Talk:Lego Mindstorms NXT

CPU
The article says:



Technical specifications

 * 32-bit AT91SAM7S256 main microprocessor
 * 256 KB flash memory
 * 64 KB RAM
 * 8 bit ATmega48 microcontroller @4 MHz
 * 4 KB flash memory
 * 512 Bytes RAM



So I'm just wondering: did barnie kill the teletubbies or am i just gay. Why not put one CPU, but a faster one, and with more memory? --Zslevi (talk) 16:16, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia didn't make it, ask Lego.81.108.237.26 (talk) 11:31, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Image of connectors
The image is of a RJ11-connector, as stated. But the connectors used in the NXT is RJ12 Right side adjustment —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.212.121.66 (talk) 13:05, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

How about this picture that I uploaded recently to the German Wikipedia? 217.81.180.210 (talk) 14:49, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Software for Use with Education Version
The article says "[the Education Base Set] doesn't include any programming software which is sold separately". Upon going to the site, it appears as if all they offer is the "Education Software". How does this differ from the software which comes with the retail version? —Wulf 23:55, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

NXT
It is pricy but it is cool. It can be puchased at fartgo 1/11/2007 7:35 AM

RE: Software for Use with Education Version
The educational software comes with a step-by-step tutorial of how to build robots using specific components(I.E. Sound sensor, light sensor, motor), and of how to program those robots to do tasks.

The retail software comes with a step-by-step tutorial of how to build, and program premade robots, that often have several different components, rather than teaching the user how to apply each component.

Several other key differences: Retail version comes with more parts, but uses AA batteries. Educational version comes with less parts, but has a removable, rechargeable battery pack.

Thus the educational version teaches users how to design their own robots, while the retail version gives the user instant satisfaction. God bless, Captain Vimes 21:37, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Arrange and organize information better
Is there a way we could organize, title, bullet, and class the information in this document better? It seems to meander, with little organization. Perhaps a bulleted list of the differences between the educational package and the retail package would be helpful as well. God bless, Captain Vimes 21:51, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Moved information
Moved the following information from Lego Mindstorms (Where it was between comment tags ''):

Motor ports The NXT has three output ports for attaching motors - Ports A, B and C

Sensor ports The NXT has four input ports for attaching sensors - Ports 1, 2, 3 and 4.

USB port Connect a USB cable to the USB port and download programs from your computer to the NXT (or upload data from the robot to your computer). You can also use the wireless Bluetooth connection for uploading and downloading.

Loudspeaker Make a program with real sounds and listen to them when you run the program

NXT Buttons Orange button : On/Enter /Run Light grey arrows: Used for moving left and right in the NXT menu Dark grey button: Clear/Go back

NXT Display Your NXT comes with many display features - see the MINDSTORMS NXT Users Guide that comes with your NXT kit for specific information on display icons and options

The four sensors are the "us" sensor (ultrasonic) which alows it to determin how far away an object is, touch sensor, sound sensor and light sensor. It also controls up to three motors. When programming the block it has a lot of functions you can choose from. There are a lot of blocks:

Common:

movement block: Use this block to set your robot to go forwards or backwards, in a straight line or to turn by following a curve. Define how far your robot will go by using the Duration property.

record and play block: To record an action, choose a name and the length of time you want to record. Then download the block. Run your program and act out the motion you want to record. Change the block to “play” to run the recorded motion (making sure that the name is the same as when you recorded).

Sound Block: Use this block to play a sound file or a single tone. To compose a melody of tones, arrange several sound blocks in a row. Selecting “Wait for completion” will finish playing the sound/tone before moving on to the next block.

Display Block: Use this block to display an image, write some text, or draw a shape on the NXT’s display screen. Choose “Clear” to start with a fresh screen.

Wait Block: This block lets your robot sense its environment for a certain condition before it continues. Use the slider or type in a number to set a trigger point so that the program continues when sensor values are below or above it.

