LAS VEGAS--Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, start your programming engines: Lego Mindstorms EV3 is here ... interface on their computers, and then download the instructions to the robots ...

Full programming capabilities and integration with the three Mindstorms Education EV3 curriculum packs are only available with the full version of the Lego Mindstorms Education EV3 programming ...

From a software perspective, the EV3 application can program NXT bricks as well. This should enable NXT users to purchase the new kit and integrate both sets together without much friction.

The set only comes with the printed instructions and on-board programming to make the most basic demo robot, the TRACK3R, a simple wheeled robot with tank treads and a spinning claw on the front.

but to program its ARM9 processor-powered EV3 brick still required you to sit at a computer or a laptop with the desktop software, and hop back and forth between your bot as you build and perfect it.

Kids these days grow up with so much focus on the virtual self, but MindStorms works as a bridge to connect software ... but Mindstorms EV3 marks the first time that users can program directly ...

In the new book, “The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming” ((No Starch Press, $34.95, 276 pages), software engineer Terry Griffin offers an in-depth guide to the EV3 language. The book teaches ...

The result is Lego Mindstorms EV3, a new consumer-oriented platform ... robots' modular designs can enable a youngster to build and program a robot in as little as 20 minutes.