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I can remember trying to tinker with every little thing I got my hands on when I was younger. I didn’t have the technical knowledge then, but I had a blast. The end result was usually something disassembled, which I had no idea how to put back together. Well, I wish Lego Mindstorms NXT Robot kits had been around when I was kid - because they are so freakin cool.
At the heart of the Mindstorms robots is the NXT control module. That is the display module you see in the center of the robots torso above. The control module hooks into your computer via USB or bluetooth. Software on your computer, powered by National Instruments LabView, allows you to build routines intuitively using drag and drop charting. You can see how the LabView software works at the National Instruments site. It’s a nice object oriented programming interface with drag and drop functionality. Once you connect your NXT control module to your computer, you let the software know what your robot model is. Now it’s time to start programming actions to the different sensors and motors. Here’s a list of them
Touch Sensor
“You can use the touch Sensor to make your robot pick up things: a robotic arm equipped with a Touch Sensor lets the robot know whether or not there is something in its arm to grab. Or you can use a Touch Sensor to make your robot act on a command. For example, by pressing the Touch Sensor you can make your robot walk, talk, close a door, or turn on your TV.“
Sound Sensor
“The Sound Sensor can detect both decibels [dB] and adjusted decibel [dBA]. A decibel is a measurement of sound pressure.
dBA: in detecting adjusted decibels, the sensitivity of the sensor is adapted to the sensitivity of the human ear. In other words, these are the sounds that your ears are able to hear.
dB: in detecting standard [unadjusted] decibels, all sounds are measured with equal sensitivity. Thus, these sounds may include some that are too high or too low for the human ear to hear.
The Sound Sensor can measure sound pressure levels up to 90 dB – about the level of a lawnmower. Sound pressure levels are extremely complicated, so the Sound Sensor readings on the MINDSTORMS NXT are displayed in percent [%]. The lower the percent the quieter the soundFor example:
• 4-5% is like a silent living room
• 5-10% would be someone talking some distance away
• 10-30% is normal conversation close to the sensor or music played at a normal level
• 30-100% are people shouting or music being played at a high volume”
Light Sensor
“You can use the Light Sensor to make a burglar alarm robot: when an intruder turns on the light in your room the robot can react to defend your property. You can also use the Light Sensor to make a line-following robot or a robot that can sort things by color.”
Ultra Sonic Sensor
“ The Ultrasonic Sensor is one of the two sensors that give your robot vision [The Light Sensor is the other]. The Ultrasonic Sensor enables your robot to see and detect objects. You can also use it to make your robot avoid obstacles, sense and measure distance, and detect movement.
The Ultrasonic Sensor measures distance in centimeters and in inches. It is able to measure distances from 0 to 255 centimeters with a precision of +/- 3 cm.
The Ultrasonic Sensor uses the same scientific principle as bats: it measures distance by calculating the time it takes for a sound wave to hit an object and return – just like an echo.
Large sized objects with hard surfaces return the best readings. Objects made of soft fabric or that are curved [like a ball] or are very thin or small can be difficult for the sensor to detect.”
Servo Motors
“ The three Servo Motors give your robot the ability to move. If you use the Move block in the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software to program your motors, the two motors will automatically synchronize, so that your robot will move in a straight line.
Each motor has a built-in Rotation Sensor. This lets your control your robot’s movements precisely. The Rotation Sensor measures motor rotations in degrees or full rotations [accuracy of +/- one degree]. One rotation is equal to 360 degrees, so if you set a motor to turn 180 degrees, its output shaft will make half a turn.
The built-in Rotation Sensor in each motor also lets you set different speeds for your motors [by setting different power parameters in the software]. Try running the motors at different speeds.”
So, what can you do with these robot kits?
It looks like the kit will set you back $250. In any case, I want one.
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