Sample builds are included with each version of Mindstorms, but the kit is open-ended with the intent of the user creating and programming their own designs.

In addition to at-home use, Mindstorms products are popularly used in schools and in robotics competitions such as the FIRST Lego League.

The latter have developed many alternative programming languages and operating systems for the smart brick, allowing for more complex functions.

While originally conceptualized and launched as a tool to support educational constructivism, Mindstorms has become the first home robotics kit available to a wide audience.

It has developed a community of adult hobbyists and hackers as well as students and general Lego enthusiasts following the product's launch in 1998.

[2] The Robotics Invention System (RIS) was the flagship product of the first generation of the Lego Mindstorms line.

The RIS featured the programmable Robotic Command eXplorer (RCX) microcontroller, as well as 9V Lego-compatible motors and sensors and a selection of Lego parts.

The programmable brick (or pbrick[5]) was a refinement of these early concepts, which had limited range because they had to be tethered to a computer to run.

[6]: 24 Lego had been interested in mass-producing the pbrick since its creation in the 1980s, but at the time it was considered unfeasible due to the lack of computers in schools and households and the relative expense of electrical components.

By the mid-1990s personal computers were relatively common in households and the components required to produce the pbrick went down in price, making mass production feasible.

[8] The project's at-first low profile allowed the Mindstorms team the freedom to develop the product using operating procedures then-unorthodox to the Lego Group.

[4]: 1062  Unlike traditional Lego sets, the Mindstorms Robotics Invention System did not come with step-by-step instructions.

This choice of target demographic directly informed the color of the RCX brick (which was made yellow and black to resemble construction equipment) and the sample uses for the Mindstorms kit (such as making autonomous robots).

[6]: 28 Promotion of the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System began 6 months before the product was planned to launch.

Shortly following the product's launch, adult hobbyists began sharing reverse-engineered versions of the RCX brick's Microcode and Firmware on the internet, leading to the development of alternative programming languages for the RCX such as "Not Quite C" (NQC) and alternative operating systems for the brick like lejOS.

The Lego Group briefly considered sending cease-and-desist letters to websites sharing the RCX's proprietary code.

A number of products focusing on the RIS were released by adult hobbyists, including how-to books, and unofficial sensors and hardware.

[5] The Lego Group continued to produce the Robotics Invention System 2.0, selling around 40,000 units per year without advertising [7]: 189  until the set was discontinued in 2006.

A built-in LCD can display information including the battery level, the status of the input/output ports, and the program currently running.

In the latter context, the RCX might be programmed with Digital Command Control (DCC) software to operate multiple wired trains.

The IR interface on the RCX is able to communicate with Spybots, Scout Bricks, Lego Trains, and the NXT (using a third-party infrared link sensor).

[23] There was a plan for Lego to create a booster set that allows programming the Scout from a computer with software such as RCX code.

Features of NXT directly based on requests of the MUP include the use 32-bit processor, more powerful motors, and Bluetooth compatibility.

At the show, Lego requested applications for a beta-testing phase, where 100 users, known as Mindstoms Community Partners (MCP)s would receive NXT kits at a discounted price months before launch.

The intention of the MCP program was to build support for the product prior to launch, and receive feedback on the near-final kit.

[7]: 196–198 [5] Fans involved in the MCP program provided a significant amount of PR for the set upon launch, such as alternate models, finished book drafts, and web content like blog posts.

[5] News outlets like Wired and CNN also provided free publicity for Mindstorms NXT by reporting on the inclusion of fans in its development process.

[28] While not being part of the Mindstorms product line, the basic set includes three motors (1 large 2 medium) and sensors for distance, force and color[29] a controller brick based on an STM32F413 microcontroller[30] and 520+ Lego Technic elements.

[31] Majority of these motors and sensors, including the hub, would serve as the electric components for the then-upcoming Robot Inventor set.

[33] Mindstorms kits are also sold and used as an educational tool, originally through a partnership between Lego and the MIT Media Laboratory.