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Guest Blog - Andy H.

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From Andy H:

Seeing as the iPod Touch was a very popular Christmas item I can't think of a roboteer who wouldn't look at it as something more than just casual gaming and music. Why not a robotics interface? If you've seen an iPod's dock connector (on the bottom of every iPod) and know that it can connect to peripherals like speakers. The dock connector actually unleashes some great capabilities. Did you know there's a serial output? This would allow SPI communication with any microchip capable of it. The iPod touch and iPhone are capable of running apps which could take advantage of serial data. Hook this up to a HiTechnic prototype board and bingo, you have communication with the NXT. There's bound to be an iPhone developer attempting this somewhere, maybe not with NXT, but some robotics platform, and with that the app could easily be ported for the NXT. Imagine the capabilities of an advanced platform like the iPod Touch (featuring light sensor, multi-touch, and accelerometer!) interfacing with the NXT. Neither would be a toy in this situation.

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