New Blog Contributor!

Hi - I am a new contributor to the blog, so here is a quick blurb about me:

Like many of you, I've been brought up on Lego, and own the RCX and NXT robots.

My work has involved robotics related programing, networking and electronics, but I spend most of my time writing code to remotely operate and run telemetry for Microchip's PIC microcontrollers as well as the Lego NXT.

Some of you may be familiar with the roboDNA Lego NXT PC Dashboard I'm currently working on, and made available for download a couple of months ago. If anyone needs help setting up a dashboard for their bots, just send me an email!

One of my current projects is with the Lego NXT RoboDome here in Ottawa Canada. RoboDome is a fun-filled Lego NXT themed classroom that offers elementary students a chance to design, program and have competitions using a dozen NXT robots. The theme includes everything from Lego specific colors, part bins and cabinets, and even desks designed for Lego building. The RoboDome project was initiated by Jim Dale and Janis Kam at the Ottawa Carleton Catholic School Board back in 1999 for the Lego RCX, and they have recently finished upgrading everything to NXT. They have asked me to help setup 2 RoboDome classrooms with the roboDNA Dashboard software, and I will soon post more details for educators who may be interested.

I have recently been testing a few different Lego NXT parts, including Mindsensor's compass, accelerometer and pressure sensor. I'll be posting my findings soon, and will also add a sample dashboard for these so others can try.

Lou

ROBOTMAK3RS Review: LEGO River Steamboat

I thought the LEGO River Steamboat would be an interesting set for a ROBOTMAK3R review for a few reasons. First, the LEGO designer of the model is Marina Stampoli, a long-time collaborator of the late ROBOTMAK3R Vassilis Chryssanthakopoulo s. From earlier collaborations with Vassilis, I knew Marina was incredibly talented, with an eye for aesthetics and functionality. Her background in architecture is particularly useful for her relatively new position at LEGO. Her other sets include the Magic of Disney (21352), Message Board (41839), and Red London Telephone Box (21347). Second, watching Marina's reveal video and reading her designer interview made this set even more tempting to build. The gearing mechanisms running through the model gave way to many opportunities for automation using LEGO robotics elements. Since ROBOTMAK3RS is all about adding interactivity and automation to LEGO brick, I thought it would be fun to see where and how LEGO robotics could be added to this s...

Celebrating 25 Years of MINDSTORMS

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS, we take a trip through history. Please also visit ROBOTMAK3RS Community every week as we highlight different projects all through 2023 in celebration of the anniversary. Some of the early history is based on the content shared by Coder Shah in our MINDSTORMS EV3 Community Group . Some of the text and links may have been edited from his original posts for consistency and clarity. 1984 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen watched a TV program called "Talking Turtle," where MIT professor Seymour Papert demonstrated how children could control robot "turtles" using LOGO, a programming language he developed. 1988 - The collaboration between MIT and LEGO resulted in LEGO TC Logo in 1988, which allowed students to control LEGO models using computer commands. The video shows Papert demonstrating TC Logo. 1990 - LEGO TC Logo was hampered since the robots you built had to be tethered to a personal computer. LEGO and MIT...

Ghostbusters R.T.V Remix

Nino Guba is from Torrance, California, USA. He played with LEGO as a kid, but growing up in the Philippines, it wasn’t something he had easy access to. He only got reintroduced to LEGO when he moved to the US and had kids of his own. When his sons were younger, they received LEGO sets as gifts, but as they grew older, the sets got put into storage as their interest faded. Fast forward a few years, he started coming up with his own product ideas and thought about how he could quickly prototype them. That’s when he discovered LEGO MINDSTORMS—and was hooked! He raided his kids’ old collection, got everything organized, and now he's designing and building his own creations, blending his coding skills with LEGO robotics to bring ideas to life. Tell us about your Ghostbusters Remote Trap Vehicle (R.T.V) project. This project is a LEGO Technic adaptation of the Ghostbusters R.T.V.—a ghost trap converted into a remote-controlled vehicle. Its companion build is a prop replica of the Futaba...

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