The NXT STEP - LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Blog

Jim's Dell Laptop Debacle - Final Words

2009-07-13T16:50:00.005-05:00

Well, I gave Dell two weeks to find a middle ground with me regarding my issue a month ago with my Dell laptop and the Next Day Service I purchased but did not receive. Here's an update and my closing remarks (thank you, readers, for being patient with me while I tried to resolve this problem and share the results with my blog readers).

* Total cost of Next Day Service fee: $168.00
* Total time to repair Laptop: June 10 to June 22 - 7 business days, not counting day it died and day it was repaired

* Total billable hours lost: 11 (really 22 but I was able to use my Backup PC for some of my work)
* Value of work lost: $1100.00 (two small editing assignments lost, too - estimated around $200-300 each)

Last week, Dell offered me a 17% discount on my next purchase - for a $400 netbook, that comes to around $68.00 - $100 less than the cost of the Next Day Service (I politely declined the offer.)

So, here's my Final Words on the matter:

1. I will no longer be a Dell customer - no more laptops, desktops, printers... nothing.
2. I would encourage this blog's readers to seriously consider the trouble I had in getting my laptop serviced on time when considering their own purchase.
3. The small print in Dell's Next Day Service agreement, in a nutshell, says that Dell will attempt to fix your computer the Next Business Day but if they don't, tough luck.
4. Dell has lost one customer - me - and, with an average of 45,000 unique visitors to this blog each month, I'm guessing they've lost a few more. And it only cost the company $168.00 - what a deal!

I've been a Dell user since 1997 and am somewhat surprised that this issue has gone this far. I'll conclude by saying that while I've enjoyed my Dell laptop, I welcome my readers' suggestions on where to go for my next laptop.

Bye Bye, Dell.

Jim

Preparing for FLL 2009-2010 Season

2009-07-13T08:39:00.003-05:00

I'm anxious to hear from all the teams regarding their thoughts on the new theme, Smart Move. I'd also enjoy hearing how your teams are preparing for the upcoming season.

Marco over at TechBricks.com sent over this update about some FLL resources that TechBrick:

Fundraising Idea: http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/TechBrick/Fundraising/index.html

Smart Move worksheets: http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2009/Resources/index.html

Please let me know if your team has developed any resources that it cares to share with other FLL teams and I'll point them in your direction or make your resource(s) available via a download on The NXT Step.

Reminder about Raffle

2009-07-13T08:36:00.003-05:00

Just a quick reminder that the deadline for the LEGO Raffle is less than one month away (August 10)... at the current time, I only have 56 submissions. You can read the rules here.

If the number of participants breaks 200, one of the random names drawn will receive a new NXT 2.0 retail kit... the runner-up will receive a Technic kit. If 250 submissions are received, two NXT 2.0 kits will be awarded.

How to store LEGO in the classroom?

2009-07-09T23:27:00.004-05:00

I often get asked what is the best way to store LEGO in a classroom environment. Jim's recent post is an excellent solution for the majority of people but may not suit a classroom, which often involves many kits and must be easy to secure / transport around various classrooms.

As part of the LEGO engineering mailing list, we asked the question "How do you store your LEGO kits?" and got a wide range of answers from teachers all over the world. I've collected all the different responses and turned it into a pdf that you can download from here - www.domabotics.com

If you are a teacher using robots in your classroom, how do you store your LEGO?

Edit: Dave Parker has another excellent method: "I use 12 gallon storage tubs with the built-in hinged lids, which are sturdy and stack well on the floor, or in a car/truck. For holding parts, these can hold two of the LEGO Education boxes (e.g. 9797 + 9648), each of which has the two sorting trays. Or for student kits and in-progress projects, they can hold one LEGO Ed box on the bottom with plenty of room on top for the robot and partially assembled stuff still protected inside the tub."

--
Damien Kee

NXT 2.0 vs. Original NXT: Which one to Buy?

2009-07-09T00:15:00.004-05:00

Right now we are in an interesting situation in that you can still buy the original NXT retail set (8527) or order the new NXT 2.0 kit (8547). I have been getting questions about which one to buy, and also what it will mean to have one kit along with project instructions intended for the other kit. LEGO was kind enough to provide me with a pre-release version of the NXT 2.0 kit, which I have been working with for while now, so here is some information, opinions, and recommendations that may help. I will abbreviate NXT 2.0 as NXT2 and the original NXT (8527) as NXT1.

