tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170048862012-02-12T13:42:36.436-08:00Periodic Posts about Lego (TM) Mindstorms and NXTAurelian Designnoreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-17807861871527750692011-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:002011-12-14T19:17:19.823-08:00

Unless Lego has fixed this in a newer version of the firmware, the way to work around the problem I mention in a post below is to have an initial part of your program loop. In the loop, generate a random number. Stop the loop when the user presses a button. The user will take varying amounts of time which will cause the next random number generate (after the loop is complete) to be more random.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-23889526154923782432011-12-14T19:12:00.000-08:002011-12-14T19:12:40.978-08:00

I coached an FLL team for the fourth year. This time, it was back to a private team, after last year's team at a junior high school. Five kids, which was a nice size, and a nice group. It was a hard year for the robot missions. They struggled with consistency. The last week they had a couple 134 point runs, but at the tournmanent their top score was only 119. They valiantly tried to get the

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-47902577995992196622011-09-25T13:13:00.000-07:002011-09-25T13:13:57.358-07:00

I'm coaching an FLL team for the fourth straight year and decided to get a second rechargeable battery for the spare NXT. I figured I could use the adapter I had from the rechargeable battery I purchased a few years ago. Nope. They have changed from AC to DC adapters a year or two ago. So I had to purchase a new adapter, and have to have two around instead of one.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-83231947642885138972009-11-20T09:14:00.001-08:002010-01-03T15:53:54.045-08:00

Sorry this blog has been quiet the last year. I am coaching another FLL team this fall, and also starting a graphic design business. Discounted rates for work booked through the end of January, 2010 to anyone in the US involved with FLL! See the website for examples of my work and more information.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-59673159412881340572008-10-08T22:05:00.000-07:002008-10-08T22:07:02.362-07:00

I'm still here. I've started coaching a First Lego League team for the first time. Quite fun, but a lot of work! When done with that in December, maybe I'll have time for some new posts.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1329305362117480032008-04-17T21:33:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:35:29.069-07:00

I started working on the walking robots. The instructions are in the software that comes with the NXT. Finished the first "walk" part the other night. Mostly went well. A few of the steps where you connect liftarms to the motors are a bit tricky, as is the precise location to insert the axles. I'll try to post some pictures to clarify these steps when I get some time...

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1171341950570550342007-02-12T20:30:00.000-08:002007-02-12T20:45:50.706-08:00

Well, I've been very busy preparing my robot for the science fair it was for. The demonstration was last Friday, and after an initial period of setup that lasted too long, it was a success. My robot wrote kids' initials (usually one or two letters) about 50 times during a two-hour period complete with two battery changes.My robot uses three motors, for X-axis, Y-axis and pen control (up and

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1169053388217803802007-01-17T09:01:00.000-08:002007-01-17T09:03:08.226-08:00

Sorry - been busy still, so no time for posts. No, I haven't forgotten the deadline that passed on the first challenge. I'll try to post on that soon. Suggestions for the next challenge are always welcome.Please post a comment about what information is hard to find out for the NXT, or anything other robotics topics you'd like to talk about.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167975975212526362007-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:002007-01-04T21:46:15.240-08:00

And another poll on NXTasy about Bluetooth (working or not?)... http://forums.nxtasy.org/index.php?showtopic=723Please vote on both polls.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167890383500503652007-01-03T21:57:00.000-08:002007-01-03T21:59:43.510-08:00

I set up a poll on the NXTasy forums: http://forums.nxtasy.org/index.php?showtopic=717You might have to register, but I'd highly recommend the site.I encourage all readers to answer the poll.Sorry about the absence of NXT Tip posting. Will try to put some more upas soon as I have time...

