Why I'm Concerned About LEGO Mindstorms
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 11 мар 2021
- I'm extremely concerned about LEGO Mindstorms. It's popularity seems to only decline among the older fans of LEGO. What is the future of LEGO Mindstorms, and will it be discontinued? The lego mindstorms robot inventor 51515 hasn't been well received at all, and it likely results in a lack of interest for LEGO Mindstorms.
email: contact@unbrickme.com
📸 Instagram: @unbrickme
#LEGOMINDSTORMS #LEGO51515 #LEGOSpikePrime 
Развлечения
So 3rd party Mindstorms development for Inventor is well underway. The thing runs on a Python controlled microcontroller, and it has a built in Bluetooth adapter, so all kinds of fun features are on the way.
It is insane that the code block system has NO BLUETOOTH blocks!?! As a teacher linking two bricks with Bluetooth was an awesome assignment that students could work together on. Now, that same task requires Python, which puts it out of reach for all but my most advanced middle school students.
It seems like EV3 was, in every possible way better than NXT. Spike Prime can't make the same claim when compared to EV3. Spike Prime may be more advanced in some areas but it is a step back in others.
the thing is, since lego technic dropped classic technic bricks in favor of beams, it has been less accessible to the wider lego community, and most mindstorm creations look and feel the same.
Agree with you there, I really wish Lego would bring back more kits and designs using classic Technic bricks. They are easier to build with and easier to build stronger contraptions.
Yup, the overall tendency of Mindstorms and Technic nowadays is to reduce creativity of the users, making things easier and while erasing problems (which most of them were solvable and satisfting to solve) they are erasing posibilities too.
I always wanted a smaller form factor with LEGO Mindstorms since I think that it was too big for its weak computing power. I mean, much smaller iPhones are able to do much more than any spike prime hub or EV3 intelligent brick. I think that they should've kept some of the key features of the EV3, like daisy chaining and expandable storage.
Definitely. It has a steep price considering it doesn't have the processing power of a normal phone. How cool would it be if the intellingent brick was only 9x7x2 studs and it had 8 ports and a multicoloured screen? I don't think it would've costed them much more.
@@vladlupascu5514 Like putting a raspberry pi in it. You would get a ton more power, and they aren't expensive at all. I don't know how good of a battery system they have though, so that could be a in issue.
We should create a world-wide consortium of Mindstorm Users\programmers to pressure Lego to continue its work on this system (for kids and advanced users alike)!! We know who the direct builders\creators are at Lego, let's just communicate to them that there is a very large group of interested users/programmers that would like to continue to see this fantastic product evolve and a by-yearly update to its systems and additional parts (sensors, etc) continue to be built.
I've just got back into Lego after many years' hiatus. I was really into Technic as a kid (the Mindstorms wasn't around back then). I'd seen the kits and what can be done with them my partner bought me an EV3 for my birthday (this was supposed to be the "lose my sh*t present"). However when I went to download the app onto my phone, it was not there. I soon learned that the EV3 had been retired, and the 51515 kit is due to be retired soon, meaning we will end up in the same predicament. I basically own a bricked brick, since there is no way to control it. Lego's stupid decisions ruined what was supposed to be the most awesome birthday gift, not only that, but it means I'll never get the opportunity to use Mindstorms, ever. I'm now reluctant to update my PF system with PU, as that could potentially be pulled at any given moment in the future - again, without the app it will brick the whole system. Going by the Lego company practices of late, it looks like anything that is app controlled is volatile, so I'll be steering clear of it, sadly.
i remember the older NXT mindstorms. like from the early 2000's. mindstorms is very expensive too
The fact that there has been no updates since December concerns me. Customer support response is good, but tech support is awful. Back in December I notified them of a problem with the internal gyro on Robot Inventor that doesn't exist in Spike Prime, they confirmed the problem is there, still no patch. Also, Robot Inventor will not run on Chromebooks (the device almost every kid has at home for school). LEGO told me it will not run on Chromebooks and they don't intend to change that any time soon, as a result any parents that bought their kid a chromebook for school will need to buy a different device if they want to run Robot Inventor. That would more than double the cost of the set for some families. Oddly, Spike does run on Chromebooks just fine. I agree with you, it appears LEGO is not really behind this set as much as I would like them to be, because I really do love it.
Wait, but what about the broadcast blocks in the Robot Inventor Software? Don't those allow communication between multiple hubs?
no, the broadcast blocks merely broadcast within the program itself. Like, in the program, you have a broadcast block. And then in the program, a receive block would activate an unconnected block stack
@@Unbrickme That's so weird. Why didn't they just call it a commence sequence block?
I don’t have much experience with mindstorms (although my older brother had one of the OG mindstorms kits) but this was a good breakdown of mindstorms vs boost well done!;)
thank you very much! did your older brother have the RCX?
@@Unbrickme I think he had the “robotics invention” kit ( although I do recognize that little yellow remote from the RCX;)
Welcome to the age of tiktok where everything should be simple and uncomplicated and should follow the mantra "Don't make me think". The inventor brick is so simple as the micro:bit board.