1. First off, I will say that comparing NXT2 to NXT1 when “free building” projects of my own design using only the contents of one kit, I do prefer NXT2. Treads are a welcome addition, the Zamor (small ball) shooter is fun, the color sensor is a very nice upgrade from the light sensor, having two touch sensors is very useful and worth giving up the sound sensor for, and the software has some nice additions. Also, overall I think the mix of building parts is improved, and I find myself generally getting stuck less running out of parts and sizes that I need when limiting myself to one kit.

2. Considering building projects from instructions that you find so far on my site at nxtprograms.com and other web sites and books written for NXT1, unfortunately, most projects intended for NXT1 are not buildable as-is with only the NXT2 kit. The same will also be true for most projects designed for NXT2 if you have NXT1. If you are not limited to just the kit contents and can buy spare parts, this is somewhat less of an issue, but it is something important to be aware of. The kits are very similar overall, but several differences in parts availability and part counts make cross-building difficult. For example, the NXT1 kit has 11 15-beams and 4 13-beams, but NXT2 has 2 15-beams and 10 13-beams. A lot of my NXT1 projects have overall dimensions suited to 15-beams, but for NXT2, 13 is a better maximum dimension. Of course you can get more 15-beams and other parts in various ways, and I have posted some solutions here.

3. The NXT2 software is fully backwards-compatible with NXT1. You can load an NXT1 program (.rbt), and compile and download it to an NXT2 brick. This means that if you buy NXT2, you can use programs intended for NXT1 that you find on nxtprograms.com and other places, or any programs you wrote yourself for NXT1. This also means that if you have a mixture of NXT1 and NXT2, the NXT2 software can handle it all for you (including the sound sensor and other things not directly included in NXT2). However, note that if you connect an NXT1 brick to the NXT2 software and download a program, the NXT2 software will insist on upgrading the firmware of the brick to the NXT2 version.

4. The NXT1 software is not generally compatible with programs written for NXT2. Some very simple NXT2 programs can be loaded into NXT1 and compiled and uploaded to an NXT1 brick, but many cannot. Generally, you will be able to open and view the contents of NXT2 programs saved in the normal .rbt format in order to look at them, but don’t expect to be able to use them. NXT2 also includes a new .rbtx format saved by the new Pack-and-Go feature which is very useful because it includes MyBlocks, graphics, and sound files needed by the program, and is compressed and thus much more compact for all programs, but this format is not readable by NXT1 at all.

Conclusion and Recommendations

If you don’t have any NXT kit yet, and you can manage $360 (plus shipping and tax), the best thing to buy right now in my opinion is NXT2 plus the Education Resource Set (9648) from LEGO Education. NXT2 + 9648 is very close to being a superset of NXT1, so you have (almost) the best of both worlds. You will have NXT2 and everything it can do, you will have enough parts to build most models intended for NXT1 (from web/books/etc), and you will have a number of other cool misc. special parts as well. You will still be missing some NXT1 parts. Here is an analysis of the missing parts and suggestions for where to get them if necessary.

If you are new to NXT, want to spend less than $300, and want a set primarily to design and build your own projects, get NXT2.

Teachers and others that are dependent on existing instructions for NXT1 may want to stick with NXT1 (or the Education version of the NXT) for a while, then start saving money and putting together a plan for how to move to NXT2 later. Note that all of your NXT1 equipment will still be usable (bricks, motors, sensors, spare parts) when you transition/upgrade.

If you are new to NXT, have a budget of only $250 or so, want to be able to primarily build projects from existing instructions available on the web and books, and can’t wait, NXT1 is still available and is still a great kit. Then if and when you get an NXT2 set later, you can upgrade the firmware on your old brick and switch to the NXT2 software, and then you will have a great two-kit combination that will allow lots of interesting projects, including NXT-to-NXT Bluetooth projects.

For fans of existing project instructions, though, please also consider that LEGO has said that the mindstorms.com web site will be posting (free) instructions for several NXT2 projects in addition to the four that come with the NXT2 set. I will also be posting NXT2 projects to nxtprograms.com when and as time allows, and many other NXT2 users will start to post their projects to other places such as NXTLOG, and the variety will grow over time!

We grieve for Rick Siegrist

2009-07-07T06:05:00.005-05:00

We are shocked to hear that on Friday, 3rd of July, Rick Siegrist, who worked as Creative Lead on the NXT 2.0 project at LEGO® from June 2007 until October 2008, has passed away in a car accident in Michigan, USA while being on vacation with his family.

This tragic and untimely death leaves us and the complete NXT community behind with great sadness.

You might want to leave some comment in Rick's online obituary.

Black NXT Bargin!