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167407292806586332006-12-29T07:37:00.000-08:002006-12-29T07:48:12.816-08:00

Today you decide you want to do different things depending on whether the touch sensor is pressed or not. The touch sensor is a button, and your NXT-G program can make decisions depending on which state it is in.To do this, you would use a Switch Block. By default, it is set up to make a decision using the touch sensor, but it has many other uses.When you add a Switch Block, a box shows up in

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167373222930965012006-12-28T22:08:00.000-08:002006-12-28T22:20:22.943-08:00

It's official. The NXT's random number generator is not very good.The first test was with my Die Rolling Program. I noticed tonight while showing it off that the first ten rolls or so were all even numbers. Then the next five or so were all odd numbers.So then I saw a comment somewhere about testing randomness but choosing two numbers and plotting a point at the X, Y location on the display.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167326104191000872006-12-28T09:02:00.000-08:002006-12-28T09:15:04.206-08:00

When you want to draw a number of things on the NXT display, you use more than one Display block, as shown at right.Each one has settings (computer folks often call these "parameters") that determine what is drawn on the display. These are shown at the bottom-left of the NXT programming application. You can draw images (pictures), text, or drawing, such as lines and circles.So you strings a

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167286998277748432006-12-27T21:49:00.000-08:002007-01-08T12:40:48.783-08:00

I finished my first complex NXT programming project tonight. I wrote it with NXT-G -- the programming environment that comes with the NXT.It rolls a die randomly, and draws it on the screen, as you can (sort of) see in the picture to the right.The main program ("Draw Die Test") just chooses a random number from 1 to 6, and then calls a "My Block" called "Draw Die" to (drumroll, please) draw the

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167237411410988742006-12-27T08:28:00.000-08:002006-12-27T08:36:51.413-08:00

Lego is selling a color sensor for use with the NXT. It was designed by the HiTechnic company. It will ship in a few weeks. When someone gets one, please leave a comment to let everyone know how it works! The 0-17 color chart looks odd to me, but you do have access to the RGB (red, green, blue) values. Using all of those in NXT-G would be interesting. I'll need to get a bigger monitor for

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1167236569980417182006-12-27T08:16:00.000-08:002006-12-27T08:22:49.993-08:00

I can see that there are many new readers to this blog, what withholiday presents, so I will start ...The NXT Tip of the Daywhich may be more likeThe NXT Tip of the Week or The NXT Tip of the Month depending on how much time and how many ideas I have. Please leave comments to encourage me, and suggest ideas you are interested in.So here is Tip #1: In NXT-G (the graphical programming environment

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1165682078759249492006-12-09T08:19:00.000-08:002006-12-09T08:34:38.770-08:00

If the NXTasy blog can do it, so can I! :)I'm just starting to work on a project for a science fair demonstration (adults make them at the school in question), and thought I'd make it into a challenge.Make a robot that can write one or more letters on paper. The letter or letters should be chosen somehow by the user, and not be fixed in the program or entered via a PC keyboard. That is, you

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1165681074726318852006-12-09T08:12:00.000-08:002006-12-09T08:17:54.740-08:00

Last night I started working on a project for the old Mindstorms kit with the RCX. I got a new PC a couple months ago, and this is the first time I've installed the old RIS software on it and tried to use the USB IR tower. When I connected the tower, it locked up my PC.After some searching, I found there is a driver patch to fix this. Lego has information on this here. If you want to jump

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1165556727599810922006-12-07T21:43:00.000-08:002006-12-07T21:45:27.606-08:00

Just found these tutorials tonight. I'm only nowwatching the very first one now, but it looks promising.Post a comment if you find them helpful (or not)...

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1165300812814509902006-12-04T22:24:00.000-08:002006-12-04T22:40:12.886-08:00

After a couple months with the new NXT kit, I finally made a robot of my own design tonight.It's not much. Just a simple tricycle, not too different from the Tribot.The motors are quite large, so it takes some experimenting to attach them. After using L-liftarms to connect to the NXT, it was quite unstable. So I secured the motors to each other at front and back. It's not perfect, but now

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1164858473268935922006-11-29T19:45:00.000-08:002006-11-29T19:47:53.276-08:00

It's a bit late to design and build a solution, butfor future reference, take a look at the firstNXTasy challenge.A good challenge, and the author obviously thoughtquite a bit about the rules!

