Download samples from Chapter 2: The Zookeeper's Guide, Chapter 7: LEGOsaurus, and Chapter 10: strutter (low-res PDF, 1 MB) (hi-res PDF, 10 MB)

Whether you're just beginning with your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set or are already an expert, you'll have hours of fun with these animal-like models that walk, crawl, hop, and roll!

The first part of the book introduces you to the NXT kit and reviews the parts you'll need in order to begin building. Next, you'll learn how to program with the NXT-G programming language, including how to make miniprograms called My Blocks that you can use to build larger programs. Finally, you'll learn how to build each robot and program it to act like its real animal cousins.

Learn to build and program the following robots:

• Ribbit, a jumping frog
• Bunny, a hopping rabbit
• Sandy, a walking camel
• Spiderbot, an eight-legged spider that avoids objects and walks forward and backward
• Snout, a walking alligator that opens and closes its jaws
• LEGOsaurus, a four-legged, plodding dinosaur
• Pygmy, a walking elephant that raises and lowers its head
• Polecat, a skunk on wheels that lifts its tail and shoots "darts"
• Strutter, a peacock on wheels that turns and flutters its tail feathers

Troubleshooting tips help you avoid problems like misarranged gears and incorrect programming, while a list of Internet resources is included to help guide you in further exploration with the NXT. Teachers and home educators will appreciate an appendix with helpful suggestions for using the models in the classroom.

The models in this book have been tested repeatedly &mdash and built successfully &mdash by novice builders, so all you have to do is follow the directions and watch them go. Now, let the building begin!

Fay Rhodes is co-author of The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book (No Starch), a 2008 member of LEGO's MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP), and the only female contributor to the NXT Step Blog.

Take a look at the NXT Gator, NXT Skunk, and NXT Spider in action!