3D Scanner

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

This nice project by bk8190 scan in three-dimensions a design made out of lego blocks. It scans by positioning its probe above the apropriate block, then reading how many times it is able to lower the probe before it is stopped by a block. The scanner outputs the data into a text file, so that it can be used in other programs.

Nice work!

Posted in news | No Comments »

3rd NXTLOG Building Challenge Winners

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

NXTLog announced the winners of their 3rd building challenge! See the details here.

Posted in news | No Comments »

KILO: Instructions for a holonomic robot

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Hello all. I’ve finally finished a building guide and instructions for KILO, a holonomic Killough-platform robot. You can find video of KILO in action here, and the building guide is here.

For anyone who doesn’t know; “holonomic” means the robot doesn’t have to turn its body to change direction, and a “Killough-platform” is named after the creator of a robot design which used special wheels which can move freely in different directions.

There are a good few of this type of robot out there, but personally I’ll give a tip o’ the hat to Philo’s Rama and Steve H’s Omni for initial inspiration, and a nod and a wink to billy259 and GhostInside’s nxtlog projects. I think KILO is different enough to merit posting about, and I’ve not found any other instructions for this kind of robot online.

If you build KILO then please let me know how you get on…

Posted in news | 4 Comments »

Two new contributers to NXTasy.org!

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

NXTasy.org welcomes two new contributers - Paul Tingey and Rod Gillies.

A few words of intro by Paul:

Paul is a software developer from London, UK. Originally a Lego fan from many years ago, he rekindled his passion with the introduction of Mindstorms NXT. His interests lie in all aspects of NXT development - software (RobotC, LabView), firmware, electronics, CAD (Google sketchup) and mechanical design. Paul’s recent project’s include - Wii-Like controller, NXTShot, OneMotorNXT and some new sensor development (shhh - it’s still under wraps). Pictures & videos of his projects can be seen at - http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.tingey

A few words by Rod:

Hello. I’m 37 years old, working in marketing and living in Edinburgh. Although I only recently got myself a Mindstorms kit, I’ve always loved Lego, particularly Technic. Despite an educational background in computers, my robots tend to be about the construction rather than the programming. I am trying to get more instructions and building guides out there, especially for younger builders - I think we sometimes forget
how intimidating building can be for less-experienced builders once they start to move beyond the stuff in the box.

Rod also has some great constructions on his own blog.

Welcome aboard!

Posted in nxtasy, news | No Comments »

NXT Gyro released

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

HiTechnic released the Gyro sensor! See it here.

Posted in hardware, news | No Comments »

Another RFID sensor

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

User RFID has made public a design project report he made in univ. of San Diego describing construction of RFID sensor and assosiated NXT-G blocks. See it here.

Posted in hardware, news | No Comments »