Subject:
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Re: lego-robotics / question for the experienced...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Sun, 14 Sep 2003 05:53:12 GMT
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Original-From:
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Steve Baker <sjbaker1@*nospam*airmail.net>
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Viewed:
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681 times
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Ed wrote:
> hi all. first post here. i'm sure this doesn't happen often, but my
> reason for buying the ris 2.0 system is because a friend told me it'd be
> a fun intro to computer programming.
I think quite a few people bought it for that reason.
> as i eagerly await shipment of my
> kit, i'd like to pick your brains for some tips. should i jump straight
> into NQC (my programming background is little to none) or should i play
> with the lego programming environment at first?
Hmmm - hard call.
NQC is "real" computer programming - the language you are using is "Not Quite"
the language that a vast percentage of modern software is written in. If you
master NQC, you've made a big step towards full scale computer programming.
The Lego programming environment is quite unlike the way that 'real' programs
are written - so in that respect, you wouldn't really be learning anything that
would transfer to programming anything else (like your PC for example).
So clearly, learning NQC is the way you would be better off.
However, learning programming from scratch is quite mindbending - and you might
find the Lego environment gets you over the conceptual problems of making a robot
work - leaving the job of learning an actual programming language for later.
I think the best advice I have is for you to try your best with NQC - and if it
'clicks' then all well and good. If you are getting NOWHERE after a few evenings
of struggling, then back off and play with the Lego environment for a while - come
back to NQC later.
> are there sample robots
> designed with the purpose of learning programming in mind?
Not specifically - but many robot programs out there are quite simple and would
be reasonable places to start. There are some example programs that come with
NQC that would be good to study.
> has anyone
> had success stories in learning the basics of computer programming using
> an ris kit? thanks for the time.
My son started to learn programming using NQC three years ago at age 9. He
didn't get on very well with it though and soon gave up. A year ago (by
then, aged 11), he became more determined to learn to program and we bought
an introductory C programming book - he just took to that, reading it from
cover to cover - but without using NQC or Lego at all - he just programmed
his PC instead. Now, at age 12, he's quite capable of writing fairly
sophisticated programs...but still hasn't shown much interest in NQC
programming.
I'm not quite sure what lessons we can learn from that - probably just that
he wasn't 'ready' to learn at age 9 - and he'd matured enough by age 11 to
pick it up with that amazing ability to learn that's unique to kids.
Good luck!
---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
HomeEmail: <sjbaker1@airmail.net> WorkEmail: <sjbaker@link.com>
HomePage : http://www.sjbaker.org
Projects : http://plib.sf.net http://tuxaqfh.sf.net
http://tuxkart.sf.net http://prettypoly.sf.net
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: lego-robotics / question for the experienced...
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| Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net> wrote on 09/14/2003 01:53:12 AM: (...) straight (...) Interesting. I would have given the exact opposite advice! :) I would spend some time with the kit exactly as Lego intended. The environment that they give you (...) (21 years ago, 14-Sep-03, to lugnet.robotics)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | lego-robotics / question for the experienced...
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| hi all. first post here. i'm sure this doesn't happen often, but my reason for buying the ris 2.0 system is because a friend told me it'd be a fun intro to computer programming. as i eagerly await shipment of my kit, i'd like to pick your brains for (...) (21 years ago, 13-Sep-03, to lugnet.robotics)
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