The NXT STEP - LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Blog

NXT-G Edu patch to fix Flash on Mac

2012-03-02T05:18:00.002-05:00

Good news for those suffering the well know flash issues with NXT-G on the Mac. LEGO education have just release a patch that will fix those issues.

*IMPORTANT - This is for the education version of the software, not the Retail*

From the downloads page -

If you have NXT Education software version 2.0 please use this update to correct all known technical issues with the software including Flash. This update does not include any new features. Download the appropriate file and double click it to install. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete installation. LEGO MINDSTORMS education version 2.0 need to be installed prior to installing the update.

You can download the patch from here (look for the 2.1f5 patch)
http://education.lego.com/downloads/?q={02FB6AC1-07B0-4E1A-862D-7AE2DBC88F9E}

More LEGOWorld goodness

2012-02-29T00:58:00.000-05:00

A few more videos from LEGOWorld Copenhagen. Thanks to Menno and Robotica for finding them.

LEGO® in Space

2012-02-28T07:07:00.001-05:00

Furukawa Satoshi, an astronaut from Japan on board of the International Space Station, these days built a LEGO® model of the ISS there:

LEGO robots in Barcelona

2012-02-27T18:37:00.007-05:00

At Mobile World Congress 2012, Ericsson and LEGO Mindstorm partnered up in Hall 6 at The Social Web of Things and gave visitors a glimpse of what the future might look like if you had your very own R2D2. have a look here LEGO robots at ericsson mobile world event and see "snatcher" at work.

visit the show: February 27 to March 1 at La Fira – hall 6, Barcelona, Spain

Martyn

Smallest NXT Biped ever!?

2012-02-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

Michael has just sent us details of his recent creation, a tiny NXT based Biped called "My Very First Bipend" that won the SnapBots challenge over at NXTlog.

It's a great design and cleverly relies on momentum of the NXT brick to maintain balance.

More info and pics -
http://us.mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Community/NXTLog/DisplayProject.aspx?id=3e4e7ce0-18dd-4b49-babc-ded5434ec4be

Can you make it smaller!? :)

PriNXT - NXT based printer

2012-02-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Nice NXT based printer from Leon Overweel.

Leon creates a design by first loading up an image on computer, converting it to black and white and then into 1's and 0's. That array is then copied into a RobotC script that puts down the pen for the 1's and lifts the pen for the 0's as it scans along. Nice and smooth, and great resolution of 50px by 50 px.

Leon has a comprehensive post with all the fine details.
http://worldofmindstorms.com/2012/02/24/prinxt-mindstorms-nxt-printer/

(Thanks to Joey Kelly for pointing me to it!)

Building instructions for the NXT dolly

2012-02-26T06:36:00.001-05:00

Some readers asked for building instructions for the NXT dolly, my NXT-based programmable camera car.
So here they are as an LDD file, alongside with a alternative attachment for mobiles.

New compass sensor from Dexter Industries

2012-02-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dexter Industries have come out with another sensor for the NXT, this time a compass.

A compass is an excellent way of figuring out which way your robot is pointing. Especially handy for things like navigating around or playing a game of robot soccer!

This particular one can measure along 3 axis (so I guess that means heading as well as tilt?)

As with all compass sensors, you need to be very careful around other magnetic fields (power cables, motors etc) but according to the manual, you can do some calibration to reduce any offset from true north.

At $29, it's one of the cheaper sensors available for the NXT :)

More details including code samples for NXT-G, RobotC and Labview can be found here.

http://dexterindustries.com/dCompass.html

(via Bot Bench)

Lego NXTified Friends robolab 3933

2012-02-25T02:59:00.002-05:00

Take the LEGO Friends - Olivia's Invention Workshop (#3933) and add Anika a Mindstorms Robotics Expert... and what do you get?

This is just awesome!! I'de like to see this creation slightly raised on a mirrored floor plexiglass cube and let the public try it out at the next Mindstorms event. Don't take it apart, it's beautiful!

Girl... you inspire us all!

Awesome LEGO Robotic Arm

2012-02-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Max Shepherd has designed this amazing robotic arm. Learn more about Max's creative work---both moving and non-moving---at maxshepherd.net. Most impressive!

NXC programming language video tutorial for beginners

2012-02-19T10:35:00.002-05:00

Youtube user GODLVESEVERY1 has made a serie of video tutorials about the NXC textual programming language. Check them out!

LEGO World - Copenhagen 2012

2012-02-18T23:25:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to spend yesterday at LEGO world here in Copenhagen and got to catch up with some amazing builders.

Here is very quick video I've put together to give a bit of an overview of the MINDSTORMS area.

Understanding NXT Sets, a detailed overview

2012-02-18T07:18:00.003-05:00

In the past years I've received a lot of questions about LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set versions. Here's an article I wrote which hopefully covers most of these questions. You'll find an overview of:

Overview of all three versions of the NXT set, and the differences in the included electronics
Links to element parts lists
Overview of Education base set and resource set (two versions)
Color vs. Light Sensor - which is in the NXT set?
NXT Rechargeable battery, what is it?
Upgrading NXT kit
Upgrading NXT "1.0" software
NXT Versions and NXT Books

Most of this is very basic information, but the variety of NXT sets and information can be confusing for new users and teachers. Especially when you buy a lot of sets for the classroom, it's important to know what you buy.

I'm not making any recommendations to what you should buy, I'm only collecting a lot of information in one place. Click to view article.

---

And a question to those who use the NXT-G education software: Can you use the LEGO NXT 2.0 Color sensor in NXT-G Edu 2.x? I'd like to add that to the information to the article.

Hispabrick event in December

2012-02-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

The guys from Hispabrick (an amazing LEGO magazine), are planning a little event for LEGO fans in Spain.

From their website

We are happy to announce that HispaBrick Magazine will organise the event for LEGO® fans HispaBrick 2012 on December 7,8 and 9 in the mMACTEC (Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya), in Terrassa. Fans will be able to participate in activities and in the exhibition related to this construction toy.We will keep you informed.RegardsHispaBrick Magazine

Looks like it'll be a lot of fun so save the date if you are in the area!

Small Ball Contraption

2012-02-16T01:38:00.001-05:00

Not quite a GBC, (http://www.teamhassenplug.org/GBC) but a fun little machine none the less from Rob Torok.

New NXT Site

2012-02-15T13:55:00.004-05:00

Recently I've begun moving all of my Mindstorms creations made in the past years to a new home - http://robotsquare.com/

I'm moving my old site to be able to better organize and archive my Mindstorms work. I'm rewriting some of my work as tutorials, to make it easier for you to remake some of the projects you'll find on the site.

Not all of the content has been moved yet, but you can have a look if you like. I'll still be blogging here, of course, don't worry -- My old site just needed an upgrade.

LEGOWORLD Copenhagen

2012-02-15T11:03:00.004-05:00

One of the largest LEGO events in Europe starts today: the LEGOWORLD Copenhagen.

Until Sunday, there will be plenties of exhibitors showing off their LEGO® creations to the visitors. Also a lot of mind-blowing NXT stuff is to be expected again this year.
So in case you happen to be around Denmark or plan to go for a short-trip to Scandinavia - drop by!

We will try to get some on-site videos and reports from our friends being there.

NXTurtle 2.0 is alive!

2012-02-10T10:49:00.004-05:00

I've been told by many teachers that my NXTurtle pet is beloved by children. That robot is described in detail in my book Creating Cool MINDSTORMS NXT Robots. Apart from walking and turning, the turtle can retract the head inside its shell. Since it is getting 3 years old by now, it was time to redesign it with the NXT 2.0 kit, giving birth to NXTurtle 2.0!
This new pet has an autonomous behavior, and a crazy new feature you will discover watching the video till the end.

You can download the building instructions and NXC programs for this robot from here.
Enjoy!

