Somewhere over in my pile of mostly empty boxes (a habit I really should ditch now that I live in a Brooklyn shoebox) is an almost-complete set of Lego Mindstorms. They’re pretty fun, but I just don’t have time for dicking around with Lego. That’s why 1) I should give these Mindstorms away to a local high school robot team, and 2) I won’t be spending the $300 to purchase the new Radio Shack Vex Robotics Design System. Still, it looks like an interesting system, and cheap! Even better, it’s designed to emulate the parts given to kids in the FIRST robot competitions, which means that for just $300 (I know, but that’s still cheaper than before) a high school can get the parts they need to compete.
So to complete Step 1, if you’re a teacher at a local school with a robot program, send me your school address and I’ll ship you these Mindstorms. Also, thank you, Radio Shack, for doing something Radio Shacky.
Radio Shack Rolls Out New Robotics Kits [PCMag via MakeBlog]
Update: MindStorms: claimed! The student teachers at Susquehanna University will be shlupping them around to kids in 6 Pennsylvania school districts. Not exactly local, but close enough. Another school in Canada (really not local!) is looking for a set, too, if anyone has any extra.
