ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

After what seemed to be decades, the programmers of RobotC have announced they have finally released version 2.0 . If you know anything about the program, it has been updated in the 1.xxxx realm many times and sometimes created more problems than were fixed. If you have paid the $30 for a previous version, the license is still valid and upgrading is free. If you want to try RobotC, you can download it and use a fully functional version for 30 days before you are required to pay the $30 license fee. The download and upgrade can be done through this link . From the RobotC website. ROBOTC, a C-Based programming language for robotics ROBOTC is the premiere language for educational robotics. It is a C Programming Language with an Easy-to-Use Development environment. It supports several different robotics platforms, including popular platforms such as the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT and Innovation FIRST VEX. Download its blazing fast, High Performance Firmware to your robot. Using its Intera...

This weekend the FLL Smart Move region finals in Breda and Tilburg took place, I was there as "the Mindstorms Doctor, to help the teams in Distress". Demo in Breda with the new NXT 2.0 models. the two winning teams: Breda. Tilburg.

I guess this brandnew quote of President Obama (brought to us by Gizmodo ) is a good inspiration for the Thanksgiving weekend (as an European, I imagine you have a lot of time then to work on robots with your beloved ones). After all, I like people in charge with a good sense of humor... :)

Hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving today enjoyed the food, company, and family... or maybe just a nice day of quiet and rest. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Jim

I just came across these great articles by Sean Fears, which offer some practical advice for teaching with the NXT---as well as other interesting science topics. Every time I come across a new "gem" like these, I wonder what else I'm missing. Do you know of a helpful web resource that might be getting lost on the web? If you do, how about contributing that knowledge to our NXT Resource Collection in the forums? While you're there, check out the suggestions that have already been submitted.

Nice video showing how an NXT can be used to create some very arty timelapse images. -- Damien Kee

Clinton has found a hosting spot for his excellent comparison chart - you can find it by clicking here . URL is http://static.robotclub.ab.ca/pages/nxt/InventoryComparison/nxt_1_vs_2_vs_edu.html

Here's a seven-minute TV piece featuring the NXT and Fay Rhodes' "NXT Zoo" Book. The interview is in Swedish, but the film is fun to view even if you don't know the language. (If a Swedish-speaking reader could give us the gist of the interview, that would be great). A companion print article, with a rough translation is English, is here .

Some days ago, I received a copy of Fay Rhodes' new book "Robots Alive! Endangered Species" and this weekend, I started to build some of the very nice animals included (of which already two movies have been posted here). First one was the leaping NXT Frog : Building time: 20 minutes Programming time: 3 minutes Once I've worked through the book (which I like very much already now), I will post a complete review here.

I've created a worksheet that can be used to figure out what parts you have for a robot and which parts you need. The worksheet includes the Peeron Part Name, the Part#, and the number of parts found in each set. It also provides a space for you to record the number of parts required, the parts you might have in your personal LEGO stash, and which parts you are actually missing. Download the worksheet here.

From Clinton: "Over the past couple of weeks. I've made up some charts that show which parts are included in the NXT 1.0 Retail Set, the NXT 2.0 Retail Set, and the Education Base Set and Resource Kit. I also have a chart that allows you to see which parts the different sets have in common. After downloading and extract the .zip file, you can double-click on the .html files to open the charts in your web browser. I've also included a .csv file so that you can parse the data yourself or import it into the spreadsheet of your choice. You are welcome to make use of the information and the images. Please let me know (in the comments) if you find any flaws in the data." Click here to download.

Robert emailed me the following: "I just saw your post on the NXTStep asking for a spreadsheet so I thought I would send in one of mine. It displays; the Peeron parts names, Colors, NXT 1.0 part quantities and NXT 2.0 part quantities, as well as the parts difference between the two sets. The idea is that, through the use of the "sort" feature found in most spreadsheet editors, you can find out just about anything you want to know about the different parts. Negative signs in front of the parts differences indicate that the parts are needed to "convert" a NXT 2.0 kit to a NXT 1.0 kit, and vice versa for a positive number. The spreadsheet format is that of Microsoft Works Spreadsheets, so it should open in Excel (If not I can see if I can save it in Excel format). If you think the spreadsheet has potential, I will look into adding pictures." Please take a look by downloading the file and providing feedback - you can get the file by clicking here .

