ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

MINDSENSORS created a new sensor for the use with the EV3- home and EV3-education software, On their webpage they state the following: This is an array of 8 sensors with controlled light source, returning you values of the sensor readings. Your program can then decide if you wish to follow line with it or do something else. Easy to mount on your NXT or EV3 robot facing ground Reporting dark and light pattern from array of 8 sensors Detect and follow a line Write line follower programs with your own decision making Develop your own PID control algorithms or use built in PID control You can download a sample program and driver blocks for various languages. Enjoy following the line at high speeds! mb

From the 'Coming Soon...' page of Mindsensors is this nice looking sensor.  The Glidewheel is a motor encoder, which means you can use the PF motors and RCX motors with the NXT, and control exactly how far they have turned.  It'll have an accuracy of 1 degree and retail for $29.95. Now despite it being only 'coming soon', our good friend Xander over at BotBench has managed to get his hands on one. The mailman brought me a cool new toy to play with this afternoon!  It’s the  Mindsensors  GlideWheel-M!  These are so cool, you can now use the Large XL Power Functions motor with the same degree of accuracy as an NXT motor.  The GlideWheel-M is just a single unit thick and fits very nicely onto the motor.  You can mount it in any orientation you like.  It’s really easy to use; if you know how to use an NXT motor, you can use this. Check out his blog post for a very nice video as well.

Mindsensors have updated their 'coming soon' page with a little teaser.  It's called the GlideWheel and it's an rotation sensor for those motors that don't have them already built in.  From the very brief description on their page, it looks like it fit nicely witht he Power Functions motors and the older RCX motors.  I know a lot of robot builders love these motors for their size, so it'll be fantastic to be able to control their position. From the only picture, it looks an axle through the middle is all you'll need.  That could also be handy if you need to keep track of the rotation that is not directly on the motor. From the post: This Device will have several models - One model will allow you to connect PF Motors to NXT Motor port. It will have encoder support to control them precisely. Second model will be similar, for RCX motors.  Third model will be a digital angle sensor, to measure angle with 1 degree precision. Mindsensors - Coming Soon...

It used to be there were very few ways to sense air pressure with the NXT… but over time a number of different companies have come out with third party pressure sensors for the NXT. It’s something that I’ve been interested in for a while: I’ve used pressure sensors for determining altitude during hikes, monitoring high-altitude balloon flights, technical geyser investigations, and lots of other things… so it seems natural to try to compare some of the sensors currently out there in the NXT market. Warning – this is my own personal testing and opinions. It may be wrong. And in the interest of full disclosure, most of these companies have been extremely helpful to me by providing sensors to test and responding to feedback… but still, this is as closeas I can come to an unbiased position. I have pressure sensors from four companies currently: HiTechnic, Vernier, Mindsensors,and Dexter Industries. All of them interface easily with the NXT, using NXT-G blocks, NXC code, or other drivers. Mo...

Xander's posted a great video of the Mindsensor Touch Panel in action. He's done some great work developing a framework that allows you to create your own buttons (rather than looking for a specific x,y location). More info -  http://botbench.com/blog/2011/11/05/ui-frame-work-more-button-pushing/ While you're here, feel free to listen to the worlds most annoying Touchpanel based NXT noise creator (the worlds only???? :D )

Once again LEGO-X has spotted an upcoming sensor... This time it's from Mindsensors and visiting their Coming Soon page   you can read about them making an Altimeter for Mindstorms NXT. "With an Altimeter, you will be able to measure altitude above sea level." Sounds like an interesting sensor for NXT projects such as HALE I wonder what other ideas you may have for an Altimeter equipped robot? (edit)   ...Found this post entry dating back to 2008 by Brian Davis http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2008/07/taking-nxt-hiking-as-altimeter.html

While browsing the Mindsensors website , I noticed that they're working on a new motor multiplexer for NXT motors. The device allows you to control two additional NXT motors and it requires an external battery pack. You connect the multiplexer to one of the NXT sensor ports, but you won't loose a sensor port as you do this, because you'll be able to connect a sensor to one of the multiplexer ports which acts as a sensor port.

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...

Mindsensors.com is working on two new devices for the NXT. NXTHotShoe "NXTHotShoe will allow you to trigger two cameras and/or flashguns from your NXT and you will be able to control the trigger time of each of them individually, with one millisecond granularity." Obstacle detector "This rugged design with ample mounting points is specifically made for NXT Sumo Wrestlers. This sensor will provide information about presence of obstacles directly in front or front-right or front-left." Read more here .

Mindsensors has a new product out - the 8 channel servo controller. It allows you to control up to 8 RC/mini RC/micro RC motors using I2C. As with all Mindsensor products, NXT-G and RobotC commands are available as well as a User Guide. You can view and purchase the NXTServo here: http://www.mindsensors.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=93 Richard

The Mindsensors camera is now available. This camera connects to NXT on a standard sensor port, and tracks upto 8 colored objects. It reports coordinates of each object to NXT. It can also be connected to a PC on a USB port. The price is $97.75 Ships October 12th.