Mindstorms has a long compelling history before LEGO, that includes cybernetics, the Logo programming language, turtle graphics, Braitenberg vehicles, and the rise of the MIT Media Lab.

See the book "Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas" by Seymour Papert. Free from MIT.

https://mindstorms.media.mit.edu

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_graphics

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Braitenberg_vehicle

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert