Subject:
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Re: Newbie questions
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Tue, 26 Dec 2000 07:06:56 GMT
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Original-From:
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Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net=spamcake=>
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Reply-To:
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sjbaker1@airmailNOMORESPAM.net
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Viewed:
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721 times
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Hhchicken1@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello!
> I've just gotten an RIS 1.5 set for Christmas, and was wondering what sort of
> drive would be best to use for my first major robot (I've completed all those
> in the constructopedia)
It really depends on what you want your robot to do.
A robot that needs raw speed over smooth ground will probably want some nice
wide, grippy wheels - but a robot that needs to run on rougher terrain might
need larger wheels. If you need skid-steering than you should certainly
consider using the tracks that come with RIS - but that wastes power if you
have a need for speed. For precision navigation, two wheels and and either
one or two casters would be good - but don't expect to climb obstacles with
such a beast.
It depends entirely on what you need.
For example:
My son and I have been building a bridge-laying robot that can detect a drop-off
in the ground beneath it, lower a huge bridge and then drive over it. (we're
still wondering if we can figure out a way to pick the bridge up again afterwards)
For that robot, tracks would be perfect - but this beast has a long wheel-base
so that it can counter-balance a two foot long bridge as it lowers it over the
gap. For that job, the standard RIS tracks aren't long enough - so we went with
a LOT of wheels.
When I was learning about programming the RCX, I stuck with the basic tracked
robot from the constructopedia - I prefer to deal with just one problem at a
time!
> Also, what do you recommend to do program-wise?
> Should I install the 2.0 Firmware straight away, or stick with 1.5? I'm
> intending to use NQC as the supplied language "RCX-Code" is laughable to say
> the least.
Indeed. Yes, I strongly recommend getting NQC and the 2.0 firmware. I've
been using both for a month or more and it's a big improvement over the 1.5
stuff.
If you get into *serious* software work - large and complex programs - then
think about using LegOS - which is a complete replacement for the Lego firmware
that presents a more conventional view of a computer operating system to your
application programs. You can then program the H8 microprocessor directly
using a full C compiler (C++ support coming soon). This isn't for beginners
though.
--
Steve Baker HomeEmail: <sjbaker1@airmail.net>
WorkEmail: <sjbaker@link.com>
HomePage : http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
Projects : http://plib.sourceforge.net
http://tuxaqfh.sourceforge.net
http://tuxkart.sourceforge.net
http://prettypoly.sourceforge.net
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Newbie questions
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| Hello! I've just gotten an RIS 1.5 set for Christmas, and was wondering what sort of drive would be best to use for my first major robot (I've completed all those in the constructopedia). Also, what do you recommend to do program-wise? Should I (...) (24 years ago, 25-Dec-00, to lugnet.robotics)
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