The LEGO MINDSTORM NXT Idea Book--New from No Starch Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Camille Herrera, camille@nostarch.com
415.863.9900 x303

No Starch Press releases The LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book
MASTER LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT AND BUILD BETTER ROBOTS!

San Francisco, CA--In 1998, the LEGO's MINDSTORMS robotics kit
revolutionized the world of homebrew robotics, allowing robotics
fans to combine their love of robotics with their LEGO collection
to build real robots. 

No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com), publisher of instructional books for
geeks, met the needs of MINDSTORMS users with its carefully selected
publications then. And they've done it again for LEGO's newest MINDSTORMS
iteration, the NXT System with The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book (No
Starch Press, September 2007, $29.95, ISBN 978-15-9327-150-3, 350 pp.).

"The contributors to The NXT STEP blog have done a superb job of bringing
their enthusiasm and ideas together to create this very exciting book,"
writes Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, in the book's
Foreword. "I recommend this book to you, and I hope that you'll enjoy
reading it as much as I have."

But perhaps the real story behind The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book is
its author team, which reads like a who's who of MINDSTORMS inventors. The
11 contributors to the book write for the highly-regarded NXT Step blog
(thenxtstep.com). Many of the authors have been involved with LEGO as
members of the MINDSTORMS Developer Program, testing the NXT robotics kit
and providing feedback and documentation. Readers will find some of the
team's best ideas for creating compelling and sophisticated models,
including complete instructions for building eight robots:

- RaSPy, a robot that plays Rock, Scissors, Paper
- Slot Machine, complete with flashing lights and a lever
- ScanBot, a robot that scans black-and-white pictures and displays them
on the NXT's LCD screen
- Beach Buggy Chair, a roving, rambling robot
- CraneBot, a crane-like grabbing robot

"While the NXT set ships with a user guide and instructions for several
sample projects, that only scratches the surface," said No Starch Press
publisher, Bill Pollock. "We wanted to take fans deeper into the NXT
system." And The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book does just that with
explanations of the fundamentals of programming and design; tips for
designing and programming robots; a discussion of the complexities of the
NXT programming language (NXT-G); as well as a discussion of Bluetooth,
creating an NXT remote control, troubleshooting, and much more.

Casual MINDSTORMS builders and serious robotics hobbyists alike are sure
to find much of value in The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book.

About the Authors:

- Martijn Boogaarts was one of the initial organizers of LEGO WORLD. He
has built several large.demonstration models, including the
Road-Plate-Laying-Machine, a working car factory (27 RCXs), and a Pinball
machine.
- Jonathan A. Daudelin helped form the FIRST LEGO League team, Built On
The Rock. In his team's second year of competition, they took first place
in the Robot Performance and Innovative Robot categories at the World
Festival in the 2007 Nanoquest challenge. 
- Brian L. Davis has been building LEGO robots for about five years. He
competes in conventional events such as sumo, line following, and maze
solving, and has created more advanced robots, such as automated
forklifts.
- Jim Kelly was accepted into the LEGO MINDSTORMS Developer Program (MDP)
in early 2006 and helped to beta test the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit and
software. He is a member of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners, a group
that continues to assist LEGO with testing and growing the NXT product.
- David Levy is the founder of RestonRobotics.org, a network that enables
students, parents, and teachers to collaborate on robotics projects. He
is also actively involved with outreach as an education director with the
Virginia FIRST LEGO League.
- Lou Morris has headed several software development projects for various
technologies, including a treasure-hunting underwater ROV robot, a
medical device used to treat cerebral palsy patients, and the roboDNA PC
Dashboard Application for the LEGO NXT, iRobot, and PIC microcontroller.
- Fay Rhodes is a freelance designer who provides desktop publishing and
web design services to nonprofits in the Boston area. She designs NXT
robots and is experienced in the use of LEEGO CAD software.
- Rick Rhodes is a frequent contributor to The NXT STEP blog. He develops
robots that appeal to teenagers like his son.
- Matthias Paul Scholz has been an active member of the LEGO MINDSTORMS
community since 2000. He is one of the developers of the open source
leJOS platform for the RCX. He participated in the LEGO MINDSTORMS
Developer Program, and is one of 20 members of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Community
Partners Program.
- Christopher R. Smith is a Senior Quality Assurance Inspector in the
Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston, Texas. He invented an inspection tool recognized by
NASA, which honored him with the prestigious Space Act Award.
- Rob Torok teaches mathematics, information systems, and robotics at
Claremont College, a senior secondary school in Tasmania, Australia. Rob
is also the Chair of Robotics Tasmania, the organization that conducts
the annual RoboCup Junior Tasmania competition for school students.


For a review copy or more information please email nostarchpr@oreilly.com.
Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, sample
pages, and cover graphic, see: http://www.nostarch.com/nxt.htm

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book
Martijn Boogaarts, Jonathan A. Daudelin, Brian L. Davis, Jim Kelly,
David Levy, Lou Morris, Fay Rhodes, Rick Rhodes, Matthias Paul Scholz,
Christopher R. Smith, Rob Torok
With a Foreword by Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine
ISBN: 1-59327-150-6, 350 pages, $29.95 USD, $35.95 CAD
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000

In fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or directly
from No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com,
800.420.7240).

About No Starch Press:
Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few remaining independent
computer book publishers. We publish the finest in geek
entertainment---unique books on technology, with a focus on Open Source,
security, hacking, programming, alternative operating systems, and LEGO.
Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books
tackle topics that people care about. See www.nostarch.com for more
information and our complete online catalog. (And most No Starch Press
books use RepKover, a lay-flat binding that won't snap shut.)

www.nostarch.com
orders@nostarch.com
800.420.7240

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