HiTechnic IR-Link sensor for MINDSTORMS NXT

HiTechnic is just about to launch their new IR-Link sensor.

For more details about the IR-Link, checkout the full review of it in BrickJournal #9.

For many people with legacy MINDSTORMS RCX bricks, the new product will enable creation of robots with both an RCX and NXT that communicate with each other.

For some it will be a means of automating and controlling various home appliances in the house from NXT by mimicking their Infra red remote control. See comments under this post from early this year.

However, for me the most interesting thing about the new HiTechnic IR-Link sensor is how it can be used for robotizing LEGO TECHNIC creations.

The picture below shows a bulldozer 'robototized' by adding a MINDSTORMS NXT brick and a NXT IR-Link (made by HiTechnic) to a TECHNIC bulldozer 8275.

In the video below, you can see it scanning the environment with the Ultrasonic sensors and then flattening anything in its path using the Ripper and the blade:

If you want to learn how to robotize your own LEGO TECHNIC creations with NXT, Power function motors and the new IR-Link, checkout the following video:

Tim

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