First Day With LEGO Mindstorm

Today it was the first time in our life getting in contact with the LEGO mindstorm module.
It started with the first lecture of Luis Sánchez. We got a short introduction to the NXT-G environment which we are going to use during this week.
We got to know the main components of a mindstorm roboter:

• NXT-brik: intelligence
• sensors: 4 inlets (1-4)
• motors: for modifying the invironment, inlets A-C

In the NXT-G Editor we find the programming area. The programming language is a graphical one, so it´s not necessary to write long code sentences.

So we started the LEGO MINDSTORM NXT software and used the tutorial for building our TriBot. It is a vehicle that listens to our commands. The main components are:

• Driving Base: consisting of 3 wheels
• Bumber: a touch sensor that stops the robot in front of the ball
• Grabber: two arms used to grab a ball
• Sound Control: clapping makes the TriBot grab the ball
• Light Sensor: the TriBot stops and opens his arms when reaching a black line on the floor
• Locate Object: to recognise the blue ball and move towards it
  
  
  

When the TriBot was built, we programmed the software according to the tutorial. Then we linked the PC with the TriBot and loaded the software. Then we were ready to try our robot for the first time. We put the TriBot and the blue ball onto the test pad and pressed start on the brick. Our robot began to move straight ahead and when it reached the ball the stick in front of the touch sensor touched this sensor and the TriBot stopped. He grapped the ball, made a 180 degree turn and moved until recognising a black line with the light sensor. Then the robot opened his arms and released the ball. And we were happy!!!

For further information and other tutorials see this links:

• http://www.ortop.org/NXT_Tutorial/
• http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5221 go to sample_mindstorm_labs.zip
• http://www.homeschool-life.com/sysfiles/member/custom_public/custom.cfm?memberid=251&customid=1525

So, just watch this video of our great TriBot:

Our next task was to modify the continuous scanning program to show angular position and distance for each measurement on the screen of the mindstorm brick. Here are some screenshots of our program:

This block is responsible for displaying the angle:


The block we used for displaying the distance: