Historical Release Years of the LEGO® MINDSTORMS®ġ998 : release of the RCX brick - RCX for Robotic Command e XplorerĢ006 : release of the NXT brick - NXT for Ne XTĢ009 : release of the NXT 2.0 - an updated version of the original NXTĢ013 : release of the EV3 system - EV3 for Evolution 3Īs with most technology, it is disconcerting to spend scarce resources on a product just to see it become obsolete with the advent of the "next big thing" (Wiggins, 2003). Figure 1 identifies the historical release years of the platforms this will help identify which versions you may currently be working with. Can you do programming with a mix of the old NXT and the new EV3? With limited resources, is it better to buy additional NXT sets or switch to the new EV3? To answer these questions, the authors interviewed experienced robotics coaches and a LEGO® Education sales representative. Many 4-H volunteers lack confidence in this area and will look to the 4-H educator for advice (Barker, Grandgenett, & Nugent, 2009).įor those who have already purchased the Mindstorms NXT sets, one wonders if they are still going to be useful. The dilemma arises in knowing what course to take for future robotics purchases. Many 4-H programs have already purchased some Mindstorms NXT kits.
The release of the latest LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robotics platform in September 2013 has provided a dilemma for many youth robotics leaders (LEGOa, 2013). However, educators across the country are now faced with the daunting task of keeping abreast of new robotics technologies (Ewers, 2010).
The EV3 can be programmed in other languages as well, including LabVIEW, ROBOTC, and LeJOS.The recent emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives has led to rapid growth in youth robotics programming (National 4-H Council, 2008 Barker & Ansorge, 2006). The education version can be downloaded here. The icon-based MINDSTORMS EV3 software is available in education and retail versions and is free to download. There are a number of options for programming the EV3. See Which LEGO kit? for a description of the differences between the two kits and a comparison to the NXT kit. The MINDSTORMS EV3 kit includes a programmable brick (also known as the EV3 brick), motors, sensors, and LEGO Technic parts. There are two versions of the kit: the Education EV3 Core Set (45544) that is aimed at schools, and the retail version, MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313), that is aimed at the home market. It was launched in September 2013, and follows the RCX (1998) and the NXT (2006). LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is the third version of LEGO’s MINDSTORMS robotics platform.
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