Robot Inventor

Reviews

• October 21st, 2020
  Average rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0
  A Superb Addition to the Mindstorms Series
  TeacherBrick | 25-34
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  I have been a huge fan of Lego and robotics for a number of years, so the Lego Mindstorms series is something that naturally caught my attention. My experience with Mindstorms started with the EV3 set. I originally purchased a set for personal use. I then used my role as a Primary School educator to introduce EV3 into classrooms. When I heard about the next iteration in the Mindstorms series, Robot Inventor, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I had heard a few negative comments about the 51515 set before purchasing it, which raised a little bit of doubt in my mind that it would be a worthwhile purchase. Thankfully, those doubts have been firmly put to rest. The new Mindstorms set looks fabulous straight out of the box, You receive lots of little bags packed full of colourful parts, some stickers and a small booklet with some links. There are no instructions in the box, with digital instructions being favoured instead. The model instructions, as well as videos, code examples and the coding software are all contained within the new Mindstorms app. The app is well designed and easy to navigate. My one complaint so far would be the difficulty I had locating the Windows version, which was tucked away in the Microsoft App store. I would have expected the PC software to be easier to find for a new premium product such as this. A more visible link on the product page would help. The Mindstorms Robot Inventor kit features 5 new robot designs out of the box. Personally, I think these new robots are an upgrade on the models that come with the EV3 sets. Each robot model starts with a basic build. You then have the option to choose one of many additional activities to further develop and refine your robot. Charlie, which is the first robot I built, has ten additional activities to add to the base model including: a golf multiplayer game, a drum kit and a ski board. This new approach is a welcome improvement over the EV3 set. When you wish to start a new project, you can simply remove the additional parts/code and start again with your base model already built. This is in contrast with the EV3 kit, which only has one mode for each of the 5 robots. Once you get bored, you have to tear the entire thing down and start again. The biggest improvement that the 51515 Robot Inventor kit brings is in the coding software. The new Mindstorms app allows you to choose from Scratch or Python style coding, giving the user the option of block base coding or text based coding. This is such a drastic improvement over the coding software provided with the previous EV3 system. Speaking as an educator who has used the Mindstorms sets in school classrooms, this new approach to the coding is a game changer and will allow so many more children (and adults) of just about any ability to enjoy playing and learning with Lego Mindstorms. There are a few complaints from hardcore Mindstorms users which cannot go unmentioned. Robot Inventor 51515 does remove the option to daisy chain blocks. The wires are also hard wired rather than removable. Users will need to be more careful when pulling robots apart, because snapped cables will be a lot more expensive to replace now that they are built into the motors. It is a little disappointing that this new kit appears to be less flexible in its design than the previous EV3 was. Overall, I am really pleased with my purchase of the Lego Mindstorms Robot Inventor kit. The base package is a smart upgrade on the previous entries in the series with hours and hours of content to make and play with out of the box. This is before you factor in all of the fantastic creative possibilities that users will be able to design & make for themselves. The new coding software is head and shoulders above the previous EV3 software in accessibility and user-friendliness. I hope that Lego will continue to support the 51515 kit with extra features and add-ons for users to enjoy later down the line. Hopefully some of the negative aspects that current hardcore Mindstorms enthusiasts are disappointed with will be addressed throughout the product’s life.

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Build Time: 3 hrs

  Building Experience: Intermediate LEGO builder
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  0
  55Robot Inventor
• October 17th, 2020
  Average rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0
  Overview
  LegoMillionaire | 14-18
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  I got this the day it came out , and I'm having a pretty fun time with it! Here are the specs of each main piece in this set: BRICK: The Brick is a net-down to the EV3 Brick because it only has 6 ports you can connect your motors/sensors with, it does not have a screen where you can test your sensors in real time (without a phone), you can only use the rechargeable battery, no normal AA batteries, so if the rechargeable battery breaks, you need to get a new one, and the Brick is not compatible with the EV3 and EV2. The good things about it is the bluetooth connection to your phone that has the coding app is down to the nanosecond when you are looking at your sensors in real time, the sounds it makes are pretty nice, you can download up to 20 different coding projects onto it, it comes with a rechargeable battery and it is much, much lighter than the EV3 Brick. MOTORS: I'm pretty sure the motors are as fast as the EV3 ones, and they are rectangular, so you can make easier shapes when you are building them. The HUGE downside is the cord, which is long enough, but if it breaks, you cannot fix it or buy a knew cable like the EV3 cords. COLOR/DISTANCE SENSOR: The cords are the same thing as the motors, and it is kind of hard to put them on your build because there isn't much connection points on them. The distance sensor can detect anything from about 40cm away, while the color sensor can only detect something from about 14cm away, so it is a small downside when it comes to detection distance. The color sensor can detect quite a bit of colors, more than the EV3 sensor (I think). LEGO BRICKS: I am glad that there is a lot more Lego bricks than the EV3 set, and there is a wide variety of bricks. You have 6 very sturdy wheels, a big red ball and a small red ball, two white rubber bands, two huge dart launchers, a 11x19 teal technic baseplate, a bunch of gears, some cool stickers, and a lot of white technic coverings, including A LOT of the usual technic peices! Also, the charging cable is not that long, which isn't a big deal in my opinion. CODING: I love how you can use Python on the EV4, and I love even more the Snap-It coding style that is much better than the different style the EV3 used. There is a wide variety of Snap-it blocks you can use, so you can do whatever you want with your EV4 set! I would have given this set a 5-star only if the cables on the motors and sensors are basically the same ones used in the EV3 sets.

