all) - in the upper echelons of marketing and well-being. And all that despite all their talking and advertising regarding education and life-long learning and so on and so forth ... The developers, though, did a hell of a job! From the very beginning of TC Logo to the very end of Mindstorms. Best regards, Thorsten Quote
Bricktrain Posted April 16, 2023 Posted April 16, 2023 I can't remember if my first set was a 1.0 or 1.5, but I now have several of each, the RCX kit was the first Lego set that I bought for myself and also started me into technic. I believe the removal of the power jack was the begining of the move away from anything that plugs into a power socket for toys, also resulting in the replacement of the 9v train system, now even more restraints meaning battery boxes now have to have screwed lids. Quote
Coder Shah Posted April 20, 2023 Author Posted April 20, 2023 Mindstorms History 16 2000 - LEGO released set 9731 Vision Command. Unfortunately you still needed a computer to use the camera, but it was still amazingly cool. Quote
Coder Shah Posted April 28, 2023 Author Posted April 28, 2023 Mindstorms History 17 2000 - LEGO released the final expansion set for the RIS, 9736 Exploration Mars. Quote
Coder Shah Posted May 4, 2023 Author Posted May 4, 2023 Mindstorms History 18 2000 - LEGO released set 9754, the Dark Side Developer Kit. It uses the same Micro Scout found in the earlier set 9748 combined with new parts to build cool vehicles such as the Destroyer Droid, the AT-AT, and the Droid starfighter. Still one of my favourite sets. Quote
Toastie Posted May 4, 2023 Posted May 4, 2023 17 hours ago, Coder Shah said: It uses the same Micro Scout found in the earlier set 9748 ... with a slightly different color scheme - base in black and cover in gray (compared to base in gray and cover in white). Inside, these two are simply identical. Nevertheless: BL teaches us that the Dark Side is way more expensive than the Bright Side Tip: Just go for the cheaper MicroScout. Best, Thorsten Quote
Coder Shah Posted May 11, 2023 Author Posted May 11, 2023 Mindstorms History 19 2001 - LEGO released the final version of the RCX-based LEGO Mindstorms sets, Set 3804 Robotics Invention System 2.0. Of note are the Pro Challenges in the bundled software, showcasing some amazing models. Quote
Coder Shah Posted May 18, 2023 Author Posted May 18, 2023 Mindstorms History 20 2001 - LEGO released the final expansion set for the RCX-based Mindstorms sets, 3800 Ultimate Builders set. Quote
Coder Shah Posted May 25, 2023 Author Posted May 25, 2023 Mindstorms History 21 2004 - LEGO starts development of the next generation LEGO Mindstorms, involving LEGO fans for the first time. https://www.wired.com/2006/01/geeks-in-toyland/ Quote
Coder Shah Posted June 8, 2023 Author Posted June 8, 2023 Mindstorms History 22 2006 - LEGO releases Mindstorms NXT, set no 8527. Mindstorms History 23 2006 - LEGO Mindstorms NXT commercials. Quote
Coder Shah Posted June 15, 2023 Author Posted June 15, 2023 Mindstorms History 24 2009 - LEGO released set 8547, an updated Mindstorms NXT set. Quote
Coder Shah Posted June 23, 2023 Author Posted June 23, 2023 Mindstorms History 25 2009 - to mark the 10th Anniversary of LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO released set 10287, a special black LEGO Mindstorms NXT programmable brick. Only 1998 units were ever made. LEGO also provided building instructions for models designed by LEGO fans, which are: Alpha Black by Martyn Boogarts AT-ST by Daniele Benedettelli Robodog by Laurens Valk Black Widow by Fay Rhodes Robutler by Mike Brandl Pics courtesy of Jetro de Chataeu. Quote
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