乐高下一代机器人—— MINDSTORMS NXT

丹 麦乐高（LEGO）将于2006年9月上旬推出乐高公司和美国麻省理工学院共同开发的机器人组件新款“教育用LEGO Mindstorms NXT”。Mindstorms是将配备微处理器的LEGO公司的塑料积木组装起来，通过个人电脑制作的程序来控制的机器人。此前的RCX的微处理器为8 位，而NXT配备32位处理器等，提高了性能。 表格1列出RCX和NXT的比较。

图1：安装4个传感器和3个伺服马达的LEGO NXT
特征


处理器CPU
日立H8处理器(8位)
ARM 7处理器 (32位)
与电脑的通信方式
红外发射器
USB2.0/蓝牙
输入
3
4
输出
3
3
显示方式
5位数字LCD
60*100 像素图形LCD
程序空间
可以保存5个程序，总共10K左右
数量不限，总共245K
供电
6节5号电池
6节5号电池或可充电锂电池
表格1：LEGO RCX PK LEGO NXT
　 　毫无疑问，最大的特点是处理器从8位升级到32为，处理能力大幅提高，这给了NXT带来了很多以前RCX无法实现的功能，例如语音识别，图象处理等。为 大家提供更大的发挥空间。图1是LEGO NXT的近照。 传感器和马达的接口也不一样了，NXT使用的是类似电话机上RJ45接口，由于接口的更改，乐高提供相互转换的电缆，如下图：

图2：为了让乐高NXT兼容原来RCX的传感器/马达而提供的电缆

图2：乐高NXT可以使用锂电池
在通信方面，配备了USB可以直接与PC相连，与RCX相比，不但可以节省需要另外购买的红外发射器，而且传送的速度也将大幅提高。另外，还配备了蓝牙功能，可与手机，PDA等实现联动。

图3：LEGO NXT的近照
在传感器方面，NXT加强了此前配备的光传感器和触摸传感器的性能。另外，还配备了超声波传感器和声音传感器。人接近时，机器人可以做出特定的运作，或对声音做出反应，发出拟音及简单的单词。
控制器
RCX
NXT
评价
触摸传感器


功能类似，留意一下那个橙色的触点，可以通过一个轴来延长触碰的范围，这个设计来自乐高第一代触摸传感器，如下图：

光电传感器


功能类似
角度传感器

无
跟RCX驱动的DC马达不一样的是，NXT可以驱动伺服马达，由于伺服马达本身具备位置反馈，所以无需角度传感器。
温度传感器

未知

超声波传感器
无

测距！！！！
声音传感器
无

从目前的资料，好像还不能做语音识别，只能识别声音的强度，我想未来应该可以实现简单的识别，毕竟ARM 7 处理器功能还不错。
摄像头
无
未知

马达
直流马达

伺服马达

伺服马达可以精确控制位置，将为你带来更多的发挥空间。
表格2：LEGO RCX与LEGO NXT的传感器/驱动器大比拼

图4：LEGO NXT系统目前提供的4种传感器全家福
同 时，该公司还将推出NXT程序用软件“ROBOLAB ver.2.9”，跟ROBOLAB原来的版本一样，是基于NI LabVIEW开发的。该软件不仅可以制作NXT用的程序，也可以完成RCX用的程序。此前要操作接近400个图标进行编程，这次减少为约40个，从而使 得编程更为简单。OS为“Windows2000”以上和“Mac OS X”。

图5：乐高网站给出的ROBOLAB 2.9的样图，跟以前版本相比，变化较大
　　MindStorms已经被全球2万5000个以上的教育机构作为教育工具采用。在中国，也已经有多所学校将其用于教学。使用对象广泛，从小学生至社会人士均可使用，也可用于理科的授课及大学的研究和公司的进修等。关于乐高Mindstorms的讨论，请到机器人论坛的乐高机器人(LEGO MINDSTORMS)专区。
最后奉献几张酷图，点击放大：



图6：LEGO NXT的几张酷图（点击放大
How do I view the program files and get them to my robot?
Program Downloads
There are two kinds of program download links you will find on this site.  If the program download looks like the following:
 Download Program (help)
then the Download link will download a compressed folder (.zip file) containing the program file(s) for the project.  Your computer must be able to read zip files to read these.  Most newer computers can read and open zip files directly, and you will be able to see the files inside after downloading it and selecting "Open" when prompted for what to do with the file.  On some computers, you may need to download and install an "unzip" utility (many are available for free).  On some systems, you may need to save the .zip file to a location on your computer before opening/unzipping it if it will not open directly.
Alternately, if the project instructions link directly to a program file in the description such as the Power_Saw program, then the program file is uncompressed and will download directly.
Once you reach an NXT program file (.rbt), you can either save it to a location on your computer, or open it directly.  In either case, you will need the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software installed to read it (see below). 
Required Software
The downloadable programs for the projects (.rbt files) are written using the NXT-G programming system, which requires the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software to be installed in order to view them, edit them, or download them to the NXT brick.  The program files cannot be used with RoboLab or any of the other NXT programming systems, not can they be viewed in standard text/graphics programs such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Reader.
Note: The NXT 2.0 projects require the NXT 2.0 version of the software, which comes with the 8547 set.  If you are using the LEGO Education software, the LEGO Education NXT-G 2.1 software is required to use any programs that use the color sensor or the Pack-and-Go (.rbtx) format, otherwise the LEGO Education NXT-G 2.0 software will work with most 2.0 programs.  The NXT 1.0 projects will load and run in any version of the NXT software.
If you have the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software installed, then a program file (.rbt) will automatically load into the NXT-G programming system when you open the file.


If you do not have the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software installed, you will get a message something like this
(this example alert is from Microsoft Windows XP).
You need to install the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software.
If you do have the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software installed, you will get a message something like this
(this example alert is from Microsoft Windows Vista).
Press the Open button to load the program into the NXT-G programming system.
 
 
Downloading Programs to the NXT
After the program file loads into the NXT-G programming system, you download it to the robot by connecting the USB cable to the NXT brick and pressing the Download button on the controller in the lower right corner of the NXT-G window.
 

Errors Trying to Load or Compile a Downloaded Program
All of the program (.rbt) files on nxtprograms.com should load, compile and upload to your NXT through the standard NXT software without any additional software, if you have a suitable version of the NXT software installed, as explained in the Required Software section above. 
If you are getting "Error 5002" or "The program is broken. It may be missing required files", you are most likely trying to load an NXT 2.0 program into the NXT 1.X or other older version of the software.
If you have the correct NXT software installed but you still get an error trying to load or compile a downloaded program such as "Invalid program file", or "Internal Compiler Error", it is possible that the file was not downloaded completely by your browser or was corrupted.  The .rbt files are large and may fail to download completely in some cases.  If this happens, try downloading the program again.
Saving Changes to a Program
If you open a program file directly from the web site without saving it to your computer first, and you want to make changes and save them, you will need to save the file to a different location using the File -> Save As menu command.  If you want to save the program to the default location for NXT program files, this location will be something like the following:
Windows: (Your Documents Folder)/LEGO Creations/MINDSTORMS Projects/Profiles/Default
Macintosh: (User)/Documents/LEGO Creations/MINDSTORMS Projects/Profiles/Default
NXT 2.0 vs. NXT 1.X and Retail vs. Education Versions of the NXT Software
The retail versions of the NXT kits (The original 8527 and the NXT 2.0 8547) come with the NXT software CD.  If you lost your CD, you can contact LEGO Technical Support to get a replacement.  The NXT 2.0 software can read and use all programs written for NXT 1.X, so if you have the NXT 2.0, you will also be able to load the programs from the NXT 1.X projects and possibly adapt them a similar robot of your own design.  The NXT 1.X software cannot in general use programs written for NXT 2.0.  You will usually be able to load them and examine them, but some blocks may not display properly.  Some very simple NXT 2.0 programs can be downloaded to a 1.X NXT, but in general you will not be able to use them.
The NXT software for the Education version of the NXT (9797) is sold separately at www.legoeducation.com and contains different help material and building instructions from the retail version of the software, although either version of the software can be used to write programs for either NXT kit.   For the NXT 2.0 projects on this site, the LEGO Education NXT-G 2.1 software is required to use any programs that use the color sensor or the Pack-and-Go (.rbtx) format, otherwise the LEGO Education NXT-G 2.0 software will work with most 2.0 programs.
学习网站：www.nxtprograms.com
乐高编程：http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nbc/

转载于:https://my.oschina.net/abcijkxyz/blog/720498