Daniele Benedettelli: 10 years of LEGO® MINDSTORMS

2012-02-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

Daniele Benedettelli, famous NXT dottore from Italy and creator of many cool robots, has completely re-designed his LEGO® MINDSTORMS web site.
Amongst a heap of fantastic robot creations and links to his various books, you will find a short video there; it not only reflects the self-assurance of a true NXT genius but also the achievements of 10 years of dealings with MINDSTORMS:

The horse shoe crab from Fay Rhodes' "One-Kit Creatures"

2012-02-05T12:59:00.001-05:00

Some weeks ago I built a customized version of the horse shoe crab from Fay Rhodes' great book "LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 One-Kit Creatures". Today I have taken the time to produce a small video on it:

A Plethora of Pressure Sensors

2012-02-03T16:06:00.008-05:00

It used to be there were very few ways to sense air pressure with the NXT… but over time a number of different companies have come out with third party pressure sensors for the NXT. It’s something that I’ve been interested in for a while: I’ve used pressure sensors for determining altitude during hikes, monitoring high-altitude balloon flights, technical geyser investigations, and lots of other things… so it seems natural to try to compare some of the sensors currently out there in the NXT market. Warning – this is my own personal testing and opinions. It may be wrong. And in the interest of full disclosure, most of these companies have been extremely helpful to me by providing sensors to test and responding to feedback… but still, this is as closeas I can come to an unbiased position. I have pressure sensors from four companies currently: HiTechnic, Vernier, Mindsensors,and Dexter Industries. All of them interface easily with the NXT, using NXT-G blocks, NXC code, or other drivers. Most of them (all except HiTechnic’s) can be “plugged in” to an air line like the LEGO pneumatic tubes or standard aquarium/sized tubing, which is handy for a lot of things. For this I tested all of them under NXT-G 1.0, and used whatever way seemed best to get the highest resolution readings I could from the sensors (sometimes using manufacturer-supplied blocks, sometimes reading the sensors in a “raw” format, etc.). So, without further ado… here we go.

A comparison of four sensors all on the same NXT, attached to the same manifold. I could pump air in and out using a pump based on a large syringe with two one-way valves. First the pressure was reduced (you can see the individual pump cycles in some cases) and held low, then the seal was broken to bring the pressure up as rapidly as possible, before the same pump was used to increase the pressure.

A detailed graph of the very first depressurization event, showing how the four different sensors respond to a sharp change in pressure. The Dexter Industries sensor was not involved in this test (due to software issues), but was tested and is described below. Notice how the Vernier Barometric sensor (purple line) stops dropping even as the pressure continues to be reduced, "bottoming out" at the lower end of its range.

Dexter Industries dPressure250 and dPressure500:

http://dexterindustries.com/Products-dPressure.html

Cost: $28 for the 250 kPa version (up to 30 psi), $32 for the 500 kPa (70 psi) sensor.

Response time around 1 ms, analog, stated resolution of 250 Pa, although this varies across the range slightly (sensor reads all the way down to at or very near 0 kPa). The only true differential pressure sensor, with two ports (one for “negative pressure”, one for “positive pressure, clearly labeled”), this is the only sensor that can do an on-the-fly comparison of the pressure in two separate systems of tubes (if you want to build a Pitot air-speed sensor, this is the sort of thing you want. Non-linear response really makes it easiest to read this with the stock NXT-G blocks (but I couldn’t do this under NXT-G 1.0, this was not tested equally to the other sensors here). The 1/8th inch ports are easy to use (if small for some uses). This sensor reads fastest of all in this review, as it is can be read as a simple analog sensor (with a light sensor block, for example) once every 7 ms, although the sensor seems to have a longer physical lag time than that so it is not “really” as fast… but it’s still faster than any other sensor it seems. The biggest drawback may be the low pressure resolution… while fast, this isn’t as detailed as the other sensors here. The dual ports however are a unique feature that may be exactly what you need in some cases. Some care needs to be taken with the bare circuit board design style, but the sensor element itself is well mounted and I had no worries about it breaking off.

Vernier Gas Pressure sensor:

http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/gps-bta/

Cost: $83, (but you need to use $39 Vernier adaptor as well, potentially making this a $122 sensor)

Very fast response (purported to be 0.1 ms, but there’s no way to verify this on the much slower NXT). Reads from about twice atmospheric pressure all the way to zero (range of 210 kPa to 0 kPa), with a measured resolution of 240 Pa (note that Vernier lists a much higher resolution almost 5000 times better… but this isn’t available using the NXT’s internal analog-to-digital ability). Damaged above 4 Atm (60 psi or 405 kPa), this is a sensor that can handle high pressure and give you reasonable accuracy, considering the range. As an analog sensor, can be read as fast as any other (about 7 ms in my testing set up), but using the Vernier stock blocks it takes slightly longer at around 9.5 ms. The provided tube rapidly twist-locks to the sensor, and has a good valve and a universal adaptor at the end common to chemistry and physics departments (almost certainly the best supplied tubing set-up of the bunch, a feature shared with the sister Barometer sensor below). While the sensor housing is bulky, the long cables (this is an analog sensor) allow it to be used in a variety of situations… although for exactly the same reasons, using Vernier sensors with small mobile robots tends to be a problem. The very linear response, and high speed of this sensor are fantastic… but you certainly have to pay more for that. It should also be noted that there’s a reason for the higher cost… the Vernier sensors have very high resolution compared to the others here, but Vernier has never come out with a stand-alone AtoD converter that would allow the NXT to access this. I keep wishing; a basic 16-bit AtoD reader would make these (and a host of other analog sensors) potentially much higher resolution, really justifying (for NXT users) the higher cost. Does anyone at Vernier read these J ?

Vernier Barometric sensor:

http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/bar-bta/

Cost: $71, (but you still need that $39 adaptor, making the effective cost perhaps $110)

Again, very fast (on the order of 1 ms) response time. Almost identical to the Vernier gas sensor in look and function, but with a higher resolution (and more range-limited) sensor inside (everything I said for the cables, form, and tubing supplied with the Vernier gas pressure sensor holds for this as well). Instead of reading from zero to a high pressure, the sensor is limited from a lowest reported pressure around 84 kPa, to a highest reporting pressure of about 121 kPa… but that means over that range (about 80% of normal pressure up to 120%) the resolution is much better, around 25 Pa (again, it could be better… Vernier claims this sensor has resolution at the level of 1 Pa or so, but you can’t get this with the NXT’s lower resolution AtoD conversion). This comes with a caution – the sensor can be broken if subjected to more than around 2 Atm (203 kPa) pressure, so this is not a sensor for high-pressure environments… but for detecting small rapid changes at or near normal pressures, it’s hard to get better than this, period. Again the tubing kit, valve and adaptor are superior, and very handy. This is probably my most frequently used pressure sensor… but I must admit it comes with a large pricetag (note: this is one of the sensors I had to spring for myself… and even at the over $100, I’ve never regretted it. Your mileage may vary).

Both these Vernier sensors require an adaptor to interface with the NXT:

http://www.vernier.com/products/interfaces/bta-nxt/

Cost $39

Bulky with a long cable. Not for compact mobile robots, but used with all Vernier sensors, so you can at least swap it in and out of different experiments (i.e. – no need to get one with every Vernier sensor you own… you just need one for each port that’s going to be hooked up to a Vernier sensor. And Vernier has… a lot of nice, unique, sensors).

HiTechnic Barometer NBR-1036

http://www.hitechnic.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=NBR1036

Cost: $55

Very slow response… while the sensor can be polled rapidly (once every 16 ms or so), the response to changes in pressure (as can be seen on the graph) is much much slower... not in 10’s of milliseconds, but in tens of seconds! Actually, for a barometric sensor, designed to respond to slow changes in pressure, this is the sort of response you want – the sensor is averaging out all sorts of short-term changes & noise to give you the best estimate to the true, ambient, weather-related pressure. On top of this the sensor also returns the ambient temperature (the only one in this review to do this), so in a real sense this is a “two for one” sensor, still taking only one sensor port. It is also fairly high-resolution, returning the pressure at a 10 Pa level (as HiTechnic claims, and is demonstrated by testing), better than any of the above. It can do both these things because it is not an analog sensor, but a true digital sensor, retuning information to the NXT via the I2C interface. On top of this the NXT-G block has been designed to make it very easy to interpret the pressure changes as elevation changes, making this the most transparent “digital altimeter” available as well. The next time I go hiking and want to log my elevation changes… this is likely the sensor I’d turn to. The casework is the standard high-quality HiTechnic model, LEGO-certified and indistinguishable (except for a small label) from any other LEGO sensor. For fast responses, this isn’t the sensor to get, and it can’t be easily connected to a tube or pipe to measure those sorts of pressures (the only one without a port of some type, probably related to being LEGO-0certified in LEGO-certified casework). But a really nice sensor for weather & altitude related measurements.

