BlueToothKiwi - Blog of a LEGO MINDSTORMS MCP: Helping people Build and program robots that do what we want

Two great Robotic events in NZ!!

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:46:00 PDT

If you are in New Zealand and of school age and have access to a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit, then this should be of interest to you:

There are two robotic events coming up - First one is this Saturday:

The teams will be competing for trophies in Robot Rescue, Robot Dance and Robot Soccer.

More details (including registration info / costs etc.) in here.

I spoke to Mildie Meyer-Els from Toshiba (sponsor) – who has been working really hard getting everything organised. She is expecting big things this year. With over 100 teams competing on the day (of which 55 will be competing for the Auckland titles and the rest competing against the Auckland winners for the national Competition in the afternoon), this should be an exciting event tomorrow. I will certainly be there – feel free to twitter me at the event if you want to meet up.

The second one is still three months away -

but if you are interested you should register ASAP: FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is quite a well known robotics competition held in the U.S, and many international teams compete every year. However, this is the first time schools (and individuals 9-16) can take part in FLL in NZ.

More details (including registration info / costs etc.) in here. I spoke to Jason Kyle from Kiwi FIRST who is organising this pilot event. They are expecting about 24 teams working on challenges that transform the way we look at transportation. Jason told me that the trust has made available some loan MINDSTORMS NXT 9797 sets for schools that are new to robotics. They have also structured the fees differently from other parts of the world to make it more affordable for schools with multiple teams from same school who can practice with the same challenge set.

I hear Geekzoners outside Auckland screaming "what about us?":

For the Robocup the regional finals (in Wanganui, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago) are already complete and the winners from each event will be competing on Saturday in the above event in the afternoon.

For the FLL, Kiwi First Pilot runs only in Auckland this year. However, if you are in the provinces and interested in taking part next year, get in touch with Jason via the kiwifirst.org web site – so events can be planned accordingly.

So if you are in NZ, and you are into NXT robotics - please get involved: If you are of school age, you can talk to your school about taking part (if you are not already). If you are an adult, consider volunteering to do some mentoring with the kids and help out with your local schools. Trust me - it is great fun!

Tim

Do you want to win $30 million from Google?

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:54:00 PDT

We all seen the Google Lunar X PRIZE $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. It is really exciting. But are we in with a chance?

To win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a team must create a rocket to take us to the moon, a craft to navigate on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a "Mooncast", back to Earth. Additional tasks includes imaging man made artefacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and surviving through a frigid lunar night!

The problem with this competition is that most ordinary people here in NZ don’t have the deep pockets and the access to technology to actually put together something like this to win this challenge.

So my kids and I were delighted when X PRIZE Foundation, Google and LEGO announced the new Moonbots challenge on Friday. The new contest will challenge small teams comprised of children and adults to design, program, and construct robots that perform simulated lunar missions similar to those required to win the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE.

First my children and I set up a team and started work on our first prototype. The first attempt was very encouraging – we managed to create an autonomous robot that can roam around inside a crater of the moon without hitting the edges of the crater. [We used our pool to do the testing].

Here is the video of our first attempt:

I will keep you all posted as me and the kids work on this and the design evolve in the coming weekends. In the mean time, subscribe to http://www.moonbots.org to be notified when the contest officially begins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgstIKqqWbQ

If you want to enter, click here:

New Robotics Kit from LEGO MINDSTORMS

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:49:00 PDT

Couple of months ago I blogged about the new LEGO MINDSTORMS kit production line - including some rare pictures of the NXT kits being boxed for the August 1st launch.
Next week, LEGO officially launches the new version of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT.

For me personally, this is exciting news. I am one of the handful of LEGO MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP) from around the world (and the only one from New Zealand!). The MCP's have been involved in the development cycle of the NXT 2.0 right from the start, and have been instrumental in helping LEGO define many of the features LEGO have added to the product.

More on how YOU can also become an MCP and help LEGO with the future of NXT robotics later in the post below....

