The LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 discovery book : a beginner's guide to building and programming robots

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Valk, Laurens, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Robots--Design and construction--Popular works.

Robots--Programming--Popular works.

LEGO Mindstorms toys.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 297 p.) : ill.

Edition:

1st edition

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] No Starch Press 2010

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"From the creative mind of author, robotics instructor, and frequent NXT Step Blog contributor Laurens Valk, The LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 Discovery Book is packed with building and programming instructions for eight innovative robots"--Resource description page.

Contents:

cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

about the author

about the technical reviewer

brief contents

contents in detail

acknowledgments

introduction

why this book?

is this book for you?

how does this book work?

the discoveries

what to expect in each chapter

part I: getting started

part II: building and programming robots with sensors

part III: creating advanced programs

part IV: advanced robot projects

getting help: the companion website

conclusion

PART I getting started

1 collecting the equipment for your robot

what's in the box

the NXT brick

the NXT-G programming software

installing the software

the test pad

inserting batteries

2 building your first robot

building the explorer

building tip: beams and axles

building tip: friction and nonfriction pins

connecting the cables

using the NXT buttons to navigate on the NXT brick

turning on the brick

selecting and choosing items

turning off the brick

running a program

3 creating and modifying programs

a quick first program

creating a basic program

1. programming palette

2. work area

moving and deleting blocks

3. start area

4. NXT controller

downloading and running a program

manually running a program

downloading a program without running it

using Bluetooth to download programs to the NXT

working with the NXT-G software

5. configuration panel

6. little help window

7. program navigation bar

8. toolbar

managing programs

modifying programs

using the pointer, pan, and comment tools

9. robo center

controlling the robot remotely

4 working with programming blocks: move, sound, and display

what do programming blocks do?

using blocks to create programs

using different programming blocks.

the move block

seeing the move block in action

understanding the configuration panel

port

direction

steering

power

duration

next action

understanding the configuration icons

making accurate turns

the sound block

understanding the sound block configurations

action

control

volume

function

file

note

wait

seeing the sound block in action

understanding the explorer-sound program

the display block

understanding the display block configurations

display

displaying images

displaying text

displaying drawings

seeing the display block in action

understanding the explorer-display program

further exploration

5 waiting, repeating, and other programming techniques

the wait block

understanding the wait block settings

seeing the wait block in action

understanding the explorer-wait program

more on the move block: moving unlimited

the unlimited option

the duration unlimited setting in action

understanding the explorer-unlimited program

problems with moving unlimited

the loop block

using the loop block

understanding the loop block settings

seeing the loop block in action

using loop blocks within loop blocks

making your own blocks: the my block

creating my blocks

using my blocks in programs

editing my blocks

parallel sequences of blocks

using parallel sequences in a program

PART II building and programming robots with sensors

6 understanding sensors

what are sensors?

understanding the sensors in the NXT 2.0 kit

understanding the ultrasonic sensor

creating the ultrasonic sensor attachment

polling sensors

programming with sensors

sensors and the wait block

using the configuration panel

seeing the sensors and the wait block in action.

avoiding walls with the ultrasonic sensor

sensors and the loop block

seeing the sensors and the loop block in action

sensors and the switch block

configuring a switch block

seeing the switch block in action

adding blocks to a switch block

using the flat view option

repeating switches

7 using the touch, color, and rotation sensors

the touch sensor

creating the bumper attachment with touch sensors

programming with the touch sensor

creating a test program for the touch sensor

avoiding walls with touch sensors

creating the discovery-bumper program

the color sensor

creating the color sensor attachment

using the view mode to poll the color sensor

programming with the color sensor

staying inside a colored line

following a line

using the NXT buttons as sensors

the rotation sensors

using the view mode to poll the rotation sensor

making programs with rotation sensors

resetting the rotation sensor

8 shot-roller: a robotic defense system

building the shot-roller

programming the shot-roller

the complete palette

the color lamp block

the motor block

using the control motor power option

autonomous mode

creating the program

light sensor mode

defending a territory with the shot-roller

troubleshooting your program

remote-control mode

9 strider: the six-legged walking creature

building strider

connecting the sensor cables

understanding strider's walking technique

programming strider

creating the walk-forward my block

creating the walk-left and walk-right my blocks

using the my blocks in an interactive program

creating the scared strider program

polling sensors with feedback boxes.

setting thresholds

PART III creating advanced programs

10 using data hubs and data wires

building SmartBot

a program to get started with data wires

understanding the sample program

how do data hubs and data wires work?

creating a second example program with data wires and data hubs

using data plugs: input and output

block configurations when using data wires

deleting data wires

sensor blocks

configuring a sensor block

configuring a touch sensor block

configuring a color sensor block

configuring a rotation sensor block

data wire types

the number data wire

the logic data wire

seeing a logic data wire in action

the text data wire

displaying values with the number to text block

the broken data wire

multiple data wire connections

connecting multiple wires to different plugs

connecting multiple wires to one data plug

using settings with both input and output plugs

using help for data plugs

tips for managing data wires

hiding unused data plugs

using data wires across your program

11 using data blocks and using data wires with loops and switches

data blocks

the math block

using the math block in a more advanced program

the random block

the compare block

the logic block

logic operations

not operation

switch blocks and data wires

configuring switch blocks with data wires

using number and text data wires and switch blocks

connecting data wires to inside switch blocks

loop blocks and data wires

12 using variables, constants, and playing games on the NXT

using variables

defining a variable

using the variable block

creating a program with a variable

changing variable values

initializing variables

using constants.

using the constant block

creating a program with constants

playing a game on the NXT

defining the variables

step 1: displaying a target randomly

step 2: waiting until a button is pressed

step 3: storing which button is pressed

step 4: comparing the position and button variables

step 5: adjusting the score

step 6: displaying the current score

step 7: making the program repeat for 30 seconds

expanding the program

PART IV advanced robot projects

13 snatcher: the autonomous robotic arm

understanding the grabber

the grabbing mechanism

the lifting mechanism

building the snatcher

creating objects

programming the snatcher

creating the my blocks

my block #1: grab

my block #2: release

my block #3: find object

my block #4: move closer

my block #5: say color

creating the final program

troubleshooting the snatcher

14 hybrid brick sorter: sort bricks by color and size

understanding the sorting technique

the driving module

the scanning module

identifying a brick's size

building the hybrid brick sorter

finding bricks to use with your sorter

finding buckets

programming the hybrid brick sorter

my block #1: reset sorter

my block #2: drop brick

step 1: getting the brick's size

step 2: checking where there is a brick to sort

step 3: calculating the position of a bucket

step 4: dropping a brick in the right bucket

15 CCC: the compact chimney climber

understanding the climbing technique

staying balanced on the x-axis

balancing on the y-axis

detecting balance errors

solving balance errors

building the compact chimney climber

preparing a chimney.

programming the compact chimney climber.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781593274535

159327453X

OCLC:

1159164726