Storms in the Mind

Since this is the only non-fiction review I have up so far, I felt it deserved a page of its own. That it has now reached the length of a full-blown article is an indication that I like Mindstorms and enjoy geeking about robotics and programming. No Starch Press found my Lego Mindstorms stuff and sent me a review copy of

Joe Nagata's Lego Minstorms Ideas Book (No Starch, 1-886411-40-9. 184pp USD21.95)

in return for a link. Since they'd put some of the contents of the book up on their site, I knew roughly what to expect and was glad to oblige. I was unprepared for the quality of the actual book.

For those of you who forked out the money for the Robotics Invention System as a present for your daughter or grandfather, but didn't look inside, the basics are explained in a separate section of my site. I need to add that a reasonably comprehensive starter manual comes with the set, that extra challenges are regularly presented on the Mindstorms official site and that there are other sites in the Mindstorms ring (this one included) with extra ideas.

Mostly because it's an excellent book. It presents ten robot designs, starting with a two-wheeled car that substitutes for the first model in the official Mindstorms manual, and including walkers of various kinds, a train and a pneumatic engined car. Each model is well thought out, has programming ideas (most will work with the programming elements from the set, if you don't really like to program the stuff) and is thought-provoking enough to spur even a novice on to solve other problems.

That would be enough to justify the cost of the book, but there's more. The build-up instructions and diagrams would be worthy of the official site, perhaps not surprising because the author trained in computer graphics, but the end result is like one of those recipe books you can trust. If there doesn't seem to be a reason for doing something, don't worry, all will become clear once you get to the end. The standard of written English is admirable - good enough that it shows up the few formatting errors, which fortunately don't spoil the enjoyment even if you simply read the book from cover to cover, and there are wickedly devious hints and tips like analogue control techniques.

Joe also quite rightly points out that collecting the parts is part of the fun. I've already been warned that I'm not allowed to buy the pneumatics set for the pneumatic car (I fancy building a mock steam engined monorail) until I've finished tidying the study. So, to those annoyed parents who emailed me to grouch about Ria, I can only say 'see - it isn't just me making your life a misery'. Lest the comparison deters parents from buying the book for their offspring, I should emphasise that where it's at all possible, Joe provides workarounds using the standard RIS pieces, an admirable example I shall try to follow in the future. In fact, you can use the Ria software with Joe's train and do away with the six feet of pine you've cursed me for.

Readers who don't know me could be forgiven for thinking the freebie turned my head. Not so. I'd never put up a full review of something I didn't like. I'm flattered of course, but I've set the same standards I would for a professional review. The book just happens to be one of the best on the market. They're sp confident that they've put some of the build sequences up on their site.