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Build Time: 12 hrs

  Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder
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  9
  45Robot Inventor
• October 17th, 2020
  Average rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0
  Exciting potential, lacking some documentation
  GearRatio | 25-34
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  This is an excellent set overall. The Scratch programming is surprisingly versatile, and it's nice that it can all be done on my phone! This kit is near perfect, but is missing a few things to make it truly perfect for an advanced user. For the pros, you have a very nice group of functional parts here, and performance is phenomenal. The smaller form of the motors and intelligent brick are VERY much appreciated compared to older Mindstorms models. The part selection here is solid, and will give you everything you need to make some good robots. Finally, programming is a breeze, and everything can be done with your phone! There are a few cons, most notably for me the lack of Python support at the moment. The feature is considered to be in Beta, but there is next to no documentation for the Python functions at the moment, so I can't do anything too advanced just yet. I imagine that this will get fleshed out further in the near future though, so I look forwards to it! My only other complaint is the limited cable length. I really think that Lego needs to add some cable extension pieces so that custom robots can be larger. A minor complaint, but one I do hope gets addressed in the future. Overall it's a great set and I'd recommend it if you found the EV3 or NXT to be a bit too bulky to build with. Scratch support is more versatile than I first imagined, and once we get some Python documentation and examples, I expect this set's potential to really take off. Looking forwards to what the future holds for Mindstorms!

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating2out of 5 stars

  2.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Build Time: 1 days

  Building Experience: Expert LEGO builder
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  19

  7
  45Robot Inventor
• October 17th, 2020
  Average rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0
  A Great Upgrade, but also a downgrade
  PowerFunctionsOnTop | 14-18
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  Overall, I really love this set! You get the amazing new Large Technic Hub, which is perfectly compatible with the powered up motors. Instead of having to use the large bulky motors as with previous motors, you can simply use the much smaller and better powered up motors! Which is awesome! The new mindstorms motors are also pretty awesome, since they come equipped with absolute positioning. This is perfect for synchronizing walkers, and you don't have to use touch sensors to synchronize motors as with previous models, like the NXT 2.0. Absolute positioning motors are absolutely a game changer! I also do really like the new hub! It's much smaller than any of the previous intelligent bricks we got. I like the Tetris style screen a lot, it's very clean, minimalistic, and futuristic. And most of all, because this screen is so unique, it will not feel outdated at all in seven years (I'm looking at you EV3). I love every single one of the five robots, they each have a unique feature of some sort, and they're all amazing. Coding with scratch 3.0 is pretty cool, and a nice stepping stone into more advanced coding. My favorite feature is the ability to natively code with python out of the box. I also really appreciate that the mindstorms software comes equipped with the most common commands you need for python, making it easy to learn even for beginners! So what's the downgrade? For one, as of right now, daisy chaining is not supported. I have checked the specs of the new large technic hub, and it seems to be able to support daisy chaining, it's just the software that needs to be updated. Two, the lack of a converter cable from the previous NXT cable to the new powered up cable means that all the previous sensors and all the third party sensors made for the NXT and EV3 are no longer compatible with the new system. Three, Data logging is still possible, but it must be done on the app while the hub is connected to your computer or mobile device. You cannot do data logging on the hub itself. Four, the removal of the test pad. The test pad in lego mindstorms sets has been around since the days of the RCX. It was one of the best aspects of LEGO mindstorms. One of the activities for the robot tricky required him to follow a line. Many people don't have colored tape to simply make a line on their own. I had to use the older test pad from my NXT 2.0 for this activity. Overall, I love pretty much every aspect of this set other than not being able to use daisy chaining. LEGO, please make a software update fast so that daisy chaining is supported.

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating2out of 5 stars

  2.0

  Build Time: 10 hrs

  Building Experience: Expert LEGO builder
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  38

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  45Robot Inventor