Background

Robolab is produced by LEGO DACTA as the "Mindstorms sets for schools". It is available on a much larger scale (ie starter packs for 8 or 16 students). You can also buy site licences of the software bundled with the kit.

The basic LEGO components are the same as Mindstorms v1.0 and provide enough functionality to make some great models. The biggest difference between Robolab and Mindstorms is the programming tool that they come with.

LabVIEW is the programming language that is bundled with Robolab. This language has links back to the language used to programme the Mars Explorer. It is not a very user friendly language and can be quite frustrating at times. Yes it uses a drag and drop method but the joins are not perfect and the screen can become very cluttered. The best thing though is that there are many 3rd party languages that can be downloaded from the Internet fro free that can do a much better job.

Where Robolab excels, though, is in its add-on accessories like extra sensors, activities for students, more classroom friendly storage, etc.