Eww, Ewww!  I wish I had said that!  Silly me, I forgot the Mindstorm kit.

It does have some drawbacks - Legos fall apart when you bump them, the brick
is sealed, not as expandable as a 'from scratch' 'bot, etc.  A friend of
mine got a kit for her family to play with ... she ended up making all the
'bots and the sons made weird Lego contraptions.

I think the Lego setups also have the 'store bought puzzle' look that some
like and some don't like. I feel like I'm REALLY wasting my time when I
start looking for those darn little squares.  My 'from scratch' robots look
like they are from scratch, but I have a bit more satisfaction with them.

Having said all the bad things - I really do think that you get great value
for the money with the Lego setup... everything you need in one box - the
other 'bots are an exercise in scrounging to find all the things you need to
make them work.  The Mindstorms kit is definitely a consideration.

Dan

> With no experience in electronics, I would suggest the Lego Mindstorm
> Robotics Invention System.
> http://www.rentron.com/Lego_Mindstorms.htm
>
> They include a "controller" brick that is programmable from Windows
software
> that they provide as well as sensors, motors and other miscellaneous parts
> that all can be assembled in the traditional Lego way.  Everything you
would
> need to build a simple robot.  They are a little expensive (the base kit
is
> ~ $200).  You can also buy various themed expansion packs.
>
> I personally have not used it, but everything I've heard about it has been
> very positive.  I chose to build from scratch, but I have a 4 year EE
degree
> and a fair amount of practical experience so I wanted a bit more of a
> challenge.  I have been seriously considering buying one of these to work
on
> with my kids.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Jonathan
>
> >
> > I have a brother-in-law who has expressed interest in a father-son
> > robotics
> > project for him and his son.  (Finally!)  They're both pretty smart but
> > have
> > no experience in electronics.  His son is 13.  I'm debating what to
direct
> > them to.  I'm looking at 3 projects:  1)  Robert Nansel's breadbot robot
> > series of articles in Nuts & Volts, 2)  Myke Predko's IR Tank robot
using
> > Tamiya parts or 3) Parallax's Growbot.  For a brain they could use
> > Stamps/clones (BX-24?) or PICs.  My strategy would be to provide them a
> > project with software they could build & get up and running and then go
on
> > to learn to modify the software.  Stamps may be easier to learn since
they
> > use BASIC but couldn't they also use the PICs with the help of the Easy
> > Pic'
> > n books?  Any of these options I think are within their budget.
> >
> > Has anybody been down this path or know what might work best?  Any
> > recommendations would be appreciated.  Thanks.  Dave Scott