Mindsensors PPS58-Nx

http://www.mindsensors.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=150

Cost: $40

Rapid response, about 16 readings a second… but testing reveals that it will actually read the sensor much faster than this, returning a cached value off the sensor until a new updated pressure reading is available internally. So, what’s the “real” response time? If you are worried about how long reading the sensor “stalls” your program, it takes only about 16 ms… if you are worried about how fast this sensor can report a change in pressure, the answer is closer to 60 ms (about 16 times a second). If you are worried about how fast mechanically the sensor system responds… it’s even a little bit slower than this. If you look at the response comparison, you can see that this sensor takes some time (about a second) to reach the new pressure during a sharp change. So the “real” response time here really depends on what you are curious about… a common problem when discussing things like sensors. The sensor measures from 0 up to about 58 psi (0 to 400 kPa) very nicely, but as an I2C sensor this one, like the HiTechnic version, can have a high resolution: by reading the raw sensor output, it can actually measure the pressure to about the nearest 2 Pa (not exactly like the 1 Pa resolution mentioned in the website… but still amazingly high resolution, and it may have been due to how I was reading the sensor). In more common terms, it can detect a change in atmospheric pressure of just 0.002%, (equivalent to determining a change in depth beneath the ocean of a tiny 1/5th of a millimeter!). This is a ported sensor, and is packaged using the Mindsensors now-standard “doubled circuit board” approach that protects the components inside while making a very strong “sandwich” structure that’s perhaps more robust for damage (note: I’ve always worried about static damaging these exposed sensors… but I’ve yet to have it happen. Perhaps I worry too much). For the highest-resolution measurements on the NXT, this seems to be the best sensor available, and while not the fastest response, it’s a close fourth behind the three-way tie for first in this review.

The Conclusion

If you’ve bothered reading this far, you probably want to simply know “which should I buy”. So, here’s your answer:

I don’t know.

I’ve tested these sensors and used them in a lot of different ways. In robots, altimeters, weather stations, and physics experiments. Weighing objects, determining water depth, and analyzing how a balloon inflates. Each of these sensors has strengths and weaknesses, and which you want really does depend on what you need it to do. Do you need the least expensive (Dexter Industries is the lowest cost option on the market right now)? The fastest (Dexter Industries or Vernier sensors)? High-resolution that’s got a response of a few milliseconds (Vernier)? Ultra-high precision (Mindsensors)? Pressure & temperature at the same time, in one compact sensor (HiTechnic)? Something else? If you want the right sensor for your application… you first have to understand what your application is.

Swarm robots

2012-01-30T08:39:00.001-05:00

Robot swarms are an area where LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT could fit in very well. However, they sadly have played a very minor role in the NXT universe so far.

Here's a great inspiring video on a 4 year swarm robot research project that connects a couple of (non-NXT) robots from different European universities:

NXT camera dolly

2012-01-27T02:13:00.001-05:00

Whenever I made images and movies of my NXT robots previously, I always have been unsatisfied with the quality of my recordings. Hence, I decided to build a stable camera stand to avoid at least wiggly images.Of course, as a NXT builder I ended up not with a simple stand but with a programmable camera car on rails (which is, as I learned, in lingo called a "camera dolly"):

I am still lacking the skills to produce such excellent robot movies like some of my NXT colleagues; but at least I might be able to make some with smoother tracking shots now.

Debugging with the NXT screen: Displaying numbers

2012-01-26T14:36:00.012-05:00

If you're a programmer like me, your programs won't work perfectly when you run them the first time. Sometimes it's a simple mistake on the programmer's part, but sometimes the problem is not so obvious.

In some cases you can analyze part of your program by displaying some of the program's variables on the NXT screen. For example, you can do this to determine whether a sensor works or not.

Displaying such a number on the NXT screen is not very difficult, but it can be a bit cumbersome if there's multiple things you would like to display. To make it a little easier I'd like to share an old trick (a My Block) that will make it simple to do this.

The NXT screen will show "Sensor: 47" if the ultrasonic sensor measures 47.

Installation Instructions
- Just open the packed example program:

Click here to download. Be sure to open the file that's in the zip archive with the Mindstorms NXT-G 2.0 software. Alternatively, use "Right Click" and click "Save as" first. The My Block is included and will automatically be added to your other My Blocks.

Using the block
- Run the example to test your block and try it out. (Then just skip the info below).

- Use the "Number to Display" setting to specify the number you would like to display. You would normally supply the value through a Data Wire as in the example.

- "Text Line (0-7)" specifies on which line the number should be displayed. 0 is at the top of the NXT screen, 7 is at the bottom.

- "Text (Optional)" lets you optionally add some text to the number. This is useful if there's multiple things you want to display on the screen. For example, putting "Sensor:" in the example results in "Sensor: 47" on the NXT screen if the value is 47.

- The block will always erase the text line in question before showing something new, but you can check the "Clear Screen (Yes/No)" to empty the whole screen if necessary.

---

Update: Steve Hassenplug reminded me of a custom NXT block (Not a My Block) that he made that does just the same (find it here).

Whether you want to use this block or the My Block is up to you. Steve's block can nicely be added to your other Action blocks, right next to the Display Block if you wish. The My Block on the other hand is easier to share because the person you share it with does not have to install a custom NXT block.

RobertaLAB | CAD Animation

2012-01-25T23:49:00.001-05:00

Cool CAD animation of the Roberta Ant included in Roberta Series 1 - NXT.

158 parts to make this ant designed by A. Green

I: /. 7.

NXT yoghurt opener

2012-01-25T01:53:00.000-05:00

Nice little NXT device by pasquentmax that opens a typical yoghurt container. I'm sure you could adapt the approach to a bunch of other food packaging.

Google gives back - to NXT

2012-01-23T05:22:00.000-05:00

Every year around Christmas Google sponsors with 40 million $ some projects around the globe in areas that are close to the heart of the company: education in science and technology, education for girls, promotion of technology and projects against human trafficking and modern slavery.

In 2011 gone by, there was a NXT-based project amongst them!
The German project Roberta is an initiative by the Fraunhofer Institut that aims to promote interest and education of girls in science and technology by using LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT.

The NXT STEP that has now and then blogged about Roberta in the past wishes to compliment Roberta for that achievement and acknowledgment of its great work.
Cudos!

The Dynaway Sorting Plant

2012-01-19T14:02:00.001-05:00

From the guys who brought you the C5 NXT Blimp, have a look at this awesome industrial color and size sorting plant commissioned by Dynaway. This model is used to demonstrate their manufacturing execution system.

It sorts 2x4 and 1x2 bricks in size and color. The bricks get sorted directly into pallets in a high bay storage system. When a new color is detected, an empty pallet in the high bay storage is assigned to the color. When a pallet is full, a robot retrieves it, and returns a new empty pallet.

There are 7 NXT’s in the plant, and they all communicate with each other and a PC application over Bluetooth. The software written in leJOS, with is a java language for MINDSTORMS®.

Full details can be found on the BrickIt team's website

Skype Car - Follow up statistics

2012-01-19T04:16:00.001-05:00

Leon have just finished his initial Skype Car experiment and followed up with some great statistics.

Here is the original post we published - http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2012/01/skype-controlled-robot-yes-you-can.html

He kept it running for a 2 weeks and got people from all over the world connecting in.

700 people having a go
Average 4 minutes per connection
Over 20 countries

Get the full run down of statistics from his latest post -
http://worldofmindstorms.com/2012/01/18/skype-car-lots-of-numbers/

Congrats Leon, can't wait to see what you do next!

NXC tutorial in Portuguese

2012-01-18T02:33:00.004-05:00

A good new for the Portuguese followers of the NXT STEP!
The NXC tutorial I originally wrote with John Hansen back in 2007 has been translated
also in Portuguese. Divirta-se!

MINDSENSORS Touch Panel Library for LejOS

2012-01-14T11:16:00.004-05:00

The advanced users of the NXT could be happy to know that I wrote
the library to easily manage all the features of the NXT Touch Panel sensor device by MINDSENSORS. It is available from the Lejos SVN repository and in the next release of LejOS NXJ.

Google Science Fair 2012

2012-01-14T10:11:00.002-05:00

Google has announced the Google Science Fair 2012, the largest Online Science competition in the world which takes place in partnership with The LEGO Group, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American.
Any youngster between 13 and 18 years, either alone or in teams up to for persons, can take part and hand in his or her Science project, presenting it on its own Google web site.
At the end, the best projects will be awarded with great prizes.

