Now, these inventions—all powered by the Mindstorms robotics kit—won't actually see the barren lunar landscape up close, like their Lunar X Prize cousins. They will however see simulated terrain, and will be asked to complete similar tasks.

One task, demonstrated by Giz reader Tim, involves autonomously navigating the "Lunar surface" without bumping into moon rocks, secret aliens, or Apollo mission film sets. In Tim and his kids' case, the "Moon" is a covered pool:

Aside from the fact that that poor little guy was probably wetting himself over being a mere inch from certain doom beneath the cover, he did pretty well. But, Tim, can you and your kid send that sucker to the moon? [YouTube, MoonBots]

For you NXT fans and collectors, here's a parts list for this fantastic creation:

- One Intelligent NXT Brick
- One NXT Rechargeable Battery
- Three NXT Servo Motors
- One NXT Light Sensor
- One NXT IR Link (HiTechnic)
- Two Power Functions IR Receivers
- Two Power Functions Light Sets
- Four Power Functions M-Motors
- One Power Functions XL-Motor
- Three Power Functions Battery Boxes
- Three Power Functions Extension Wires

Creator NextStorm promises a more detailed explanation for this fine creation, but for now this video will do just fine. [NextStorm via Brothers Brick]

Ogre is a "Tank" built around a Zamor launching system nicknamed "Hailstorm". It uses three XL PF motors, controlled either by a standard PF remote, or by the on-board (black) NXT using the Hitechnic IRLink. It also has a small wireless "spycam" attached, so that the driver can "see" what the robot sees. The result is a lot of fun to drive around, and even more fun to watch it autonomously detect, target, and destroy loose LEGO targets.

Watch as Ogre detects the right and left edges of its target. Then watch Hailstorm go to work. After that, gaze on as a few Imperial Stormtroopers feel the full wrath of those rapid-fire projectiles. Seriously a cool little tank. I just wouldn't want to be walking around Lego Land right now, is all. [Nowhereelse - Thanks, Steve!]

Robotics nuts can do amazing things with the NXT 'bots, so I'm excited to see what kind of projects evolve from the new kits' color-sensing eyes. Also new in 2.0 is the ability to load images and sounds into your robots memory, for displaying on the LCD screen or, more importantly, allowing it to speak with the sound sample of your choice.

I'm counting down the minutes until the first Christian Bale Mindstorms (he likes black) hits YouTube. [Toy Fair 2009]

JD: How long did it take, total?
DK: Fudging the math here. About 3 months start to finish, working probably an average of an hour a day (more on the weekends, less during the week). 110-120 hours probably isn't too far off.

JD: Do you think, given enough time, you could use Mindstorms to recreate the arcade for real? I mean, controlling Mario travelling across the screen to the top. Too complicated?
DK: I've gotten this question a few times now.. It might be possible with some sort of magnet-behind-the-wall system, but it's not something I'll be able to attempt. I'd like to keep my wife.

JD: Any plans to do other games?
DK: I have some ideas for Ms Pacman, but it's still in the brainstorming stages. No promises..

[Vib via Brothers Brick]

Though the $100 MSRP seems steep, it's on par with other bluetooth devices at launch. The SurfaceSound Compact has a rechargeable battery rated for 15 hours of talk time or 22 days of standby, and features Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity. We just hope Bluetrek and Contour Design have paid equal attention to sound quality, as now we need devices like this to stay legal. [Product Page via iLounge]

Both of the Powered Theater units take advantage of NXT flat panel loudspeakers–which is NXT's specialty. The cheaper, one-piece PT7031 emulates 5-channel surround sound, though its more complex brother will communicate wirelessly between its two units for multiple front and rear channels, producing more convincing surround sound.

The PT7031 is expected to carry a $600 price tag, and $1000 for the more advanced PT8051.

Press release [Altec Lansing via Electronista]

If you want to build your own (who wouldn't), check out the materials list to get started. – Jason Chen

Project Page [Danielle via MAKE]

Be warned, the video is kind of long and very repetitive (it's a robot, what else did you expect?), but watching the first couple frames is kind of cool.

