Fixed-Point NXT-G Block
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
As you all probably know, the NXT firmware does not have built-in support for non-integer numbers. I’ve built an NXT-G block which allows working with non-integers using “fixed-point” representation. I did not have time to thoroughly test and document the block as I plan to before an official release. If you like to get this block for testing and review email me guy@nxtasy.org.
UPDATE: Here’s a nice written review and code samples by Louise Dade.
Posted in personal, news, software | 32 Comments »
NXT-G blocks for Mindsensors.com products
Monday, February 5th, 2007Mindsensors.com has started a repository for NXT-G blocks. These blocks allow NXT users having mindsensors.com PSPNx PS2 controller interface sensor, or the mindsensors motor multiplexer, to use these devices in NXT-G. The blocks are available for download here.
Posted in hardware, news, software | 10 Comments »
Compiler optimizations in NXT-G
Sunday, January 7th, 2007Having published my “Template VI Library Block” I received an email from NI, explaining how a similar code optimization can be done in a more “regular” fashion:
Consider a program/block diagram which has a “switch” (i.e. a case structure) and each case performs a different task. The compiler decides whether to include in the final program all case diagrams if, and only if, the case structure selection input is connected to a control and this control is wired to a terminal in the Implementation VI connector pane (and thus will have a drawer terminal in the NXT-G IDE).
One the other hand, if you wire a constant to the case structure selection input, or wire a control which is not connected to a connector (and thus not accessible in NXT-G drawer) - the compiler will add only the relevant piece of code into the final program file.
Having published this, I still find my block useful as it makes adding functions easier, and automatically shows the the right description in the control panel.
Posted in news, software | 2 Comments »
RobotC Available for Purchase from LEGO!
Sunday, January 7th, 2007
Hot new! The attached image is taken from the most recent LEGO Education catalog (North America). It’s currently being sent to people on Lego’s mailing list. As you can read, RobotC is available for purchase from LEGO and is branded as a LEGO Education product!
In case you don’t know - RobotC is an alternative programming platform for NXT and RCX. It is a C-based programming language (with some C++ extensions). It was design by Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy, and been freely availalble as time-limited beta for quite some time. It is now sold as a LEGO Educational product for $49 (Single Copy). I’ve heard that a direct download option will be available soon from CMU, hopefully for somewhat cheap price.
Posted in development, firmware, news, software | 9 Comments »
Bigger Font for NXT LCD Display
Saturday, January 6th, 2007The standard font for the NXT is 6W x 8H pixels per character. The RobotC development system now supports a larger font where characters are 12W x 16H. Here’a a photo of the NXT LCD comparing the standard and expanded font sizes.
The font file was developed by Jason Rail…. Thanks.
Posted in general, hardware, firmware, news, software | No Comments »
PSP-Nx Block example
Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
I was asked for a simple PSP-Nx sample program. Since this may be of common interest, I post it here. As you can see from the image the program is trivial, controlling motor B and C using the two joysticks Y axis. You can download the .rbt file here.
Posted in projects, news, software | 52 Comments »
Now Available - Microsoft Robotics Studio v1.0
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
Microsoft has released the first version of Robotics Studio!
New since November’s CTP:
Security Support
Security is now fully implemented and turned on by default. It is fully functional for HTTP and TCP transports.
Simulation Scenario Editing
We have added an interface for editing entities and creating scenarios scenes (configurations) directly from the Visual Simulation Environment. Now you can easily select, reposition, rotate, or add entities.
More Documentation and Tutorials
We’ve revised and added more documentation. We’ve also added some new tutorials, including tutorial demonstrating a fully distributed application and a Visual Programming Language tutorial that demonstrates how to use it to program simulated robots.
Visual Programming Language Configuration of Services
You can now configure the services you use in VPL directly or by using another service. This is in addition to using manifests. VPL now enables you to compile your project and any related, user-defined activities as services. This means you can create your own add-on services for use with VPL or other programming languages. An option even enables you to generate a C# project.
Services Improvements
We improved a lot of our sample services and their XSLTs.
Posted in development, news, software | 2 Comments »