YouTube user comicsacrifice built a simply NXT-driven machine that operates a game controller to restore his Skyrim video game character's health to maximum.

Don't you ever say again that LEGO® MINDSTORMS isn't useful in real life...

Now we need one that'll beat the whole game for you ;)

NXT Model of Curiosity

On Nov. 26 NASA has launched the new Mars rover Curiosity. The car-size robot spacecraft is the most sophisticated Mars space probe ever and expected to land on the Red Planet in August next year.
For the launch event, MCP Will Gorman created a NXT model of Curiosity that was on display yesterday inKennedy Space Center:

Queboid Shooters

 Mark Crosbie has built a robot called Queboid.

He has published building instructions now for a shooter version of it (below, there's a video of the Queboid shooter in action at WRO).

Big Crazy robot

You may have seen this crazy big robot on Youtube...
 

Segaway up a steep hill

There is a renewed program for the NXT Segway called RobotC

The current program handles all balancing tasks in the background so you can make the Segway do what you want without worrying about balancing. It supports both the HiTechnic Gyro sensor and the new Dexter Industries dIMU. The complete source and instructions are available on my website.

The older ready to run NXT-G version of the program (only supports HiTechnic Gyro) is also still available.

Fastest Rubix Cube Solver

This Rubix cube solver that solves the Rubix cube crazy fast!

Vending Machine

Ricardo has published a video where he explains how his LEGO® vending machine works that can be admired presently on LEGOWORLD:




Here's another video with a detailed explanation of the inner details.

Lego World

Lego World has once again started! The NXT booths have been so far a crowd-pleaser. Here are some videos

DAY 1



DAY 3
(Im not sure what and where is day 2 :P)



DAY 4

New NXT screen

This time its a touch screen that appears to be placed over the NXT screen

It looks like the sensor will return the position of where a stylus is pressed (I'm assuming that this means it is resistive rather than capacitive) and might have some space where you can print out your own button decals to place underneath it.

More info over at botbench - http://botbench.com/blog/2011/10/05/coming-soon-mindsensors-touch-panel-sensor/

According to the Mindsensors 'Coming Soon' page it will be shipping by the end of the month. (Although they don't state which month :D )

Lego Cuusoo

In case you do not know it yet (admittedly, I didn't until recently):  some time ago, LEGO® has set up an exciting web project, called LEGO® CUUSOO.


If you got an idea for a new model,  share it there. In case it gets at least 10.000 supporters, LEGO® will review it and maybe produce it as an official product (with you receiving royalties).

LEGO® CUUSOO is still in beta state, but check it out!

NXTLog new building Challenge

It has been a while since the last one, but there is finally another building challenge at NXTlog! This one sounds fun, dig up your NXT and get building!


"It’s been four years since NXTLOG has hosted a spooky Halloween challenge, and it’s time to get boo-ilding! Will you design a robot to dispense candy in a helpful way, or one that “tricks” you when you go to grab a “treat?” How about a robot that shows what your costume would be, or one that can carve a jack-o-lantern, or even a fright bot representing a classic Halloween icon, character, monster, or beast! There's no limit on amount of Spooktacular ideas there are or the amount of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, motors, NXT programmable bricks, HiTechnic sensors, or Bluetooth communication you can use on your NXT Halloween Bot. All entries must be tagged "spooktacular." Entries must be submitted by Halloween! October 31, 2011. What will boo, um we mean "you" make?"
JUDGING CRITERIA
"Awards will be given in 3 areas. Award winners will be featured on LEGOMINDSTORMS News. 1) SPOOKTACULAR AWARD: This will be the Halloween robot that is so spectacular, so creative, and innovative that it spooks the judges silly! 2) THE TRICKSTER: This award will go to the trickiest robot on Halloween night. 3) THE TREAT: This award will go to the most iconic Halloween robot. How much does your robot really say, “Halloween?”"
Read more here

Omnibot

I have found a pretty cool robot built with Omniwheels.

