Extreme NXT. Extending LEGO Mindstorms NXT to the Next Level
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Author(s): M. Gasperi and P. Hurbain
Publisher: Computer Manuals
ISBN: 9781590598184
Format: softback
286pp
Price: £23.99
Review Date: 05 June 2007
Review: Before you get completely involved in extending the NXT, you need to understand the history of the Mindstorms concept and the hardware and software that LEGO makes for it. The book begins by discussing the NXT and RXT-compatible sensors and motors by actually taking them apart and looking inside them. The next four chapters contain plans for interesting projects: a surfboard game; an antenna sensor; an ohmmeter; temperature and humidity sensors; a theremin musical instrument; a model of Braitenberg’s vehicle; a digital projector; two joysticks and a battery tester. This leads on to the Hall effect and infrared rangefinders and differential light sensors….you can build a robot mouse looking for magnetic cheese, a vehicle that follows walls, a calibrated sensor. In the next chapter accessories provided by HiTechnic, mindsensors.com and Techno-stuff are examined and the authors look at how they are used. The NXT can control applications by using its motor to push buttons, turn knobs, or flick switches on them – examples of their use are shown. Other outputs, such as lamps, LEDs etc are used in more advanced projects. By connecting the NXT to its I2C bus it can be connected to intelligent sensors and in the penultimate chapter the building of an I2C benchmark port is described. The last chapter gives even more ‘cool’ projects.