New CONTEST!!!!

NXTLOG Body Forward Building Challenge

"To help celebrate the 2011 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival in St Louis, Mo. this April, the March-April NXTLOG challenge theme is BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING! Your challenge is to explore the world of Biomedical Engineering and discover innovative ways robots can be used to repair injuries, help people overcome illnesses and disabilities and build healthier, stronger bodies. You can design LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot that can inject vaccines, act as an artificial limb, be a body camera to detect bad cells, a bionic eye, or even remote surgeon! Will your prototype robot be life sized, giant, or imagined on a nano-scale? Make sure to clearly document in your NXTLOG what job your biomedical MINDSTORMS NXT robot is designed to do, and at what scale. There's no limit on amount of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX sensors, motors, NXT programmable bricks, HiTechnic sensors, Codatex RFID sensors, or Bluetooth communication you can use. All entries must be tagged "bodyforward." Entries must be submitted by April 30, 2011. What will you make?" 
Go here to read more about it!!

Are You Ready?

For those of you who are beginners (other readers, skip to next paragraph) and haven't heard, the Mindstorms website occasionally holds a contest on the NXTLog. The contests are great experiences- you learn how to enter contests, give descriptions of your creations, and, if you win, you get your username posted on the NXTLog! I post here on my blog whenever there is a contest, however (as of February 10, 2011), there aren't any contests being held. We all look forward to the next contest though...

Waiting impatiently, we anticipate the next contest. The last contest ended in August... theories have been thrown around about what the Mindstorms team is doing. Perhaps they're working on something that is more important than contests... are they updating their website? Making new Android apps? No matter what, though, it's about time for the next contest to be released. Users are leaving comments asking- even begging- the Mindstorms team to release the next contest. Someone even wrote a poem about it. We're all ready. But are we really? Here is a checklist of things to do to get ready for the next contest...

1. Make sure you have a LEGO account (if not, ask an adult to help you go here(link). Click "sign up" in the top right corner of the screen). It is not possible to enter these contests without a LEGO account, and they're free!
2. Keep building (need inspiration? Try reading this post(link))
3. Read books about the NXT
4. Chat about things you have built, or ask questions (try the discussion pages)!
5. Organize your NXT set
6. If it is possible, get ahead on your homework
7. Try to encourage your friends who own an NXT to enter the contests

Also, if there is something you would like to learn about the NXT, feel free to make a suggestion and perhaps I'll make a post about it. As you already know, this is a very busy time in my life. As a result, these post are very short. I should, however, be less busy in a couple of weeks and have more time to write long and very informative posts. ;)

Unofficial Mindstorms Contest

Picture of Contest Field

While LEGO is taking their time releasing the next contest, you might want to check out this unofficial contest being held by MySnailEatsPizza. The contest ends January 31, but he recently left a post saying: "The original deadline was January 31st, But I can make it later if need be. Just ask me to make it longer and I will." It looks like a pretty awesome and challenging contest. I was planning on entering, but I haven't found the time. Good luck to all those who do enter!

Need More Mindstorms?

Here's a contest for you to enter! You do not need to own a Mindstorms set, nor do you need to own LEGO Universe! Everyone in the US, the UK, and Germany can enter. All you have to do is fill out a form, and send it by mail! There will be three winners, and each winner will receive 1 NXT 2.0 set, 1 Infrared Seeker, and 1 copy of LEGO Universe! Read more about it here!