Answers.Body: <p>LEGO has announced that Mindstorms, the long-running robotics range, will be discontinued at the end of 2022. An official statement follows:</p>
  <p>&quot;Since its launch in September 1998, LEGO Mindstorms has been one of the core ‘Build &amp; Code’ experiences in the company’s portfolio, carrying with it significant brand equity and becoming a stand-out experience for the early days of consumer robotics and leading to current Build &amp; Code experiences such as SPIKE Prime, from LEGO Education’s LEGO Learning System.</p>
  <p>&quot;However, now having a number of priorities in LEGO Education and other Build &amp; Code experiences, we have decided to focus our resources and future plans by redirecting our Mindstorms Robot Inventor team and their expertise into different areas of the business.</p>
  <p>&quot;This means the physical Mindstorms Robot Inventor product (51515) and its related elements (88016 and 88018) are to exit our portfolio from the end of 2022, whilst digital platforms – such as the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor App – will remain live until at least the end of 2024.</p>
  <p>&quot;We still have strong belief in the Build &amp; Code proposition and will continue to support it through platforms such as SPIKE Prime, and we are continuing to hold on to the trademark for the Mindstorms brand and assessing our future plans together with LEGO Education.&quot;</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-11-03T05:56:27.130Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2022-11-03T05:56:27.130Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: LKBricks
Body: <p>I need to buy one of Spike Prime or Robot Inventor 51515, but torn between the two choices. The latter is discontinued unfortunately, but is better bang for the buck with more lego pieces.</p>
  <p>Robot Inventor will not provide firmware updates soon. Given this situation and I buy the Robot Inventor 51515, will I be able to install new Spike Prime firmware on the Robot Inventor hub to get new goodies?</p>
  <p>Will I be able to switch to Spike Prime firmware and software and continue to use the Robot Inventor lego pieces?</p>
  <p>Will I ever need to buy Spike Prime Hub along its motors and sensors because the Robot Inventor hub won't be compatible with new Spike Prime firmware or software?</p>
  <p>Also planning to use this for First Lego League for the next few years. I am also hoping they won't close the gate for Robot Inventor in the competitions in future years.</p>
  <p>The safe bet is to buy Spike Prime, but if there is some assurance of future compatibility, I would be inclined to buy the Robot Inventor for its better value. Please guide. Thank you!</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-11-03T12:32:32.907Z
Comments.Text: That question clarifies that Spike Prime can be re-flashed with Inventor firmware, not the other way around.
Comments.UserDisplayName: vishr
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-11-03T14:59:11.540Z
Comments.Text: ok, you are correct. As it happens it's just as easy to reflash the RI with SP software as it is to reflash the SP with RI software... so I'm inclined to think it would be better if both questions are merged...
Comments.UserDisplayName: Michael Verschaeve
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-11-03T15:02:54.630Z
Comments.Text: I updated that answer to clarify that it works both way. The hardware in the hubs is virtually identical, so either hub can work with either app. The rest of the questions are asking for opinions or speculation about the future, both of which we generally try to avoid on this site because there is no "correct" answer.
Comments.UserDisplayName: David Lechner
Tags: <technic><mindstorms><spike-prime><robot-inventor>
Title: Is Robot Inventor 51515 future proof?
UserDisplayName: vishr
ThreadText: # Is Robot Inventor 51515 future proof?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-03)
  
  I need to buy one of Spike Prime or Robot Inventor 51515, but torn between the two choices. The latter is discontinued unfortunately, but is better bang for the buck with more lego pieces.
  
  Robot Inventor will not provide firmware updates soon. Given this situation and I buy the Robot Inventor 51515, will I be able to install new Spike Prime firmware on the Robot Inventor hub to get new goodies?
  
  Will I be able to switch to Spike Prime firmware and software and continue to use the Robot Inventor lego pieces?
  
  Will I ever need to buy Spike Prime Hub along its motors and sensors because the Robot Inventor hub won't be compatible with new Spike Prime firmware or software?
  
  Also planning to use this for First Lego League for the next few years. I am also hoping they won't close the gate for Robot Inventor in the competitions in future years.
  
  The safe bet is to buy Spike Prime, but if there is some assurance of future compatibility, I would be inclined to buy the Robot Inventor for its better value. Please guide. Thank you!
  
  **Tags:** technic, mindstorms, spike-prime, robot-inventor
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: That question clarifies that Spike Prime can be re-flashed with Inventor firmware, not the other way around.  
  > **username_1**: ok, you are correct. As it happens it's just as easy to reflash the RI with SP software as it is to reflash the SP with RI software... so I'm inclined to think it would be better if both questions are merged...  
  > **username_2**: I updated that answer to clarify that it works both way. The hardware in the hubs is virtually identical, so either hub can work with either app. The rest of the questions are asking for opinions or speculation about the future, both of which we generally try to avoid on this site because there is no "correct" answer.  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2022-11-03. Score: -3
  
  LEGO has announced that Mindstorms, the long-running robotics range, will be discontinued at the end of 2022. An official statement follows:
  
  "Since its launch in September 1998, LEGO Mindstorms has been one of the core ‘Build & Code’ experiences in the company’s portfolio, carrying with it significant brand equity and becoming a stand-out experience for the early days of consumer robotics and leading to current Build & Code experiences such as SPIKE Prime, from LEGO Education’s LEGO Learning System.
  
  "However, now having a number of priorities in LEGO Education and other Build & Code experiences, we have decided to focus our resources and future plans by redirecting our Mindstorms Robot Inventor team and their expertise into different areas of the business.
  
  "This means the physical Mindstorms Robot Inventor product (51515) and its related elements (88016 and 88018) are to exit our portfolio from the end of 2022, whilst digital platforms – such as the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Inventor App – will remain live until at least the end of 2024.
  
  "We still have strong belief in the Build & Code proposition and will continue to support it through platforms such as SPIKE Prime, and we are continuing to hold on to the trademark for the Mindstorms brand and assessing our future plans together with LEGO Education."
  
  
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