–Travis Hudson

WiigoBot: The Perfect Game [BattleBricks]

Of course the more important feature for us on the CD-X10i (left) and MC-DX22i (right) is the iPod dock. It fits all standard dock-compatible iPods and charges your iPod while playing. The CD-X10i will be $249 and the MC-DX22i will be $299 when they're available later in August. – Jason Chen

Press Release [NX Sound]

We've got it on good word that Lego will be releasing a new firmware version for their Mindstorms NXT robot kit that will "open up 60 to 80% more storage space" for user-made programs. (If you read our impressions of the Mindstorms NXT, you might remember that the low storage space and lack of expandability was a huge ding against the $250 set.)

Available on August 1st, the updated software will also include a universal binary version of the NXT programming software for OS X, which should increase its general snappiness on Intel-based Macs. – Joel Johnson

Still, my initial impression is good. The included software—which was such a turd in the original Mindstorms that some builders rolled their own versions—is approachable and capable. It ran a bit doggishly on my Macbook Pro, especially when plinking together GUI bits of programming logic, but I rarely felt lost or overwhelmed.

Each step of the software leads you to the next: first a build phase, with zoomable instructions; Then, a programming phase; Finally, testing. The first model even has a separate box with its pieces, saving you the trouble of searching through the set when you're eager to dig right in.

After the jump: Where Lego went wrong.

The NXT brick, which acts as both the brains and (usually) the body of your models, has both USB and Bluetooth built-in. For whatever reason, I couldn't make my laptop talk to the brick over Bluetooth. They'd pair just fine, but the NXT software did not recognize it.

Instead I used the USB connection to load my programs, sounds, and images—the brick both makes noise and displays things like beating hearts on its LCD display—into the NXT's brain. A bit of a hassle, but livable—more livable than the tiny amount of built-in flash memory storage.

With the low price of flash storage these days, I have to question Lego's decision to limit the amount of memory to 256KB of user storage. There was not even enough space to story the four initial programs and their accompanying sound and image files. And we're talking 4-5k sounds here—not multi-megabyte MP3s. Plus there's no expansion slots for later upgrades. It seems that most Lego builders will be running out of space for their own programs soon after they begin to write their own. It's almost a dealbreaker.

The build quality is typically high, although one of the elements was bent when I received it. I was just barely able to pry it back into shape without breaking the plastic, but if I couldn't, I would not have been able to build at least one of the four main models.

I also felt a little bit abandoned after building the final project, a humanoid robot named 'Alpha Rex.' Sure, the starter instructions are more about teaching you the basics of building and programming, but it still would have been nice to have been left with a big finale for the impressive robot, like using its distance sensor to keep itself from falling off a table. Instead, the lessons end abruptly with no suggestion of where next to go. Sure, that's sort of what Lego is about—making your own fun—but some challenges or ideas would have been nice.

In all, I'm pleased with the NXT platform, but for its price—$250—I'd expect a bit more. Especially more memory, considering that this is supposed to be the first in a series of Mindstorms products over the next few years.

For dedicated Mindstormers already sold on Lego, the NXT system's pleasant and capable software package is almost worth the price of entry by itself. –Joel Johnson

Nevertheless, if you, too, pre-ordered the NXT set, expect to be building your first robots as soon as this week. I'll definitely be doing a review myself as soon as I get a hold of mine. Joel Johnson

Toyota is going over the top with its 2007 FJ Cruiser SUV, which will be using NXT SurfaceSound flat panel speaker technology in its roof liner speaker system. Announced by NXT at CES, the SUV is powered by a 4.0L V6 24-valve engine and comes with a choice of six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission. The NXT system is built into the roofliner, but also complements the vehicle's conventional speakers, hopefully giving you a broad, omni-directional dispersion of sound. The system comes with an AM/FM/CD system with six speakers fitted as standard (including NXT-based roof liner) or other options that include an eight-speaker system with six-disc CD changer, and a nine-speaker system complete with subwoofer.

Toyota FJ Cruiser - world's first mass production vehicle with NXT technology [NXTsound]

The NXT comes with 18 step-by-step building challenges, not including the working slot machine pictured above. And Lego has issued a call for a NXT great developers user panel. 100 enthusiasts who apply via the website will be chosen to receive a kit in February. They will have four months to tinker and create something amazing for when the NXT becomes available to the public in August 2006. It will retail for $249.99.

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