Friday 25 January 2008

The NXT has bluetooth for communication with other devices such as other NXTs and mobile phones.With a phone currently we mainly use a phone to control the robot, but what if we want to control the phone with the NXT??

Well first we need to know the AT command ( This only works with Sony Ericsson as far as I know ). Then we read the extension for the type of command we are giving and follow that after AT with a plus. e.g. AT+CKPD means a command which will control a button on the keypad.

I will only show you the AT+CKPD command as I will bore you otherwise.

AT+CKPD

Is that it? No, we need to tell the phone which button to press so we need to do sort of an equation; AT+CKPD="???" we need the speech marks to tell the phone that that is a single command.

Here are a few examples;
AT+CKPD=":C" = Camera
AT+CKPD="*" = Hash key
AT+CKPD="8" = 8

There is a free download which requires you to type the letters in the picture with all the AT commands at :

http://developer.sonyericsson.com/getDocument.do?docId=65054


Here are many examples to go between the speech marks.

# 35 Hash (number sign)
* 42 Star (*)
0... 9 Number keys
<> Right arrow
C/c Clear display (C/CLR)
D/d Volume down
L/l Phone lock (LOCK)
P/p Power (PWR)
U/u Volume up
V/v Down arrow
[ Soft key 1
] Soft key 2
^ Up arrow
:G Go music button.
:J Joystick button pressed
:C Camera button
:O Operator button.
:R Return button
:M video call
:F camera focus (camera key half press)
:( flip closed
:) flip opened
:{ camera lens cover closed
:} camera lens cover opened
:[ Jack knife closed
:] Jack knife closed
:D multi task button (shortcut to desktop)
:L flash lamp button
:P "Push to talk" button
:S media player button
:= fire (gamepad)
:<> down right (gamepad
:1 Game A (gamepad)
:2 Game B (gamepad)
:3 Game C (gamepad)
:4 Game D (gamepad)
:A Game Internal A.
:B Game Internal B.
:\ Slide closed.
:/ Slide opened.
:X Jog Dial up.
:Y Jog Dial down.
:Z Jog Dial press.

Sunday 20 January 2008

I'm back and I got a huge robot which i entered for the Winter Wonderland challenge in January.
This is the UAE. It weights about 8 pounds and is designed to go to the Arctic / North Pole with it's compass sensor. It includes all of my new sensors, motors, cables and NXT.

I started in December with the Dual Differential Drive then made the central pivot to tow the trailer. It wasn't until Christmas when I got my sensors when I dramatically improved it. I only got my IRLink in early January which is when I added the RCX.

Features
There are many features on this robot. There are: Air horn; courtsey of NXDave, 3D pivot; for full articulation in the centre, DDD (Dual Differential Drive); to improve drive, my tilting cam design of Botbot for the US sensor, phone placement; to take photos via bluetooth.
Sensors
The compass tells the robot where the North Pole is to navigate it and the Gyro checks for unusual stability which is probably when the trailer has become detached. The Acceleration sensor checks for a slope in which the outcome is to change the gear to accommodate the slope given. The IRLink sends IR messages to the RCX which will hold 6 more sensors and motors. The Light and Sound on the trailer work in harmony with the light sensor checking for the time of day and the light to decide what animals will be around with the Sound sensor listening for loud noises. A bit artificial but that is how it is. The Touch on the air valve is to sense when the Air horn is on; developed by NXDave. The second light sensor is to check if the mobile phone is in place for the NXT to take pictures etc. The US sensor (USS) basically checks for objects, and last but not least the 2 touch sensor on the front make a simple but effective double bumper.


Motors
There are 9 motors in this build with 5 servo and 4 technic. There are 3 to drive the DDD (Dual Differential Drive) which supply 9 gears, skid steering and a lot of power. The 2 other servos are for tilting the USS and for raising/lowering the snow plough. The 4 standard technic motor are used for: the air valve, refilling the air tank; which both have resonable uses. the last two are mainly for realism which control a radar and a side beacon light.

It has to be my largest robot yet and with 3 programs was almost Mission Impossible!

I will post more soon. Keep checking here for updates.