At the first Science Fair last year, over 7500 projects were handed in from 90 different countries, with a lot of LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT amongst them.
Take part!
This is how you enter:

Lesson plans from Dexter Industries

2012-01-13T21:06:00.001-05:00

Dexter Industries (who makes all kids of cool NXT sensors) has just submitted a few lesson plans / ideas to http://www.k12lab.com (an part of National Instruments who created NXT-G in conjunction with LEGO)

So far they've submitted lessons for:

Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIR) -Measuring Heat from a Laptop exhaust fan -
http://www.k12lab.com/lesson-plans/Monitor-Computer-w-NXT-TIR

and their Solar Panel - Constructing a Solar Car
http://www.k12lab.com/lesson-plans/NXT-Solar-Car

They've included sample programs for LabView for LEGO Mindstorms (LVLM), but even if you're not using that language, you could adapt to NXT-G or any other one.

NXTAVATAR a Tele-presence robot

2012-01-13T00:07:00.000-05:00

The NXTAVATAR is a Tele-presence robot which is visually remote controlled using the internet.

It is easily build. You need: a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® 2.0 set, an iPhone® 4 (or other Smartphone) with Skype® installed, a Windows PC with Skype® installed, 2 Skype® accounts and 2 NXTAVATAR programs (which are open source). You can download building instructions & NXTAVATAR programs at www.nxtavatar.com. You can easily adjust the robot and programs to fit your own demands.
Have fun!

Below are the controls as seen on the PC side, The frame in red is what is shared on the mobile device via Skype screen sharing.

Features
- Remote control using the internet
- Face to face interaction
- Full audio & video communication
- Moves forward & backward
- Turns left & right
- Looks up & down
- Gets & drops small objects

It was created by Andreas (NXTwallet) the father of the first transformable NXT WALL-E, and a good friend of mine, I was thrilled when he asked me if i wanted to try his NXTAVATAR!!! He lives in the Netherlands but thanks to his new LEGO Mindstorms robot, i was able to visit his house, meet his family and play with his dog bobby ;)

Here is me, bazmarc, on the NXTAVATAR thousands of miles across earth!!!

NXT + HMI/SCADA interface

2012-01-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Leistungsfähiger Panel PC für Standard-Industrieanwendungen by Green_Mamba
Attribution-NoDerivs License

SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is a robotics system that is found in factories and industry around the world. It takes in sensor information from sensors and then coordinates processes to make things happen. Think BMW's car factory as the chassis are moved from workstation to workstation.

COPADATA is a company the specialises in SCADA software and they have put together an interface with the NXT. This means you can program in any of the IEC 61131-3 languages (typical SCADA programming languages) and then run the code on a NXT device. This sounds like a great way to test out your code before putting it out onto multi-million dollar industrial robots :)

You can write programs that interface with the motors and all standard sensors as well as Gyro, Accelerometer and Compass.

I haven't had the chance to give it a go (you need to order their free software DVD), but it certainly looks like a great way for universities / colleges to teach SCADA with low-cost hardware.

http://www.copadata.com/index.php?id=1838

Thanks to Olov who brought this to my attention!

Huge mobile robot arm

2012-01-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

One of our readers Aris just sent through this enormous robot arm he has been working on.

It manages to lift a cup of water (heavy glass, not light plastic!) off a table, and then follow a black line through the house setting the cup down on another table.

Some quick specs

Total weight: 4.2kg
Maximum load: 1kg
7 Motors (NXT and PowerFunctions)
1 NXT
1 RCX
Pneumatic Gripper

Fantastic work Aris!

Usage of NXT at the NASA

2012-01-09T04:14:00.000-05:00

On brickengineer.com, there's a nice online article today on the usage of LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT for prototyping at the NASA: the KnuthLab LEGO Exploration Rover developed by the Knuth Cyberphysics Lab acts

"as a testbed for robotic intelligence and navigation software",

as the page states.

Read the full article here.

Skype controlled Robot (yes you can drive it!)

2012-01-07T16:38:00.001-05:00

One of our readers Leon just sent me through this amazing project he's been working on.

He has built an NXT robot that you (yes you!) can control over Skype. It's set up to work between now and January 18th and I'm just had a great time making it cruise around Leon's setup.

How it works.

You make a call to Leon (details at the bottom of the post)
You share your screen with Leon
The Webpage has 4 buttons (forward, left, right, stop)
Each time you click a button, your screen changes to a different shade of grey.
A NXT with light sensor at Leon's end picks up what colour you have (because you're sharing a screen) and then transmit via blue tooth to the NXT robot what to do.

Leon has a great writeup on his blog with lots of technical details on how he achieved it.

http://worldofmindstorms.com/2012/01/04/interactive-skype-controlled-mindstorms-nxt-car/

Hopefully we'll get an update from Leon when it's finished with some stats about how many people connected, what the average length of connection was etc!

My Wonderful Steam NXT

2012-01-06T12:33:00.000-05:00

During the days around New Year, I have performed a finger exercise in LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT Steampunk: the Wonderful Steam NXT. It can be built with a single NXT 2.0 set and three Rotacaster® wheels:

A Rotacaster® wheel allows for movement in two directions; they are produced and sold by the Australian Rotacaster® company and compatible to LEGO®. For the Wonderful Steam NXT, Rotacaster sponsored three of them (Thanks, Rotacaster!) , which enables it to turn on the spot.

I like these wheels a lot - they are reliable, very useful for building holonomic mobile robots (have a look at previous posts on our blog for further examples of NXT robots equipped with them) and last but not least look cool.

Update: Building instructions for the vehicle can be found on my web site.

NXT biped from China

2012-01-05T04:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a new great biped walker created by the team of the Chinese NXT blog cmnxt.com:

Some more pictures can be found here.

LabView for LEGO Mindstorms

2012-01-04T08:14:00.000-05:00

Along with the popular NXT-G and NXC(RobotC) programming languages there is LabView for LEGO Mindstorms (LVLM). Those who played with RoboLab in the RCX days will find it very familiar.

Rob Torok spent some time at Tufts University working with LVLM and has put together a series of great tutorials to get people up and running. For those of you possibility hitting the limits of NXT-G, LVLM is certainly a good step up in capability.

Here is the first tutorial and you can see all of them here -https://sites.google.com/site/robtorok/lvlm-tutorials/

More info about LVLM here - http://www.k12lab.com/products/NI-LabVIEW/

NXT-ified LEGO Crane

2012-01-04T02:00:00.000-05:00

Loyal reader Justin Chan just sent through his conversion of the LEGO Technic 8421 model 2. He's done an excellent job and by the looks of it has crammed a lot in such a tiny space. It still has all the original functions of driving, steering, rotating / lifting/ extending the boom arm and even lowering the ground supports.

Looks likes he's got the Mindsensors Motor Mux to get all 6 motors to talk to the 1 NXT onboard.

The whole thing is controlled by another NXT connected via bluetooth.

All this from a secondary school student. Well done Justin!

NXT Bowling alley

2012-01-03T20:09:00.001-05:00

Not the most intricate of constructions but I love how the pins are reset, so clever!

via @dexterind

*** UPDATED ***
A much more refined version using the same priciple - Thanks Philo!!

Top NXT creations for 2011

2012-01-02T18:44:00.002-05:00

So here it is..... The most popular NXT creations for 2011 (as determined by pageviews from our amazing readers!)

#5 - UNIMOG NXTification by Anika

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2011/08/unimog-nxtification-by-anika.html

#4 - CubeStormer II: A NXT machine that solves a Rubik's Cube faster than any human

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2011/10/nxt-machine-that-solvesa-rubiks-cube.html

#3 - MindCuber: Build a Rubik's Cube Solver with a single NXT 2.0 set!

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2011/11/mindcuber-build-rubiks-cube-solver-with.html

#2 - LEGO® MINDSTORMS digital clock

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2011/10/lego-mindstorms-digital-clock.html

And the most popular creation (with double the pageviews of #2) goes to....

#1 - Amazing Mindstorms 3D printer

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2011/08/amazing-mindstorms-3d-printer.html

Which was your favourite? Let us know in the comments!

Countdown for Possible NXT Tool on Kickstarter

2012-01-02T18:08:00.005-05:00

The NXT comes with a nice collection of sensors that most Mindstorms fans, kids and adults, have figured out. Most anyone who has spent any time tinkering with NXT robots has figured out how to use the Touch, Ultrasonic, Sound, and Light sensors among others. You build your robot, program it, and run it... and watch the results, whether it's avoiding walls, following a line, or catching a ball.

