Aside from the basic RIS set, the MINDSTORMS product line also includes expansion sets. These sets provide additional parts and software to supplement the RIS set. Two such sets exist, each
selling for about $50US :
Extreme Creatures
This set comes with about 150 LEGO pieces and is designed so you can add decorative jaws and claws to your robots. It includes a light that can be attached to one of the output ports of the RCX.
Robosports
This expansion set includes about 90 LEGO pieces, two balls, two pucks, and an additional motor. It's oriented towards robots that can play different sports.
A third expansion set, Exploration Mars, should be released sometime in 1999.
Among LEGO enthusiasts, the consensus is that the expansion sets are not as good a value as the RIS set itself. If you're looking for extra pieces, it might be better to buy a LEGO TECHNIC set
instead. If you're looking for additional sensors and motors, by themselves, there are other ways to get these. See Appendix A, Finding Parts and Programming Environments, for details.
Other Sets
RIS isn't the only game in town. In 1999, two new MINDSTORMS sets were released: the Droid Developer Kit and the Robotics Discovery Set. Both sets are
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based on the same technology as RIS. They have more limited capabilities than RIS with the intent of making them easier to use.
What Now?
Now that you have some background in mobile robots and LEGO MINDSTORMS, what should you do? Play.
Read the manuals, follow the instructions on the MINDSTORMS CD, and have fun with your new toy. When you're thirsty for more, come back and read the rest of this book. It will tell you
everything you need to know to push your MINDSTORMS set as far as it can go.
Online Resources
One of the most exciting things about MINDSTORMS is the online community that supports it. On the one hand, LEGO's official MINDSTORMS site provides some interesting information as
well as a chance for RIS owners to exchange designs and ideas. But in the months since the release of MINDSTORMS, many unofficial sites have appeared. These cover a broad range of topics:
clever mechanical designs, novel sensors, alternate programming environments, even a new operating system for the RCX. I'll list references to online resources at the end of each chapter in this
book; my lists are also available online at
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/Imstorms/. There's a lot of information out there.
LEGO MINDSTORMS
http://www.legomindstorms.com/
This is the official site of MINDSTORMS. It contains handy tips and mildly informative articles. If you own a MINDSTORMS RIS set, you can sign up for your own little corner of this web site,
where you can post pictures of your creations and even the programs that run them.
LEGO Worlds
http://www.lego.com/
This is the official site of The LEGO Group. It's a good place to go to browse through different product lines and to get a sense of the entire company's product offerings.
Robotics
http://www.lugnet.com/robotics/
LUGNET (the international fan-created LEGO Users Group Network) forms the hub of the online LEGO universe. LUGNET hosts many useful discussion groups; a whole hierarchy of them is
devoted to robotics. This URL will take you to the top level of the LEGO robotics discussion groups, which is further
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