"Shopping List" for MDP members
Given that the MDP won't be kept quiet forever, I wanted to give you the opportunity to list some of the things you would like to know regarding the NXT. I cannot promise that all of your requests will be answered, but I'll do my best to present a list around May 1st to the MDP group.
Specifically, I'll be asking the MDP'ers to provide me with URLs for any websites or blogs where they will be posting information, pictures, videos, and other items.
So... here's your chance. Feel free to post questions, requests for photos, and anything else on your mind. Again, I cannot promise the MDPers will be able to respond to all requests (there are some rules we must still follow after May 1), but I will do my best to get you what I can...
UPDATE: Please post your questions here, as comments. I'll be able to keep them all in one place. Please do not email them to me as I will most likely end up misplacing them - sorry, I'm notorious for keeping my Inbox clean and go 'delete crazy' at times.
Jim
Specifically, I'll be asking the MDP'ers to provide me with URLs for any websites or blogs where they will be posting information, pictures, videos, and other items.
So... here's your chance. Feel free to post questions, requests for photos, and anything else on your mind. Again, I cannot promise the MDPers will be able to respond to all requests (there are some rules we must still follow after May 1), but I will do my best to get you what I can...
UPDATE: Please post your questions here, as comments. I'll be able to keep them all in one place. Please do not email them to me as I will most likely end up misplacing them - sorry, I'm notorious for keeping my Inbox clean and go 'delete crazy' at times.
Jim
Comments
1. I think pathfinding, room mapping, and exploratory robots expose some of the most interesting challenges in software design. Since all of these involve perception of the world in some way, I'd like to know what kind of capabilities and limitations there are to the ultrasonic sensor.
Is it just a short distance collision sensor? Or can it really develop a rough approximation of the world around it?
2. Since I'm a software developer, I'd rather spend my time writing complex in my language of choice without restrictions by an proprietary GUI interface (no matter how slick) or hardware limitations by the NXT.
So I'm interested to know how Bluetooth communications between the NXT and a laptop work. Maybe I could even start work on some programs before I even get the kit in August.
Interesting times ahead.
Thanks
I am interested in making my own sensors, and driving other kinds of outputs. So I while the ideal would be the low down on the electronics i/f, it would at least be useful to have hints on what the interface requirements are.
(Also 2 stud by 4 bricks are no longer going to be an appropriate housing for customer sensors, is there an obvious new alternative?)
Also I want to write my own tools to program the NXT robots; so I am looking forward to any info on the form of the software that runs on the NXT brick.
Can 1 motor easily lift three times it's weight (i.e. 2 other motors) without extra gear reduction ?
Will it be possible to (finally) make something like those new humanoid bots with the help of some HiTechnic Multiplexor's and a bunch of NXT motors ? :)
Is the new LASM a superset of the old or a new design?
From a CS standpoint, the Instruction Set Architecture of the RCX is poorly designed.
I would hate to think that if the NXT has a VM, they just changed all variables from 16 to 32 bits and left the ISA unimproved.
How much of the 32K RAM is available for code? data?
Is the a C compiler for NXT included on the CD?