SXSW 2013: LEGO Shows Off Their Newest Generation Of LEGO Robotics

Two months ago LEGO Education announced the latest versions of LEGO robotics in their MindStorms series, which will be available later this year. Mindstorms are LEGO robotics that are designed to teach kids in elementary and middle school about technology and science via their inspiring, engaging platform. Yesterday, Bit Rebels press reporter Jeff Kell was able to interview LEGO Education about their new robotics, and he got a firsthand look at how they work for you.

LEGO Mindstorms have been around for about 15 years, and they’ve progressed a lot during that time. The LEGO robotic you see in the first picture below is named Snap. He’s part of the 3rd generation series, and he was specifically designed for middle school aged children. He comes with hardware, software, curriculum and workbooks within the software for teachers and students. He’s powered by a tiny Linux computer. All of the materials are aligned with next generation science standards.

Teachers can keep it simple since these modern day LEGO robotics are designed to be used in a 45-minute class, or they can get a little more advanced by plugging them into a Mac or PC to teach some graphical programming. They come integrated with 48 design tutorials and about 30 hours of design training for use in the classroom. LEGO met with over 800 educators in the development process of these Mindstorms to get feedback directly from teachers about what these little robots should be able to teach and demonstrate.

In the pictures below, you’ll also see some of the other LEGO robotics that are part of this inspiring series. This short video interview goes into more details about how they work, their components and how they will all come together to inspire the next generation of students about science and technology. In the video, the robotics almost look like they are playing with each other. What a wonderful resource for students! (Thank you to BorrowLenses for the Canon 5D Mark III with all the accessories)