ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

The new NXT 2.0 has just been released, and there are multiple books coming out to cover the new robotics kit. You can find most of them by following this link I'm happy to announce that I'm also working on a book for the NXT 2.0: The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book . It is written for the new MINDSTORMS user. The book introduces programming from the basics onto “advanced” programming with data wires and advanced programming blocks. All of the new programming techniques are introduced while constantly building new robots. With this mix of building and programming, the user won’t easily get tired of playing with the NXT 2.0 kit. Furthermore, there are over 50 challenges in the book which encourage the reader to explore the newly discovered programming techniques by him/ herself. All of this is packed in a space-themed adventure story, as depicted in the book description below. The book is aimed at younger MINDSTORMS users, but even the experienced user will find some ch...

The first RCX climber was slow and unbalanced. The second NXT version was much faster, but still not very stable since it used the same techniques. This third version is a new design, made so that it will automatically balance itself on one axis. Balance on the other axis is achieved with an acceleration sensor. Imagine a line from the left wheels to the right wheels, through the middle of the robot. On this line, the robot tilts when it gets unbalanced. Unlike in the older versions, the main weight is now below this line. This means that it will keep itself balanced without help. However, there is another possibility for the climber to crash. That happens when either of the sides loses a bit of grip or if both sides do not go as fast as each other. You can correct this error by making one of the sides go slower, so it will achieve balance again. You would only have to know how big the error is, and in what direction. This is what the Mindsensors Acceleration sensor measures. A relat...