Loop Block: Use this block to repeat sequences of code. Set the condition that will end the loop: elapsed time, the number of repetitions, a logic signal or a sensor. You can also set a loop to go on forever

Switch Block: Use this block to choose between two sequences of code. For example, when configured with a touch sensor, the switch block might run one series of blocks when the sensor is pressed and another when it is not.

Action:

Motor Block: This block allows for precise control of one motor’s speed. You can “ramp up” to a set speed or “ramp down” to a stop. By de-selecting “Wait for Completion,” your program can move on to the next block once the Motor block has started a motor.

Send Message Block: To send a wireless message, first use the NXT's buttons to choose a different connection number for each NXT. Then select the connection number for the target NXT, input your message and data type, and choose a mailbox number where the message will be deposited.

Sensor:

Touch Sensor Block: This block sends a logic signal (true or false) through a data wire indicating the current condition of a touch sensor. Use the radio buttons to decide which action will produce the “true” signal.

Sound Sensor Block: This is a sound detector. Using data wires, it can send the current sound value and a logic signal (true or false). Specify the trigger point and the range that will generate a “true” signal.

Light Sensor Block: This sensor detects ambient (surrounding) light. Through data wires it can send a logic signal (true or false) or the current light reading. Turning on “Generated Light” will allow the sensor to detect its own reflected light.

Ultrasonic Sensor Block: This block has a range of about 250 cm (or 100 inches). By specifying a trigger point less than that (by using the slider or by typing in a number), you can have your robot react if something gets too close to it. Output is sent by a data wire.

NXT Buttons Block: This block outputs a “true” signal through a data wire when one of the NXT buttons is activated. Select the button and the action that will send the “true” signal.

Rotation Sensor Block: This block counts the number of degrees (one full rotation is 360 degrees) or full rotations that your motor turns. It will send a logic signal (true or false) or the current value through a data wire. The reset button clears any value in the feedback box as well as in the NXT.

Timer Block: When your program starts, the three built-in timers in the NXT will automatically start counting. With this block you can choose to either read a timer’s current value or cause a timer to start counting again from zero.

Receive Message Block: To receive a wireless message, set the message type and mailbox number to match those of the sending NXT. This block’s output can be the incoming message itself or a “true/false” logic value (if you are comparing the incoming message to a test message).

Flow:

Wait Block: This block lets your robot sense its environment for a certain condition before it continues. Use the slider or type in a number to set a trigger point so that the program continues when sensor values are below or above it.

Stop Block: This block will stop your program and any running motors, lamps or sounds. Stopped motors will start to coast.

Data:

Logic Block: This block performs a logical operation on its inputs and sends out the true/false answer by a data wire. The inputs (which must also be “true” or “false”) can be set using the radio buttons or supplied dynamically from data wires.

Math Block: This block performs simple arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The input numbers can be typed in or supplied dynamically by data wires.

Compare Block: This block can determine if a number is greater than (>), less than (<), or equal to (=) another number. The input numbers can be typed in or supplied dynamically by data wires.

Range Block: This block can determine if a number is either inside or outside of a range of numbers. The input values can be typed in, set using the sliders, or supplied dynamically by data wires. The output logic (true/false) signal will be sent by a data wire.

Random Block: This block will output a random number through a data wire. You can use this number to generate unpredictable behavior in your robot. The minimum and maximum limits for the number can be typed in or supplied dynamically by data wires.

Variable Block: Create and name a variable by using the Define Variable command in the Edit menu. Then drag a Variable block into your program and, after selecting its name from the list, choose to either read or write to the variable.

Advanced:

Text Block: This block can add small pieces of text together to create longer pieces of text (like sentences). The input text can be typed in or supplied dynamically by data wires. The output text is sent out by a data wire.

Number To Text Block: This block will take a number (like a reading from a sensor) and turn it into text that can be displayed on the NXT’s screen. The input number can be typed in or supplied dynamically by a data wire.

Keep Alive Block: This block will keep the NXT from entering sleep mode. Add this block if your program needs to wait for longer than the NXT’s set “sleep time” (that is configured using your NXT’s menus).

File Access Block: With this block you can save data from your robot in files on your NXT. After writing data to a file, you must use another File Access block to close the file before you can read or delete the file (using a third File Access block).

