RjbsNXT.blogspot

2009-10-04T17:22:00.002+01:00

Over a year since I last posted and after about a month since I got my good 'ol lego sets out Idecided I should post on here to inform you that I have not completely forgotten about lego :)

I am currently doing my GCSE's but I have some big ideas planned although I am impatiently waiting for the christmas boxes with some nice new motors and pieces :P

Although this website has probably never been viewed in the past year or so I've decided to give it a make-over and get it going again.

NXTLOG Competition

2008-05-02T18:00:00.001+01:00

The latest NXTLOG competition has just been released. It requires 2 NXTs for all entries whether the 2nd NXT comes as a joystick or just as extra processing space.

"NXT NXT...? Are you seeing double? Yes! We are presenting a doubly fun building challenge where you create a robot that uses 2 NXT bricks! We are also giving you double the amount of time to enter this challenge (projects must be entered by June 30, 2008).The 2 NXT's can be onboard the robot or the 2 NXT's can be separate (for example if 1 NXT is used as a remote controller for the 2nd NXT). The NXT's must communicate with each other. Don't have 2 NXT's? Why not enter the challenge with a friend!There's no limit on amount of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, motors, HiTechnic sensors, or Bluetooth communication you can use on your MINDSTORMS NXT NXT Robot."

As you can see; it is a bit unfair in my opinion for those with no NXTing friends and only one robot. But I suppose it will bring out some super huge robots that will have larger capabilities and more complex functions. Also there is twice as long to build it.

Please comment on your opinion,

RjbsNXT

The Pollinator

2008-05-02T17:24:00.002+01:00

This is my entry for the Earth Day Building Challenge.

It consists of 1 NXT to control it, 2 motors to drive the robot around the garden and 3 sensors for robot guidance.

The name suggests what it says, pollinates plants. I chose this because it is shaping the landscape with colourful flowers, taking the place of dying out bees and helping convert CO2 into oxygen by reproducing plants.

Okay, now for how it works. It works by searching for a flower to pollinate with the UltraSonic sensor.
Then the robot turns back 5 degrees to align with the symmetry of the robot.
The program then directs the robot towards and over the flower to pollinate. The pollen then sticks to the pegs on the underside of the robot whatever size of flower the robot works from about 3cm to 10cm.
When the robot drives over the next flower, it will be pollinated and more pollen will be picked up.

The Program
1• Clap start
2• Spin to find a flower
3• Drive towards flower / Drive forward
4• Collect pollen
5• Repeat 2, 3 and 4 until...
6• Clap finish

Details
Time to build: 1 day.
Time to design: ≈ 2 weeks
Lego pieces used: ≈ 150 from my count.

By RjbsNXT

Tribot Additions

2008-05-02T16:36:00.000+01:00

There is an extra motor on the front of the tribot for accessories, but what accessories are there? Well other than the claw the possibilities are endless... here we go again with the fact that you can build LEGO as you wish. But its true...almost.

So here are some ideas for the tribot.

A saw
A gatling gun
A stair climbing attachment
Some stabilisers
A basket with openable front
A sound seeker (with the sound sensor)
Or a moveable US sensor.

If you do try any of these please let me know and post some pictures,

RjbsNXT

Blog chaos.

2008-04-23T21:11:00.002+01:00

If you have been on recently, you may have noticed some big changes, well I've been trying to find a new template for my blog. But, after all that research I've finally decided to settle with this one. There may be a few tweaks but the template is going nowhere. I'm sorry about all the lost links etc. but I hope to have them up soon.

RjbsNXT

Preview...

2008-04-19T19:16:00.001+01:00

I am working on a robot which is taking some perfecting. I am not going to give it away completly but i will leave you with this. 4x4

New Contributer: Airkraft-NXT

2008-04-19T17:30:00.004+01:00

Hi all
RjbsNXT has just invited me to contribute here on his Mindstorms blog, and I am looking forward to posting many-a-topic.

I Also have a website, blog and forum, encouraging British Mindstormers to step forward and make themselves known! But these can be found at:
http://www.airkraft-nxt.webs.com/

I Cant Wait To Get Posting! Thanks RjbsNXT For The Invite.

-Airkraft

Contributors

2008-04-19T16:28:00.002+01:00

I have just recently become a contributor to Airkraft-Nxt's Blog and Airkraft-NXT to mine. Please feel free to ask to become a contributor or me to contribute to yours,

RjbsNXT

NXTLOG 2.0!

2008-04-08T16:20:00.005+01:00

The famous NXTLOG has been modified in lots of ways. It now allows voting, more accurate comment times, you can now upload videos, there is a tag cloud option which shows the latest tags used and is called NXTLOG 2.0. The main body is pretty much the same althoughthe main projects page looks completely different - It is split into three categories; the latest challenge with competitiors, the latest projects and the top 5 projects.

Here is a screenshot I took.

For your own opinion go to NXTLOG 2.0 here NXTLOG 2.0 and please comment back on your opinion!

RjbsNXT

Golden Lego Bricks

2008-04-07T09:38:00.001+01:00

As we all know, Lego turns 50 this year and to celebrate they've produced a bunch of "gold" bricks as a free gift with purchase of over $50.

The new set, "Town Plan" also includes three 2 by 2 golden bricks as well as a letter from company owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who appeared on the original town plan box when he was much younger and returns on this one.

They've also produced a nice little anniversary site with a historical overview of their products.

RCX IRLink Block finally available from HiTechnic.com!

2008-02-16T22:01:00.012Z

The RCX IRLink block is finally available from hitechnic after a long wait since October 2007.

It is not as complicated as I thought it would be but then again it shouldn't be.

There are some interesting features on it although it may be quite hard to understand for first-timers.

Hitechnic IRLink Block Download

Robotic Arm

2008-02-14T15:57:00.002Z

This is a robotic arm which was designed for a project on wheels. But because it weighs so much and there is so much strain on some of the motors it never got any further than a stationary arm.

Video:

Unlike most robotic arms the twisting wrist allows for more freedom to pick more complex objects up.

Compact Joystick

2008-02-14T08:26:00.001Z

This is a joystick which I made to control literally any NXT robot. It can control up to 6 motors or more depending on how you program it. Also as a bonus it can use my AT commands for usage with a mobile phone.

It uses 2 motors (as rotation sensors), 1 sound sensor, 1 acceleration sensor, 1 compass sensor, and 1 touch sensor.

The motors are for simple driving techniques, the sound can control the speed of a motor; eg. the louder the noise, the faster the motor, the touch can take pictures etc, the compass can have an offset then take action when you twist the joystick and the NXT buttons can control a motor or change the bluetooth connection.

UNO card dealer

2008-02-11T15:37:00.007Z

This is my latest project which can deal a selected amount of cards to a selected amount of players. It only deals one card at a time due to some fine tuning with elastic bands.
After the cards have been dealt the remote control takes over and you can drive the robot to where you want then deal a card.

Here is a short video.

There have been quite a few UNO card dealers on NXTLOG but none have actually been perfected to only deal one at a time and to deal to a selected amount of players.

I have just found a free file hosting site so here are the .rbt files:

UNO card dealer program

UNO card dealer program (joystick): Compact Joystick recommended

AT Bluetooth Commands for Sony Ericsson

2008-01-25T23:23:00.002Z

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.

The UAE

2008-01-20T08:58:00.002Z

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.