The end of the year is nearing fast and thus comes the time for us to celebrate successes of our own and others. Hence, we are here to celebrate 20 years of the LEGO Mindstorms series, through which LEGO has provided kids with a medium to learn and develop skills in robotics.
1998 – The day it all started
Their first robotics set wasn’t really a pretty thing but it was an innovation – a toy company stepping out of normal boundaries to serve to a whole new audience. The 9719 Robotics Invention System set had the first incarnation of the programmable brick, the RCX Programmable LEGO Brick. This was a result of one of their explorative themes during their hard time in the late 1990s. The success from this led to a new development of the MINDSTORMS Community Partnerships (MCP). This was one of the first AFOL community partnerships with the LEGO Group.
You can watch a video by local Mindstorms enthusiast Coder Shah dedicated to the 20 years of Mindstorms here.
Now
This series has been one of LEGO’s longest running series and one of its most successful. The competition however has been catching up, particularly in the form of copycats and innovators. The audience has been thinning out, but community events and international competitions have strived to reignite the people’s interest in LEGO Mindstorms. May this series have a lengthy life and may it bring joy and wonder to everyone in the world!
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