More about the New LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0

I made this video (with the help of my two year old) of the new kit in action which pretty much sums up what you can do with the new Robotics kit:

Click below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGkEIRii3qk

The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT 2.0 set has a bigger and revised element assortment of 619 elements, 16 building and programming challenges for 4 new fun and action-packed robotic models complete with building instructions [plus 10 more you can download shortly]

The new hardware mix consist of an NXT micro-controller, 3 Interactive Servo Motors – with built-in Rotation Sensors, 1 Ultrasonic Sensor, 2 Touch Sensors and the new Colour Sensor with triple functionality; it acts a Colour Sensor – detecting different colours, as a Light Sensor – seeing different light intensities and also works as a Colour Lamp.

Among the new software features there will be applications that makes it possible to make your robot display the images and play the sounds you want it to! There is also a Remote control application that allows for instant and direct control of your robot without any special programming needed.

Where can you get a NXT MINDSTORMS NXT from NZ?

The #8547 NXT 2.0 has just gone on sale at the LEGO Shop @ Home web site for you to pre-order. It cost NZ $499.99 plus shipping (about 8 -18 days depending on how much you are prepared to pay for shipping) – and have the brag factor of owning it before all your friends buy it from the shops in NZ in September.

The other outlets (e.g. amazon.com / tru.com) sell it for US$279 – but they don’t ship to NZ.

Or you can wait till September and get it from the main LEGO TECHNIC retailers such as ToyWorld and save the shipping fees.

How you can become a LEGO® MINDSTORMS®Community partner?

Are You a Hardcore LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT User? Are you interested in robotics?

Do you want to have a seat in LEGO’s closed web forum, the MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP), where LEGO® will involve you in their development and tests of new ideas, concepts, prototypes, products and discuss various issues around NXT 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.

Good luck and let me know how you get on with the new kit purchase (or the MCP application).

The new 'V' energy drink Advert with Monster truck - And how to make your own

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:42:00 PST

If you been watching the TV over the last few days, you would have spotted the new 'V' advert featuring a monster truck. The whole thing is done very cleverly: It starts off with an amateurish cameraman filming his two mates finding an unattended monster truck (+ remote) with a big 'V' bottle strapped to it (yeap! - a hidden message to Red Bull drinkers). They turn on the remote and try to figure it out and in the process destroy a car in the Mitre 10 car park in Wanaka.

Monster truck from the 'V' energy drink advert

Video of my NXT monster truck

The complete video, done with Windows Moviemaker style editing to give an impression that it was done with a mobile phone even mimicking the shakes and the amateurish titles.

The advert has a URL link which takes you to a blog which is a centerpiece of a cleverly executed viral marketing type campaign that is going to run by itself once a critical mass of people have seen it on TV, and people start sending the link of the YouTube video.

But I am pretty impressed by the whole thing - it pretty much tunes into its target market.

But being a geek dad, what impressed me even more is the concept of the Monster truck itself.

Would n't it be cool to build your own monster truck?

That is what I did over the weekend. Inspired by the advert, I decided to build a remote controlled monster truck robot:
The picture on the left is the real remote controlled monster truck from the advert, and the one on the right is the NXT version !

The only thing the NXT is doing in the truck is to provide power to the motors and act as a Bluetooth receiver for my my mobile phone I was using to control the robot!

To get the real feel of a Monster truck, I used 4 TECHNIC tractor wheels, and 4 PF-XL motors.

With 4 direct drive wheels, the vehicle can handle any terrain. The giant tractor wheels are amazing - it is great to watch it climb over rocks, mud and ride through long grass - that normal NXT robots struggle with.

Check out the video ...
Video of the NXT monster truck

In the coming weeks, I will be extending this vehicle with more autonomy, more features .....

Making your own Wall-e with a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:05:00 PDT

This weekend many people would be able to see the Disney Pixar film Wall-e in Europe and USA. The film about a robot that falls in love is one of the most creative to come out of the Disney-Pixar studio for a while.

To mark the release of the film, the oficial web site has a 'Build your own robot' section where you get to choose the looks / behavour / mobility etc.

And of course, if you got a NXT - you dont need to go to a web site to design a virtual robot. You can of course build your own real Wall-e! Well almost!! To get you started, here is some inspiration. This version, designed about a year ago was based on a leaked picture of the robot and it won one of the NXTLog building challenges last year. We had a lot of fun creating it - it can be built with the components from one NXT retail kit and one 2007 TECHNIC Bulldozer kit. If you want instructions on how to build it, check out the NXTLog instructions here.

