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In lugnet.robotics, galliard@shades-of-night.com (James Brown) writes:
> In lugnet.admin.general, Steve Bliss writes:
> > This one sounds like a good idea to me.
>
> Ditto that. When I first picked up my mindstorms, I tried following
> .robotics for a while, but it was just too much effort sifting through
> the greek to get to the stuff I could understand.
Steve & James,
Would you find a group dedicated to LEGO MindStorms (as a self-contained
product or a purely-LEGO product) to be helpful? The current robotics
group/list has a very strong focus and purpose toward customizing the
firmware and producing add-on tools to supplant the default shipping RCX
code (which is inadequate for advanced applications).
Certainly, the typical topic on this group is way too advanced for children,
and although generic building discussions are allowed and do happen from
time to time, they're not exactly encouraged, and they appear relatively
infrequently compared to discussions of more techy things like sensor
inputs, proximity detection, downloading firmware, etc.
So it's not surprising that a lot of this could overwhelm a beginner or
casual user. Even the building discussions tend to be of a more advanced
nature, for example three-wheel syncro drives, multi-device output
controllers, or carving words onto blackened toasted bread (all great
things!).
What if you just want to talk about a robot that wanders aimlessly around
the room, or bonks haphazardly on a xylophone, or controls a speed
regulator, or pushes a Belville fig off a cliff when you turn on the light
in the room?
What if you want to use LEGO MindStorms for something other than robotics?
How close does this sound to understanding the needs and desires of the
novice/beginner MindStorms user?
BTW, here is some additional background information and food for thought.
Quite a bit of info, but if you really want to get involved...
http://www.lugnet.com/news/fullthread.cgi?lugnet.admin.general:1225
In light of this, it is extremely unlikely that there won't be a newsgroup
created before too long specifically to address the LEGO MINDSTORMS segment
of the LEGO product line (including all other major portions). What needs
to be decided soon is what that group could best be used for, if anything,
in addition to the default uses -- i.e., database notes, cross-referenced
reviews, availability data, etc. Since a group like Space or Aquazone would
surely gravitate over time into some level of building discussions -- and
these also need to exist for community organizing purposes -- it's
reasonable to conclude that a similar useful effect could happen with
MindStorms.
--Todd
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Novice group
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| (...) Ditto that. When I first picked up my mindstorms, I tried following .robotics for a while, but it was just too much effort sifting through the greek to get to the stuff I could understand. James (URL)Steve (...) (25 years ago, 15-Apr-99, to lugnet.admin.general, lugnet.robotics)
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