Build a Rubik’s Cube solver and a tic-tac-toe playing robot!

For years No Starch Press has led the market with the best-selling titles on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT sets, most recently with The Unofficial LEGO Mindstorms NXT Inventor’s Guide.

Next up is its latest offering, LEGO Mindstorms NXT Thinking Robots, an intriguing new title that shows how to build a tic-tac-toe playing robot and one that actually solves a Rubik’s Cube. Readers will find detailed, step-by-step instructions for building each model with either the original NXT or the NXT 2.0 set, as well as a discussion of how each robot works, how they “think,” and how to play with them.

While these robots play games, they’re not child’s play. “LEGO can be pretty serious,” said No Starch Press Founder Bill Pollock. “The two robots in this book are captivating, complex, and challenging, but I’m sure that any effort expended will be amply rewarded.”

In addition to the book’s step-by-step building instructions, readers learn how to:

• Control, calibrate, and troubleshoot their robots for best performance
• Understand the game theory behind tic-tac-toe
• Solve a Rubik’s Cube with the book’s One-Armed Wonder
• Better understand artificial intelligence as it relates to robotics, problem solving, and game theory

LEGO Mindstorms NXT Thinking Robots is serious fun that promises hours of intrigue and challenge. Whether readers are casual builders or serious robotics hobbyists, they’re sure to find excitement in LEGO Mindstorms NXT Thinking Robots.