The story of the Universal Buggy
Lego began selling computerized robotic sets in 1986. But there was a period from approximately 1975-1985 where hobbyists supplied their own electronics and software, using Lego parts for their robot chassis. In 1985, Lego offered the Universal Buggy, set 1038, to test the educational and hobby markets. Here are the Universal Buggy building instructions. You could power the buggy by manually connecting Lego battery boxes.
If you wanted to computerize your Universal Buggy, or any similar homemade Lego model, then you could do so with your S-100 computer (Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080, etc.), single-board computer (KIM-1, Heathkit ET-3400, etc.), or appliance computer (Apple II, Commodore 64, etc.) -- all such machines had serial port options for input/output to the physical world. It wasn't easy, but it also wasn't rare. Magazine articles and books were available to teach you how to do this. Many users joined computer clubs where you could meet people with similar ambitions. There were also some hardware interfaces that you could purchase just for this purpose.
For example, in 1984, the University of Salford made a microcontroller kit for the British government’s Microelectronics Education Programme. Salford called it Microelectronics For All and sold it through Unilab. Unilab then made its own MEP-compatible hardware in the form of a 6502 single-board computer called Three Chip Plus. Unilab offered a series of related software and peripherals called Control Pathways. The same year, Fischertechnik (Germany) debuted a series of computer interfaces beginning with a set simply called Computing (#30554) for machines such as the Apple II, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64/Amiga, IBM PC, and others.
Various companies in the mid-1980s made external control interfaces that could connect to nearly anything, and some people naturally used these for homemade Lego robotics. Examples include the Datel Robotek (Atari ST), DCP Microdevelopments Interpack (Amstrad, Apple II, BBC Master, Commodore 64/128, IBM PC, Sinclair ZX), Handic Vicrel (Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64), and ProCom SEQ (standalone). Books such as Make And Program Your Own Robots For the Sinclair Spectrum and The Robot Book explained how to use such adapters.
Alan Anov, an electrical engineer in Denmark working as the product manager for Lego Education, told me that he and other Lego officials observed the kit/adapter trends and decided to respond with their own product for the Unilab/BBC Micro combination. Lego expedited it from concept to delivery in just three months. This became the buggy. Unilab's catalog explained (.pdf document), “many of the parts of [Microelectronics For All] can be used on Control Pathways, such as the Lego Buggy...”
This series of events motivated Lego to build their own complete robotic sets. They hired engineers to explore the possibilities. They developed Interface A, which is the hardware bridging personal computers and Lego motors, sensors, and lights.
Lego engineer Allan Toft, who worked on Interface A, confirmed that it wasn't until after development started for this hardware that Lego president Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen learned about Seymour Papert whose book, Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas, was featured on Danish television in a show called Talking Turtle. The show first aired in 1983 in the U.K. (BBC) and again in 1984 in the U.S. (PBS). Lego established a four-way partnership with MEP, a company called British School Technology, and the University of Trent. They also made a three-way partnership with Papert's company Logo Computer Systems Inc. and with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, which was already working on its own computer-controlled Lego robotics.
Here is a Lego Foundation video about the North American partnership:
Here’s the BBC airing of Talking Turtle hosted by Archive.org:
The work in England led to sets 1090 (Technic Control 1) and 1092 (Technic Control II) for Acorn/BBC computers and the Commodore 64, starting in 1986. The software was Lego Lines, which was a graphical shell on top of BASIC. Its documention included appendices for getting started with direct textual BASIC, 6502 Assembly, and Logo II. The sets then became available in Europe, Australia, and the United States.
The work in North America (LCSI had offices in Canada) led to set 9700 (Control Center) in the U.S. market in 1987. This set emphasized TC (Technic Control) Logo for the Apple II series and BASIC for the IBM PC. However it continued to use Interface A, so you could still connect it to other computers such as the Commodore 64 and control it from other software such as Lego Lines, direct BASIC, 6502 assembly, and Logo II.
Anov said Lego’s big mistake during the 12 years of robot sets before Mindstorms was that the company changed sets too often. That approach is fine for designing block toys based on standard interconnections, but bad for public schools with tight budgets and long timeframes for mastering new pedagogy.
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