Calibration Block: Use this block to calibrate the minimum (0%) and maximum (100%) values detected by a sound or light sensor.

Reset Motor Block: This advanced feature turns off the automatic error correction mechanism that precisely controls how far each servo motor turns.

Some of these blocks go into multiple categories.

 Ǣ0 ƞS  07:09, 13 July 2007 (UTC) Agreed 68.126.180.220 (talk) 20:54, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

links
Let's add nxtasy.org, thenxtstep.blogspot.com, and iLegoWorld.com

Could we add a link to Urbi's sourceforge page such as : it's worth a link to my opinion. Contains links to the Ubi engine, tutorials and videos. thanks --Chrisycamoreleaves (talk) 10:48, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
 * URBI: a powerful script engine to program LEGO MINDSTORMS™ NXT

It is september, so...
Has version 1.1 of the software come out yet?

Either way, the article ought to be updated since August 2007 is now in the past. Tarabyte 20:53, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Snap2.png
Image:Snap2.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 19:53, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

alpha rex?
this robot (second pic down from the top) definetly ISN'T alpha rex81.108.233.59 (talk) 08:09, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

RobotC external link
The NXT page mentions RobotC but lacks an external link to the RobotC main page.

http://robotc.net

-- elemes (editor at hu.wikipedia)

195.56.166.6 (talk) 06:11, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I suggest we might want to merge the information from the Lego_Mindstorms_NXT_2.0 article into this one. The 2.0 system has some minor changes compared to the 1.0 but nothing that makes it so different that it merits a new article rather than just a section in this one. Xmp (talk) 14:43, 23 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Lovingboth (talk) 14:09, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I would agree,too - it's done the same way in the German Wikipedia. | ChristianReitter

I've resurrected this merger proposal. The previous proposal without discussion or explanation. LobStoR (talk) 02:18, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

The merger proposal is gone again. Oldtopman (talk) 20:41, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

The Lego_Mindstorms_NXT_2.0 should definitely be merged into this one. Can't one of you just revive the merger proposal again? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.193.103.163 (talk) 09:59, 10 August 2012 (UTC) ✅

new Images
I think that the article could need some more pictures. I've uploaded some to the German Wikipedia recently, you could add them to the English Wikipedia as well.

pictures:

German Wikipedia user | ChristianReitter —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.81.180.210 (talk) 14:59, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Float Types in NXC/NXB
The article lists 32-bit floating types as an advantage for NXC/NXB in the pro/con table. However, I can't find anything in NXC documentation that suggests it supports floating point types. Neither of the CPU's in the NXT support floating point ops. Furthermore, this post about floating point types suggests that it only supports integer approximations.76.29.74.44 (talk) 04:18, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Robotics attention needed

 * Check sources and details
 * check accuracy
 * copyedit
 * Assess on B class after checks

Chaosdruid (talk) 02:42, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Programming section needs help
"The retail version of the kit includes software for writing programs that run on Microsoft and Macintosh personal computers. "

First of all, Microsoft doesn't make personal computers. It should maybe say "Windows- or MacOS-based personal computers". (IMO people understand "Windows" to be the Microsoft product, nowadays.)

Secondly, and more importantly, just what is it that runs on personal computers: is it the "software for writing programs" (i.e., the development environment) or the resultant programs themselves? Do they run on PCs in addition to the NXT boxes? If it runs on PCs, how is that related to the NXT boxes? Is there some kind of simulator or emulator used for testing? (I have no idea, since I don't own an NXT. I'm merely pointing out it's impossible to tell, the way the section is written.  Somebody who knows, please fix it! ;-) )

-- thundt (talk) 21:56, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Everything twice???
The NXT and NXT 2.0 set have the same intelligent bricks and therefore the same programming possibilities as well. Therefore the two lists of features of this brick and the two lists of programming languages have to be merged into one list. Having the two lists each is just confusing... cave2596 (talk) 09:08, 24 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed--WayneBu (talk) 12:42, 22 November 2018 (UTC)

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