The LEGO Mindstorms theme was a groundbreaking, discontinued product line from 1998 to 2022 that brought programmable robotics to the LEGO system. It was designed to allow users to build and program their own intelligent, autonomous robots.
Theme Overview and History
Mindstorms was developed as a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and The LEGO Group. The core principle was to provide a "programmable brick"—a microcomputer—that could control motors and read data from various sensors.
The theme has evolved through several main generations:
Mindstorms RCX (1.0 in 1998, 2.0 in 2001): The original system, which used infrared technology for communication and was programmed via a Windows PC.
Mindstorms NXT (1.0 in 2006, 2.0 in 2009): The second generation introduced a more powerful, 32-bit "NXT Intelligent Brick," Bluetooth connectivity, and new sensors and motors. It was programmed with a user-friendly, icon-based drag-and-drop software called NXT-G.
Mindstorms EV3 (2013): The third generation featured a faster brick with Wi-Fi support, a Linux-based operating system, and more advanced programming capabilities, including the ability to run third-party languages like Python.
Mindstorms Robot Inventor (2020): The final iteration integrated with the current "Powered Up" system, featuring a single, programmable hub and a coding app based on the Scratch platform.
Key Components
A typical Mindstorms set included:
The "Intelligent Brick": The central processing unit (CPU) that stores and runs the programs.
Motors: Servo motors to make the robot move.
Sensors: Various sensors (touch, sound, light, ultrasonic, color, gyroscope, etc.) that allowed the robot to interact with and react to its environment.
Technic Parts: A wide assortment of LEGO Technic elements for building the physical structure of the robots.
Discontinuation and Successor
The LEGO Mindstorms theme was officially discontinued at the end of 2022. While no direct successor has been announced under the "Mindstorms" brand, the educational components of its final version, the Robot Inventor, have been incorporated into the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime product line, which continues the tradition of hands-on robotics and coding education for students.