June 15th, 2007
Have you registered your FIRST LEGO League team yet? Registration is open - what are you waiting for?
Details? You want details? Okay, we can do that for you.
Registration opened May 1, and continues until all slots are filled. This usually happens sometime after mid-September.
The cost to register a FLL team this year is $200.
The FLL team registration process and fee do not include participation in an event. The tournament application process will open in October.
When you register, be sure to also order the Field Set-Up Kit for this year’s challenge, Power Puzzle. Without it, you won’t really be able to do much to practice for FLL competitions! The Field Set-Up Kits will begin shipping out on August 1.
FIRST LEGO League estimates that approximately 6,720 teams will register this year, and so far, 1,715 teams already have (as of June 14th)!
This is the tentative schedule for the season:
May 1
Registration Opens
Mid-May
Registration Materials and Robot Sets Begin to Ship
August
Field Setup Kits Begin to Ship
September 5
International Challenge Release
Mid-to-late-September
Team Registration Closes/Last Day to Order Products
October 1-12
Tournament Applications Accepted (If FLL is handling applications)
November- January
Tournament Season
April 2008
World Festival
Here are some links to useful pages at firstlegoleague.org:
June 5th, 2007
Another great site on the web for NXT news and info is at bNXT.com. The site includes a blog, downloads, and even tutorials. One of the neatest parts of the site, though, is the list of recent posts compiled from all over the web. It’s in the lower-right corner of the main page, and can be a good way to find NXT bloggers and websites you may not have known about. Another feature is the NXT papers availiable, such as A Radar Style Display for the NXT. Although the site is geared to users with the retail NXT sets, there is still a lot of good information that can be adapted to work with the different parts available in the MINDSTORMS Education NXT set.
What will be next from bNXT? You’ll have to take a look and see!
May 31st, 2007
The writers at the NXTasy site include this definition on their about page:
NXTasy - \Nec”sta*sy\ - n;
A state of emotion so intense for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT that one is carried beyond rational thought and self-control; intense joy or delight for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT.
Synonym - Ecstasy
They’re not kidding! Lots of enthusiasm and knowledge is crammed into this site, which includes a forum, a repository of user-contributes files (programs, blocks, etc.), and challenges in addition to regular blog posts.
Be sure to take a look at NXTasy.org and let their passion inspire you and your students!
May 7th, 2007
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE USE
The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education NXT Software version 1.1 to be released in August 2007.
The team behind the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is happy to announce that the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Software version 1.1 will be available for all users in five language versions (English, German, French, Dutch and Japanese) in August 2007. Among its new features this version includes full support for Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) and the new Intel-based Macintosh systems.
In addition, the new NXT Software offers optimized performance and speed, especially for large program development. New compression methods free up 30kb of useable memory on the NXT Intelligent Brick and shrink most programs and sound files by 40%. The software programming module, called NXT-G, now features intelligent scroll + more than 100 other enhancements.
In order to support existing users of LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT, we will offer an upgrade on CD with the new NXT Software version 1.1 for $19.99, with free shipping. This offer will be available by calling 800-362-4308. The item number is 900093. The free shipping offer will end December 31, 2007.
Users who purchase the current LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT software version 1.0 after May 7, 2007 will receive a free upgrade to the new LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software version 1.1 automatically by mail as soon as it is available.
All FIRST LEGO League teams purchasing robot sets after May 1, 2007, will also automatically receive the software upgrade as soon as it is available.
Please check www.LEGOeducation.info/nxt regularly for more information as it emerges.
March 30th, 2007
Physics? Sure!
LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT can be used to teach more than just robotics concepts. In fact, Barbara Bratzel has developed “a project-based course that teaches classical mechanics through engineering. It covers motion, forces, fluids, stability, work, and energy. The topics are approached from an engineering perspective, with building and designing reinforcing the conceptual physics material and vice versa.”
Since the students use NXT (and previously, RXC) sets to design and build robots, and have to program those robots using LEGO programming software, by the end of the course, the students are skilled at programming as a byproduct of the class.
