LEGO® “Toy of the Century”

January marks the passing of LEGO® half a decade of fun play. LEGO bricks was nomiated as the "Toy of the Century" by both Fortune Magazine in the US and the Britsh Association of Toy Retailers.

The History
1932, Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory for wooden toys in Billund in the south Denmark. LEGO is a fusion of the Danish words “LEg” and “GOdt” (“play well”).
1947, Christiansen discovered plastic as the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark.
1949, he developed the LEGO brick prototype.
1963, production of LEGO bricks with Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) began.

The Bricks
There have been adjustments in shape, colour and design from time to time, but today’s LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958. LEGO bricks are produced in special plants in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Mexico. The ABS compound is delivered in granules, which are heated to 232° C until they melt. Injection moulding machines (weighing up to 150 tons) presses the hotplastic mass into LEGO brick shapes and is left to dry and harden. Each injection mould is permitted a tolerance of no more than one thousandth of a millimetre, so that bricks of every colour and size stay firmly connected. There are 2,400 different LEGO brick shapes. LEGO bricks in boxes that are not sold are melted again and turned into new bricks, in accordance with waste prevention and environmental responsibility.

What I really wanted to talk about
LEGO® MINDSTORM® is made up of several main components the NXT (the brains), touch sensors, sound sensors, light sensors, untrasonic sensors (detects distance), and servo motors (for movement). There are several development areas that basically lets you go into robotics without any skillsets. Areas to explore

1. NXT firmware development for the ARM7 ATMEL microcontroller and the 8-bit AVR ATMEL microcontroller.
2. Software development using SDK. The software controllers can also be easily developed using LabView, NBC (Next Byte Codes), Microsoft Robotics Studio, and Gostai URBI for LEGO Mindstorms NXT.
   
3. Custom hardware development using HDK. Mindstorm competible hardware are HiTechnic Products and Mindsensors.
   
4. Custom hardware communication development using BDK (Bluetooth Development Kit).

Getting started with some of MINDSTORM's robots with blueprints and guides. Meet the robots;
Alpha Rex (Humanoid) has sight(an ultrasonic sensor), hearing (a sound sensor), voice(a built-in Speaker on the NXT brick and sounds from the NXT Software), mobility (2 servo motors) and sense (touch and light sensors).

Spike (Insect Scorpion) has movement (six legs), a set of pincer arms (pedipalps), sight(an Ultrasonic Sensor) and hear (a sound sensor) and attacks with its stinger (a touch sensor).

RoboArm T-56 (Machine) can lift, pivot, and grab objects with its claws. It can detect colors (a light sensor)feel objects (a touch sensor) arm mobility (3 servo motors - 1 for the grabber claws, 2 for the robotic arm to move up, down, and turn).

Tribot (Vehicle) can grab a ball when you give it a sound command (a sound sensor), move following a line (a light sensor), feel objects (a touch sensor) and see objects(an ultrasonic sensor).

I think this is really a cool toy to get for any child. I'm thinking of getting one (heh...). However it does cost GBP179.99 (estimate RM1155.52)