LEGO Sets/Parts

Several students and parents have asked me which LEGO sets are related to robotics and where to go to buy individual parts. This is it.

LEGO sets:

The LEGO Mindstorms RCX Robotics Inventions System (set # 9719) was first released in 1998. This was the first LEGO Mindstorms set. It used the RCX brick (yellow brick) shown below.

The RCX brick (yellow brick), motors, and sensors are shown in the left diagram. The RCX motors do not have an internal gear train, the gears have to be added externally.

The NXT brick (white brick), motors, and sensors (right diagram) represent an improvement over the RCX. It is the second generation of LEGO Mindstorms.

These are the Mndstorms NXT sets available, from left to right:

      • LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (set # 8547 - retail v.2.0)
      • LEGO Mindstorms NXT 1.0 (set # 8527 - retail v 1.0) - old version
      • LEGO Mindstorms Educational NXT Base Set (set # 9797)
      • LEGO Mindstorms Educational NXT Resource Set (set # 9695 or 9648)

The retail versions are designed to suit a single user (home user), where the educational version are better for schools where are multiple users. The main difference between retail and educational sets are:

  • Any of the retail sets (set # 8547 or # 8527) come with more parts than the NXT Educational Base Set (set # 9797)
  • The retail sets come with the NXT Software (single user license)
  • The educational sets come with a storage box and trays

Retails sets are available at Toys' retail stores and online. Educational sets are available from LEGO Education.

LEGO parts:

Some of us really enjoy designing and building LEGO robots and there is a time where we miss some specific parts. All the parts used in LEGO robotics are LEGO Technic parts. You could probably find the missing parts in one of your old LEGO Technic sets. Now, if you really need to buy specific parts, you can find them at:

Remember, sometimes we are able to change slightly our designs to overcome missing parts. Buying parts online is time consuming; it is hard to find a vendor that sells all the parts we need at a reasonable price. Also, the parts may take a week or two to arrive and shipping is costly.