Through the use of a fictional story, this book details how to build and design robots. Max, the story's main character, is part of an archaeological expedition investigating a newly discovered Mayan pyramid. During the expedition, the team encounters various problems, each solved with the help of a unique robot that Max creates using the Lego Mindstorms NXT kit. Although the book reveals possible robotic solutions and offers detailed information on how to build and program each robot, readers are encouraged to come up with their own. The book includes complete building theory information and provides worksheets for brainstorming.

Mark Bell is a middle school science and technology teacher residing in Los Angeles. His passion for designing things, debugging them, and requirements engineering has led to a twenty-five year career as a technologist in support of aerospace, military, education, and the intelligence community. For the last decade, Mark has been an instructor with gifted, young robotics students in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. He teaches regularly at several locations in the US and Hong Kong.  James Floyd Kelly is a professional writer from Atlanta, Georgia. He has written numerous books on multiple subjects, including LEGO robotics, open source software, and building your own CNC machine as well as a 3D printer.