(Link back to the course)
Week 1 Specific Resources
Other Educational Robots with Graphical Programming Languages
Week 2 Specific Resources
NXT Hardware & Software
Before buying a new NXT robot, you should be aware that LEGO has just come out with new robot hardware called the EV3. This course uses the NXT hardware and not EV3 for reasons detailed in our FAQ.
There are two ways to buy the NXT robot and software. The course is based on the educational kit, but the commercial kit is very similar
As of November 2013, the commercial version of the software is available as a free download. This is very close to the educational software that we use in the course - there only a couple of lessons ("robot educator" and "data logging") that you won't be able to do. This software works with both the educational and commercial kits.
The educational kit comes from LEGO education. You need to buy the base set plus the software - note that you may wish to buy the site license for the software rather than just a single license.
Now that the EV3 is out, there are likely to be some used NXTs available for sale.
Comparing the Different NXT sets:
Comparing the NXT and the EV3
LEGO Building Directions:
- Specifically for the EDUCATIONAL KIT:
- Specifically for the COMMERCIAL KIT
More on LEGO Design:
An oldie, but a goodie, my favorite technical paper on LEGO Design is The Art of LEGO Design by Fred Martin whose research at MIT was the foundation for the LEGO Mindstorms series of robots.
Working with NXT software on a netbook? Is the screen too small to display your configuration panel? A couple of suggestions:
Week 3 Specific Resources:
Figuring out turns and distances:
- When you tell the robot to turn 90 degrees, that means turn the orange part of the motor 90 degrees, not the robot itself. So how do you figure out how to turn the robot by 90 degrees? Or how to move the robot 20 cm forward?
- Great resources that help you figure this out mathematically based on wheel diameter etc:
- Alternatively, you can just use trial and error. If you decide to go this route, you can come up with a moderately reasonable equation for any angle (or distance) by figuring out the answer for a much larger angle (or distance) first. e.g.:
- Figure out how many degrees of rotation of the motor it takes to make the robot do 10 full rotations. Divide by 3600 to figure out approximately how many degrees of rotation of the motor it takes to rotate the robot by one degree
- Figure out how many degrees of rotation of the motor it takes to make the robot move 5 meters. Divide by 500 to figure out approximately how many degrees of rotation of the motor it takes to move one cm.
Week 4 Specific Resources:
No additional resources for week 4!
Week 5 Specific Resources:
STEM Robotics 101 curriculum from Randy Steele of the Olympia School District and Portland State University - A turn-key curriculum for new Robotics teachers and a collaboration site for veteran teacher.