2009-07-06T12:32:00.009-05:00

If you haven't seen it yet...you've been under a rock...and here's a tiny pic to drool over. If you're looking to buy but haven't grabbed yourself one of these nice looking 10 years of MINDSTORMS commemorative Black NXT Bricks...you're in luck! Amazon.com has reduced their price from $169.99 to $127.99 (USD) w/ free Super Saver shipping. That's a pretty good savings! Grab one if you dare.

New FLL team training product

2009-07-06T10:45:00.002-05:00

Marco over at robotmats.com is offering a new product for FLL teams - you can see a video and read more info at http://www.robotmats.com/site/index.htm

We'd love to hear some feedback about these mats - if anyone is interested in doing a product review, just email me or add a comment here and we'll be happy to post your review.

NXT 2.0 can be ordered now!

2009-07-03T06:35:00.006-05:00

The new LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 retail set can be ordered now from the offical LEGO Shop.
For some countries (including the USA), the site states that the set will be shipped on 1st of August, for others (UK or Germany, for instance), it's available immediately (some people here in Germany have reported to have received it already).

Fana'Briques 2009

2009-07-01T02:13:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, the annual Fana'Briques took place for the 3rd time in Rosheim, Alsace (France). It's the largest LEGO® in Central Europe, and this time, the topic was "LEGO® - Basketball". I have been there by myself as an exhibitor, alongside with two remotely controlled Basketball playing NXT robots (created from the new NXT 2.0 Set):

Fana'Briques 2009 was a great experience again and a tremendeous success.

LEGO officially anounces NXT 2.0

2009-06-29T14:24:00.006-05:00

More information and pictures are found on the MINDSTORMS news page and on the LEGO shop website.

MCP4 applications...

2009-06-28T17:44:00.001-05:00

Are You a Hardcore LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT User?

Do you want to have a seat in our closed web forum, the MINDSTORMS Community Partners, where we involve you in our development and tests of new ideas, concepts, prototypes, products and discuss various issues around our SW, HW, FW and wetware…?

Then send an application via email with a description of yourself, your involvement with LEGO MINDSTORMS, your special areas of interest, and a paragraph on why you are eligible to be an MCP member!

Send it to mindstormsnxt@lego.com with the header ‘MCP 4 application’.

Applications will be received from now and until 31 July 1200 GMT. All email applications received after this date will be rejected.

Applicants must be 18 years old to apply.

NXT 2.0 storage suggestion

2009-06-26T11:30:00.003-05:00

I was at Home Depot the other day and found this very nice 10 compartment storage box from Stanley for $10.00. You can add and remove any of the 10 yellow inserts to change the compartment sizes. Brick, Ultrasonic Sensor, two Touch Sensors and two motors not visible in box because they're in use ;) Everything fits nicely, though, when disassembled.

Raffle for Prizes

2009-06-25T06:50:00.002-05:00

It's a RAFFLE!

UPDATE: A few questions have come in that I'd like to respond quickly to - (1) LEGO would like to use the feedback you provide for internal and external use - anyone who has already submitted a writeup that would like to withdraw their submission, just email me. (2) Focus your writeup on LEGO MINDSTORMS, the robotics kit... consider including the current generation in your thoughts, and the impact on children and adults alike (and the world).

LEGO is interested in what you think about LEGO MINDSTORMS! Write up,
in 50 to 100 words (English please!) your thoughts on MINDSTORMS. You
can choose to write about what MINDSTORMS stands for, compare it to
other LEGO products, describe how you compare it to the vast array of
robotics kits on the market, or any other comments you'd like to share
with LEGO.

Two winners will be selected at random from all those who submit a
response. If more than 250 responses are received, the two winners
will each receive one of the new #8547 LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 robotics
kits. If between 200 and 249 responses are received, one winner will
receive a robot kit and the other will receive a Technic kit of LEGO's
choice. Less than 200 responses and each winner will receive a
Technic kit of LEGO's choosing.

Deadline to submit is August 10th, 2009 3pm Eastern Standard Time.

Email your submission (no attachments) to thenxtstep2009@gmail.com - the Subject line
must be "LEGO MINDSTORMS Raffle Entry"

Please include your first name (ONLY), gender, country, and age. The
NXT Step blog will NOT share your email address with LEGO. If you're
under the age of 18, please ask your parent or guardian for permission
to participate. Your email address will ONLY be used to contact you
if you are a winner. After the contest ends and the two winners are
notified, all emails will be deleted.

So, in a nutshell, here is a summary of the rules - so read them carefully!

