Fun Projects for your LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® NXT!

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The NXT 1.X Projects on nxtprograms.com and the CD 65 Fun Projects for your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT are designed for the original 1.X retail version of the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT (8527) kit.  If you are using the new LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 (8547) kit, most of the projects will not be buildable as-is without extra parts.  However, the NXT 2.0 software will be able to load and use the 1.X program files.  Here are some suggestions on how to get the extra parts needed to be able to build the 1.X projects starting with the NXT 2.0 kit.

NXT 2.0 to 1.0 Parts Kit

A parts kit available here is designed to give NXT 2.0 (8547) users the parts they need to build projects designed for NXT 1.0 (8527).  This is not an official LEGO kit and is assembled from new and some used parts.  Availability may be limited, and other limitations may apply, see the web site for details.
 

Get the Education Resource Set The Education Resource Set (the new 9695 kit or the older 9648 kit) from LEGO Education comes very close to getting you all the parts you need to supplement the NXT 2.0 set to be able to build projects intended for the the original NXT set, so getting just this kit will be enough to build many (but not all) of the projects designed for the original NXT. The Education Resource Kit kit will also give you a number of other useful and special parts, as well as a nice pair of sorting trays and a bin to store parts in.

The original Education Resource Set (9648)

The NXT 2.0 (8547) kit plus either the 9695 or 9648 kit will give you all the parts of the original NXT (8527) set with the following notable exceptions.  Buying individual parts from bricklink.com is one way to get missing parts.  Some other solutions are noted.

1. You will be short by one 15-beam. You might have one from a Technic or other model you can use if necessary (see list of sets on peeron.com), or you could buy a small beam kit from LEGO Education.

2. You will be short by three 24-tooth gears. LEGO Education sells a bag of 50 24-tooth gears, which is overkill, but would be useful for teachers needing to supplement several sets.  Or you could use them to build some interestingly long gear trains...

3. You will not have the turntable part.  You can buy this from LEGO Education, or for more fun, maybe you could get a current Technic kit that contains the turntable plus lots of other good parts...

4. You will not have the large blue and red NXT balls.  Balls are not usually building parts (but sometimes are as in the case of a ball castor), but some projects use them as objects to manipulate.  These balls are not easily available outside of spare NXT parts, so bricklink.com may be necessary.  Similar balls are available in some other colors in a few other LEGO/Duplo sets, but some NXT projects may depend on the red and blue colors to work properly. 

5. You will be short two of the balloon tires. The NXT 2.0 has the lower-profile car-style tires. 9648 or 9695 gives you two balloon tires but not a complete set of four if you need all four. Many projects can handle a straight substitution of tires, but sometimes ground clearance will be an issue.  Several Technic kits including ones available new have the balloon tires if you need them.

6. Finally, you will be missing the sound sensor. To build projects that use it, you can still buy this part separately from LEGO and from LEGO Education.

To find kits that have other parts from the original NXT set that you might be missing, you can consult the inventory for 8527 on peeron.com and click on a part number to find kits that contain it.  Older kits no longer for sale from LEGO are often available on bricklink.com, as are individual parts if you can find them.

Complete List of Missing Parts

If you don't have the 9648 or 9695 kit, here is the complete list of missing original NXT 8527 parts when using the NXT 2.0 8547 kit:

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