One particular type of toy that has dramatically shaped the lives of many was the Lego building brick. These colorful puzzle pieces can be used to create some impressive little replicas or even something completely original straight out of the mind of a child. From a carpenter’s wood shop in Denmark, the original Lego brick was made out of wood, and they could not be directly attached to each other. However, with the reinvention of these classic toys in the mid-twentieth century, the plastic building bricks allow for some imaginative creations by allowing quicker assembly, and now with Sudoku solver, the constructive potential is infinite.
As times have changed, Lego had to take drastic action and maintain its forward-thinking strategy to combat the mindset of today’s youth. Video games have recently begun to dominate the lives of many children, and the azoic little bricks were soon forgotten. The intellectual impact of Lego was thus underestimated, or not truly acknowledged until Rubik’s cube solver, in regards to what it could do, and has been doing, for children’s mental development and intellectual stimulation. Solving these plastic construction puzzles serve children’s growing intelligence much more so than the video or computer games of today that only foster a sedentary and do-nothing lifestyle. Contrary to this argument, however, certain educational video games can compete with the stimulus for critical thinking and problem solving.
Most games, perceived as fun by children’s standards, do not involve complex puzzles or demand critical thinking and problem solving to the same degree as Lego or other construction toys. This is where robotics development system is very different. However, the ongoing debate between experts, children, and their parents remains. More importantly, parents and even their children should be educated about children’s intellectual development and how it impacts the future for everyone.
The strategy involved producing a product that allowed children to build whatever their imagination had in stock for them and program these creations to be fully autonomous. The autonomy of these self-built projects is what attracted so many young techies because really the sky was the limit as far as what figments of dreams could be achieved. It continues to amaze and mystify children, and even adults, that it is actually possible to make something at home that they can program to do whatever their heart desires.
Rather than constructing inanimate objects, Lego has now made available not only to kids, but also to adults, the tools and development kits to build moving and fully autonomous robots. With the limitless idea of combining computer technology, electric motors and sensors, and the classic building block toys into one unique new product called Lego Mindstorms NXT Robots, Lego has laid out the foundation for a multitude of young engineers to explore the generally esoteric field of robotics design and engineering. One couldn’t help but ponder, “What’s next?”
Find out more about RCX programmable brick. Click here!. See why the author loves the website on NXT robots from Lego.. Also published at Autonomous Robots Are Now Possible With NXT 2.0 Sensor Kit.