This is a quick review of Getting Started with LEGO MINDSTORMS and Mastering LEGO MINDSTORMS. These books will help you learn the basics of building and programming LEGO robots and then move on to more complex creations created using Python and Word Blocks. Both book are published by No Starch Press and written by Barbara Bratzel and Rob Torok who are not new to book publishing.
The one thing I will say is that it is a shame LEGO announced they are discontinuing the Mindstorms theme. BUT, it does mean that people like me who don’t have it yet will hopefully be able to pick it up on clearance as you can still purchase the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor 51515 set from LEGO! I do really hope LEGO picks this up and continues the Mindstorms theme, maybe combining it in the LEGO Powered Up! set of accessories as there are definitely a lot of similar features (even down to the connectors).
From reading through these books, the quality and level of detail included is great and sure to help anyone wanting to get into Mindstorms. For someone like myself who hasn’t tried it before, the structure of the books makes absolute sense guiding you through some starter principles into more complex techniques. And I love that they include some far out inspirational ideas and challenges towards the end of each book.
I think if you are looking to help your kids (or yourself) get into the world of Mindstorms – maybe to build one of those fantastic Great ball contraptions – then both of these will definitely help you! It’s full of easy to follow instructions, useful tips and leads you into what seems complex in a really straightforward, down-to-earth way!
Buy These LEGO Mindstorms Books Online
Getting Started with LEGO MINDSTORMS: Learn the Basics of Building and Programming Robots
https://amzn.to/3DLhTvA (Amazon Australia)
https://amzn.to/3WCnVr0 (Amazon US)
Mastering LEGO MINDSTORMS: Build Better Robots with Python and Word Blocks
https://amzn.to/3U6hpqP (Amazon Australia)
https://amzn.to/3A98op1 (Amazon US)
Buy the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor 51515 from LEGO: https://bit.ly/lego-mindstorms-robot
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