But as with most NXT robots, the robot is typically running while you're in the room, so to speak. Many have designed robots to automate certain tasks while the owner is away, but it's not the norm. Yes, our NXT robots are autonomous, but they more often than not require a human presence close by to monitor the action. For anyone wanting to give their robot real autonomy and an ability to communicate with its owner no matter where that owner may be... well, that's been complicated. Yes, you can do it, but it often requires some serious electronics skill to wire up a separate circuit that can communicate via Twitter or maybe posting data to an HTML website. What's been needed for a while is the ability for our NXTs to let us know what's going on when we're no where close by... maybe even on the opposite side of the globe. Imagine wanting to build a small NXT device that detects when your bedroom door is opened (or closed) using a Touch sensor or maybe the Ultrasonic sensor and alerts you with a text or email message. Again, not so easy to do with a basic NXT kit.

Until now.

If you've got a nice collection of sensors for your NXT, you might be interested to know that a new Kickstarter project has a device that's being funded (with your help) that will allow your NXT to communicate with you via email, text messaging, and a few other options. It's called Twine, and it's a small, battery operated device (waterproof, too) that has a built-in motion sensor and temperature sensor. You configure the "rules" for the sensors using an online, cloud-based application the Twine team has created called Spool.

Let's consider the idea I mentioned above -- a detection device that lets you know when your bedroom door is opened. You'll first want to build a robot that will detect that door being opened using maybe the Touch or Ultrasonic sensor. Easy enough. But here's the trick -- you'll also want to build a small, flat bed on your robot that will rock left or right when the door is opened. On this bed you'll place the Twine device that you've configured to send you a text message (or an email) when the built-in motion detector is triggered. How easy is that?

Twine developers are busy creating a number of other sensors that will be able to be plugged into the basic Twine device, but you'll also be happy to know that they're offering a breakout board add-on that will allow external sensors to be wired in -- you probably won't want to break open your NXT sensors and expose the wiring, but... you can. With the breakout board, I imagine someone would be able to easily wire Mindstorms sensors directly to the Twine device.

But if you prefer not to open up your sensors, the Twine device by itself offers up lots of options:

1. Use the Light sensor and the previously mentioned "flat bed" to trigger the Twine when the Light sensor detects a light being turned on and get a text message sent to your phone.

2. Use the Ultrasonic sensor and "flat bed" to trigger the Twine's motion sensor when the Ultrasonic sensor detects the food level in your dog's bowl is too low. When it gets low, you get an email saying "FEED ME!"

3. Want to know if your little brother or sister disturbed something in your room? Put it on top of a Touch sensor that triggers a slight movement of the Twine and have a Tweet sent to your Twitter account telling the world "My nosy brother/sister just picked up my guitar."

As the Twine team releases more and more sensors (a few are already in the works, including an IR sensor) you can expect the Twine device to open up a lot more options for your NXT robots to communicate with you while you're away. Yes, the NXT isn't doing the actual communication, but if you've built a solid robot that can trigger whatever sensor (motion, temp, IR, etc) is connected to the Twine, you can rest easy knowing you'll get a text or email or Twitter message letting you know that something has occurred while you were away.

Now, the basic Twine is $99... not cheap. But then again, neither is the NXT. If you've been looking for a way to give your NXT robots a way to "talk" to you when you're not around, this is definitely one of the easiest ways to do it. At the $115 level of backing, you get the breakout board... higher levels provide you with additional sensors. But the basic Twine at $99 will automatically provide you with temp and motion sensors built into the actual device.

Now here's the bad news -- the Twine Kickstarter project only has 17 hours left as I write this... less by the time you're reading it. They've already raised enough money for the device to be built and shipped, so all that's left is to get more backers who want to get one (or more) before the time expires. The team hasn't said when the Twine will be sold to the public yet, so this may be your only chance to grab one without having to wait a long time. Delivery of the Twine device is estimated to be in March 2012, and I've already got my backing in place to grab one (with the breakout board).

I'll be interested to hear what others think they might use the Twine to do in collaboration with an NXT robot.

You can read complete details of the project here as well as watch some videos.

NXT High Noon Duel

2012-01-02T02:57:00.003-05:00

Quoting Back to the Future II:
Marty McFly: [showing the two boys how to play the shoot 'em up video game] I'll show you, kid. I'm a crack shot at this.
[shoots a perfect score with the electronic gun]
Video Game Boy #1: You mean you have to use your hands?
Video Game Boy #2: That's like a baby's toy!
Well, this is not at all a baby's toy! That's the kind of projects I love: simple, and effective!

You can challenge yourself, measuring your reflexes, or play with a friend,
to see who is the fastest. You can build it and program it
using the material the author shares on his website.
REMEMBER! Guns are not toys at all. Play safe, play well, play with LEGO!

A subjective NXT retrospective to 2011

2011-12-30T03:34:00.000-05:00

2011 is drawing to an end, and it's a tradition to have a look back at this time of the year. With THE NXT STEP, the focus of such a retrospective naturally is on LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT; so I thought about my very personal annual highlights in that regard.

It was an amazing NXT year, to be sure!
After being 5 years on the market now, instead of cooling down LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT seems to gain even more momentum every year.

Hence, there are a lot of candidates for "The NXT Model of the Year 2011", and most likely everyone will have his or her very special favorite.
As for me, I did not have to ponder long over the one I personally like best: the outstanding Blimp of the two Danish NXT dudes Lasse and Kenneth (see left). A great project, even more when one had the privilege to face it "in realiter" (as it was granted to me at WRO).

From there, it is not far to my very personal "NXT Photo of the Year 2011"; it shows Lasse helping an Arab boy controlling the Blimp at said WRO in Abu Dhabi - a photo that in my opinion notably conveys the spirit of LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT.

So, what's your personal "NXT Model of the Year 2011"? Or your "NXT Photo of the Year"?
Tell us!

NXT-based camera platform

2011-12-29T07:39:00.002-05:00

Some members of the Chinese NXT blog cmnxt.com have published a nice video on a NXT based camera platform:

Addendum: More details can be found on the camera platform's associated web page at cmnxt.com.

Super cool robots by the Festo AG

2011-12-28T12:06:00.001-05:00

Created by the German company Festo AG (yes, they are real!):

Not NXT, but could not help posting them as some sort of inspiration for your NXT work.

Enjoy!

Another NXT-based remote control

2011-12-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

For the Hubble Telescope that I displayed at the WRO in November, I created and used a particular NXT-based remote control. Its two levers allow for control of a remote NXT model in three dimensions, with three touch sensors for triggering additional functions (controlling the solar panels and the lid case of the telescope). A color sensor might be used to display the connection state of the remote control.
Have a look at the associated web site; you will find also the LEGO Digital Designer file there in case you are interested to build and use it.

Christmas baubles painted with the NXT

2011-12-25T03:57:00.001-05:00

At the World Robot Olympiad I met a team from St. Petersburg in Russia. They had created a very nice NXT robot called "Robot Decorator" that is able to paint Christmas baubles (and balloons):

Interfacing the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and Android Phone: Camera Line Follower

2011-12-23T17:02:00.003-05:00

Now that we're on break, I had some time to do another demo in the series; this video shows a robot using the Android phone's camera to locate the line and follow it. The connection is based on Bluetooth, and all that is sent is the line's distance from "the center" of the received image. Around near 0:57, you can see the yellow dash that marks the position of the line. This is subtracted from the center of the screen (width/2) and sent to the NXT, which adjusts the motor speeds proportionally using the steering function. The bright light that creates a glare in the screen is actually the flash on the camera, which I turned on in order to eliminate outside lighting conditions. The phone is almost as good, if not better, as a light sensor!

Enjoy, and happy building!

Richard

Merry Christmas

2011-12-22T17:11:00.002-05:00

From everyone here at theNXTstep, we'd love to wish you, your family and all your friends a very Merry Christmas (a happy holidays for those of you who do not celebrate Xmas :D ), and a Happy New Year.

Thank you for being such loyal readers, and keep those tips and stories coming in!

We're looking forward to an exciting 2012, bringing you the latest and greatest NXT creations from around the world.

WRO revisited

2011-12-22T03:23:00.003-05:00

There's a new nice web page by MCP Mike Brandl on the sojourn of the "Robotics Experts" at the World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi four weeks ago.