The Ultrasonic Revealed

Xander over at Bot Bench has decided to take to another sensor with his sharp knife, in this case the Ultrasonic Sensor.

See all the gory details here: http://botbench.com/blog/2011/09/21/exposed-lego-ultrasonic-sensor/

NXT Warehouse

TheNiels17 has made a fantastic automated warehouse system.

There are 9 bays, each identified by a 3x3 matrix.  Each is identified by a 2 colour combination, so Blue:Green is row 1:column 2,  Yellow:Green is row 3, column 2 etc

By assembling a little 'swipe' card with the various colours,you can tell the robot what space you are referring to.  You can also tell the robot if it needs to place the 'palette' (white code) or pick the palette (black) code.

So a Green:White:Yellow swipe means - Place the palette at location 2:3
and a Yellow:Black:Blue swipe means - Pick the palette from location 3:1

Of course he's implemented error checking so you can place a palette in an occupied space and you pick a palette if there is nothing there in the first place.  Just totop it all off, there is a random function to place a palette in a random, unoccupied spot.

Automating testing of an iPad App

Not exactly NXT, but it's younger sibling the RCX (who remembers those?)

These guys needed to test their iPad app by taking 10,000 photos.  Either it's an *incredibly* boring job, or you build a robot to do it for you :)

Interfacing Android with LEGO NXT: Compass

Here is another example for using Android with your NXT

Here is another proof of concept to show Bluetooth communication between Android phone and NXT. It used the accelerometer and magnetic field sensors on the Android phone to calculate its compass heading, and used Bluetooth to send that information to the NXT. While this is not as stable as Brian Davis' Jenn Too, mostly due to magnetic interference from the NXT messing with the compass, it definitely shows the potential Android phones have acting as on-board sensors for autonomous robots.

NXT Claw Crane Game

As a pre-season project, FLL team BEBO made a Claw Crane Arcade Game using LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT:

Pan and Tilt Time Lapse rig

A really nice way of pan and tilt setup for the camera.

First video shows how it works and the second video gives a example of what it collected.

LEGO MINDSTORMS Mac Software Available Online

Some Mac users may have problems installing the LEGO MINDSTORMS software for their NXT 2.0 robot from the CD included in the package, so we have the software available for download.
This article is from the mindstorms website
MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 DOWNLOAD (642MB)


The link above will allow you to download a copy of the software for your set. You can either use your computer’s burning software to make a copy of the .ISO – the software should automatically recognize and prompt to burn it to a CD – or follow the steps below this link to proceed.

If you are on a Windows based machine:

1. Download Microsoft Virtual CD software here: http://goo.gl/rX4t

2. Run the VCdControlTool.exe program.

3. Select the downloaded .ISO image that you want to mount, and then click Open.

4. In Select Mount Options, click Ok.

5. The Autorun window should pop up and you can install normally by following the on screen instructions.

If the Autorun does not appear, open the virtual CD drive in My Computer and double click the “setup.exe”


If you are on an Apple Macintosh based machine:

1. Double click the downloaded file.

2. Right/Alternate click the .ISO file select ‘open with’

3. Browse to Disk Utility to mount disk image.

4. Run the Snow Leopard script file and the software will install automatically.


INSTALLING THE LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT SOFTWARE
Before you install LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software, please uninstall any previous version installed.

Administrator privileges are required when installing the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software.

Microsoft Windows

To install the Software run "Autorun.exe" on the CD-ROM and follow the on-screen instructions.

When installed you may need to restart your system. When the system has been restarted, double click the MINDSTORMS NXT Software icon on your desktop. This will start the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software.


Apple Macintosh

If you’re running on Leopard or Snow Leopard, please download the appropriate patch from:

http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/support/files/default.aspx#Patches

To install the Software double-click "Install" on the CD-ROM and follow the on-screen instructions.

