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New NXT Forum

A recent post regarding Lugnet:

A new newsgroup/list lugnet.robotics.nxt has been created for the focused
discussion of LEGO NXT issues.

Feel free to crosspost between .robotics / .robotics.rcx and .robotics.nxt, as
appropriate, or just to .robotics if you feel your topic is of a more general
nature.

CHARTER/PURPOSE
===============

lugnet.robotics
Building, creating, and developing with added technologies: the LEGO
MINDSTORMS™ RIS, other programmable bricks, vision systems, bar-code
readers, radio controlled units, research sites, microcode / embedded
programming, etc.

-> lugnet.robotics.nxt
Focused discussion group for NXT™ programmable bricks: Alternative
software or firmware, in-depth technical discussions, collaboration,
planning, architecture, analysis, etc.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Cool.

Now how do post to the LugNut discussion group?

I've tried following the directions on their website, (send an email) and never got a response back.
Jul 10, 2006, 1:41:00 AM
Brian Davis said…
If you hit "reply", it asks you if you accept the terms of use and if you've filled out the news-posting setup (you can link to these both from this page). Once you've done that, you can post (although there's a confirmation required via email). Membership is not required, although it is incouraged, but processing has been a little bit slow of late... and the NXT may bring on a new flood.

PS- LUGNET is where I've spent most of my LEGO on-line time, and where I started down this whole LEGO robotics thing several years ago.

--
Brian Davis
Jul 10, 2006, 2:40:00 AM
Anonymous said…
NXT Bluetooth Workaround

Lego wouldn't accept this for posting in their forum (I guess they don't want to admit they have a problem!) Hopefully, you can help spread the word, so that people can use the bluetooth functionality that was supposed to be delivered with the NXTs.

Lots of people have been having problems getting the NXT software to find their NXT via bluetooth. From what I can tell, there appear to be two problems, which Lego needs to fix, but which can be worked around.

First, if there are ANY connections (including USB connections) listed in the NXT data when the program starts, it is unlikely you will be able to communicate with your NXT. The workaround is to turn off the NXT before closing the program and wait for the software to automatically disconnect. Before closing the program, remove each NXT connection shown. That way, there will be no connections shown the next time you start the software. When you start the software, click SCAN to find your NXT.

The second problem appears to be that the software does not wait long enough for Windows to install the NXT as a bluetooth device before determining that it cannot connect with it. The workaround is to use the default passkey (1234) and have one finger on the orange button when you click OK on the passkey dialog box. The second you hear your NXT beep prompting you for the passkey, don't look at it, don't stop to think, just hit the orange button. With a little luck, Windows will tell you your next bluetooth device is ready to use before you get the error message saying the NXT software was unable to connect with your NXT. This hasn't been a problem for me, but I do have a very fast processor on my computer.

I use the bluetooth software included with Windows XP. I don't connect to the device through the Windows XP software before launching the NXT software, since the NXT software appears to remove any existing Windows connection anyway.

It may be superstition, but I make sure the NXT software is completely loaded and the connection window is opened before I turn on the NXT.

This isn't pretty, but it does work pretty consistently.
Aug 12, 2006, 11:50:00 AM
Anonymous said…
I am new to the Mindstorm NXT. I would like to use my Mindstorm NXT as a data logger (temp, pressure and light). What is the simplest way to go about doing this so that I will have a graphical display and a way to analyse the data? Can it be done using the student version of LabView?
Thanks!
Sep 10, 2006, 5:35:00 AM
Anonymous said…
I am new to the Mindstorm NXT. I would like to use my Mindstorm NXT as a data logger (temp, pressure and light). What is the simplest way to go about doing this so that I will have a graphical display and a way to analyse the data? Can it be done using the student version of LabView?
Thanks!
Sep 10, 2006, 5:36:00 AM
Anonymous said…
I hava a small but important problem.

When I am building the software as indicated in "Home >> Vehicles >> Tribot >> any part of it",
I have the blocks on the left and the help text and pictures on the right.

After I place 8 blocks in a row, the last (8-th) block is half hidden under the Help text, so I can not place the next block properly.

How can I do to place the help text on another part of the screen, or twist the "Sequence Beam" so I can place more blocks ?

Thanks.
Sep 10, 2006, 10:28:00 PM
Unknown said…
Hi, I'm new to NXT and after three days of building I've designed this ruler to measure the blocks.

Perhaps there's something like this already but, who knows!!

It's an A4 printable PDF. Enjoy.

The url for download is:

http://rapidshare.de/files/33845336/lego_ruler.pdf
Sep 21, 2006, 9:56:00 PM
Anonymous said…
Finally resolved my Bluetooth connection issues (many the same symptoms as everyone else, so I hope this helps). I'm running WinXP Home SP2 on a Toshiba laptop (I removed the Toshiba Bluetooth stack) using a Kensington dongle (from BestBuy) that comes with Widcomm drivers. The NXT firmware has been updated to 1.04. Ok, the short of it is that I was having a timeout issue. The NXT would show up as "Unavailable" in the connection window in the Mindstorm software. Based on another suggestion, I was able to at least get it to say "Available", but it would still give the lost connection error message when attempting to connect. That other suggestion was further up in this comment list to hit the orange button on the NXT immediately as soon as it made the sound and asked for a pass-code. Look in the install directory of the Mindstorm software for a file named "MINDSTORMS Options.ini". In this file, modify the BluetoothSearchTimeout setting. Mine was set to 20 (assuming seconds) as default. I bumped it up to 60. As soon as I did that, I was able to connect all the way through. If the dialog that pops up on you PC asking for a passcode is a Windows dialog, it probably won't work. You want the dialog to popup from the Mindstorm software. Hope that helps.
May 8, 2007, 8:05:00 AM
Anonymous said…
i have made a garbage picker using NXT. it picks up the trash quite fine, nut I dunno how to make it go to the trach can. It uses a random block to roam around the place, picks up a can. But then, how 2 make it go 2 the bin, which might be placed anywhere? any suggestions welcome....
Aug 4, 2008, 7:51:00 PM
ProEngineer said…
Wow... I had all the same issues with connecting via bluetooth to a new brick using Windows 7 and 2.0.f6. However, I could still connect to my older brick. after trying everything found in every post and trying everyhting imaginable from lego's bluetooth connectivity instructions, and then some... It all boiled down to the fact that both devices were named NXT. Even with only one device on, I could only connect to the original unit. I believe the connection must utilize more than the name (e.g. mac ID or serial number or something)to reference the device. In the end, I connected via USB then renamed my three bricks as NXTA, NXTB, and NXTC. Now I can talke to all of them via USB. I was even able to reduce my bluetooth connection timeout time (in ini file mentioned in other posts) back to 20... I hope this simple tidbit helps others too!
Nov 4, 2012, 9:16:00 PM
ProEngineer said…
Wow... I had all the same issues with connecting via bluetooth to a new brick using Windows 7 and 2.0.f6. However, I could still connect to my older brick. after trying everything found in every post and trying everyhting imaginable from lego's bluetooth connectivity instructions, and then some... It all boiled down to the fact that both devices were named NXT. Even with only one device on, I could only connect to the original unit. I believe the connection must utilize more than the name (e.g. mac ID or serial number or something)to reference the device. In the end, I connected via USB then renamed my three bricks as NXTA, NXTB, and NXTC. Now I can talke to all of them via USB. I was even able to reduce my bluetooth connection timeout time (in ini file mentioned in other posts) back to 20... I hope this simple tidbit helps others too! PS: --- I did also upgrade the firmware on my bricks to 1.31 too.
Nov 4, 2012, 9:20:00 PM
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