 | Level: Introductory Bob Breznak, Candidate for Computer Science Degree, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
15 Mar 2008 
from The Rational Edge: Interested in getting started with Robotics? David J. Perdue's new book, The Unofficial LEGO Mindstorms NXT Inventor's Guide, might be a good place to begin, according to this favorable review.
From The Rational Edge.
The Unofficial Lego Mindstorms NXT Inventor's Guide
David J. Perdue
No Starch Press, 2007
ISBN 1593271549
Having a little extra time and cash during the holiday break, I decided to pick up David J. Perdue's The Unofficial LEGO Mindstorms NXT Inventor's Guide, along with a LEGO NXT starter kit and relive my childhood. I raced home with the NXT kit and immediately spilled everything out on the kitchen table. After flipping though the manual and documents included in the NXT kit, I broke open the Unofficial Inventor's Guide.
I am no stranger to the NXT system; I spent some time last summer teaching robotics using NXT at a children's camp. So I went into the book with some prior experience. I confess that I opened the book with low expectations, imagining a basic extension of the manual that comes with the NXT kit, something that would be fairly shallow and cover a handful of unimpressive projects. But, although the guide starts off that way, it picks up speed by the third chapter and builds an interesting experience for the NXT practitioner.
The guide is split into four parts: 1) getting started and becoming familiar with the system, 2) building with the system, 3) learning how to program, and 4) concluding with a series of fully documented projects on how to build and program different types of robots. Each part is broken up into sections that go into finer details about working with specific parts of the NXT system. Scattered about are brief experiments that demonstrate key concepts.
It was interesting to see that most sections, although kept in the context of LEGO parts, are actually short lessons in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science. For example, the section on gears explained gearing ratios and how the different types of gears worked. This makes the guide useful for learning the basics of robotic engineering in general. Because the guide covers such as wide area of topics, it is useful for anyone starting with the NXT system.
Perdue's conversational style of writing is extremely easy to follow for both technical and non-technical readers. Early in the book he defines each piece in the kit, and he uses consistent language throughout. Although the guide is written to be a hands-on manual for the kit, it is easy to understand without the kit. Each section concludes with a summary of the section and key concepts, which ensures that important elements don't get lost in the details.
I was disappointed with the section on unofficial programming languages for the NXT. It had a glossed-over feeling with little useful content. Perdue should have recognized that problem by presenting more examples.
But overall, I was very impressed with the guide. It gives a thorough view of the NXT system yet is pleasant to read. A weekend with this book and the NXT kit is all you need to become an intermediate developer with the NXT system. I recommend this guide to anyone looking to give a NXT system as a gift or looking to tinker with one themselves.
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About the author | 
| | Bob Breznak is studying Computer Science, with an emphasis in software engineering and robotics, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is currently employed by the computer science department as a Senior Assistant and also by Sun Microsystems. On campus, he's heavily involved with the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM), the IEEE, and the honor society for the computing sciences (Upsilon Pi Epsilon, or UPE) of which he was recently elected president. He can usually be found in the sub-basement of the computer science building tinkering with projects ranging from system security to robotics. |
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