Now, this is a busy day on THE NXT STEP, isn't it? We seldom have no less than four postings on one single day... Remember Bill Shaw's announcement of selling an unofficial NXT 1 to NXT 2.0 upgrade kit ? He has now updated the site to contain a list of parts that are included in it. Thanks Bill. Everyone: what do you think of it?

Post a photo and a brief (5-6 sentence) description of a robot that uses ONLY the parts seen in the Overlap Image posted at http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2009/11/laurens-overlap-poster.html in the forum. I'll pick one random person on November 30 from all submissions and send that person a signed copy of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0: The King's Treasure that's due out at the end of November. Please do not email me your submissions - post them in the forum here .

Jetro shared the following news: "I just wanted to point you to the recently released Hispabrick Magazine (issue 006 came out this week). It includes the third part in a series of articles about MINDSTORMS written by Koldo . (you blogged his Home Automation project ) and this time it is about FLL."

OK, we've been talking theoretically about books and kits. Now, here is a real world example. As you can see from this list, the parts used in my Endangered Species robots are all very common parts--it's all a problem of quantities. In fact, I first designed all of these robots for the 2.0 kit, but modified them so teachers and FLL leaders could use them. Does a parts list like this make no one happy...everyone happy...?

I appreciate everyone's comments regarding the NXT 1.0, 2.0, and Education differences and how we might find some common ground. I also wish to thank many of you for putting together some resources to share with the community - I've not got all them ready to put up yet, but soon. I had an interesting conversation with an editor yesterday. The issue of how to satisfy the largest group of NXT users and minimize the number who are unable to use a book is a real hot topic. Hopefully you've all seen the image Laurens put together showing the overlap of the 1.0 and 2.0 retail kits - not a lot of parts to build with, is it? If the Education kit is thrown into the mix, the overlap of parts will be even smaller. I didn't get a lot of feedback regarding the use of the LEGO Education Resource Set in future books, but the ones I did get were not very supportive of the idea (except for those who already owned the Resource Set for various reasons)... but buying the Resource Set ...

Here's another NeXTSTORM piece of art for our enjoyment-- Space Molecules .

How likely would you as a Retail 1.0 or Retail 2.0 owner be to purchasing a book that required your kit plus the Education Resource Set? One of my editors is following our recent discussions and the question has been raised about taking the Overlap Kit (Lauren's image) and adding the Resource Set. By adding the $80 Resource Set to the Overlap Kit, writers would have a pretty substantial parts inventory to build from... but is the price of the Resource Set going to deter sales of books that would use this inventory (RS plus OK)? Thoughts?

Okay, the Overlap Kit discussion went well enough... and Laurens was very fast to provide the image showing the shared components between retail versions 1.0 and 2.0. So, here are four more challenges: 1. Add the LEGO Education Resource Set to Retail 1.0 and create an Overlap Kit with the Retail 2.0 kit 2. Add the LEGO Education Resource Set to Retail 2.0 and create an Overlap Kit with the Education Base Set 3. Add the Resource Set and Education Base Set together and create an Overlap Kit with the Retail 1.0 kit 4. Add the Resource Set and Education Base Set together and create an Overlap Kit with the Retail 2.0 kit The goal here is to find out which kit(s), when combined with the Resource Set, provide the best variety of parts (or closest match) to another kit. Does that make sense? The way I'm thinking is this - if we can find the parts inventory that is shared between 1.0/ResSet and 2.0/ResSet, authors may have a reasonable amount of parts to create books that both 1.0 an...

The NXT Step blog contributor Laurens sent me this great image... thanks, Laurens!

