LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0: The King's Treasure (Technology in Action)

Follow the adventures of Evan and his archaeologist uncle as they explore for treasure from an ancient kingdom. Help them succeed by building a series of five robots using LEGO’s popular MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 robotics kit. Without your robots, Evan and his uncle are doomed to failure and in grave danger. Your robots are the key to their success in unlocking the secret of The King’s Treasure!

In this sequel to the immensely popular book, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: The Mayan Adventure, you get both an engaging story and a personal tutorial on robotics programming. You’ll learn about the motors and sensors in your NXT 2.0 kit. You’ll learn to constructively brainstorm solutions to problems. And you’ll follow clear, photo-illustrated instructions that help you build, test, and operate a series of five robots corresponding to the five challenges Evan and his uncle must overcome in their search for lost treasure.

Provides an excellent series of parent/child projects
Builds creative and problem-solving skills
Lays a foundation for success and fun with LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0

Please note: the print version of this title is black & white; the eBook is full color.

What you’ll learn

Build working robots using the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 kit
Constructively brainstorm solutions to challenging problems
Troubleshoot when your robots do not work as you expect
Design with a repeatable method, not randomly
Document your designs using the Design Journal Worksheet
Program your robots using the NXT-G graphical programming language

Who this book is for

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0: The King’s Treasure is written for children ages 10 and up who want to learn to design, build, and operate robots using LEGO’s immensely popular MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 robotics kit. The book leads readers through a series of five projects centered on an engaging story line. It can be read by kids alone, or it can provide the spark for a wonderful series of parent/child activities. Teachers and FIRST LEGO League leaders can use the book teach NXT 2.0 programming, and will find complete instructions for building five sample robots and creating five programs.

Table of Contents

Turns and Tricks
Mazerunner—Planning and Design
MazeBot—Build It
MazeRunner—Program It
Swing and Switch
RopeSwinger—Design and Planning
RopeSwinger—Build It
RopeSwinger—Program It
Hook and Pull
RingTosser—Design and Planning
RingTosser—Build It
RingTosser—Program It
Rock and Roll
RampRider—Design and Planning
RampRider—Build It
RampRider—Program It
Grab and Release
ZipLiner—Design and Planning
ZipLiner—Build It
ZipLiner—Program It
Treasure and Discovery

Customer Reviews:

Superb!

By JS - January 6, 2010

We purchased this book for my 15 and 9 year old boys who received a Mindstorms NXT 2.0 robot for Christmas. This book is intended for further instruction AFTER the tutorials that came with Mindstorms are completed. It is a great way to keep your robot builders interested and challenged.

The book is well laid out, interesting to read, and easy to follow. As an engineer myself, I really like how the author teaches critical thinking and problem solving. The problem solving sheets included (and downloadable from the publisher's website) are a big help. The author's solutions are in the book, but the kids are encouraged to come up with their own ideas first, and they are taught how to creatively think through the problem. It is similar to having a math book with the answers in the back, except the challenges are great fun. This book is a great buy.

Teach Young Roboticists Engineering Design with Lego NXT 2.0

By Ira Laefsky "Ira Laefsky" - April 13, 2010

I have reviewed several books on Lego Mindstorms NXT, unfortunately most other books provide the young robotics student with pre-designed
robots to build and insert pre-written code which only allows the Mindstroms NXT system to serve as an interesting toy; but these books provide little to inspire creativity on the part of the young student. This book refreshingly takes a totally different approach; the hobbyist is presented with an interesting story and a set of problems to solve with their Mindstorms Robot; then he or she follows along with the author in designing a new robot that addresses the defined problem;
finally, they construct and interact with their solution (which may differ from the books design). I believe this is exactly the type of learning experimenters in Technology Education had in mind at the MIT Media Lab when they prototypes the Mindstorms system. As a graduate engineer myself, and one beginning to experiment with Microcontrollers I am immensely... read more

Jim Kelly has done it again!

By Mannie Lowe - December 22, 2009

The King's Treasure answers one of the most important questions left over from The Mayan Adventure: "Where can I get more?" This book continues the journey using the new version of LEGO MINDSTORMS as the basis for designing and building new robots for Evan and his uncle to solve 5 new mysteries of the Mayan king. Jim picks right off where he left off and makes it easy for both beginners and expert MINDSTORM builders to solve these missions. I plan on using this book as the basis for teaching my Middle School robotics class some key aspects of engineering and hope to share what we've learned with others who follow Jim's work.