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1164773538589393222006-11-28T20:04:00.000-08:002006-11-28T20:12:18.703-08:00

Since I haven't had much time for building lately, I thought I'd postsome links to nice NXT videos.I've built a simple copier machine with the old Mindstorms. Here's a very nice plotter for the NXT: Click to watch.A decent car that turns. Don't know why he added the music, though.Click to watch.Nice differential gear. Would be nice to see instructions for it. Click to watch.This one has

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1162616552846219632006-11-03T20:58:00.000-08:002006-11-03T21:02:32.860-08:00

Sorry - haven't had much time to build or blog.So I'll post a question for you. Please answer with a comment...If you have an NXT set and a Bluetooth device, can you get the two to talk to each other from the Lego NXT software ("NXT-G")? If so, please list the version of Windows or Mac you are running, and the type of Bluetooth device (with exact model number if possible). If you had to do

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1160448888725939962006-10-09T19:49:00.000-07:002006-10-09T19:54:48.736-07:00

BrickLink now has a parts list, with pictures, for the NXT (set 8527) here.The catalog administrator there hasn't approved the parts list yet,but I'm sure it's pretty close. BrickLink is a good place to pick up extraLego parts that you need. Check out the "Want List" feature. It's worksvery well.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1160111054880166882006-10-05T21:58:00.000-07:002006-10-05T22:04:14.890-07:00

I finished the last two parts of Spike tonight.When constructing, you might want to connect the cables before hooking the sensor assemblies to the main part of the robot. If you follow the instructions and wait until the last step, it is impossible, especially for the ultrasonic sensor.First was adding the sound sensor. You can see it at upper-right in the picture. After programming, you clap

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1159990456434564672006-10-04T12:27:00.000-07:002006-10-04T12:34:16.446-07:00

Last night I was able to complete the second part of Spike, adding the tail. Construction was relatively easy, until near the end. Attaching the entire tail assembly to the robot base took some figuring out to determine where the attachment is made. And then connecting some of the wires is difficult once all the pieces are surrounding the base NXT. I think they could have done some more user

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1159279191713193922006-09-26T06:53:00.000-07:002006-09-26T06:59:51.846-07:00

Over the weekend, I started on another NXT robot from the instructions included in the software. Say "hi" to Spike, the slightly disabled scorpion (I think). This is a the base - I haven't worked on the tail yet. The pinchers don't do anything, as they are fixed in the closed position, which is a bit disappointing. I can imagine Lego was a little worried about lawsuits when Spike might grab a

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158954252135522632006-09-22T12:29:00.000-07:002006-09-22T12:44:12.160-07:00

Continued on with the Ball Elevator grand contraption last night. As you can see, I have made some progress.A motor has been attached to propel the elevator. For the moment it's just attached to a battery box - a rather convenient device. At some point I might need to control it all with an RCX, but I don't have a reason to use one at the moment.At right is a close-up of the upper landing area

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158848276523861282006-09-21T06:56:00.000-07:002006-09-21T07:17:56.600-07:00

Haven't had too much building time the past few days, but I took a break from NXT learning to work on a ball elevator. I recently saw Philo's wonderful contraption, and from it, I stole the basis of the mechanism for lifting lego soccer balls.I figured that with this idea, lifting the balls would be easy, but it was still a lot of work to get it working at all, and then to get it working

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158768955824470942006-09-20T09:14:00.000-07:002006-09-20T15:49:02.706-07:00

Questions for those who've got an NXT...1) Have you tried the converters to use the old RCX sensors with the NXT? Do they work well? Do they work with the standard NXT programming system? Sounds like you need the educational version, and people are hoping that the retail software will get an update to allow it. Sigh...2) If you had to buy one extra sensor for you NXT set, which one would it

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158552128858528352006-09-17T20:47:00.000-07:002006-09-17T21:02:08.870-07:00

I went on to the next Getting Started step for the NXT tonight - the Grabber for the Tribot.Builder is fairly straightforward, and the programming is to at this point.But it didn't work. It tried to grab, but it couldn't hold the big blue ball. A little disappointing, but life goes on...Well, I did finally figure out how to add pictures, so you can see the robot with the grabber, and its

