As reported by Lego fan sites like Brick buffs and brick setLego is discontinuing its Mindstorms kits, which are designed to allow people to create robots from Lego bricks, pins, beams, motors, gears, and other parts, and then program them using Lego’s control hubs (through Gizmodo). The devices have been marketed as a way for children and adults to easily build and program robots since 1998.
While the company isn’t quite done with the idea of educational robotics kits, it will stop selling its Mindstorms Robot Inventor kit by the end of this year.
The company’s statements suggest there is an end date for support for the various apps used to program and control Mindstorms robots on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Fire OS, and says it will make them work. until “at least the end of 2024.” That doesn’t mean the robot controllers necessarily become useless bricks open source tools for writing and uploading code not made by Lego, although a lack of official tools can make it more difficult for younger or inexperienced builders.
People with Mindstorms kits may have to get creative to program them – but that’s the point of Lego.
According to the statement posted by brick set, Lego will have the Mindstorms team work on other parts of the company, though it didn’t provide details on what they would do. Lego did not immediately respond The edge‘s request for comment.
