The Robots

All while learning how to program, you'll build eight increasingly sophisticated robots, as shown below. Each of these robots can be built with just the pieces in the NXT 2.0 kit.

Explorer

This is the first robot you'll build. It's a compact and strong vehicle that can rove around. It's useful platform to practice basic programming.

Discovery

This is the upgraded version of the Explorer, with the possibility to add several sensor attachments, like an Ultrasonic Sensor to drive around while avoiding objects, bumpers to feel the environment, or the Color Sensor to follow lines.

Shot-Roller

This is a robot that can fire balls in any direction. It's turret can move up and down using a motor, and it's able to make 360-degree turns with a second motor. The third motor controls the powerful shooter at the top of the robot. Shot-Roller can operate in two modes. In autonomous mode, it will look around for targets to shoot at, or it can act as a security system for your room. In remote control mode, you'll use two Touch Sensors to controll all three motors of the Shot-Roller, allowing it to shoot anywhere on your command!

Strider

This six-legged monster walks around in any direction. It's antennas detect input from humans or other animals. While it may seem like a scary spider, this robot is actually affraid of light. You'll program this robot to walk only in the dark, and stop when the lights are on. Instead, it can be programmed to walk around and change direction if one of the antennas is touched.

SmartBot

This robot is a useful platform to learn to create advanced programs. It takes input from several sensors like the Ultrasonic Sensor, the Rotation Sensor and the Color Sensor, also acting as a Light Sensor. Once you've gone through the advanced programming chapters, you'll even learn to program a game that you can play on this robot. The game you'll make is similar to the Whack-A-Mole game.

The Snatcher

This is probably the most complex build in the book, but it's also mechanically the most interesting robot. Using a special grabber mechanism, the Snatcher can grab and lift objects with just one motor. It uses the other two motors to drive around. Combined with a smart program, the Snatcher is able to find, grab, lift and move objects autonomously. You can see a video of this robot in action at the bottom of this page.

The Hybrid Brick Sorter

This robot is hybrid because it has two functions. It sorts standard LEGO bricks by color and size. It's able to distinguish 2-by-4 bricks from 2-by-2 ones, and it can seperate yellow, green, red and blue bricks. Now it's no longer necessary to sort your LEGO bricks yourself! You can see a video of this robot in action at the bottom of this page.

CCC: Compact Chimney Climber

Most LEGO vehicles move in two directions: forwards and sidewards, but this robot is different. It can climb vertically between two walls. As it climbs, it balances itself with a mechanical and a sensor technique so that it doesn't fall down. The robot detects when it reaches the ceiling, after which it safely climbs down again.

Videos

Watch the Snatcher in Action

Watch the Hybrid Brick Sorter in Action