When installed select Applications->LEGO Mindstorms NXT and click Mindstorms NXT. This will start the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software.


The first time you start the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Software may take a couple of minutes. The start-up time will decrease the next time you launch the application.

LEGO MINDSTORMS featured in Megafactories

Megafactories, the TV channel of National Geographics in the United Kingdom, features a small footage on LEGO® MINDSTORMS that was filmed at LEGOWORLD 2010 in Zwolle:

Moonbots winners.

Hello,
The Moonbots Challenge has finished and here are the top three winners..
FIRST place: LegoAces
and their run:


SECOND place: Team Just Ducky
and their run:



THIRD place: Lunar Lords
and their run:

 

Interfacing Android with LEGO NXT

A guy called Richard has developed and interesting way to write things using an Andriod Phone. This is what he wrote:
Following the same theme as a lot of other recent posts, I have been doing a lot of Android development for my IB Computer Science class. Naturally, I continued to tie Android with the NXT. Initially, Bluetooth was not an option for our outdated G1 development phone*, so I developed this simple solution:

Just a simple solution! For when the situation arises that Bluetooth is not an option, or Arduino board interfacing is not available.

*Fortunately, the Bluetooth API's were back-ported for use on 1.6

Richard

FIRST Promotion video

This is a nice video summarizing the idea behind FIRST. The video features actor Morgan Freeman, FIRST founder Dean Kamen and President Obama.

NXT Swarmbot

There's a project by Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Academy (known as creators of the NXT programming language RobotC): swarm robots that are communicating via the NXTBee hardware by dexter Industries.

In the following video, the NXT robots collaborate to group around a leader robot:

More details can be found on the associated entry in the RobotC blog.

Lego Technic Solar Power walking robot

This post is one on a solar powered robot it uses the solar power to power the motor to make the robot walk.

NXT Tic Tac Toe player

Hi
This is a robot from the book "LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Thinking Robots" by Daniele Benedettelli. More details please visit: http://robotics.benedettelli.com/TRbook.htm
It works very well and as seen in the video is quite intelligent.

NXT Hand Puppet

Very cute and funny :)

GBC#5

This short GBC (or Great Ball Contraption) really caught my attention because of all the cool mechanical solutions and the NXT-Driven robot arm. It's really cool.

(earlier portions of this are here, and are absolutely amazing considering that there is no NXT or electronic intelligence involved. Another great mechanical implementation is here).

Mechnically (and, clearly, in terms of programming) this individual has done an amazing job. But even beyond that, they have a look that inspires.  Here is a user that manages to combine all those facets... and does it really well.

This robot was made by akiyuki.

Lego Liquid Dispenser

Hello,
I was surfing on Youtube looking at some NXT vids and I stumbled upon this NXT liquid dispenser.

Here is a description on how it works:A Lego Mindstorms powered water dispenser. It uses two motors to directly drive he air compressor, and pumps air through the Lego pneumatic rubber tubing into an airtight water container, and water is pushed out from this container through another rubber tubing and exits through a nozzle in the front. The motors are driven whenever the touch sensor is pressed. Features include a push lever, a water container bay, rubber band powered container retainers, a glass pad and more. The NXT run LeJOS and the source code for this program and other programs using different sensors as well as pics can be found here:
http://homebrewcode.blogspot.com/2011/07/mindstorms-liquid-dispenser.html
And a 2.0 version
This one is a little more simple but it shows a different way of using the NXT motor

Enjoy!

3D Printer

Arthur Sacek from Brazil's ZOOM Education for Life, made this very well built and surprisingly precise 3D printing machine is really amazing (and fun to watch)! 
Later he said in a comment reply that he will later show how it works.
He says,  "Soon I will post a "How it works"....and you will see that it is not so hard as you think. I am also a beginner in programming." 

Cake cutting robot

Great looking robot that will cut a cake into as many pieces as you want.  A tin lid acts as the cutter, and some basic math is used to calculate the angle of each piece.