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158242480221049862006-09-14T06:44:00.000-07:002006-09-14T07:01:20.243-07:00

Last night I continued on with the getting started robot byadding the bumper with the touch sensor. The bumer is a bitbulky, but it does work pretty reliably. It's the first sensoryou add while building the Tribot. Interesting bumper design,using a small gear to connect with the button of the sensor.Want to add some pictures, but still getting used to my newcomputer, so that will have to wait.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158165888064075122006-09-13T09:42:00.000-07:002006-09-13T09:44:48.073-07:00

Ah... Looks like the Mindstorms NXT (8527) parts list, with pictures, is already on Peeron.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158163055171171602006-09-13T08:56:00.000-07:002006-09-13T08:57:35.186-07:00

Many of you, it seems, find this blog by searching for "NXT parts list".Please add a short comment if you would like me to post the complete parts listfor the new NXT set (#8527).

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158037909944793802006-09-11T22:10:00.000-07:002006-09-11T22:11:49.946-07:00

I should mention that the device I got was a Cables Unlimited USB-1530.The USB-1520 is listed on a site as compatible with NXT, but it doesn'tsay anything about the 1530. The only difference, supposedly, is the "class,"that is, how far away you can communicate with the connected device.the 1530 is Class 1 for 100m.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1158037760176732902006-09-11T22:03:00.000-07:002006-09-11T22:09:20.186-07:00

Partial success. Only had a little time tonight to play with the NXT.Worked on getting Bluetooth communicating.I uninstalled the driver that came with the dongle, and had Windows (XP)install its own. That didn't help in itself. Going to the NXT window in theMindstorms software and doing a Scan, nothing connected.Then I ran the Bluetooth application that came with the dongle,and had it search

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1157951854113496892006-09-10T22:03:00.000-07:002006-09-10T22:17:34.126-07:00

Finally got an NXT today! Went to the Lego Store, which was a madhouse because of a promotion they were doing in the mall. The person ahead of me at the cash register was also getting one. They didn't have the (expensive) rechargeable batteries in stock, and they don't carry the adapter (very weird - how do you charge the battery without an adapter?). But I walked away happily with my

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1157561907824260802006-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:002006-09-06T09:58:27.840-07:00

I hope to have an NXT set within two weeks.I'll try to post more often once I get it, and gettime to try it out.Any suggestions on accessories to get?Or Bluetooth dongles for my new PC? Do I even need one?

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1156567262386956822006-08-25T21:37:00.000-07:002006-08-25T21:41:02.396-07:00

Haven't posted much for two reasons....First, it's summer. Doing too much outdoors.Second, I don't have an NXT yet. Before I get one, I have to get a newerPC. Mine is too old to run the NXT software. I'm hoping to get one soon,and then get an NXT.Then the postings will be fast and furious.... maybe!In the meantime, if you have an NXT, please post some comments:How do you like it in general?

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1147664092489151072006-05-14T20:33:00.000-07:002006-05-14T20:34:52.496-07:00

Someone has put up a new GBC website.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1142050636683124172006-03-10T20:16:00.000-08:002006-03-10T20:17:29.886-08:00

Just curious... Post a comment if you'd be interested in a short, practical introduction to getting started with LPub.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1138146893612207512006-01-24T15:54:00.000-08:002006-01-24T15:54:53.623-08:00

This picture, barely, shows the parts list for NXT.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1136610652932400942006-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:002006-01-06T21:10:52.943-08:00

Very good set of questions and answers at the Lego site...

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1136506795768260912006-01-05T16:08:00.000-08:002006-01-05T16:35:11.496-08:00

Wow! The new Mindstorms is here! Well, not until August, but it's been announced.Mindstorms NXT. Soon you can buy a new control unit, motors and sensors.Official Lego pageArticles atArticle with a good videoExcellent article about the people who helped design it

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17004886.post-1127533923761207612005-09-23T20:51:00.000-07:002005-09-23T20:52:52.516-07:00

Post any questions or comment as a comment here.

Aurelian Designnoreply@blogger.com0