New Mindstorms website - http://mindstorms.lego.com Let us know what you think! Jim

Would one of our creative readers be able/willing to put together a detailed spreadsheet that contains part #s, part name, quantity, and maybe even a small thumbnail picture of the parts that are found in both 1.0 and 2.0 retail kits? The goal is to provide an overlap chart for those wanting to put together an "Overlap Kit" - a kit that contains only those parts and quantities found in both kits so that builders could easily design robots (and BIs) that both 1.0 and 2.0 owners could build. If someone creates this spreadsheet, please email it to me or give me the website link where it's located and I'll share it with the world along with full credit to its designer. Multiple submissions are okay - we can give our readers more options.

One of our readers has submitted a website (via a comment) that offers one possible solution to the NXT 1.0 to 2.0 upgrade... you can read more information here . A few details I pulled from Bill's website: "There are three differences between using this kit to upgrade your NXT and buying a new set. We don't include the sticker sheet, the new color sensor or NXT-G version 2.0 (the CD-ROM). Programs requiring the color sensor would have to be adapted to read grayscale values using your existing light sensor. As for the CD, LEGO has a very restrictive license prohibiting resale of their software. It's written so restrictively, you technically couldn't even include it if you sold your own original kit! Due to availability, the elements probably won't be the exact same color as ships with the official NXT 2.0 kit. I'll match them when I can, but there are no guarantees as to colors included. THIS KIT IS $200 LESS THAN THE PRICE OF A NEW NXT KIT. Why rebuy all ...

I've received emails from many NXT 1.0 readers regarding their frustration with not being able to take advantage of some of the new books coming out. Trust me, I understand... (and I apologize for responding to many of your direct emails with a "form letter" response - it's just I got so many I had to create a standard response.) So maybe now it's time to really start brainstorming. I'm not 100% familiar with BrickLink, having never ordered any parts from it. But I have browsed it quite a bit and realize that there is a vendor for just about every part... if you're willing to pay, right? So, what's a solution? Well, we've had a discussion in an earlier post about possibly trying to convince a BrickLink vendor to create an "upgrade pack" - this would be a pack that would include ONLY those pieces in the 2.0 kit that are NOT found in the 1.0 kit. This would include quantity matches, so if the 1.0 kit comes with 4 of a particular part a...

Philo has just put up a really well-done comparison of two of the color sensor that are currently available for the NXT. The first is the official one from LEGO, included in the V2 NXT kit, while the second is the HiTechnic V2 color sensor which can be purchased separately. I'm not going to bother summarizing Philo's excellent presentation too much, because reading it is an education in itself - not just on how the sensors "perform", but on how to compare sensors properly: developing tests, and understanding the results. Please read his page for the whole scoop. A dirt-simple summary is both have strong points, with the HiTechnic one being amazing at detecting multiple colors and handling challenging ambient light conditions, and the LEGO one (by virtue of using the rapidly-reading AtoD converter on-board the NXT) being much faster (probably important for line-following, for instance). Thank you Philo for doing comparisons like this - and please read his summary , it...

Above is a page from the full-color book, "Endangered Species NXT". It shows partial instructions for building the gorilla in the video below: In addition to building and programming instructions for the gorilla, the book includes building and programming instructions for a sloth, a frog, a Komodo dragon and a polar bear. Educational activities in math, literacy and critical thinking are also included. The book is available here . All robots in the book are built with the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Set (#9797), plus the NXT Education Resource Set (#9648).

On the web site of ABB , one of the world's leading engineering companies, I have found a nice page that lists ten reasons why robots are important today in industry and why manufacturers should invest in them. There's also a nice video :

Geekdad , the online magazine for tech geeks, has published an article on LEGO®'s WeDo set that has come out this year. WeDo is meant as a robotics set for the most youngest tinkerers (aged 7 to 9) for whom the NXT set is too advanced yet. Read the article here and do not hesitate to comment.