Have a look and enjoy a lot of cool photos that convey both the most inspiring and pleasant ambience of the event as well as the great spirit in our team.

NXTified Gingerbread

2011-12-20T20:18:00.001-05:00

Who said NXT robots and delicious Christmas treats don't mix??

Big thanks to Fredrik for sending us this!

Flying robot bird

2011-12-20T07:40:00.001-05:00

Not exactly NXT, but certainly inspiring and worthwhile to post:
a flying robot bird created by the German company Festo.

The NXT Lord of the Rings?

2011-12-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

Nazgul NXT robot, anyone?

CATROID : Scratch for Android

2011-12-12T12:14:00.005-05:00

For who loves graphical programming languages, like NXT-G, I signal
an interesting growing project: CATROID.
CATROID, brother of Google App Inventor,
takes its steps from MIT-developed SCRATCH programming language,
and implements some blocks to control the NXT brick via Bluetooth!
It is still a bit limited, but it's the first on-phone graphical programming
language for the NXT. Even the textual programmers should be quite excited.

NXT 2.0 Snatcher Video

2011-12-11T15:42:00.004-05:00

I recently filmed the Snatcher (building instructions in the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book) at one of the events I was attending, and thought it would be fun to share this video with you. In this video you'll see the Snatcher running the program as presented in the book: autonomously looking for an object, grabbing it and lifting it.

Hispabrick Volume 12

2011-12-05T03:06:00.001-05:00

Jetro and his team have just release Hispabrick 12. It is a fantastic online magazine (available in both Spanish and English) that is crammed full of LEGO news. While it covers everything LEGO (and I mean everything!) there is a fantastic writeup of Steve Hassenplug's Super RoboRally. We've cover RoboRally in the past, but this is a much more comprehensive writeup.

There is also an extremely in-depth analysis of all the LEGO motors ever produced (13 in total!)

You can download the PDF here- http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/ (look for the English PDF on the right)

(yes that house is completely made of LEGO!)

What's on your holiday shopping list?

2011-12-04T07:20:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, as I searched the Web for Christmas and birthday gift ideas, I came across these cute robotic salt and pepper shakers at uncommongoods.com and it struck me that y'all probably know of some cool gift ideas.

What is on your gift list (or wish list) this year? An additional NXT? An Education Resource Set?

What are some less expensive but desirable ways to supplement an NXT set? (LEGO Education is loaded with individual parts and packs of parts). Is there such a thing as a gift certificate for Bricklink? Do you have a favorite NXT book to recommend? Favorite one-kit models? Can you recommend a non-NXT book which compliments and broadens the understanding of NXT robotics? Can you warn us about a product that doesn't live up to its claims?

Do you know of a fun, inexpensive, and unique robotic gift (like these salt and pepper shakers) that is available online? Do you have do-it-yourself ideas for NXT jewelry or other household accessories? Please inspire us!

NOTE: In the spirit of transparency, please tell us if you have a financial interest in any product you recommend. Also, the "You might also like" stuff added to the bottom of this post are not my suggestions!

How to use MINDSTORMS to max-out your gaming character

2011-12-01T08:36:00.001-05:00

Now here's a application of LEGO® MINDSTORMS to a new part of our daily life: YouTube user comicsacrifice built a simply NXT-driven machine that operates a game controller to restore his Skyrim video game character's health to maximum.

Don't you ever say again that LEGO® MINDSTORMS isn't useful in real life...

Next step would be a NXT robot that plays the whole game for you while you go out for a refreshing stroll in the woods. ;)

40% off LEGO (NXT) Books

2011-11-30T13:25:00.003-05:00

All No Starch Press print books and ebooks will be 40% off until midnight, December 3rd. They have a lot of LEGO books, including the recently published "Cult of LEGO" and the "LEGO TECHNIC Idea Books".

All their NXT books are priced just under $18. Information and the discount code are found here.

The Queboid shooter

2011-11-30T04:11:00.001-05:00

Remember Mark Crosbie's great Queboid?
He has published building instructions now for a shooter version of it (below, there's a video of the Queboid shooter in action at WRO).
That's certainly one of the robots I am going to rebuild during Christmas holidays.

Express-Bot: A Simple Modular Robot for the 9797 Set

2011-11-29T13:18:00.009-05:00

I frequently hear from teachers and other users who have only the LEGO Education NXT Base Set (9797), looking for building instructions and an alternative to the standard Robot Educator Model (REM) design that is included in the LEGO Education software. Many are looking for a base robot design that is quick and easy to build but flexible enough to use in a variety of lessons and other activities. As an educator myself, I often have a need for such as design as well. So I recently developed and posted a design to try to fill this need.

The Express-Bot is a simple robot vehicle with several modular attachments that can be individually built, selected, and combined, and everything can be built using a single 9797 set (I also resisted using the "Hassenpins" that were added to the new 9797 set, so that everything can still be built using only the original 9797 set, which lacked these). Designs for several simple attachments are included, using all of the standard sensors and the 3rd motor in several ways. Here is a page of ideas showing some of the many ways to combine and use the attachments. Of course it would be easy for users to customize or design their own attachments as well.

Three Ways to Build

Teachers know that it is important to try to keep all students challenged (and thus interested), while still providing help as necessary. For some students, building a model from step-by-step instructions is "too easy", but there are usually other students that will need them. Most students are somewhere in between. In addition, teachers have practical concerns such as often needing print-friendly building instructions, but with a desire to save paper and ink as well.

To try to address these needs, for Express-Bot, I have formatted the building instructions in a new way. For each module, there is a one page view of the completed module. Experienced builders can challenge themselves to build the modules using only these views (by "reverse engineering" them). Then for each module there is an additional one page of "building hints" (partially disassembled views). Most users will be able to build the modules using just the hints plus the completed views (which together is only one double-sided sheet per module). Finally, for the driving base, step-by-step instructions on 6 pages are also provided for print or online use. All instructions are provided in PDF form for compact and easy printing if necessary (can be used online as well), and a PowerPoint format is also provided to allow teachers to easily create their own custom handouts by selecting only the pages they need and editing as desired. Permission is given to print and redistribute freely.

Some Design Goals

In addition to the new approach on building instructions, Express-Bot has a number of other design goals, many of which are practical concerns that teachers and others may appreciate, such as:

Fast to build (under 15 minutes for the driving base)
Compact and sturdy, slips easily into a backpack or purse
Choice of fixed skid wheel or castor wheel
Screen faces user at send-off
Battery, charge port, and USB all easy to get to

I don't have programming instructions specifically for Express-Bot posted (it is designed to be used in a large variety of ways, and I encourage users to make their own programs). However, for those wanting to see some example programs, many of the programs designed for the Multi-Bot project and available on CD will work with some or no modification for Express-Bot, or at least provide a starting point for learning.

Chinese NXT blog

2011-11-29T10:50:00.001-05:00

On WRO, I have met some incredibly smart Chinese children, alongside with their very friendly coaches.
They hinted me to a Chinese NXT blog called CMNXT.COM.
As luck will have it, they posted some images and reproduced Mark Crosbie's video of the "Robotics Experts" booth lately (feel free to use Google translation utility here).

While THE NXT STEP is a english-speaking blog, we need to recall now and then that there are a lot of NXT communities out there who converse and think in other languages than that.

Beautiful PID explanation video

2011-11-28T22:41:00.001-05:00

One of our great readers Ivan just sent this through to me.

He has created a video explaining how a PID (proportional / integral / derivative ) controller works and shows an example of it running on a simple NXT robot towards the end.

Now the video is in Portugese (who says we don't cater for the international audience! :D) and although I've only done a semester of learning Spanish at university, I was able to keep track of what was going on.

Even if I didn't understand any of the writing (he goes through a *lot* of post-it notes!), it was still great fun to watch, the style, pace and music of it just perfect. I loved the little things that happen throughout, such as running out of room to write and having to add another post-it, and trying (unsuccessfully) to attach the NXT with masking tape :)

Ivan's offering to put in English subtitles, so if you're interested, please make a comment!

**EDIT: Ivan has added English subtitles! :) **

TheNXTstep on twitter!

2011-11-28T05:44:00.001-05:00

Well we've finally made the jump to twitter! This twitter account will feed from all the stories that are posted here on the blog and is another excellent way to keep up to date with all the latest NXT related news.

