The Lego Mindstorms NXT Zoo! An Unofficial, Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Robotic Animals with the Lego Mindstorms NXT | 
 enlarge | Author: Fay Rhodes
Publisher: No Starch Press
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $11.99
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Rating:  17 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 8 x 0.9
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9781593271701 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
Whether you're just beginning with your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set or are already an expert, you'll be inspired by these animal-like models that walk, crawl, hop, and roll! The first part of the book introduces you to the NXT kit and reviews the parts you'll need in order to begin building. Next, you'll learn how to program with the NXT-G programming language, including how to make miniprograms called My Blocks that you can use to build larger programs. Finally, you'll learn how to build each robot and program it to act like its real animal cousins. Learn to build and program the following robots: - Ribbit, a jumping frog
- Bunny, a hopping rabbit
- Sandy, a walking camel
- Spiderbot, an eight-legged spider that avoids objects and walks forward and backward
- Snout, a walking alligator that opens and closes its jaws
- LEGOsaurus, a four-legged, plodding dinosaur
- Pygmy, a walking elephant that raises and lowers its head
- Polecat, a skunk on wheels that lifts its tail and shoots "darts"
- Strutter, a peacock on wheels that turns and flutters its tail feathers
Troubleshooting tips help you avoid problems like misarranged gears and incorrect programming, while a list of Internet resources is included to help guide you in further exploration with the NXT. Teachers and home educators will appreciate an appendix with helpful suggestions for using the models in the classroom. The models in this book have been tested repeatedly -- and built successfully -- by novice builders, so all you have to do is follow the directions and watch them go. Now, let the building begin! (Note: These specific models require additional NXT/TECHNIC parts. Check out the part lists at thenxtzoo(DOT)com.) (edited by author)
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 Misleading title,description - This is for NXT Educational Version April 6, 2010
jerry924 (Seattle, Wa.)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you buy this book, make sure you have the Educational NXT set PLUS the Educational Resource set. It is not for the regular Mindstorms NXT set that a consumer would most likely buy.
I wasn't going to rate this book so low, but an editor is on here saying that its people buying the book's fault for not researching the website to find the part list BEFORE buying the book. This is nuts. Where does it say that there even is a website to check out parts list.
Disappointing that I can't use the book without buying the $80 Educational Resource Kit and disappointing that those involved in editing this book are so rude to their customers who are PAYING for the book!
 Good book. . . only if you have the parts May 4, 2009
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Even though this book is geared toward kids, I would not say it is completely "Kid friendly" especially if you just got the Lego NXT. If you want to build the frog, rabbit, or skunk you have to have the education resource kit in addition to the base kit. You will need even more parts to make the SIX other models; Fay Rhodes does tell you were to get the parts and sometimes shows you where you can substitute. In order to make the elephant, skunk, and peacock, you will need to use fishing line for the pulleys. I tried for over 30 minutes to attach the string on the skunk to get it to "spray" and I eventually gave up and tore it apart. The building instructions are not the best, the pins and other parts never fully attach.
It is hard to get the walking animals legs in alignment. I tried for 20 minutes to get the alligator to walk and it just would not work, but maybe that is because I built it wrong.
I admit, the animals are pretty cool. My favorites are the spider and the elephant.
Over all you should only get this book if you have the parts and you have some experience with the NXT.
 Great book filled with creative ways to learn with LEGO MINDSTORMS April 14, 2009
K. Reynolds
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Not everyone who wants to build a robot wants it to go fast! Some teachers/students want to teach/learn about building, programming, collaboration and teamwork without being part of a competition. This books provides ideas for learning the concepts MINDSTORMS is famous for while reaching a new audience. The models are creative, educational, artistic, and lend themselves to a variety of discussions and lessons that aren't normally associated with building a robot. I definitely recommend this book. Watch what students can do!
Fantastic robots, easy to use instructions April 14, 2009
Andrew Winson
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have had this book for a while, and I am still taken by the inventiveness and, for lack of a better term, FUN of the designs. I admit I am writing this review in large part to combat some of the wrong-headed low-rating reviews provided by others, all of whose sole complaint, it seems to me, is that THEY DIDN'T SO MUCH AS READ THE VERY FIRST PAGE OF THE BOOK (conveniently available for preview right here on Amazon) BEFORE BUYING IT. Mrs. Rhodes is very up-front about the fact that the models were designed with the expanded kit in mind, and she provides links to places where additional parts may be found, in some cases for pennies a piece. In this she is actually a fair bit more responsible than some other authors publishing in the same field. Furthermore, it seems to me that half the fun of books like Mrs. Rhodes is not just about making the given robot, but for inspiring one about the many possibilities. Simply go onto youtube and you will find a host of variant spiders, peacocks, skunks and other LEGO robots that are similar to, inspired by, but not exactly like these, because the creators saw what was done here, then took the ball and ran with it. I hope that you, review reader, might do the same.
 Requires additional parts to build most of the designs April 12, 2009
G. Linden (Seattle, WA United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The robot designs in the book are fun, but I was quite disappointed to see that they require purchasing additional parts than are available in a normal Mindstorms NXT set. I was able to partially build a few of the robots, but found the book much less useful than I expected because of this rather serious flaw.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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