History of LEGO Mindstorms

[Coder Shah]

Since it's the 25th anniversary of LEGO Mindstorms this year I thought it would be interesting to share a history of LEGO Mindstorms. One post every Thursday. Of course everyone is welcome to chime in.

Mindstorms History - 01
1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program, 'Talking Turtle',  where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot 'turtles' using LOGO, a programming language he developed.

Related pages:

More early history by Evan Koblenz http://www.brickhacks.com/0.php

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Coder Shah

[DrJB]

Thank you for the travel back in time. I was at MIT back then, doing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. The Electrical Engineers were developing robots based on some controllers and Lego parts (Course 6.270) during the month of January (Independent Activities Period) whereas their Mechanical engineers counterparts were also developing 'fighting' robots from actual hardware (no Lego), Course 2.70 was a full-term Design course. In fact the EE course number was even adapted from that in Mechanical Engineering. The enrollment in 6.270 was via a lottery system as many students wanted to take the course than were spots available. 

In fact the RCX bricks were developed in the 90's, when the 6.270 Staff decided to do away with the Motorola controllers and switch to something more 'usable'. That is also when many schools across the US and the world (FLL) decided to develop their own Robotics courses based on mindstorms. 

Incidentally, I visited Boston/MIT few days ago over the holidays ... so much has changed in 30 years (Campus is no longer 'open' and requires key cards to navigate through), Boston Skyline has changed, parking is an even bigger pain .... but still, that place (in my mind at least) shines like a bright beacon across Cambridge/Boston. I was lucky as some people let me in the library and other places ... all I had to say was that I'm an alumni ... so many memories.

Edited January 5, 2023 by DrJB

[Coder Shah]

11 hours ago, DrJB said:

Thank you for the travel back in time. I was at MIT back then, doing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

Byte Magazine Volume 07 Number 08 featuring LOGO

https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-08

 

[Toastie]

Very nice topic!

This has to be carefully tracked and documented - as per the thread title!

Best wishes,
Thorsten

[Coder Shah]

4 hours ago, Toastie said:

Very nice topic!

This has to be carefully tracked and documented - as per the thread title!

Best wishes,
Thorsten

Thanks! I value your contributions!

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History - 02
1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control Lego models using computer commands. In the video below, Seymour Papert introduces LEGO TC Logo at an inner-city Boston public school, the Hennigan school.

 

 

[Toastie]

@Coder Shah

This is so incredibly valuable - I am in awe. You know, this makes all the difference: Of course time goes by. Of course, new, powerful and ever more powerful systems are developed. There is a difference, though: Back then, it was exciting. A thrill. New. Motivating, provided folks were there who a) knew what they were doing (as in teachers) and b) shared their enthusiasm. Everything said/shown in the video, applies today as well. Essentially - in principle - nothing has changed. I just have sometimes the feeling, we are still at ... line followers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that; new folks coming in, line followers are new.

On 1/5/2023 at 3:22 AM, DrJB said:

but still, that place (in my mind at least) shines like a bright beacon

You know, exactly that happens to me, when we go up north in Germany, to the place I was born - and went to school. This place has "physically" not changed that much (it is a high school, founded in the 1850's) - and you can just walk in there; northern Germany is a bit remote. It just makes me shiver when walking through the hallways - in an absolutely positive sense. I had a very good time there - because of the teachers and the fellows around, truly appreciating what was "provided" to us. Which does not mean we were lovely students. No way. Wanting to burn down a place and loving it at the same time, is one of the many challenges, a not grown-up individual has to face.

Thank you very much (again) for sharing ...

... and all the very best,
Thorsten 

[Coder Shah]

32 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Thank you very much (again) for sharing ...

... and all the very best,

You're most welcome! More next Thursday!

[alexGS]

13 hours ago, Coder Shah said:

You're most welcome! More next Thursday!

I’m enjoying this too, for obvious reasons ;) well, obvious if you’ve been reading our big thread about Interface A and TC-LOGO :D

Thanks for your work on this!

I have Control Lab and all generations of Mindstorms, but it will certainly be interesting to see how they came into being…

[Coder Shah]

13 hours ago, alexGS said:

Thanks for your work on this!

Most welcome!

Also feel free to drop a link to your thread here!

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms history 03
1990 - Lego TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. Lego and MIT began to explore the concept of an intelligent brick, which could be programmed and operate independently of a computer. One of the steps along the way was the Technic Control Center sets. This allowed you to ‘program’ the robots you built by recording a sequence of actions, which can be replayed later.

 

 

[Toastie]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:45 AM, Coder Shah said:

1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988,

I am always a bit confused with the dates of release of TC Logo hard- and software. Brickshelf doesn't list e.g. 9771 and 9750 at all; toysperiod's inventory lists 1090's (Technic Control I, which is a building expansion set to be operated with 9750, the control box) as well as other TC Logo boxes with a release date of 1986.

Then I have an original brochure here (in German "The LEGO Educational Program - Technic/Informatics - 1986/1987"), which lists the entire TC Logo program including spare parts etc. along with 9750. Interestingly, 9771 (PC interface card) is not mentioned at all, nor is 9767 (Apple interface card), just an interface cable for connecting 9750 directly to a Commodore C64 or C128 - with a release date of 1987 in Germany.

And finally toysperiod lists the release date of 9771 as well as 9767 is 1989.

