LEGO� MindstormsT NXTT Power Programming: Robotics in C

by John C. Hansen

Overview

With fun projects, tips, instructions, illustrations, and programs, this comprehensive companion to the powerful Mindstorms NXT robot kit will help LEGO popularize robotics in the way that the iPod did for digital music. This second edition to programming on the NXT helps users make the most of the latest LEGO Mindstorms NXT release for further robot enhancements. Included is an ingenious set of projects that explore the complete arsenal of basic and advanced NXT functionality. At the heart of these projects is Versa, a versatile mobile robot platform that utilizes modular attachments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780973864977
Publisher:	Variant Press
Publication date:	09/01/2009
Edition description:	Second Edition, Second edition
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

John C. Hansen is the creator of several LEGO Mindstorms tools and utilities, including the Bricx Command Center and the NXC and NBC programming languages for the NXT. He was a member of the Mindstorms Users Panel, the Mindstorms Developer Program, and is currently a member of the Mindstorms Community Partners. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Table of Contents vii

Section I

Chapter 1 Getting Started 1

Purpose of this book 2

Programming Languages 3

NBC/NXC Quick Start 6

Chapter 2 The NXT Hardware 17

Introducing the hardware 18

Moving about 24

Sensing surroundings 27

Chapter 3 The NXT Firmwarep33

The menu interface 34

Introducing the firmware 37

Chapter 4 Building Without Bricks 39

Technic Bricks 40

Units 42

Beams 42

Making the connection 43

Gears 49

Online Resources 53

Chapter 5 Bricx Command Center 55

Connecting to the brick 56

The programmer's editor 64

Drag and drop programming 80

Exploring your code 82

Managing macros 84

Compiling and running 86

Exploring the tool windows 88

Getting help 105

Chapter 6 NXT Utilities 107

Creating Melodies 108

Creating Sounds 113

Creating Pictures 116

Decompiling NXT Executables 122

Exploring the NXT 123

Virtual NXT 127

Chapter 7 Programming the NXT 131

Introduction to C 132

NXC Overview 133

NQC Compatibility 154

RICScript Overview 166

NXT Programs 168

Chapter 8 Advanced Programming 171

Introduction to Assembly 172

NBC Overview 173

Section II

Chapter 9 Building Versa 207

Chapter 10 Basic NXT Outputs 233

Motors 234

LCD Screen 248

Sounds 257

Chapter 11 Basic NXT Inputs 261

Buttons 262

Basic Sensors 264

Chapter 12 Advanced NXT Outputs 291

Creating and Writing to Files 292

Sending Messages 299

Custom I2C Output Devices 305

Chapter 13 Advanced NXT Inputs 309

Advanced Sensors 310

Opening and Reading from Files 317

Receiving Messages 320

Custom Analog Sensors 322

Custom I2C Input Devices 324

Chapter 14 Games People Play 337

Tic-Tac-Toe 338

Pong 345

Chapter15 Bluetooth Direct Commands 353

Direct commands 354

Building and programming a Bluetooth-based PC Joystick remote controller and NXT car 358

Chapter 16 Robotic Arm 371

Drawing shapes with your NXT 401

Appendix A NXC Quick Reference 413

Appendix B NXT Firmware Modules 479

Appendix C NXT Picture Format 523

Index 535

Editorial Reviews

"Succeeds brilliantly in the difficult tasks of introducing the reader to the Java language, to the Mindstorms system, and to some programming techniques peculiar to robotics . . . in such a pleasant way that [the reader] doesn't even realize [he or she is] learning new concepts."  —Mario Ferrari, author, Building Robots with Lego Mindstorms

From the Publisher