Updating NXT-G Programming Guide

Well, I just got a request from Apress to update the NXT-G Programming Guide - the book came out in 2007 and, now that NXT-G 2.0 is out, it's probably a good idea. I've collected mistakes and omissions over the years and will hopefully fix those easily enough, but Apress has given me permission to increase the page count on the book... so....

For those of you who own the first edition, I have a few questions that I'm hoping you'll help me out with...

1. Is there anything you feel should be added to the book?
2. Would exercises be beneficial?
3. Did I cover wires well enough or do they need more discussion?
4. What did you like about the book and want more of...
5. ... and what did you NOT like about the book and want less of... or corrected?

For the original book, I made the test robot (SPOT) available as a downloadable zip file containing photos to build it - for this book, I'm probably going to update SPOT and provide BIs for all three kit versions - 1.0, 2.0, and Education. Not sure if that will be useful or not... thoughts welcome.

I've had requests from teachers and coaches to provide some hands-on activities in the form of Exercises, so please comment on that as well if you can...

It's nice to be able to update a book and fix things you overlooked the first time around... and I welcome your thoughts on improving this book. No promises that Apress will let me do anything too crazy, but if I'm able to use your suggestion or find it useful for correcting or adding something in, I'll try and credit you in the book if you're the first responder for an improvement, fix, or addition.

Thanks!

Jim

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 3

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these Fall and Winter remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Braill3 by Jerry Nicholls Braill3 is an EV3-based LEGO Braille bricks reader. This robot uses its fingertip, made from three touch switches, to read messages written using the LEGO Braille bricks and will speak out what it detected. If it sees a simple maths problem it will attempt to solve it and give the answer as well. To learn more about the process of creating this machine, read Jerry's blog . Braill3 can be viewed here . Set Review: The Braille Bricks set is well thought out. The ratios of the letters is suitable for general use and the addition of some punctuation and arithmetic operators is excellent. There is a card showing what bricks there are and their quantities, but no form of sort

Celebrating MINDSTORMS with a Remix - Part 2

The ROBOTMAK3RS continued their celebration of the 25th Anniversary of MINDSTORMS through these summer and fall remix projects. Each ROBOTMAK3R was tasked with selecting one LEGO set of their choice and combining it with a MINDSTORMS set. Below are the five amazing models they came up with. Remote controlled material handle r by Jozua van Ravenhorst (aka Mr Jo) This remix combines the LEGO Technic Material Handler (42144) with MINDSTORMS EV3 (31313) It uses the power of pneumatic cylinders to move objects around. By using a bluetooth remote control, very precise movements can be made with this model. Touch sensors in the base chassis prevent the turret twisting the cables that go through the turntable to much. The program has several protections to prevent over pressurizing the system for each of the 3 individual pumps and valves that control the 2 booms and claws. The real version of this machine is mostly used in waste material sites to bring the material to machines that sort and

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

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