As others have commented, all it needs now is a way to blow out the candles :)

UNIMOG NXTification by Anika

If any of you guys remember Anika she made a  NXTification of  the Technic set UNIMOG.
Here it is!!



Not only is Anika a Mindstorms expert, she is also able to entertain us with very well presented videos featuring stop motion animation story line.  Well done Anika!!

New Cyclops Robot

A new creature is coming! Stay tuned on robotics.benedettelli.com
Can you guess what is it and which amazing capabilities will it feature? 

Mindstorms Academy?

An article in the most recent WIRED magazine got me to thinking about alternative methods (maybe even better?) for delivering training related to both robot building and programming. I was sort-of familiar with Khan Academy (I had watched a video or two a few years ago when someone told me about it) but never truly understood what I was seeing (and hearing) from the website.

If you're not familiar with Khan Academy please pause here and simply read the article and then watch this video. it will get you up to speed much better than I could possibly do so in a paragraph or two. After you've watched the video (or not if you're familiar with KA and its concept), hopefully you'll have an understanding of how the videos work and what the goals of KA are longterm.

I'm not here to debate the pros or cons of KA -- the site and its methodology are the subject of much debate already so let's not add to the noise here... my purpose for this post is not to discuss KA's videos but to pose a question to LEgoBOTS's audience as a whole:

Would it be possible to provide to those new to Mindstorms(teachers, students, parents) a collection of short videos (5 to 10 minutes max) that would introduce concepts such as The Loop block, Line Following and Object Detection?

Just as KA has a couple dozen categories (Pre-Algebra, Calculus, Economics, etc.), I can imagine a similar group of categories such as Programming Blocks and Basic Movements and Advanced Logic Control... the list goes on. The idea would be to create a standard format for how the videos look and how they are narrated... maybe even some standards on video format thrown in for consistency.

Just as many students who use the KA videos can go back over a difficult topic as many times as they like (without anyone looking over his/her shoulder) and review the content before moving on, I can imagine a similar set of videos being developed where relationships between videos are tagged so that novices don't watch a more advanced video before they've watched (and hopefully learned) the basic videos that contain the information the more technical subjects build upon.

Don't get me wrong -- I still think books are a great method for learning. But imagine rather than reading a page or two that describes how to drop in a MOVE block and tweak it for the various settings -- forward, reverse, power, coast, etc. -- that you can instead queue up a video that maybe shows the block being dragged onto the work area, a few tweaks made on the left side of the screen and a Tribot or other robot on the right side demonstrating the code in action. I also think there's something a bit more personal in having a narrator explain a concept, but probably not everyone will agree.

Let's assume for a second that the video concept is favorable and enough people voice support. What next? I'm not a project manager, but I imagine that there would need to be some sort of formalized method for managing the videos -- this would likely need to be an individual or small group that would be responsible for not only assigning video topics but also viewing and critiquing them before they are released in the wild. (Of course, a "beta" video could also be released for feedback from the community.)

There are other matters that would need to be considered and decided on:

1. How would video of the NXT software be recorded?
2. Would the video capture software need to be consistent or could a list of acceptable applications be selected?
3. What language would the video narrator need to speak? I dislike assuming English, but then again this is an English-based blog and the majority of the audience are English-speakers.
4. Where would the videos be stored/hosted?

There may also be copyright/legal issues that I'm likely unfamiliar with, but given the purpose of these videos would be to promote Mindstorms and grow its user base, I would hope that there would be ways around these issues, especially if the goal isn't profit-minded.

There are thousands upon thousands of videos out there that show viewers how to solder, how to wire up all kinds of electronics, how to program in dozens of languages, and so many more. And yes, there are already videos out there that demo how to do various things with the NXT kit and its software, but what's lacking is organization and logical planning of the topics to be covered.