Okay, all functionality should be restored now at www.thenxtstep.com - some of you may have been unaware that we even had a .com name as I got emails from many saying 'I can see the blog' - Yes, the blog never went down, just the other features of our site. As for those emails asking about Nxtasy.org - I have no idea. I just checked and it does appear to still be down, but I don't know what's happening over there. If I hear anything, I'll let you know. Thanks for your patience... Jim

Thanks for your patience, everyone - I've done my part, so now it's all up to GoDaddy to get the site reactivated. Not sure how long this will take, though... (I can honestly say I'm not sure I'll ever register another domain with GoDaddy after this - the Domain Management team that I've been dealing with just sends me the same form letter over and over again, even after I've asked specific questions... this is the first time I've had this kind of trouble with GoDaddy, but it's soured me enough to consider saying Adios!)

We are aware that the website is down... we are working on getting it back up and running but it may be a day or more before it is functional again... thanks for your patience. Jim

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall... enjoy the celebrations, Germany! I would love to be over there right now.

HiTechnic has posted a video demonstrating their new HiTechnic Infrared Receiver along with a Lego Power Functions Remote. They have built a pretty cool car with Ackerman steering that as demonstrated is pretty impressive. The description reads as follows; The HiTechnic IR RC Car features the new HiTechnic Infrared Receiver. This sensor makes it easy for you to control your creations using a LEGO Power Functions Remote. This model is based on the LEGO Mindstorms 1.0 set. It also requires a LEGO differential and that is not part of the Mindstorms set. If you do not have a LEGO differential, you can go to bricklink.com and search for "Gear Differential", the part number is 6573. Features: Remote control - Using the HiTechnic Infrared Receiver and LEGO Power Functions Remote Steering uses a PID controller Both NXT-G and NXC sample programs implement a PID controller to steer to a specified target position. Ackerman steering - Which means that it has a steering geom...

Yet another impressive NXT creation: A loom that makes textiles out of wool. It was created by Jan Ravnik using only 1 NXT and 3 motors, and programmed in RobotC. This is Jan's second loom that works faster and smoother than the first. Jan describes how the creation works as follows: The first motor moves shuttle left and right, through the shed between the green warps. The second motor moves the green warps up and down, to change their position and the third motor presses weft together. It uses no sensors. The program is written in RobotC and is very simple. It only tells the motors how many rotations they should turn, and that's all. To appreciate how the loom works, see the video of it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7U6GfGHeXY

While working on "The King's Treasure," I was also writing two other non-LEGO books. (Don't ever do this - completely crazy and will take a few years off your lifespan.) One of these other books is something that I'm extremely proud of and would like to share with The NXT Step readers... it's titled "Build Your Own CNC Machine" and it's coming out at the end of November 2009. Here's the cover and a couple of pictures for you. Some details: * It has a 2' x 4' tabletop workspace with about 1.5" of non-usable surface around the perimeter. So, you can realistically work on wood, aluminum, or plastic that fits within the 2'x4' boundary. * Depending on the router you choose to use, you can work on material up to about 7" tall, but the depth the router can cut down (on the z-axis) is dependent upon the surrounding area not impeding the up/down movement, so the depth of cut into super-thick material will really be limi...

Here's the new cover for "The King's Treasure" - sequel to "The Mayan Adventure" and due out at the end of November 2009. More information to come soon on missions, including some photos and a special commemorative item I've cooked up to celebrate the book's release.

My friend, Marco, over at www.techbrick.com emailed me the following information - thanks, Marco, for doing this. And if you're not familiar with TechBrick, spend some time looking around - he's got one of the most useful websites for FLL teams around, with plenty of free downloads, videos, worksheets, and more: ----- Missions Rules Condensed to Two Pages for Tournament Programs As the FLL tournament season begins, many of you will create a program for your audience. Jeff Tjiputra, FLL/FTC sponsor for The College of Southern Maryland, asked us to condense the FLL Game into two pages for use in their program. So here they are for your use as well. The zip file below contains two MS Word documents (.doc). One is sized 8.5x11 (US Letter) the other 5.5x8.5 (US Bulletin). They include 1 sample image from each challenge, the description, and include the challenge images, FLL, and FIRST logos and the field image. Modify them as you wish. Follow this link to download the zip...