Follow us here - www.twitter.com/thenxtstep

or click this fancy button Follow @thenxtstep

A NXT model of the Curiosity rover

2011-11-27T04:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the NASA has launched the new Mars rover Curiosity. The car-size robot spacecraft is the most sophisticated Mars space probe ever and expected to land on the Red Planet in August next year.
For the launch event, MCP Will Gorman created a NXT model of Curiosity that was on display yesterday in Kennedy Space Center:

New video by Isogawa san

2011-11-26T03:36:00.001-05:00

Yoshihito Isogawa from TOSHIBA smart community, the author of a variety of cool LEGO® books, has (together with the LEGO® Certified Professional Junpei Mitsui) published a very well-made video on making a LEGO® condonium with a NXT-driven mill:

A little late but Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T17:27:00.001-05:00

Check out this cool NXT turkey made by MySnailEatsPizza1!!!

:)

"Roboterwesen": new NXT book in German available now

2011-11-25T07:55:00.001-05:00

Har! My publisher sent me the first copies of my new German NXT book right from the oven!

So "Roboterwesen" is available now, with 350 pages and completely in color.
It's mainly meant for NXT beginners and for teachers looking for some book for their NXT classroom lectures.
I decided to write such a one in German, as there are almost no NXT beginners books for youngsters in Germany in their native language.

The "Robotics Experts" at WRO

2011-11-24T06:35:00.001-05:00

MCP Mark Crosbie, well-known for his LEGO® Streetview Car, has published a nice video on the "Robotics Experts" booth at World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi:

MindCuber: Build a Rubik's Cube Solver with a single NXT 2.0 set!

2011-11-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

David Gilday, one of the two creators of the world speed record breaking CubeStormer II, has published a video on his "MindCuber", a new Rubik's Cube solving NXT robot. One of the remarkable things about it: it can be built with a single NXT 2.0 set!

I've seen it in action at the WRO in Abu Dhabi and there are rumours that David is going to publish building instructions for it soon.

World Robot Olympiad: Final Day

2011-11-22T09:32:00.001-05:00

bazmarc's WALL-E - a hit with the kids

Sunday was the final day of the World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi and most of us (including me) have returned to their home countries by now.

It was a fantastic experience and I'd like to address my thanks to all who made it happen.

Stay tuned for upcoming photos and movies from the Robotics experts' booth!

Some images on the competitions can be found on the official WRO facebook page right now.

Dexter Industries: Win a Snowflake dIMU

2011-11-21T09:16:00.003-05:00

This week Dexter Industries will be giving away a "Snowflake dIMU" to one lucky winner. It's a special edition of the dIMU sensor.

“How can I win the Snowflake?
You can win the Snowflake by visiting us on Facebook, and liking Dexter Industries Facebook Page, in the next week. Already like us? You’re entered!"

More details are on their website.

World Robot Olympiad - Day 2

2011-11-20T05:56:00.001-05:00

THE NXT STEP live from the World Robot Olympiad in Abu Dhabi:

Yesterday was Saturday and the second day of the WRO.
Teams were strongly competing in the different tournaments and we also had a busy and most successful day at our booth with many many visitors.

On the picture you see my favourite model amongst all the fantastic ones around here: the Fĺying NXT Blimp made by Robotics Experts Lasse and Kenneth from Denmark.

World Robot Olympiad - Day 1

2011-11-18T22:33:00.001-05:00

THE NXT STEP live from World Robot Olympiad at Abu Dhabi:

Yesterday Friday the teams arrived here and had their day for gearing up. You might imagine the buzzling atmosphere in the exhibition hall; it was great to see all these gifted young people coming from virtually everywhere on the world.
They also were pretty interested in the models at our booth, and, Dear me!, what an amount of clever questions!

Some images can be seen here. There's also a live feed of the tournaments all weekend long.

Segway Source code now available (dIMU and HiTechnic)

2011-11-17T16:12:00.007-05:00

In the past few months I've been working on a renewed RobotC program for a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Segway.

The current program handles all balancing tasks in the background so you can make the Segway do what you want without worrying about balancing. It supports both the HiTechnic Gyro sensor and the new Dexter Industries dIMU. The complete source and instructions are available on my website.

The older ready to run NXT-G version of the program (only supports HiTechnic Gyro) is also still available.

Many of you have been asking for the source code, so here's a chance to study the balancing algorithm. You may use and edit the code as you like, but don't forget to link to the original code and give credit if you reshare your program.

Update: Just another example of what you could use the code for!

WRO: preparation day

2011-11-17T02:04:00.001-05:00

THE NXT STEP live from World Robot Olympiad:

Being here with on the second day with some of the finest LEGO® robot builders around - and it's feeling great!
Tomorrow, the event will open for visitors, so today we are going to have a lot of preparations to complete.
Some minutes ago, we were shown our booth in the new^* Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. We are firming here as the "The Robotics Experts", officially invited, organized and supported by THE LEGO Group.

^*Actually, most of the buildings around here are pretty new or even still under construction.

Simon & his George

2011-11-14T12:42:00.001-05:00

You may have seen this crazy big robot on Youtube...

After seeing this i was wondering who was behind that awesome creation... Turns out Simon, from the UK, was also quite fascinated by the work I've been doing and has been scrutinizing my 600+ pictures of WALL-E prototyping on my Picasaweb album... Cool, eventually we got to chat on Skype here is a short bio of the man behind George

I'm a Lego Technic builder who has always been fascinated by large robots from films like Terminator, Short Circuit, Robotcop. Since getting my Mindstorms RIS 2.0 kit in 2003, I have taken my job as a programmer and merged it with my Lego hobby. My plan is to build a fully functionally Lego robot that is around the 8ft tall mark! Something people just can't walk past!

I am an active member of Brickish and Eurobricks and often find inspiration from films and random stuff on Youtube. I have built 2 large robots which were shown at the Great Western Lego Show in 2010 / 2011. This is the largest UK non Lego organised show.

Stay tuned for more amazing projects from Simon, below, another prototype video of some big thing he is working on...

I hope we get a chance to met him and his robots at some big LEGO event in the near future... till then you're best bet is to subscribe to his channel. His online name is burf2000 ;)

Cheers
I: /. 7.

World Robot Olympiad

2011-11-13T06:16:00.001-05:00

Starting next Friday the 18^th of November, a great event will take place in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates: the World Robot Olympiad 2011.
For three days, hundreds of teams from all around the world will take part in the competitions there. Next to that, a lot of additional activities, events and talks will add spice for the visitors, last but not least a large exhibition of NXT robots by members of the community.
Some of them are also contributors to THE NEXT STEP (and I'm happy and proud to say that I will be one of them, displaying my NXT Hubble Telescope there :) ).

So, stay tuned! Expect to see a lot of movies and pictures next week and in case we find time and web access, we intend to post even some on-the-spot reports from there.

LEGO STREET VIEW CAR

2011-11-11T21:03:00.001-05:00

We are all familiar with what Google has done with the invention of it's Street View Car.. and we see the result each time we click on Street View* on Google Map! Well Mark Crosbie has recently completed his latest version of the LEGO STREET VIEW CAR and it works pretty much the same way as the real thing... Here is a video showing the history behind this project:

Worth mentioning is that Mark and his LSVC will be present at the World Robotics Olympiad finals held in Abu Dhabi this year -- If you are a WRO finalist and will be present in AD this coming week, be sure to go visit The Robotics Experts booth in the main hall and check this cool Mindstorms creation in action.

More detail on Mark LSVC can be found here: http://www.mastincrosbie.com/Marks_LEGO_projects/LEGO_Projects.html

More details on the WRO can be found here:
http://wroboto.org/en/

* Maybe one day we will be able to see LEGOLAND under Google Map's Street View mode!! :D

WiFi Week - Dexter Industries

2011-11-11T20:11:00.001-05:00

Dexter Industries have just wrapped up a week of WiFi inspired posts aimed at getting you DI WiFi sensor connected to the Interwebs.

I wouldn't say it your typical kid could do it, (it talks about modem AT commands and other scary stuff), but DI have done an amazing job of leading a newbie through the process, one step at a time.

