LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ Milestones

Since its introduction in 1998, the LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ build and program robotics toolset has become the best-selling product in the LEGO Group’s history.  Garnering worldwide acclaim, the Robotics Invention System™ has fueled the imaginations and satisfied the inner tinkerer of generations of LEGO and robotics enthusiasts alike.

1980: LEGO Educational Products Department established.

1986: The first-computer controlled LEGO products are released.

1988: Collaboration between the LEGO Group and Massachusetts Institute of Technology begins on development of an “intelligent brick” that will bring LEGO creations to life via computer programming. 

1989: Dr. Seymour Papert, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Development Laboratory of Computer Learning becomes “LEGO Professor of Learning Research.”

January to February 1998: LEGO MINDSTORMS and the Robotics Invention System are unveiled to the public at Toy Fairs in Nürnberg, London and New York.

July 1998: RoboTour™ ’98 launches from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, kicking-off a two-month, 30-city odyssey across America in search of learning about and seeing everything robotic.

September 1998: The Robotics Invention System is launched simultaneously in the United States and the United Kingdom.  Two expansion sets – RoboSports and Extreme Creatures – also are available.

December 1, 1998: Robotics Invention System 1.0 sells out before the Christmas rush.

February 1999: The Robotics Discovery Set™, a derivative of the Robotics Invention System allowing users to program right on the smart brick instead of through the computer, and the Droid Developer Kit™, a pre-programmed, remote controlled constructible robot kit, are unveiled at the International Toy Fair in New York. 

September 1999: The Robotics Discovery Set, Ultimate Accessory Set, Droid Developer Kit and the Robotics Invention System 1.5 are released in the United States. The Droid Developer Kit and the Robotics Invention System 1.5 are released in Europe and Asia, and The Robotics Discovery Set and the Robotics Invention System 1.5 are launched in the United Kingdom.

September 1999: RoboTour ‘99™ Europe launches.

February 2000: The Robotics Invention System 2.0, Dark Side Developer Kit™ (a pre-programmed, remote controlled constructible robot), Vision Command System™ (a PC camera expansion kit for the RIS) and Exploration Mars™ (themed robot challenges, building instructions and games for the RIS) expansion set are unveiled at the International Toy Fair in New York.

September 2000: The Robotics Invention System 2.0, Dark Side Developer Kit and Vision Command System are released in the United States.

February 2001: SpyBotics, a spy gaming-oriented series of remote controlled and programmable robots, are unveiled at the International Toy Fair in New York.

September 2001: SpyBotics are released in the United States.

January 2006: The next generation of LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics is unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

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LEGO, MINDSTORMS, TECHNIC and the LEGO logo are registered trademarks of the LEGO Group.  © 2006 The LEGO Group.

For more information:

Michael McNally, LEGO Americas                   Kristin Greene,      Flashpoint PR

860-763-7825 / press@america.lego.com          415-551-9623 / greene@flashpointpr.com