Invention: Programmable LEGO robotic toys
Millions have learned the basics of computer coding thanks to programmable robotic toy construction kits from Danish company LEGO. Developed by Gaute Munch and an international team including Erik Hansen, the kits – LEGO MINDSTORMS – first came to market in 1998. Now in their third generation, they continue to attract, educate and fascinate millions of young enthusiasts and school children.
In the mid-1980s, the field of robotics was still the exclusive
domain of government think tanks and scientific institutions. But sensing the
potential of combining the creativity of its building bricks with computer
technology, LEGO began a partnership with the Media Lab at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, United States.
In 1994, the team at MIT, with support from LEGO and the United
States National Science Foundation, developed a LEGO brick with a small
computer inside, known as the "MIT Programmable Brick" or "Model
120". This minicomputer could be programmed to activate switches and
motors - to move the arms of a robot, for example - in a text-based coding
language called Brick Logo. It was an instant hit in the tech community - but
too complicated for kids.
Developing the concept into a market-ready product, Munch
and team replaced text coding with a child-friendly graphical interface for
personal computers (PCs). They filed several key patents, including for the
communication protocol between PCs and the programmable brick, with commands
issued through pulses of visible light.
First released in 1998, the LEGO MINDSTORMS system today has
millions of users who enjoy creating and sharing their homespun robot designs.
Societal benefit
Before the invention, courses in robotics were still an
exception in school curricula. MINDSTORMS changed the paradigm and LEGO has
been offering specific robot construction kits for schools since 1998. School
children can also compete in an annual robotics design contest, the FIRST LEGO
League. In 2017, more than 200 000 did so in 30 000 teams worldwide.
The world needs young programmers: a recent report found that
40% of people in the European Union have "insufficient" digital
skills, while 22% have none. Although the information and computer technology
(ICT) sector is creating 120 000 new jobs per year, Europe could face a
shortage of more than 756 000 skilled ICT workers as soon as 2020.
According to the inventors, the robotic toys are already helping to create a
new generation of ICT talent.
Economic benefit
MINDSTORMS has continued the story of LEGO - named after the Danish expression
"leg godt" ("play well") - into the computer age. In 1949, LEGO sold its first modular
building blocks, called Automatic Binding Bricks. In 1958, it patented the brick
design that has remained practically unchanged ever since. Over 200 billion
LEGO parts have been produced to date.
The MINDSTORMS series has been a bestseller for LEGO, and the
product is now in its third generation. It has won several toy industry awards,
including the Toy Association's Educational Toy of the Year award. Patents awarded
to Munch and team are powering follow-ups like the LEGO Boost series and WeDo
2.0 programmable kits.
With headquarters in Billund, Denmark, the LEGO Group was
ranked as the world's third-largest toy manufacturer in 2016. In 2017, LEGO
reported EUR 4.7 billion in revenues and profits of EUR 1 billion.
LEGO employs an estimated 17 000 people around the world.
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Gaute Munch (left) and Erik Hansen
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Erik Hansen (left) and Gaute Munch
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Gaute Munch
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LEGO programmable robot
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Gaute Munch (left) and Erik Hansen
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Erik Hansen
How it works
The "brain" of the LEGO MINDSTORMS system is a battery-powered
miniature computer that controls robotic building blocks such as sensors and
small motors. The first-generation computer was called the RCX, which connected
to a PC over an infrared connection.
Users program the brick computer with functions - so-called "behaviours", such
as controlling a motor under certain conditions - through the MINDSTORMS software on their PCs. The MINDSTORMS
construction kits also include detailed building plans, which LEGO calls
challenges, to create robotic arms, automatic doors and delivery robots out of
LEGO bricks.
The system has evolved considerably since the first
programmable bricks with only 32 kB of RAM. The current brick, called the EV3,
runs on a LINUX operating system powered by a 300 MHz ARM9 controller with
16 MB of flash memory and has a built-in screen with a resolution of 178 x 128 pixels.
In addition to large and medium motors, current MINDSTORMS sets include touch,
colour, infrared and even gyroscopic sensors for a wide range of user-designed
robots.
The inventors
Gaute Munch has taken part in ambitious sailing projects, even
sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from Denmark to the Caribbean Islands. Since
his pre-university days he has enjoyed working with young people, involving
them in sailing projects.
After earning his degree in Electrical Engineering from
Aarhus University in 1993, Munch joined the sensor team at Italian industrial
components manufacturer Carlo Gavazzi, where he obtained his first European
patent for a new type of capacitive proximity sensor.
He started working for the LEGO Group in 1997 and today is its
Technology Frontend Director. Munch is named as the inventor on key patents
behind LEGO MINDSTORMS and follow-up LEGO coding products. Today, he stays
connected with his young audience through LEGO MINDSTORMS education and league
events as well as R&D focus groups.
Erik Hansen developed his first invention as a young boy: a biscuit
cutter, still used by his mother, based on a discarded oil filter from a 1952
Ferguson tractor. He joined the LEGO Company in 1985 and worked on a range of
products that paved the way for LEGO MINDSTORMS.
Today, working in LEGO's Creative Play Lab, Hansen collaborates
with leading universities and companies large and small to create educational
toys for children. Still a passionate tinkerer, the electrical engineer with a
degree in business innovation has built a sustainable heating system for his
farmhouse - controlled by a LEGO MINDSTORMS robot.
Did you know?
Initially
developed in close co-operation with the Media Lab at MIT, LEGO's programmable
robot construction kits are not the only toys with origins in scientific
research.
The Super Soaker
water pistol owes its high-pressure water output to a mechanism invented (and
patented) by American inventor Lonnie G. Johnson for an environmentally
friendly heat pump. The Play-Doh modelling compound, another blockbuster toy
franchise, was formulated by chemist Joseph McVicker as a cleaning paste for
wallpaper in the 1950s.
The famous Rubik's
Cube was originally designed and patented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik as a puzzle to
teach students 3-D geometry. Over 400 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold
over the years, and the Hungarian inventor shared his scientific expertise as a
jury member on a past European Inventor Award.
The list also
includes Artur Fischer, inventor of the
Fischer Dübel, a small plastic wall plug, and the Fischertechnik construction
toy. The winner in the "Lifetime achievement" category at the 2014 European
Inventor Award, Fischer famously said: "Let the children play - we have to
keep the child within us if we want to be rich in invention."