Definitely worth the read if you're interested at all about how these things work. I certainly learnt a lot :)

I love the final instalment where they take a temperature reading, and sent it to a twitter account.
Tweeting NXT's, love it :)

From their website:

Wifi Sensor for LEGO MINDSTORMS ReleaseThe Dexter Industries Wifi sensor for LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is released! Continue reading →

WIFI Week: Communicating with ComputersThe second installment of Wifi Week at Dexter Industries. Today we’ll be walking you through our example of how to connect to other computers and internet devices with TCP protocol. In this post we use our wifi sensor to make a Lego MINDSTORMS NXT that receives texts.Continue reading →

WIFI Week: PING!Part 3 of our Wifi Week examples: ping! Find the IP address of your favorite website, and then ping it. Got a fast connection? Prove it with Ping! Continue reading →

WIFI Week: Setting Up a WebserverSetting up a webserver for your MINDSTORMS robot can be done now with the Dexter Industries Wifi sensor. A few months back, Botbench setup an incredible example of a webserver. This example is based largely off the work done there. … Continue reading →

Wifi Week: Crank Up The Speed!Communicate between the NXT and the rest of the world faster than you ever have before: unleash the speed of high speed communications with the Wifi Sensor. Continue reading →

WIFI Week: Twitter TemperatureThe final part of our Wifi Week! In this final example, we demonstrate how to send a message to Twitter from your robot. Check out how we use the Wifi Sensor to Tweet the Temperature!Continue reading →

MINDSTORMS Robots at BEEP Copenhagen

2011-11-11T12:38:00.011-05:00

Here is a little impression of the cool robots we have at BEEP.

Come and see it tomorrow and Sunday.
Edit YOU can even win a MINDSTORMS box, 8547 !!

Spelling Game

2011-11-10T21:47:00.001-05:00

I love this video from Tufts University. It show a couple of students from the EN10 subject showing off the spelling game they build for kids.

From what I can tell, each block has a particular colour, and in each slot is a light/colour sensor. The NXT reads in the combination, figures out if it is a valid word (lookup table??). If it is a real word, the little leprechaun moves along the rainbow.

What makes the video for me is the enthusiasm of the (university level) students for a spelling game. Oh, and the green hats :)

Video is embedded from Facebook, so not sure if it'll work.
Direct link here - https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=180530342035361

BEEP 11-13 Nov. Bella Center Copenhagen Denmark

2011-11-10T02:38:00.008-05:00

From Friday 11 till Sunday 13 November is in the Bella Center Copenhagen an electronic fair, BEEP.
At this show also LEGO MINDSTORMS robots can be found. Come and visit us.

Martyn

More building instructions!

2011-11-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to our keen-eyed readers, we have another instalment of building instructions to put up!

In this update, people have submitted an omni-directional robot, 4 legged walking robot, a basketball player and 2 different joystick designs.

Click on the "Building Instructions" tab above to go to all the instructions

Jack-O-bot

2011-11-08T21:48:00.001-05:00

I love this creation by a youngster by the name of Alexander. He's build (possibility with some help of his Dad ;) ) a cool Halloween themed robot. It is also great to see it documented in video, something all budding builders should consider.

While the video is a little long, highlights include:
- Real carved pumpkin
- Eyes that fall out!
- Flashing nose
- Automatic treat dispensing

Cyclops greets the WRO participants

2011-11-08T13:33:00.002-05:00

Months ago, I published a teaser trailer of my latest creation, a semi-humanoid mecha robot called Cyclops. It can walk, gesticulate, talk and understand natural language.
More details will be disclosed after the World Robot Olympiad of Abu Dhabi (18-20 November 2011). After a long wait, a first short video of Cyclops is available to the great public.

TO BE CONTINUED...

NXT robot tracks a person

2011-11-08T11:05:00.001-05:00

YouTube user lesswire1 has posted a nice video of a robot who finds self-fulfillment in looking at its creator wherever he goes.
Remarkable here is the chain of technologies used: an attached IPhone tracks the person and appropriately controls the movements of the NXT robot by sending light signals to the robot's light sensor.

Dexter Industries TIR Sensor

2011-11-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

I've just finished playing around with the new Dexter Industries Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIR).
While Xander did a very nice experiment with RobotC, I was keen to see how well it went with the NXT-G datalogging blocks.

I got some good results, and although it would be nicer if it sampled a little faster than 5Hz and reacted to changes in temperature a little quicker, it was easy to implement and I can see lots of great experiments I could run in class with it.

Full writeup here on my blog - http://www.damienkee.com/home/2011/11/7/dexter-industries-thermal-infrared-temperature-sensor.html

Mindsensors Touch Panel

2011-11-07T00:28:00.002-05:00

Xander's posted a great video of the Mindsensor Touch Panel in action.

He's done some great work developing a framework that allows you to create your own buttons (rather than looking for a specific x,y location).

More info - http://botbench.com/blog/2011/11/05/ui-frame-work-more-button-pushing/

While you're here, feel free to listen to the worlds most annoying Touchpanel based NXT noise creator (the worlds only???? :D )

Remotely controlling NXT robots using leJOS NXJ

2011-11-05T09:28:00.001-05:00

For a project where multiple NXT bricks need to be remotely controlled by a single remote control, I decided to build that control with LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT also, so that one (master) brick would control three other (slave) bricks wirelessly using Bluetooth.
From earlier projects I knew how laborious the programming of something like that is apt to become, in particular with NXT-G; so this time, I decided to use leJOS NXJ, the Java platform for the NXT.
Still, I expected to have to invest quite some amount of time with writing a lot of complex program code, both for the master brick and the three slave NXT bricks.

But far from it!
I'm still quite out of my mind how incredibly ease such a task has become when using the RemoteNXT class that comes with the most previous release 0.9 of leJOS NXJ!
One (!) single line of code, and your master NXT is connected to a remote NXT:

RemoteNXT remoteNXT1 = new NXTRemote("NameOfARemoteNXT",Bluetooth.getConnector().

You do need even have to manually pair the two bricks!
From that point on in your program, you have access to all motors and sensors of the remotely controlled bricks (same as if they were directly plugged into your own remote control brick^*); for instance, to run motor A on the remote brick, just call

remoteNXT1.A.forward();

One can use up to three remote bricks that way at the same time in one single master program.

Now, that's what I call a programming tool for the NXT!
Well done, leJOS guys!

^*Actually, sort of: in the current release, you cannot use all the methods remotely that you have at your disposal in the local context, just the simple ones like forward(), backward and setSpeed()

NXT Books for our German Readers

2011-10-29T06:18:00.004-05:00

While numerous NXT books are available to English readers, there are relatively few of such books published in other languages. Within a few weeks, Matthias Paul Scholz releases a completely new NXT book "Roboterwesen" for German Mindstorms users.

Last summer, a German edition of the NXT Discovery Book came out, entitled "LEGO Roboter". So if German is your first language, you'll now have some more choice in selecting a good book for your NXT (2.0) set.

Laurens' robots on LEGOWORLD

2011-10-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

Laurens Valk, author of the "Discovery Book", has posted a nice video on his robots at LEGOWORLD 2011 just gone by:

Ricardo's LEGO® vending machine

2011-10-24T08:57:00.002-05:00

Ricardo has published a video where he explains how his LEGO® vending machine works that can be admired presently on LEGOWORLD:

Here's another video with a detailed explanation of the inner details.

NXT controlled wheelchair

2011-10-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

I've had the great pleasure of meeting Yaya several times, and her enthusiasm and skill never ceases to amaze me for someone so young. This is her latest project where she uses an NXT and standard sensors in a helment configuration, to control a wheelchair. Her video nicely steps through some of the issues she's had to contend with to get it all up and running.

She's entered it into the Melbourne University Engineering RoboGals competition so if you like it (or any of the other entries), feel free to stop by and vote (http://www.sciencechallenge.com.au/vote.html)

It is so encouraging to see students taking on projects that will ultimately go on to benefit society :)

LEGOWORLD 2011 - Zwolle

2011-10-23T05:07:00.002-05:00

Last year I was extremely privileged to be able to attend LEGO World in Zwolle. This year I am insanely jealous that I couldn't make it but luckily Xander has been taking plenty of video for us :)

Matthias has already posted Day 1 (KiNXT sumo's are cool!) but here is Day 3 and Day 4 (not sure what happened to Day 2.... will need to have a stern word to Xander!)

Highlights for me from these videos were the NXT Blimp and Vending Machine.

Whay if you put together NXT, Android and OPENCV?

2011-10-21T08:33:00.003-05:00

Have you ever thought of using your Android phone as a vision sensor for your NXT robot?
It is possible, putting together Android SDK, OpenCV and MINDdroid: the result is MINDdroidCV. In his page, Richard Szabo describes how to do it. The explaination is a bit techie, but the expert developers will find it a really useful resource. The source code of the project is available from here.