Seeking thoughts Lego mindstorm v1 v2 Lego function

Off Topic Maker Matters
#1

Kiddo is getting older and has advanced into wanting his Lego sets to become a bit more dynamic.
I posted about legos years ago but my kid wasn’t of the level to take on adding in motors and the fuss of it all.

I bought a LOT (as in 36 pounds) of legos at a local auction and within the lot was two Lego function pieces - he’s had a blast setting up something to “run”. I knew of mindstorms - I wasn’t aware of Lego function sets.

Wondering about mindstorms - both versions
Wondering about (now) discontinued Lego functions…which right now seems more “kiddo focused” and straightforward in function.

Kid is 12 curious and able - slight outside his age range. I’m thankful to have an equally curious engineer who will tinker right alongside.

Seeking input from people who are Lego nuts as to which would be the best investment for this age range and also something to build up with.

#looselegosonthefloorpleasesendflipflops

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#2

Additional to any response here from DMS members, you may want to check out a few of these hits?:

First two hits are to the DFW LEGO Users Group…I gotta think they’d have some thoughts and events and activities along the lines of what he seems to be interested in…?

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#3

I nominate @uglyknees for DMS Parent of the Day!

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#4

After 23 years of FIRST Robotics, I have pretty much retired from all that, however, at 12 and restless with legos, you might consider moving him up to something like VEX robotics. Vex has age appropriate kits and competitions. Competitions are not for everyone but the teams are usually mentored by adults willing to pass on programming and engineering. I personally hate legos. I’m the one who wants to glue the pieces together. That being said, I do have a Lego Mindstorms kit somewhere around here. I know The Girl Scouts are very in to S.T.E.M. and VEX sponsored robotics at their main camp, not sure where the Boy Scouts are with that but they USED to (USED to) have partners that would supply kits for robotics merit badges. A bit late but there are often summer school programs that teach robotic and are either Vex or First Tech Challenge based. Don’t forget that D.P.R.G. (Dallas Personal Robotics Group) is a S.I.G. at Makerspace. If you have time, you might drop in on a meeting to see what they are doing. Not sure any of that is useful. Someday I hope to get my personal robot upgraded… Last time I ran it, I almost ended up on the front page of The Dallas Morning News… (Who NEVER print GOOD news on the front page.)

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#5

DPRG stopped in-person meeting when Covid hit and has not restarted but they did have a contest at DMS recently.
https://www.dprg.org/

I had not heard of Vex a until a month ago. I am checking for my grandson. It’s awesome by all accounts. Try a youtube search for: vex competition.

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#6

Older Mindstorms sets came with the yellow RCX programmable brick. The infrared gizmo to communicate with the brick required a serial port; serial to USB adapters can be finicky and may not work. Also, the original software may not run with Windows versions newer than 98SE or maybe XP, so I hear.

I cannot tell you whether the newer software will work with the old bricks as the processors are different.

The old motors and sensors should work with newer bricks.

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#7

I’m sure it was a blaze of glory. Thank you for your input I’ve bought him a few of the VEX builds before I’ll try to get him going on a more involved one. I found an old mindstrom (V2) on Mecari and bought it this morning to play around with. I figure if it doesn’t suit him I’m not out much. Thank you very much for your input.

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#8

First things FIRST (pun intended) I can not say enough good things about FIRST Lego League. I is it a great way to learn STEAM problem-solving and soft skills in a healthy but competitive environment.

As far as Mindstorms goes I don’t have any direct experience with the new Inventor system but it looks like it uses the Blockly programing environment. Blockly is great, it offers relatively accessible starting point while also introducing the nomenclature and symbiology of more complex programming languages.

As he moves on from Legos depending on if he more interested in Mechanical Design, Programing or something else the FIRST programs will offer a path to further challenge him.

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#9

Thank you guys! I’ll look into all the ideas presented. I’ve absolutely made a critical error by getting out ALL the legos and deciding we would “organize them”.

It’s over y’all. This is it. I’m going to drown in Lego.

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