ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

Continuing on with the  series of posts  on creating a NXT motor Grader I started last week ... Today we are going to look at lighting. This is an important part of the NXT robot design that often gets overlooked. Motor graders are often used in winter to clear snow - so lighting is very important. I tried to create the large floodlight the big Cat graders have: When I started the project I was not sure what sort of lights to use - some are easier to use with NXT. Some are so bulky it simply does not go with the model. My first attempt used the LEGO lights that comes with the NXT Education version: They are easy to interface (using the cable that comes with the kit) and can be programmed using the NXT-G Motor block. However, I did not like the studded pieces so I discarded the design. The next lights I tried was the PF lights that came with the new LEGO TECHNIC off roader . The lights were very elegant and fitted neatly inside the standard hole. It was perfect. However I was not sure h...

The development lab webpage from Mindsensors.com tells us that they are working on three new sensors for the NXT. You can read about two more in a previous post . L ine Sensor for NXT (NXTLineLeader) "This is actually an array of sensors with controlled light source, to detect a line. The sensor will be easy to mount on your NXT robot, facing ground, looking for a line. The possibilities of an agile, fast robot, precisely maneuvering the arena are limitless." PF Motor c on troller for NXT (PFMate) "PFMate is designed to be a closely integrated controller for PF motors. This device will attach to your PF IR receiver, and controls PF motors with high reliability. It is designed to attach to one receiver, however you can control upto 4 receivers, by mounting it at a distance. Using this controller you will be able to control speed, direction and braking/floating actions of PF motors." NXTServo-v2 "This is an encased version of the popular NXTServo. Just like NXTS...

News about the Oct 10 release of the HiTechnic IRLink was posted on the official MINDSTORMS website... read all about it here . More details on the sensor can be found here . It is priced at US$46.99.

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 robo...