More NXT servo
Monday, April 7th, 2008
A few days ago I wrote about LatteBox servo controller. Today I found that Mindsensors.com is also working on a 8 servo controller. Not so many details yet, but I’ll post more when I get any.
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NXTCam videos
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008Here are a couple of good videos showing the mindsensors NXTCam in action. The first is an instructional video from markr showing how the NXTCam can be used in Line Tracking mode.
The second and third videos are from zeroqnaga showing a pair of robots. One robot is equipped with a NXTCam which is used to track and follow the other robot. First by day, then by night!
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NXT-compatible infrared/ultrasonic beacon system
Monday, March 17th, 2008We brought our old RCX-beacon system to the NXT level. Please consult
http://www.convict.lu/htm/rob/ir_us.htm
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RCX sensor multiplexer for NXT
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Mindsensors.com is now selling this multiplexer, allowing connection of 4 RCX style sensor to one NXT port.
RXMux supports following sensors:
RCX Touch Sensor
RCX Light Sensor
RCX Rotation Sensor
RCX Temperature Sensor
More details can be found here.
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Multi-Sensitivity Acceleration Sensor for NXT
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Mindsensors.com announced a new multi-range acceleration sensor for the NXT. It’s a three axis sensor with program-selectable range of 2.5G, 3.3G, 6.7G, 10.0G. More details here.
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RFID sensor for NXT
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
A few people in the past have made RFID sensors for the NXT. At last, there’s an “official” third party product for those of less technical capabilities… LEGO has announced yesturday an official partnership with Codatex producing the NXT RFID Sensor seen in the above image. Some technical features frm Codatex website:
- Reads 125 kHZ transponders of type EM4102
- 5 bytes number, i.e. 240 combinations (i.e. 1.099.511.627.775 numbers)
- The reader has three modes of reading: Single read, Continuous read, Stop
- Reading distance up to 3 cm depending on transponder size and orientation
- Transparent front cap with LED signal at detection of a transponder
- Auto power off for saving battery power
- Firmware upgrade feature for future enhancements (saving hardware cost)
I’ve had a prototype of this sensor for some time, and it work very nicely - provided you place it close enough to the RFID tag and at the correct angle (RFID uses radio frequency, and the antenna has well defined spatial response). The package would contain a sensor and two tags, with holes matching Technic pegs. More details are found here.
Guy Ziv
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New HiTechnic Prototype Baord
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
HiTechnic released their ‘Prototype board’. The Prototype board is available in two models, one with a prototype grid to solder your designs creating a permanent sensor or device interface and the solderless design that plugs into a solderless breadboard so you can quickly create many designs and reuse your electronic components. They also have a Prototype Kit which includes jumper wires and a breadboard.
What can you do with this? Well, even without exensive knowledge in electronics you can build your own sensors for NXT. The board has 5 analog inputs (i.e. the NXT will read a numeric value proportional to the voltage on these pins) and 6 digital pins which may be inputs (e.g. switchs) or outputs (e.g. LEDs). Also, you have 9v, 4.3v, 5v and 3.3v power supply wires.
Take a look at HiTechnic website for more details.
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Thursday, October 18th, 2007
I just posted a writeup on an IR Link that allows the NXT to send commands to the Power-Functions receiver (the commands tell the receiver to turn the Power Functions motors on and off) and to receive commands from the Power-Functions remote control. The device can keep sending a “turn on” command to the Power-Functions receiver repeatedly on its own, thereby keeping the motor on without requiring further NXT communications. You can buy such devices from both HiTechnic and Mindsensors, but it was fun to build one. Some of the interesting aspects of this project are:
- Deciphering the Power-Functions communications protocol,
- Using an external AVR microcontroller with the NXT, and
- Automatic configuration of the I2C pull-up resistors.
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Mindsensors.com Camera for NXT
Monday, October 1st, 2007
Andy pointed out that mindsensors.com accepts orders for the new camera sensor for NXT, shipping at October 12th. More details can be read here.
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Vernier and NXT
Friday, September 21st, 2007With the coming release of their NXT adaptor, Vernier put online an impressive webpage http://www.vernier.com/nxt/ with links, NXT-G block and information on sensors the new adaptor works with. These includes:
25-g Accelerometer
Barometer
Charge Sensor
Colorimeter
Conductivity Probe
Current Probe
Differential Voltage Probe
Dissolved Oxygen Sensor
Dual-Range Force Sensor
Electrode Amplifier
Extra Long Temperature Probe
Flow Rate Sensor
Force Plate
Gas Pressure Sensor
Hand Dynamometer
Instrumentation Amplifier
Light Sensor
Low-g Accelerometer
Magnetic Field Sensor
O2 Gas Sensor
ORP Sensor
pH Sensor
Relative Humidity Sensor
Salinity Sensor
Soil Moisture Sensor
Sound Level Meter
Stainless Steel Temperature Probe
Surface Temperature Sensor
Thermocouple
Turbidity Sensor
UVA Sensor
UVB Sensor
An impressive list, isn’t it?
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Friday, August 17th, 2007
Ian Ahrris kindly pointed me to his website describing ready-made expension IO cards by Futurlec, which can be (rather easiliy) integrated into the NXT. These commercially available boards include a 7-segment display (image above) and an 8 LED output board.
Thanks Ian!
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NXT Gyro released
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007HiTechnic released the Gyro sensor! See it here.
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