1. Email a short response - plain text, no attachments - , 50 to 100 words, about LEGO MINDSTORMS.
(101 words? Delete!)
2. Subject line must be "LEGO MINDSTORMS Raffle Entry" (Subject
line "LEGO Raffle Entry"? Delete!)
3. Include First Name ONLY, gender, country, and age. Do NOT include
any additional personal information! ("Hi, Jim - I hope I win!"
Delete!)
4. Deadline is Aug 10, 2009 3pm EST. (email received August 10, 2009
3:10pm EST? Delete!)
5. Do not post your entry in the comments section - questions are
okay but may not receive an immediate response.

Any emails received that do no adhere to these rules will be deleted -
no reply will be sent. The NXT Step contributors are NOT allowed to
enter (sorry, folks!).

LEGO will be reading these! So be nice. Tell LEGO what you think.
Tell them about your thoughts about or experience with LEGO MINDSTORMS. You might win!

Good luck!~

Jim Kelly

Robot Idea

2009-06-24T08:58:00.001-05:00

I feel an idea coming on... has anyone strapped a 3.7HP airplane motor to an NXT yet? No? Time to go shopping...

http://www.crazybuilders.com/item.php?id=000015&type=project_section

New development product for NXT

2009-06-24T08:16:00.002-05:00

Received the following info from Matteo B. at AdaCore:

AdaCore is a provider of a development environment around the Ada programming language.

AdaCore has ported its compilation technology to target LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT.
This effort is purely oriented toward education (it is not a commercial product), and the whole technology is released with the GPL license. The toolset can be downloaded for free from our website.

If anyone downloads it and would like to provide some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

Jim

Hello Moon!

2009-06-23T08:49:00.002-05:00

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/lcross-lunar-swingby/index.html

NXT 2.0 Retail Kit - Robot Summary - Shooterbot

2009-06-23T08:14:00.003-05:00

One of the robots that you can build with the new NXT 2.0 kit is called ShooterBot - it uses the included Zamor Sphere shooter, the Ultrasonic Sensor, and the new Color Sensor. Add in using all 3 motors and the new rubber treads, and you've got a robot that you can program for all sorts of mischief.

Instructions for building ShooterBot are included in the NXT 2.0 kit's software - you can follow along with the instructions and create the more detailed program or use the nice new feature of simply clicking on the "sample program" icon to immediately have a smaller, simplified program ready for upload to your robot.

With the Ultrasonic Sensor added to the robot, your robot will scan its surroundings for any nearby "intruder" (less than 40cm). When it detects the object, it will emit a loud chirp (and the Color Sensor's LED will change colors) as a warning to back off! If the intruder is still there after a short pause, ShooterBot will let loose with the Zamor Spheres.

This robot has PLENTY of room for expansion, too - you've got two Touch Sensors included with the kit, which means you can add some additional protection to the robot - instead of waiting for the intruder to move, if a touch sensor is triggered, you could program the robot to immediately turn in the direction of the triggered Touch Sensor and begin shooting.

Other options include using the Color Sensor as a way to distinguish colored targets that you place around your room - have a friend build his/her own ShooterBot and have a contest to see who can find and knock over the most targets of a specific color.

ShooterBot is the first robot in the RoboCenter portion of the NXT-G software, but it may not be the first robot you build... other options include the RoboGator, Colour Sorter, and the new and improved Alpha Rex.

More details on these other NXT 2.0 kit robots coming soon...

Jim's Laptop Update

2009-06-22T09:18:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, June 10 - Laptop dies, approx 8am
Thursday, June 11 - no laptop, no Next Day Service that I purchased
Friday, June 12 - no laptop, switching to backup machine but it doesn't have all my software
Monday, June 15 - no laptop, replacement part arrives
Tuesday, June 16 - technician installs new part, laptop not working 1 hour later
Wednesday, June 17 - tech called and came out to try and fix laptop
Monday - June 22 - Dell laptop working.

Summary:

Next Day Service - very disappointed
Laptop Working - satisfied
Future Dell Customer? - unknown

More information on NXT 2.0

2009-06-19T12:38:00.005-05:00

This is the parts list inventory of the new set. Notice that the set also includes 4 wheels with tyres, even though the latter parts are not used in any of the set models.
The box includes more smaller beams than the old set, and the amount of length-15 beams is reduced to 2. However, you get a lot of other useful beams in return. Apart from new parts, some of the older parts have a different color.

Here's a more detailed picture of the back side of the box. Two new features of the software are shown here: Remote control (USB or BlueTooth) and the possibility to create custom sounds and image files for the NXT.

The box also promises 10 models with downloadable building instructions from mindstorms.com upon the set's release. Two of the models are shown here. One of them is a six legged Mantis, and the other one is a cool transforming robot.