Sumo Robot Contest [Including How To Videos]

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:02:00 PST

As you wind down this Friday afternoon and thinking what to do over the weekend.... Have you ever considered building a robot and entering a Sumo robot contest? It is a great fun for both adults and children.

Robot sumo is one of the fastest growing sports around. Now if you own a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, you can join in as well:

The rules are simple - you need to build an autonomous robot that will fight with another robot. The objective is to push the opponent out of the ring or somehow disable the opponent by flipping or toppling him/her in the ring.

Well the nice folks at LEGO NXTLOG team together with some robotic enthusiasts from around the world has come up with a great idea: They are running a building challenge where MINDSTORMS NXT owners can design and submit a LEGO Sumo robot that could actually compete in a LEGO Sumo match.

And here is a twist: A panel of MINDSTORMS experts will build a select number of finalists. The finalist robots will compete in an exclusive LEGO Sumo match run by the MINDSTORMS experts. The NXT Sumo robot that wins the most rounds in the match will be declared the winner of the MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo Competition.

Unfortunately the deadline is this weekend. If you want to know the details of the Rules � here it is: Sumo Rules

To get started I have got some great guides:

(1) How to make a Sumo robot:
Checkout my guide in the LEGO web site that walks you through the five steps in creating your own Sumo robot

Building a Sumo robot

(2) How to make a Sumo ring Checkout my guide on how to build a simple Sumo ring so you can test your robot at home.

Building a Sumo Ring

(3) How to submit your entry

You got until Sunday morning NZ time to enter your robot.

Submitting your entry
If you are interested in setting up a local Sumo event in New Zealand, checkout this thread
If you want some inspiration, here is a fantastic video I did of Sumo robots that me and my children built fighting against each other. Are you up for it?

New Zealand YouTube Channel - and what difference it makes to videos posted from NZ

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:33:00 PST

You might have read about the new New Zealand channel for YouTube a couple of weeks ago in Geekzone.

Yesterday, I posted my first video since the channel launch. I was trying to figure out the value proposition of a new localised channel - both for the publisher of video content and for the consumer. I am still not sure if I get it from the point of view of the consumer of the content .

However, as a publisher, the difference is pretty easy to spot:

Within 24 hours of publishing the video, I see my video has 23 honours (including four #1 placements in various categories) !! I never used to get any placement in any honour list before the localisation.

Although it is nice - it makes me realize a few things about NZ Youtube content publishers.

What do you think? - Are you using the localised page or the normal global one? Have you found any difference to the page views you get after the localisation of your videos you posted?

Tim

Helen Clarke, Fireworks ban and how robots will save the day

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:54:00 PST

If you been following the news during the last couple of days, you would have heard Helen Clark's warning that this year could be the last for fireworks at home. Yesterday Ms Clarke also complained about not being able to sleep in her home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Eden - where she has likened the noise to war-torn Afghanistan.

So - I been working hard on Guy Fawkes day to come up with a solution: This is the autonomous robot so Helen Clarke can sleep at night again without having to worry about fireworks maiming, injuring and killing the person igniting fireworks.

Using a few LEGO pieces this robot creation would eliminate the need for family members to go close to the fireworks to light it: This autonomous NXT robot will light multiple fireworks in a sequence - while the family sits back and watch the display!!

It uses LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, two NXT light sensors (one for navigation and other to detect when the fuse is lit so it can clear away from the fireworks). It also has an Ultrasonic detector (to adjust the torch arm height depending on the height of the fireworks fuse wire). It uses three motors - two for motion and the third to control the height of the torch arm.

Tim

Robotized bulldozer

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:28:00 PDT

What do you get when you cross a LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT with the new LEGO® TECHNIC 8275 bulldozer that has just hit the market?

This is it!!

It is a totally autonomous robotic bulldozer! The PF motors are totally controlled by the NXT via infrared signals.

The new HiTechnic 'Infrared Link' (or IR-Link) sensor adds the Infrared communication capability to the MINDSTORMS NXT.

You can see it scanning the environment with the Ultrasonic sensors and then flattening anything in its path using the Ripper and the blade .. checkout the following video :

What on earth is this?

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:23:00 PDT

What on earth is this?