Exactly. Everything has to be so easy, intuitive and user-friendly that using brain has become an optional.
Now days 99% of people who use computers on a regular basis and even work with them has actually absolutely no idea of what they're doing, let alone what's going on under (or even over) the hood.
Working in a company that provide technical support to offices I could really say _"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..."_
I've met people who thought that by pressing the on/off button on the monitor they were turning on and off their computer. And they used computers all the time.
Daisy chaining has already been added
The robot inventor(spike prime) system is just a weDo 3.0 not a mindstorms
The 51515 set and the Spike Prime are awesome as Technic sets: They have a lot of cool parts and the out-of-the-box compatibility with PoweredUp is a welcome addition (I still prefer PowerFunctions over PoweredUp but inter-compatibilty is always good).
But as a programming/robotic platform the new hub is a *huge* step back (as you said, clearly targeted to far more younger/basic users):
The EV3 is a fully fledged computer, you can plug a Wi-Fi dongle in the usb port and connect it to the internet.
The new hub is basically a NXT with a built-in accelerometer and PoweredUp connectors all in a slightly smaller form factor (yes, it can be programmed in micropython and Scratch but the same could do the NXT with just a firmware update).
The new hub can run micropython code but with the EV3 you can literaly boot *your own operating system* from a sdcard (without touching the firmware or damaging your waranty).
If you feel too limited by the default software you can plug in a microSD with EV3dev and get a full Debian system at your disposal. On it you can write and run code in Python, Java, C, C++ or whatever language you like.
With my EV3 I've built a robot that can be controlled over Wi-Fi while getting back the video from a webcam on board. It can be piloted from any computer or smartphone without the need of installing any external software as everything is done through the browser and a web application hosted on the http server running on the EV3 itself.
Good luck doing anything even similar with the new hub.
An EV3 can comunicate with other EV3s and NXTs over bluetooth and can control a swarm of RCXs through a usb infrared tower.
The new hub will, maybe, get the option to talk to another identical hubs in some future update.
What the Mindstorm comunity needs is a "EV3 2.0" (or "EV4"?) with the new hub's "hard-hardware" (the form factor, out-of-the-box rechargable battery, PoweredUp connectors, etc), built-in Wi-Fi to be ready for the Internet-of-Things (no more external usb dongles), a usb 2.0 host port instead of that usb 1.1 that really killed a lot of potentiality (no more webcams running at resolutions from 1995) and a slightly more powerful "brain" (technology has come a long way since 2013).
i really like technic as a robotics platform, but ive always had issues with the limited capabilities of so called smart bricks. i almost always end up resorting to replacing the smart bricks with my own electronics and usually with better results.
id love to see a smart brick that is really just a backplane for a raspi compute module. younger users can program in scratch, intermediate users can use python, and advanced users can use asm or c/++. open source all the libraries and tools and let the community keep them up to date. the bricks would be upgradable with future compute modules and alternate system on a chip modules with the same footprint.
If daisy chaining was added to the robot inventor I would expect there to be an up in interest
Yeah they definitely need to add daisy chaining
I understand the daisy-chaining capability will be integrated.
It's coming, thanks to 3rd party devs
@@gearratio6773 For now we only have hub to hub communication data transfers, sort of like we had with NXT. It's not real daisy chaining as we had with the EV3
Lego now will discontinue it, but that does not change much. Things people don't see is that 51515 is awesome hardware, with bad software, that can be replaced easily, with an even worse selling channel: its not available for schools. So Lego killed it from the start by pushing schools to get the butt fucking ugly Spike set (I'm really angry when it comes to the looks of that set), and only sold this to home consumers, who got lost on the bad software package. But if you buy 51515, flash the hub with Spike Prime firmware, and run it from Bricklife's scratch programming platform, it is the best robotic set ever made for school use.
hey man can you make a video on the lego technic set 42066 air race jet
Sometime soon, sure
I´m talking for myself, but, if youre going forward on electronics career, you just finish to jump to other platforms like arduino or texas microcontrollers, with no relationship with adult community get angry with LEGO new releases. I think some folks just stop using LEGO mindstorms for the previous reason. I believe if LEGO could meld easily with this new kind of platforms would be totally amazing
he was right they finally said that they would stop making it
I’m from the future
i thik boost is great for leaning as its very simple
Dude, you totally called this. Very insightful and well researched.
I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic drained some people's bank accounts (due to layoffs), and they don't have the money right now to purchase the Robot Inventor. School districts nationwide had to make costly upgrades to handle in-person learning; they're too broke right now to afford the new sets. The $1.9T Stimulus package may help prospects in the U.S., but economies worldwide have taken a HUGE HIT due to the pandemic. When people have more money to buy Lego Mindstorms again, interest will probably increase.
That's actually a very good point I have not considered. Still popularity is very similar to how it was in late 2017. So there hasn't been much of a popularity decrease or increase in the past year. Although had the circumstances been different, then mindstorms 51515 probably would've been more popular!
