Mindstorms robotics kits, developed by Lego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have been on the market since 1998. (MIT).
Lego has now announced that it will discontinue Mindstorms at the end of the year and will continue to support the mobile app for at least another two years, according to Gizmodo.
Starting over 24 years ago as the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, the kits used advanced Technics pieces with gears and other robotics parts, powered by the basic “Brick” processing unit.
They made a significant step forward in 2006, when the company introduced the NXT generation of Mindstorms kits.
Another significant advancement occurred in 2013 with the release of the EV3 robotics platform. This new lineup was backwards compatible with the NXT series, and it improved sensor load and processing power.
Lego also released mobile apps that convert iOS and Android devices into remote controls for Mindstorms projects. Finally, it established a Mindstorms community where users could share and collaborate on their creations.
The last official product was the Robot Inventor lineup from 2020, but with nothing seen since, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Mindstorms — especially given Lego’s focus on other educational ventures.
“Now having 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,” the company said in a statement to brick fanatics
“This means the physical Mindstorms Robot Inventor product (51515) and its related elements (88016 and 88018) are to exit our portfolio from 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.”
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It was one of the first toys to actively promote STEM learning while piqueing the interest of both children and adults in robotics. (In 2014, Engadget collaborated with Lego on a Mindstorms robotics competition.)
While an era in robotics education has come to an end, there are now a plethora of kits on the market, including Lego’s own Boost robotics kit for beginners. If you own a Mindstorms robot, it may soon become a collector’s item.
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