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In lugnet.lego, Ben Fleskes wrote:
> Has anyone adapted two NXT units to drive a train yet?
Not exactly, that I know of, *yet*...
The biggest problem in running a train would be hiding the NXT - I saw only one
good solution to hiding the RCX in a boxcar, and the NXT is bigger, as are the
motors. You could use an old motor (or even a 9V train motor) with a legacy
converter cable, but if what you're looking for is a migration pathway to
actively produced electronics, you need to do without. Besides, the NXT motors
would give you very good speed control.
Two other options exist. One, power the truck with a PF motor (they are rather
powerful) run from the NXT by a converter cable (this solves the bulky motor
problem but you still have the bulky NXT on-board). Or two, command the Hobby
train or PF drive system via IR from an NXT using the Hitechnic IRLink. Yes,
this gets back to the problem of IR (and range), but it might have some very
interesting possibilities so I wanted to mention it.
> One NXT as a controller talks bluetooth to the other
> NXT that drives the train.
Note that you could network several NXT together this way, and run a slew of
automated accessories as well as sensor, points, etc. Especially with the
ability of the NXT with the IRLink to command the PF motors, that implies the
possibility of one NXT commanding 11 motors: 3 NXT motors with positional
feedback, and 8 PF motors (two on each of four channels). Could be interesting.
> I've been itching to try it but I only have one NXT
> and I'm not that familiar with the programming interface.
Where are you located? I know a number of folks (on either side of the Atlantic)
who have more than one NXT, and some idea of how to program them for BT. For
that matter, what do you want to do? In NXT-G, I could likely whip up some
simple coding for you, or you can take a look at my remote control example up on
Steve Hassenplug's webpage, near the bottom:
http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/
To just look, you could look at the BTRC.png and Remote.png images in my
Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=191310
--
Brian Davis
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: The Future of Trains
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| (...) Oh, for shame, Brian. Letting me think up an option that you passed right over (and a really cool one at that). With the legacy converter cables, you could power the _track_ with an NXT. Hook the track up as if it was a motor, using the (...) (17 years ago, 6-Oct-07, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.robotics.nxt)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: The Future of Trains
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| In lugnet.lego, Scott Wardlaw wrote: <snip> (...) <snip> Has anyone adapted two NXT units to drive a train yet? One NXT as a controller talks bluetooth to the other NXT that drives the train. The NXT that drives the train could be either attached to (...) (17 years ago, 5-Oct-07, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.robotics.nxt)
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