This image is not very new, but it shows the color sensor functionality, with three separate functions:
- It can be used in Color Sensor Mode. Using the standard software, it can detect six color: black, white, red, green, blue and yellow
- It can be used in Lamp mode: It is possible to control the colored LED on the sensor, by setting it to either green, red or blue. In this mode, the light intensity would be just around the same brightness of the old Light Sensor.
- It can be used in Light Sensor Mode. In this mode, it acts just like the old light sensor: it returns a value from 0-100 where 0 is darkest, and 100 is brightest. In this mode, it is also possible to pick a desired LED color (again, red, blue or green).

(Information from the Junior Mindstorms Developer Program, JMDP)

Update on Jim's Laptop

2009-06-17T08:43:00.002-05:00

Well, Dell came out yesterday and replaced the video card... worked fine for 1 hour and then the screen started blinking on and off... after a few reboots, it boots up (I think) fine but nothing is displayed on the screen.

So, the scoreboard:

Wednesday, June 10 - Laptop dies, approx 8am
Thursday, June 11 - no laptop, no next-day-service that I purchased
Friday, June 12 - no laptop, switching to backup machine but it doesn't have all my software
Monday, June 15 - no laptop, replacement part arrives
Tuesday, June 16 - technician installs new part, laptop not working 1 hour later
Wednesday, June 17 - tech called and is scheduled to come out today...

5 full days of basically non-productivity - I've now crossed over the $2000 lost billable hours line... behind schedule on 3 chapters for one book (give you a guess as to which book) and behind 1 chapter for a second book.

Dell - my backup PC is being transitioned to the controlling computer for my CNC machine tomorrow. How about sending me one of those $400 to $500 desktop units as a replacement and as compensation for my lost time/revenue (or send my wife one of your netbooks - either solution works for me) and let's put this to rest and get back to work?

NXT Sequencer

2009-06-17T06:35:00.005-05:00

One things I'm always keen to explore is the use of MINDSTORMS in ways that are not immediately obvious. I was lucky enough to have the chance to play with the new colour sensor that will ship with the 2.0 kit and came up with this little music sequencer.

Each coloured ball represents a different note. As the colour sensor passes over the top, the note assigned is played. Different rhythms are possible by placing the zamor spheres in different places on the holder.

Inspiration for this came from the BeatBearing project. http://www.beatbearing.co.uk/

--
Damien Kee

Update - Books, Computer, Life

2009-06-16T10:03:00.002-05:00

A few things to report:

1. Books - "The King's Treasure" is moving forward... slowly but surely. It's for the 2.0 kit, so I'm still wondering how 1.0 owners are going to be able to build these robots, but I'm working on it. One idea is for LEGO to do something similar to the Mayan Parts Pack that allowed NXT Education Kit owners to build the robots... another idea is to try and find a Bricklink partner who can package the missing pieces...

2. In addition to the King's Treasure book, I'm also working on another book that may be of interest to some of you - "Build Your Own CNC Machine" - due out around Oct/Nov 2009. Yes, your very own CNC machine... it can do wood, plastic, metal... the book will walk you through cutting, drilling, and all the other stuff necessary to build a working machine (2 feet x 4 feet work surface~!). I'm sure a lot of you can think of ways to use the CNC machine to enhance your robot building :)

3. Laptop - a technician showed up today and got my laptop up and running. Yay. Now I'm goign to wait and see what Dell does to make me a happy customer. Not only did I pay the extra $150 for next-day business service, but I also lost 4 days of work (2 actually since I was able to use a backup PC to do some stuff, not all)... all in all, I figure I've lost about $400 in billable hours plus the $150 extended warranty payment which didn't deliver as promised. I've got to reallocate my destkop PC as the controller PC for my CNC machine, so it's going out to the workshop - now I need a new destkop... nothing super-powered... just a good solid desktop... how about it Dell? A $400 to $500 desktop in exchange for holding onto a long-term customer? I'll keep you informed.

I am glad to be back to writing...

Jim

The NXT on Java One

2009-06-16T02:24:00.005-05:00

As most of you might know already, leJOS is an Open Source project that provides a Java platform for the NXT. On JavaOne, World's largest Java conference that took place at beginning of June again in San Francisco, there also was a presentation by two members of the leJOS project that was very well attended and met:

The slides of the presentation can be found here.

NXT 2.0 One Kit Creatures

2009-06-14T16:11:00.006-05:00

By Fay Rhodes with Dave Parker

Full-color book coming October 2009

Nine animal models, with free programs available for download.

All models built using the new NXT 2.0 kit.

Pictures and videos available soon.

(Cover photo of an NXT polar bear by Dave Parker)