If you’ve seen Bratzel’s Physics By Design before, you’ll want to take another look at the upated Physics by Design: ROBOLAB Activities for the NXT and RCX. The book has been updated with lots of new activities for the NXT, while still retaining the activities and instructions for the RCX-based robots. The updates are woven in throughout the book, too, not just added on at the end, making this an ideal book to use in a classroom that is gradually transitioning from the RCX-based Team Challenge or RoboTech sets to the MINDSTORMS Education NXT base sets.
For more information about the book, and to see a table of contents, you can visit the publisher’s information page.
March 27th, 2007
The LEGO Mindstorms Education NXT is designed to use NXT-G software, and that software is great, especially for younger or more inexperienced students. Some teachers, however, may find they want to use the NXT sets to teach other programming languages. Since LEGO has open-sourced it’s firmware, this is possible.
Carnegie Mellon has taken advantage of this to create RobotC, a C-based programming environment. It’s available from LEGO Education in both single and classroom license versions. For more information, including a quickstart guide, training, support, and a trial download, visit the website: RobotC.net
March 2nd, 2007
The Apple Learning Interchange has posted a podcast recorded during the Texas Computer Education Association conference this past February. Ron Hudson, a technology director for his school, describes how he and other teachers in his school use LEGO Education Robotics to inspire students and teach problem solving skills. The podcast is about 12 and a half minutes long, and includes images from the booth on the conference show floor. Be sure to take the time to visit the site and listen!
Apple Learning Interchange: LEGO Robotics podcast
February 19th, 2007
Did you know that National Engineering Week is being celebrated during the week of February 18-24? Are you celebrating this in your classroom? Are you using your LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT in a way that focuses on engineering concepts? Do you plan to?
Share your projects and ideas in the comments!
February 16th, 2007
If you’re looking for opportunities to get to know other NXT users and learn a thing or two, you’re in luck! The fine folks at LEGO Engineering are partnering with various groups around the US to host conferences for all interested LEGO Education Robotics users. With confereces taking place on both the east and west coasts and in the midwest, there’s likely one not too far from you!
St. Paul, Minnesota
March 10, 2007
- Arranged by INSciTE (Innovations in Science and Technology Education) and Benilde-St. Margaret’s Advanced Competitive Science in cooperation with University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
- For more information, please contact Fred Rose or Dan Carlson.
Enfield, Connecticut
April 27, 2007
Sonoma, California
May 5, 2007
- Arranged by the Sonoma County Office of Education in cooperation with LEGO Education.
- For more information, please contact James Isom.
Carlsbad, California
June 23, 2007
- Arranged by LEGOLAND California in cooperation with California State University.
- For more information, please contact Lynn Crokett or James Isom.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
August 16-18, 2007
- Arranged by The National Robotics Engineering Consortium (Carnegie Mellon) in cooperation with the CEEO.
- For more information, please contact Norm Kerman.
February 7th, 2007
For those of you using ROBOLAB 2.9 with your NXT robots, there’s a new patch update available.
The 2.9.3 patch fixes a few major issues with both the RCX and the NXT and also has a few new features.
LEGO Engineering - ROBOLAB 2.9.3 Patch.
Update, 2/16/07:
The upgrade fixes some of the issues experienced with both the RCX and the NXT platforms and also provides a range of new features. The upgrade will for instance be relevant for FIRST LEGO® League coaches and others who need accurate robot control.
Among the fixes and features of the new upgrade are:
- Smaller RCX firmware (more space for programs)
- Motor brake and motor float now work properly
- NXT Motor synchronization
- NXT On-Screen programming is enabled
- NXT 3rd Party Sensor support (HiTechnic and Mindsensors)
“The ROBOLAB 2.9.3 patch is part of LEGO Education and Tufts CEEO’s commitment to supporting educators that are using the RCX as well as providing a great transition for those moving to the new MINDSTORMS®NXT platform”, says Marketing Manager Peter Thesbjerg from LEGOEducation.
Bill Church, Physics Teacher, Littleton, NH, USA, is pleased with the support and commitment from LEGO Education and Tufts CEEO: ” NXT and the new version of ROBOLAB have enabled me and my students to create new activities while hanging on to the classic and very effective RCX activities”.
