Mindstorms Cellular Bluetooth NXT Control

With the addition of the bluetooth technology in the Mindstorms NXT system a whole new area of control was opened. The guys over at LEGO have introduced bluetooth support for the Mindstorms NXT system in the area of bluetooth enabled cell phones.

Recently, LEGO has made available their NXT Mobile Application that allows you to control your robot wirelessly via bluetooth technology. According to their specifications the following cell phones are supported:

• Nokia: 6680, 3230
• Sony Ericson: W800i, W550i, K610i, K800i, K750i, Z710i, Z550i, K510i
• BenQ-Siemens: CX75, X75

With the software provided by LEGO, you can control your robot in two different modes: remote control and program control. In the remote control setting you can direct and drive your robot with a joystick/command wheel. On the other hand, in program control, you can select what program you want the NXT to run and then use the numbers to send the NXT messages during the program.

It's amazing to see what LEGO has done with bluetooth in the NXT system. With such great innovations already, I'm excited to see what the future holds for bluetooth and the NXT!

Check out the official LEGO Mindstorms NXT Mobile Application page for more info and downloads.

Sharing Your Creations

The NXTLOG is a fully moderated community set up on http://legomindstorms.com where users can share their creations with the rest of the world. The basic idea of the NXTLOG is to share your projects, archive the results, and get inspiration from other people's inventions.

The four step process to sharing your creations as described by Lego:

1. Build your project!
2. Document what you did. Take pictures, make notes, describe problems and how you overcame them.
3. Build your NXTLOG. Register with Lego and start a new project log. Post pictures, code, descriptions, notes, and programs for your new project. Tag your project so that others can find it easily. Finally, publish your NXTLOG for the rest of the world to see!
4. Check out your personal projects that are now online to share with everyone.

You can find the NXTLOG's and more information over at Lego's website: http://mindstorms.lego.com/NXTLOG/default.aspx

NXT Book Roundup

Here is a list I have compiled of the best selling Lego Mindstorms NXT books to date.

• Extreme NXT: Extending the LEGO Mindstorms NXT to the Next Level

By:Michael Gasperi

• LEGO Mindstorms NXT: The Mayan Adventure

by: Jim Kelly

• LEGO Mindstorms NXT Hacker's Guide

by: Dave Prochnow

• Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms NXT

by: by Mario Ferrari, Guilio Ferrari, and David Astolfo

• The LEGO Mindstorms NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build

by: Contributors to the Nxt Step Blog

leJOS NXJ alpha 0.2

Little late on this one, but the hard working guys over at leJOS have released the leJOS NXJ alpha 0.2.0 build. In case you are not familiar with leJOS, it is an advanced Java programming system for the NXT or RCX. This newest version of leJOS offers Bluetooth, Ultrasonic sesnor, and sound support. Please keep in mind that it is a work in progress, but you can grab it from the download page.

Quoted from the leJOS Website

leJOS NXJ Alpha 0.2 is now available. This release contains preliminary Bluetooth support, I2C support (Ultrasonic sensor), and sound support. There is no menu system yet so you still only get one run per upload

Link to leJOS: http://lejos.sourceforge.net/index.php

Happy Easter!

Hey guys, I just wanted to wish everyone out there a happy Easter!

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few easter related NXT robots:

Mike Brandl's Egg Plotter

Andreas Dreier's Egg Plotter

Matthias Paul Sholz's East Bunny

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.