One problem schools will run into is that Robot Inventor won't run on Chromebooks. I contacted LEGO about this because a friend got their kids a set for Christmas and it wouldn't run on the Chromebook they bought him for school. LEGO responded that Robot Inventor is not intended to be ran on Chromebooks, so if that's what the kids have, Robot Inventor is not meant for them.
I know I'm super late, but I think it's how this one does not appeal to me like EV3 and NXT colors scheme and features like how this one removed daisy chain is smart device only I don't have that so can't use it no display expandable storage and many more things the only good thing I see is that it has a rechargeable battery included in the home edition and has some cool new parts, so I think other people think the same...
In the mindstorms app, please go to the community section, and build the robot Neptunian. That is my robot! I designed it! This mindstorms is NOT smart device only. The mindstorms app can be downloaded on windows and MacOS. But I agree with the rest. Also it’s important to note that the new mindstorms has hub-to-hub functionality. It’s not as good as daisy chaining, but it’s still much better than the NXT Bluetooth communication.
@@Unbrickme @Unbrickme That sounds good to hear I already bought EV3 and NXT so I might get this one if I see a sale again but I was watching Mindstorms videos to get some ideas, and this popped up as recommended...I assumed that I could not use it because it says smart device required on its box.
What about Arduino & Co?
yeah i felt like it was more towards kids
I was never into mindstorms and I don’t think that the new sets are a good way to start
Any of the NXT sets is a good way to start
I so agree with you...
thanks
Mindstorms used to be really cool.... but like technic, it's been going downhill lately. Hopefully it goes up in quality
I hope they make spike prime 2.0 soon with support for expandable storage, daisy chaining, and a faster processor
@@Unbrickme yea they should do that. Mindstorms was near its peak back then
I highly doubt that lego mindstorms will retire. 51515 has been out of stock more than 2 times. So it’s still a little popular.
Yeah perhaps, I think that in the future we will just see far less third party accessories, since it's not as popular anymore.
@@Unbrickme I think teaming up with the Raspberry Pi team to make the Build HAT was a very smart move and shows what the mindset of the Lego team is - I think the 51515 kit is simple on the surface but if combined with a raspberry pi through some of the third party Bluetooth libraries you can do some crazy things with it
I worried if LEGO mindstorms ev3 will be retired forever.
😭
EV3 will be retired forever by the end of June 2021
Ev3 was worse than nxt on release, I think RI will get better
Yeah I remember I got the education EV3 version in the summer of 2013 before the home release version came out and I didn’t like that it took way too long to power on. It had plenty of other issues too. I remember the negative reviews the ev3 got. As a result I never really adapted to the EV3 and just continued to use my NXT system. Multiplexers came in handy so I didn’t really need to daisy chain much
So downhill they were so good.... Ev3
Nxt and so much more
I loved the nxt
People have no interest in these sets, i frequently see these at 60% + discount, which shows nobody wants to buy them..
wow 60% + discount? where's that? I wanna buy a second robot inventor kit now
@@Unbrickme 75253, RRP in Australia is $359.99, has been as low as $99 at EB Games about 3 weeks ago, $179 on Amazon AU last week, (actually would you call this set mindstorms? this was the one I was thinking of anyway)
@@Unbrickme 51515 RRP $549.99 in Australia, was on amazon as low as $83.80, shopforme had them for $384.99 sale just ended. Crayons in Aust currently has for $399 (27% off)
Nothing is on 60% discount. It's been $360 for quite a while now. Fake news.
@@area51xi maybe he confused it with the Mini Robots 40413 set...
Dear. Unbrickme
So let me get this straight….
The release of the 51515 kit had dropping interests in the mindstorms community because of the removed features like Daisy chaining and less storage space
I loved mindstorms (or eny form of lego robotics I can get my hands on) I had watched this video aand I don’t want it to end with this Set being the final lego robotics set because there’s room for inproveing the mindstorms 151515 set I hope that lego will fix the problem or mindstorms will be dead
And if it dies I hope lego will be able to go forward and to make something that reflects on these mistakes (explained in your video)
Thanks LH
(Ps I hope u respond)
I think those are partially the reasons why there's a lack of interest in lego mindstorms. However, the lack of interest severely began in 2017, well before the release of the 51515 kit.
Ok
RIP Ev3
RIP NXT too
IIIII DDDODOOOOOONNNNNNTTTTT WAAAANNNTT MINDSTORMS TO DIE!!!!!!!! 😭 Lego Mindstorms is my childhood!!
Fear no more, Unbrickme. LEGO Mindstorms is here to stay. You know how I know? Right here: ruclips.net/video/LNj06IJmpgY/видео.html
Hmmmm interesting never rlly thought about that because I don’t own any mindstorms
Its meh, it is a bit over priced but a good set.
mindstorms is king
I got a challenge for the Gearbox-God: Can you build a Gearbox into the 42116 Skid Steer Loader for the two functions?🙉
Thanks, it might actually be possible with a super compact vertical gearbox