Extreme Mindstorms

Three MINDSTORMS experts have joined with the maintainer of the legOS HOWTO to produce the book that all advanced users of LEGO MINDSTORMS have been waiting for. Each author has written material based on his specialty. Dave Baum shows you how to take Not Quite C (NQC) to its limits. Ralph Hempel explains the ins and outs of pbForth. Michael Gasperi teaches you how to build numerous custom sensors with simple, systematic instructions. Luis Villa show you how (and when) to upgrade MINDSTORMS' built-in operating system to take advantage of the extra power of legOS, a complete C environment for the RCX.

Extreme MINDSTORMS: An Advanced Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS starts with an overview of the RCX firmware and includes a whole chapter on RCX 2.0. Next, the book concentrates on the steps needed to build Seeker, a light-seeking robot, and to program it in NQC. Later chapters extend Seeker's functionality using pbForth and legOS. The book concludes with two chapters on building both custom passive and custom powered sensors. These sensors can take LEGO MINDSTORMS to levels impossible to achieve with just the parts supplied in the box or available through normal channels.

Michael Gasperi has been an expert in LEGO Mindstorms sensors since they were first introduced in 1998. His popular web site and contributing chapters to Extreme Mindstorms (Apress, 2000) have guided many people through the process of building their own extensions to the kit.