Subject:
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Re: Question about RIS version differences
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Tue, 30 Oct 2001 18:06:22 GMT
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Viewed:
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545 times
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There are four aspects to the RIS kit and the RCX brick:
1. Hardware. This is primarily the RCX brick itself. As other posts have
pointed out the main difference is that the original RCX 1.0 brick has a
power adapter jack, while later versions don't. It's still possible to get
an RCX brick with a power adapters from Lego Dacta. The other hardware to
consider is the IR tower. There is both a serial version and a USB version.
They can be purchased separately (e.g. from Lego Dacta) or come packaged
with an RIS kit (the RIS 1.0 and 1.5 kits come with the serial tower, and
the RIS 2.0 kit comes with the USB tower). Any RCX brick can be used with
either of the two towers provided the right firmware and software is in place.
2. Firmware. This is the system "software" that is downloaded and stored on
the RCX brick. All versions of the firmware work with any of the RCX bricks.
The latest version of the firmware comes with the RIS 2.0 kit, the RIS 2.0
upgrade CD, and Vision Command. It is also included in a beta level
developer kit that can be downloaded from the Lego Web site. As other posts
have pointed out the this new version contains major enhancements including
USB support.
3. Software. This is the programming software that allows you to develop
programs that can be downloaded to the RCX to run your Lego robotic
creations, read information from sensors, run motors, etc. These programs
exploit the functions provided in the firmware. Earlier versions of the
programming software must be updated to exploit latest functions in the
firmware (e.g., USB support). The programming software may be supplied by
Lego or third-parties (e.g., Dave Baum's NQC). Lego provides development
software that is provided on a CD that comes with an RIS kit or RIS upgrade
kit. The latest version of the Lego developmewnt software is on the RIS 2.0
kit CD and on the RIS 2.0 upgrade CD. This CD also contains upgrades that
update the software for add-on kits (e.g., Vision Command, RoboSports, and
Extreme Creatures) to support new programming facilities. Lego Dacta also
provides the RoboLab software as an alternative programming environment. The
latest version, RoboLab 2.5, supports both the latest RCX firmware and USB
tower.
4. RIS Kit. Each RIS kit comes with an RCX brick, CD (containing firmware,
programming software, sample projects), IR tower, and Lego pieces. There
have been three kits: 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0. There are minor differences in the
Lego pieces provided with each version. The sample projects with each
version are different.
As you can see compatability is purely a function of firmware and
development software. I have a 1.0 RCX brick, 1.5 RCX brick, USB IR tower,
serial IR tower, Vision Command, and RIS 2.0 upgrade CD. All work normally
using the latest facilities and functions of the firmware. I find it easy to
switch between the serial tower and the USB tower with no problems. I also
have RoboLab 2.5 which will work with this hardware with no problems. Hope
this helps. I believe all this information is correct. If someone thinks I
have made an error please let me know.
In lugnet.robotics, Caleb Jackson writes:
> Hello everyone,
> I'm sort of new here, at least to this newsgroup. Can someone sum up
> the the differences between the Robotic Invention Systems versions 1.0, 1.5,
> and 2.0? Ignore the parts lists, I already know about those. What I want
> to know is the differences in the hardware interfaces. (Such as, I think I
> heard something about the 2.0 lacking a 9V adapter jack.)
>
> Also, which version of the 'official' software do you think is best? I'll
> probably be moving to legOS or something similar eventually, but I'm
> curious.
>
> Any help and input is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
>
> Caleb Jackson
> Backslash@softhome.net
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Question about RIS version differences
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| Hello everyone, I'm sort of new here, at least to this newsgroup. Can someone sum up the the differences between the Robotic Invention Systems versions 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0? Ignore the parts lists, I already know about those. What I want to know is the (...) (23 years ago, 28-Oct-01, to lugnet.robotics)
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