I'm very impressed with Khan Academy, and I can't help but think that the methodology he uses is perfectly suited for teaching Mindstorms.

Thoughts?

Another NXTification of the Star Wars Shuttle!!

Remember the NXTification of the LEGO® Star Wars Shuttle by bazmarc we posted a month ago here?
Here's another one, this time by another well-known NXT hero, NeXTSTORM:

HiTechnic sensors

If any of you are interested I will post some of the new sensors that they make.
(But I don't really use them)

WALL-E 5

On the MINDSTORMS website under "news" a new robot story is posted as it is told by Marc-André Bazergui & team about "Making a Robotic Model of a Robot".

Now, this version 5 transforms from a cube shape to a fully articulated well proportioned look alike of the famous Disney/Pixar WALL-E®. The first public appearance of this robot was at BrickWORLD Chicago, 2011.

read the full story here 

NXShield - a shield for TEEMINO

Maybe this could not seem directly LEGO MINDSTORMS related, or evenblasphemous to the purists, but the secret Android device published in a previous post is not a secret anymore!
Its name is Teemino, a device that can be controlled by an Android ADK compatible phone.
This means that your Android version should be 3.1 or 2.3.4 to have the Open Accessory support.

Soon also the NXShield will be available: it will allow the Teemino to control up to 4 NXT Servo Motors and read 4 digital and analogic sensors.
Here's a video to see it in action (impatient people should skip to 5:20)

NXTBee - NXT-G Blocks

Andy over at Milluzzi Labs - http://08milluz.wordpress.com/ has just released some NXT-G blocks for use with the Dexter Industries NXTBee sensors.

Not sure what the NXTBee is? Basically it's Wireless communication for the NXT!

• Fast, long distance wireless communications for the NXT.

• Communicate Far: Send data over 1 KM away.

• Communicate Fast: High speed communication between NXT's and other devices.

• Communicate Wide: Talk to multiple NXTs, other devices and robots.

Soooooooo... What can you do with an NXTBee?  Here is a  quick video of what some people have managed.  What would you do?

Robot Sundae Maker

The good people over at Tufts University (the home of the RoboLab software) have created a nifty Robotic sundae maker as part of their summer intern project.








More info on the trials and tribulations to make it happen can be found at their website
http://sites.tufts.edu/robosundae/

It also has a great collection of photos documenting the process.

Review of Technic Unimog 8110

Conchas at TechnicBricks has posted an excellent review of the new LEGO TECHNIC 8110 Unimog. It's the largest set in TECHNIC history. Find the review with plenty of pictures and videos here.

The Unimog itself looks like a great model with lots of functions. And once you're done playing with the main model, it seems this set will be a very useful parts pack for your NXT robots, like making it completely autonomous or making the scoop at the back to detect objects and scoop it up....... 

Brickworld 2011 - postscript

The definition of a good LEGO convention is one with amazing MOCs, great events & contests, fun friendly people, and innovative ideas at every turn.

The definition of a great LEGO convention is all the above, with a lot less sleep.

Brickworld 2011 has come and gone, and Brian Davis wasn't able to blog from the event, because to be honest he said,  there was just too many other interesting things going on. There was a huge model of The Love Boat (with hidden scenes from other movies... like Jaws, Snakes on a Plane, and The Poseidon Adventure), Shep's amazing Flex-Picker, many other amazing constructions large and small... and, of course, robots.

They had Monster Chess there again, as well as a preview of a future project, a LEGO robot based version of RoboRally(even bigger than Monster Chess). The NXT-based Space Shuttle was there, robots like PackBot (kids played with it all day long), a huge number of sumo robots (around 70+... they had a multi-hour teach-in for people new to it), a bunch of entries for a "Build-On-The-Spot" (B.O.T.S.) challenge, and boat races again. I've got a bunch of pictures Brian need to get up, but so far Brian's only put together one video, a collection of clips of the LEGO boat race (including underwater)