Lego Mindstorms robotics kits have been on the market since they first launched in 1998. They were created as a collaboration between Lego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). However, Lego has announced that they will be discontinuing Mindstorms at the end of the year and will provide support for the mobile app for at least two more years.
Back in 1998, they were known as the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System and used Lego’s advanced Technics pieces along with gears and robotic parts. The systems were powered by the “Brick” processing unit.
In 2006, Lego released the next generation of Mindstorms kits that were named NXT. Then, in 2013, Lego released the EV3 robotics platform. This lineup was backwards-compatible with the NXT series and offered enhancements.
Lego then launched dedicated mobile apps to allow devices to become remote controls for Mindstorms projects. Additionally, Lego set up a community for users to share creations and collaborate with other builders.
The last official Mindstorms product was the Robot Inventor back in 2020. Since then, nothing has been seen from the Mindstorms series.
In a statement to Brick Fanatics, Lego said: “Now have a number of priorities in LEGO Education and other Build & Code experiences, we have decided to focus our resources and future plans by redirecting our Mindstorms Robot Inventor team and their expertise into different areas of the business.
“This means the physical Mindstorms Robot Inventor product (51515) and its related elements (88016 and 99018) are to exit our portfolio by the end of 2022, whilst digital platforms–such as the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor App–will remain live until at least the end of 2024.”
Mindstorms was one of the first toys to promote STEM learning for children and was a major part of education, with schools creating robotics teams built around Lego. It truly is the end of a long and great era for Mindstorms.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
