SimplySim Update

Earlier I posted about an NXT simulation package created by SimplySim.
They just posted a demo video on their webpage, so I have posted it below.

FLL State Competition

We just had our FLL State competition, and unfortunately we didn't get an award, although our robot scores were significantly higher than at Regionals. We scored a 165, a 205, and a 160. Interestingly, in the 205 point round we got 25 points on accident because the robot accidently nudged the house and completed the "Turn off lights" mission.

Congratulations to the Co-Champion Award winners, The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies and the Hobbots.
A coin toss determined that the Hobbots would proceed to World Fest and the Duckies would be diverted to the US Nationals.

NXT Simulation

A reader, Hugo Vivier, has told me about a very cool program that simulates the NXT on the computer. Here's what he says.

I would like to share something interesting with LEGO NXT Mindstorms and the MS Robotics Developer Studio, it is a package which contains a 3D simulation of the TRIBOT.

You can use this package to practice with 3D robotic simulation.

The MSRDS will allow you to design programs that you will be able to test both on your computer (in the simulated version) and on your real Tribot, via the package interface.

Almost all the sensors are implemented in the simulation.

Demo programs and tutorials are already done, you can also control your robot with a Xbox pad if you have one.

For the moment, only the TRIBOT is available, but if people discuss about new robots on the forum, maybe we will create new ones.

The Simply Sim website

FLL Regionals!

Whew. We just went to our FIRST LEGO League regional competition and it went pretty well! Overview:
Technical Judging: Great!
Teamwork: OK
Presentation: Pretty good!
Mat: Our top possible score in 2 and a 1/2 minutes is 175 but we got 75, 75, 90. (The, um, battery was low?)
Nevertheless, we got 5th place Champion's Award, and an invitation to State!!!

Hopefully we'll make the robot more reliable by then. We sort of had no missions that worked a week ago, so we really pulled it all together at the end.

Go, Star Trek The NXT Generation!

Stupid XP

We have a Windows XP machine and two Leopard Macs, But I use the XP one for NXT-G because the software seems to be designed for Windows. Unfortunately XP has managed to mess up and NXT-G doesn't work anymore. I guess I'll be using the Macs from now on!
Here's a screen shot of the erroneous operating system:



Click it. It's even better enlarged!

Gone for a while

Just so you know, I won't be able to post these next five or so weeks. I am going to be gone for a while, but I'll be be back in very early August. All I can say is I would bring LEGOs and a computer with if I was allowed to.

However you won't die of boredom. I have already scheduled a post to appear automatically on July 15th, and if I have time I'll write and schedule another.

I Won The Move That Weight Challenge!

Yay! My TugBot II won NXTCentral.com's first building challenge, Move That Weight!

New robots soon, hopefully.

You may have noticed the lack of new robots recently. The reason for this is that I am still working on my entry to NXTCentral.com's Building challenge #1 - "Move That Weight!". My entry is finished and I just need to program it, so hopefully you'll see more robots soon.

Maker Faire 2008

I'm back from the Maker Faire! It was really fun, and I hope I can make it next year.
Anyways, I took some photos and movie clips there, and iMovie'd together a slideshow/video. It's mostly about the LEGO exhibit, but there is a bit of other stuff too.
Note: This does not cover the whole Maker Faire! There is way, way more than this. But most of the time I was looking at stuff and forgetting to take pictures, so this is what I have.

Just a head up...

As you may have noticed, or I have at least, that my blog's popularity is finally growing. Last time I checked, it was up to 1004 unique visits! Unfortunately, however, I won't be posting that much this summer. In June and some of July, I'll be at some dumb summer camp, that has a ban on all electronics. So much for smuggling in an NXT! But I'm not here to rant, just to give you a head up. I might try to get a online friend to substitute blog for me. But up till then, I'm here, posting!

1 Year Old...

Today is the day... NXTMonger's World is now 1 year old! Yay!

Coincidently, This is my 100th post.

Coincidently, it is Earth Day.

Coincidently...um....er...well, I ran out of coincidences. :-D

World Fest!

Good news on the team #32 Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies trip to Atlanta: The Duckies' best score was a 370, and they received 2nd place
Robotic Design: Programming!
So, 2 thumbs up to them! GREAT JOB, DUCKS!!!

Anyone coming to Maker Faire?

Anyone coming to the Maker Faire? If you are, leave a comment, maybe I'll see you there! I'll be there May 3rd and 4th with my dad. Last year they had a MINDSTORMS booth and a LEGO setup....
I took some pics last year, look at some of them here.

Great 3-D animation software!

I recently found a great 3-D animation software, called "Alice". It is a very easy to learn, drag-and-drop environment, very similar to NXT-G. There are two versions, Storytelling Alice, for middle schoolers, and Alice 2.0, for high schoolers and college students. I would recommend Alice 2.0, even if you aren't high school+. I'm 12 and I learned it in 15 minutes! And did I mention it's completely free? You can also make simple 3-D games with it. I will send you the game I made if you email me at nxtmonger@gmail.com.

NXTCentral Challenge #1 - Move that Weight!

Snowblader13, ro1000, mini_man176 and I have orchestrated NXTCentral.com's first building challenge: Move that weight! Go ahead and check out the rules and stuff here.

NXTLOG 2.0!

Woo hoo! NXTLOG isn't in beta anymore, it's a fully-fledged 2.0 now! Now you can upload video and many other new features. Check it out! Unfortunately the video has to be under 5mb.

April Fool!

For those of you that didn't catch it... the previous post was a joke! As you may know, yesterday was April 1st!
APRIL FOOL!!!

New Sensor!!!

I just heard a rumor on LEGO.com that they (LEGO) are coming out with an all-new sensor!

"The newest sensor for the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT® is one that has never before been seen, even in the R.I.S.!  In appearance it is similar to the R.I.S. Temperature Sensor, but in functionality, this new development is entirely original.

Presenting...  The Taste Sensor!  It is not as functional as the human tongue, of course, but it can tell the difference between opposite tastes, for instance mashed potatoes and ketchup."

Cool, eh?  I'll be posting more details when I can find more.

posted by NXTMonger on April 1st

A Special Invitation to FLL World Fest!

A big part of the robotic competitions is the outreach to the community in which a team participates, as well as the team's expression of the FLL Core Values. Teams from around the world were given the opportunity to present their works in these areas for special consideration. Of all the teams that applied internationally, only twelve teams would be invited to compete at the FLL World Festival (April 17-18 in Atlanta, GA). The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies from Village Home was one of those teams invited!

The Duckies are the "sister" team from the co-op that our team went to. AND THEY ARE GOING TO WORLD FEST!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

• Their website, made by Tesca, a computer genius age 10.


• They would REALLY appreciate a financial contribution, because they live in Oregon, and Worlds is in Georgia. There's a page on that topic here.

FORUM ADDED!

I finally found a free forum service, so NXTMonger's World now has a forum! Yay!
I encourage you to register. It's free. (Duh!)