It was last spotted on a North Shore beach near Auckland over the weekend .... And what is that Windows Mobile Device doing on it?.

Click here for answers....

Tim

A floating robot to destroy bugs in swimming pools

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:11:00 PDT

If you live in New Zealand and own a swimming pool, you might have noticed a large presence of floating bugs in your pool after the recent rain. My children and I designed a floating robot to combat these bugs in recent weeks.

The robot, called SPIT (Swimming Pool Insect Terminator) is a special self powered autonamous floating robot that locates and destroys small clusters of bugs that float on the top of swimming pools.
We used LEGO MINDSTORMS to build this. LEGO TECHNIC wheels are used as floats. The only non TECHNIC part that was used in this project is a can of inspect spray.
The robot uses the light sensor to detect the presence of insect cluster while the Ultrasonic sensor is used to avoid bumping into the side of the pool by telling the steering motor to turn. When the Light sensor detects a cluster of bugs it tells a motor to push the button on a can of Insect spray. Another motor is used to power the SPIT forward.

This is probably one of the hardest robots to design / construct and test as the water can damage the electronics very easilly. But we did it in the end and it actually worked!

If you want to see how to design your own SPIT, click here and follow the instructions and watch a video. All you need is a LEGO MINDSTORMS box and a can of insect spray.

If you got comments or suggestions for future projects, why not leave a comment below - Love to hear from you:

<<Read the full post>>

Atlast!! A new Geekzone forum for Robotics and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT !!

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:04:00 PDT

Avid Geekzone forum users would have noticed that there is a new forum in Geekzone.

It has just been created and it is currently empty!

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=73

LEGO MINDSTORMS has been one of the geekiest and coolest toys many adults (and teenagers) have been playing with since its introduction late last year. The microprocessor (NXT) is so easy to integrate with – whether it is via USB or Blue tooth. Robots are so easy to build using the LEGO TECHNIC bits it comes with – whether it is a humanoid that moves with two legs, an animatronics robot, or a vehicle. It comes with three servo motors, and heaps of gears and stuff. It also comes with some cool sensors – an ultra sonic sensor / sound sensor / light sensor / touch sensor etc. You can also buy new compass sensor, infra-red sensor, colour sensor and gyro sensor made by HiTechnic and sold by LEGO. There will be more sensor coming soon - which I can’t talk about yet. Please keep checking this blogs in coming months for more information on cool emerging sensors.

Why not use the new forum to tell us about your experience with the MINDSTORMS NXT? What is your coolest robot creation? What is the hardest thing that you ever had to do with the NXT? Have you tried to control the robot using your mobile phone / Windows Mobile using Bluetooth?

We love to hear from you!

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT - pick up a half price bargain today at DSE

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:15:00 PDT

Hi everyone,

Atlast here is my first proper entry in my Geekzone Blog!

First a quick introduction:

I live in Auckland, NZ and I work for a software company in the banking sector. For entertainment, I am into robotics in a big way - My children and I spend a lot of our spare time designing and building robots with LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT.

I am also one of the 30 people from around the world selected by LEGO as an MCP (MINDSTORMS Community Partner). As a LEGO MINDSTORMS MCP, I have direct link to LEGO MINDSTORMS team in USA and Denmark and have access to exclusive information on LEGO robotics that I love to share with the Geekzone users from time to time. And if you have any technical queries on programming the NXT or getting the MINDSTORMS robot to do what you want it to do I might be able to help. I can also help you with linking up the NXT to all sorts of cool sensors and hardware including Windows Mobile via Blue tooth.

What is LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT?
You can find out from the official LEGO MINDSTORMS web site.

Where can I get one?
You can buy one at your favourite toy store that sells TECHNIC and MINDSTORMS stuff. This include:
- Dick Smiths www.dse.co.nz
- IQToys www.iqtoys.co.nz
- Toys 'R' fun www.toysrfun.co.nz

However, if you want a bargain (just for today), the best place to get one is from Dicksmiths Electronics - as they are having a sale. I understand the specials ends today. Ring your local Dicksmiths or visit the Dick Smiths MINDSTORMS page. At the time I posted this, they still had a few left in few of their stores.Remember the sale ends today!! Good luck!!!

If you missed out on the above offer - you can always get it from my amazon.com store