New gyro-equiped NXTway, & JennToo with RADAR

Two new projects recently popped up on NXTasy that I thought I'd flag. First, some time ago a poster made a "RADAR display" program that would map the area around Tribot. Well, that poster is back, with an improved version of the RADAR that is much faster, and wonderfully documented. If you want to see what the robot sees, just take a look at this video:



Krystman also has up the code on his webpage here. Nice application, and wonderful visualization.

Another wonderful robot that popped up just a little bit later is a LEGway (or NXTway) that works by using a gyrosopic sensor, not directly sensing the angle of the robot to the ground. Potentially, it could I suspect climb slopes. Well done! Take a look here:

NXTway-G with gyroscopic feedback

Very nice stuff appearing all over!

--
Brian Davis

Comments

Anonymous said…
Is there any more info on the gyro bot. What sensor was used or was it home grown? This is a very nice piece of work!
Anonymous said…
What exactly is the difference between an acceleration/tilt sensor (especially the tilt part) and a gyro sensor?
Brian Davis said…
I suspect the gyro in question is homegrown or a prototype, as I don't know of any currently for sale. However, Hitechnic already has a protoype up on their development page, and it looks like a similar application. As to the difference, and acceleration sensor measures, well, the acceleration, including gravity, and if you are in free-fall it would register zero (as it did, or came close to, when I wore it while jumping off a swing). A gyroscopic sensor measures the change in the angular position of the sensor: if you turn it 90°, it can register that, without needing to figure it out from the cumulative acceleration over time. So a gyro sensor, for instance,can tell you how the angle of the robot has changed, without needed a reference to the ground or gravity, and independant of where on the structure its located (this last can be a biggie).

--
Brian Davis
Anonymous said…
from nxtasy.org

A new product announcement by HiTechnic:

“The HiTechnic Gyro is a single axis gyroscopic sensor that measures the rate of turn in the plane of the sensor. Using the HiTechnic Gyro Sensor Block for Mindstorms NXT-G, the program will get a signed value that represents the rotation rate in approximate units of one degree per second. The maximum rotation rate which can be measured is +/- 360 degrees per second.

The sensor is housed in a standard LEGO sensor housing.”

Together with the other products announced earlier this week (IR sensor, IR link and motor and sensor multiplexers), it seems there will be a lot more options for NXT in the near future!

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