Could it be that the conflicting dates result from the different release dates of the interface cables/cards? 9750 - and thus "TC Logo" - must have been released in 1986 (or even earlier) isn't it?

Just to get all in the clear for my favorite LEGO theme :)

Best regards,
Thorsten

   

[Coder Shah]

LEGO's official 20th Anniversary LEGO Mindstorms video says 1988 (Go to 1:23 on the video).

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Coder Shah
Added timestamp

[pleegwat]

7 hours ago, Toastie said:

Interestingly, 9771 (PC interface card) is not mentioned at all, nor is 9767 (Apple interface card), just an interface cable for connecting 9750 directly to a Commodore C64 or C128 - with a release date of 1987 in Germany.

It's likely they only marketed those products where the hardware was popular. I've heard that the C64 was way more popular in Europe than it was in the US; I don't know about the other two.

[Toastie]

On 1/19/2023 at 5:54 PM, pleegwat said:

It's likely they only marketed those products where the hardware was popular.

Agreed. The IBM PC was "invented" in the US though; as were Apple computers ... and they say in that 20th anniversary video, @Coder Shah (thank you!) has posted, that an estimated 30% of the schools in the US had one or more of these sets back then.

So could it be that the kids were already playing in Europe with C64's and 9750 (all you need is a cable + the LEGO Lines program), while in the US, it was a little later with Apples and PCs? And in that video they were addressing the US folks rather than - well - amateurs playing with C64 gaming machines?

Best,
Thorsten 

Edited January 20, 2023 by Toastie

[alexGS]

I don’t want to derail the thread, so will keep this brief - but remember the Interface A was an educational product designed in England to work with the BBC Micro first. The C64, Philips P2000, and Apple II were alternatives; all four used LEGO Lines, and the first set of teaching materials was designed around this and set 1090 (1986). 
 

The second round of teaching materials (1988) was designed around Logo and therefore only for the IBM PC/Apple II.

It seems LEGO partnered with MIT after the Interface A was developed, so effectively ‘re-launched’ it with Logo and the new set 9700. However, there is also Logo-based material in the archive for set 1090. 

It intrigues me that set 1092 seems to have never been featured in teaching materials.

Edited January 23, 2023 by alexGS

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms history 04
1992 - As electronics became smaller, lighter and cheaper, Seymour Papert and Mitch Resnick envisioned an “intelligent brick”, which could be programmed, thus robots no longer needed to be connected to computers. The first prototype, the Grey Brick, was developed in 1990, which was followed by the Red Brick in 1992.

 

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History 05
1998 - The culmination of years of research and development between LEGO and MIT, the first LEGO Mindstorms set, 9719 Robotics Invention System, is launched in 1998. In the video below, Gaute Munch and Erik Hansen talk about the creation of LEGO Mindstorms.

 

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History 06
1998 - The first LEGO Mindstorms ads.
In the first ad, the second robot looks like Vernie’s grandfather :D.
The second ad did NOT age well.
P.S. Would anyone happen to have building instructions for them?

 

[Coder Shah]

Inventorbot from the LEGO 9719 Robotics Invention System 1.0.

 

My Inventorbot recreation using the Spike PRIME set

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Coder Shah
added SP Inventorbot video

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History 07
1999 - LEGO Mindstorms 9719 review by Computer Chronicles.

 

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History 08
1998 - LEGO 9730 Robo Sports is one of the two expansion sets available for the initial release of LEGO Mindstorms. It contained parts and instructions to build sports themed robots. Link to the manual included with the set is here:

https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.core.pdf/4122281.pdf

 

[Toastie]

This is so wonderful ...

Just pulled out my original instructions for these sets - Robo Sports, Extreme Creatures, Exploration Mars, Vision Command, Ultimate Accessory Set ...

You know, the printed "instructions" alone are a blast.

RIS1.5, 2.0 and it does not stop: Robotics Discovery, Droid Developer Kit ... these were the true Golden Days of Mindstorms.

Should you need any scans, CD copies - whatever - just let me know!

I am so much looking forward to your next posts!!!

Thank you very much for demonstrating, what TLG was accomplishing ... in the past.

All the best;
Thorsten 

[Coder Shah]

Mindstorms History 09
1998 - LEGO 9732 Extreme Creatures is the second of the two expansion sets available for the initial release of LEGO Mindstorms. It contained parts and instructions to build animal and creature themed robots. Link to the manual included with the set is here:

https://www.lego.com/cdn/product-assets/product.bi.core.pdf/4122283.pdf

On 2/25/2023 at 6:05 AM, Toastie said:

This is so wonderful ...

Just pulled out my original instructions for these sets - Robo Sports, Extreme Creatures, Exploration Mars, Vision Command, Ultimate Accessory Set ...

You know, the printed "instructions" alone are a blast.

RIS1.5, 2.0 and it does not stop: Robotics Discovery, Droid Developer Kit ... these were the true Golden Days of Mindstorms.

Should you need any scans, CD copies - whatever - just let me know!

I am so much looking forward to your next posts!!!

Thank you very much for demonstrating, what TLG was accomplishing ... in the past.

All the best;
Thorsten 

Hey, glad you like it! My small effort in making sure Mindstorms is remembered. You're more than welcome to post pics, scans and links to this thread. That's why I do one post per week, so others can help fill in the blanks, so to speak.

[legoROBOLAB]

Dear friend... very happy for the evocation of the 25 years of the RCX... and the MIT/LEGO collaboration... keep going... I'll be on this side to follow...