(Click above cover image to see it enlarged). All building instructions and programs are full-color and high-resolution. The robots are: NXT Sloth --slowly and smoothly slinks across a "branch" of your own choosing. NXT Gorilla --"Knuckle walks" across the floor, just a like a real gorilla. NXT Komodo Dragon --Slithers and "sidewinds" across the floor in snake-like fashion. NXT Polar Bear --Walks on all fours, opens and closes its jaws, and roars NXT "Poison Dart" Frog --Leaps up and forward into the air as it jumps across the room Educational activities in math, literacy and critical thinking are included for teachers, students, FLLers and other groups and individuals. All robots are built with the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Set (#9797), plus the NXT Education Resource Set (#9648). In the near future, I'll post a list of parts needed for the book. The Amazon link to the book is here .

Important Message from Dean Kamen: FLL - FIRST/TWC Partnership in the US From: fllteams [mailto: fllteams@usfirst.org ] Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 3:23 PM Subject: FLL - FIRST/TWC Partnership in the US! This message is directed at FLL Teams in the US. From the Desk of Dean Kamen -- Hello FIRST Teams, Mentors, Coaches, Volunteers, Sponsors, and the entire FIRST Community. I have an unscheduled, urgent assignment that will help us spread the word about FIRST and our mission in a new and exciting way. This month, Time Warner Cable (TWC) will launch a new partnership with FIRST in the United States. We need to make sure the launch is successful, specifically the launch of TWC's new web site, http://connectamillionminds. com , which celebrates youth participation in science and technology. I'm asking you – through your incredible participation on the site - to let the executives and employees of TWC know that partnering with FIRST is the best decision they ever made. ...

Hey all, I would like to introduce myself. I am Chris Shepherd aka “Shep.” The guys here asked me to contribute to this blog and I gladly agreed to do so. I am a Mechanical Engineer. I have been building with Technic for about 20 years and Mindstorms since they were introduced. I also run my own blog over at Tinkernology.blogspot.com . I like to draw inspiration from industrial applications and I also love kinetic art. I built the Lego Flexpicker and a few other projects that you can find on my blog. I just finished a cute little project of a Lego Lip Synching Robot. It uses one sound sensor and one servo motor with some gearing. The sound sensor picks up sound from a pre-recorded sound file and opens the mouth based on the intensity of the sound. It is programmed using RobotC and I completed it in just a couple of hours.

I've recently gotten a scattering of reports of problems under Windows 7... but as a Mac user, I've got no way of testing it, and I'm not sure if these are problems due to working with a new OS, or just the smattering of problems that often crop up. So I'm curious and thought I'd ask the readership what they have heard or seen. Has anyone done a clean install of NXT-G (either 1.0 or 2.0), and what have been your experiences? Do they play together nicely, or have you found any incompatibilities between them?

Here's a short preview video of my upcoming book " The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book ". (Formerly called the Adventure Book) In short, the book: - Comes with building and programming instructions for eight robots which can all be built with one NXT 2.0 set (#8547); - Gives the reader a complete introduction to the NXT 2.0 programming software (NXT-G); ( click for direct link)

The LEGO Power Functions RC reciever and RC protocol has been updated. The official announcement came from the LEGO PF product manager, Gaute Munch: The LEGO Group has released a new version of the LEGO Power Functions RC Receiver (identified by a short blink on the green LED when power is connected). The new version of the RC Receiver supports all functionality of the LPF RC protocol and we have added a command to access the extra address space. We are hereby offering you an updated version of the LPF RC protocol documentation. Please feel free to use any information from the protocol document for personal, non-commercial use only, provided you keep intact copyright, trademarks and other proprietary rights of the LEGO Group. Gaute Munch The LEGO Group The LPF RC Protocol document can be viewed here . Gaute Munch also confirmed that: - Orders through LEGO Shop at Home for #8884 will provide the new version of the RC receiver. - The new RC receiver supports all the LEGO PF RC protocol f...