Subject:
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Re: rcx unit
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:34:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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822 times
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In lugnet.robotics, Allan Tobey wrote:
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I’m new to the RCX Lego world and robotics. Can I use the remote control unit
item# 9738 with the Electric Mindstorms RCX unit item # 884 without any
computer programming? Will they work together out of the box? Can the RCX unit
be completely encased in a Lego Model and still receive the signal from the
remote?
Any help on this would be appreciated. Thank you.
Allan
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Welcome to the world of LEGO robotics!
You don’t need to program the RCX to use it with the MindStorms remote, but you
do need to download the firmware into the RCX before it will recognize the
remote commands. When you first take the RCX out of the box (or after the
batteries have been removed from the RCX for any length of time) you have to
reload the firmware into it. You can do this using the software on the CD-ROM
that comes in the RIS set. After you have done that, you can build a robot and
drive it around or control its motors using the remote. You don’t actually have
to write a program of your own.
However, you would be missing out on a great deal of what the RCX can do. Only
7 of the 16 buttons on the remote do anything that don’t require a program
loaded into the RCX in order to use. And you can’t read sensors or have the
robot do anything “intelligent” or automatic this way. If you are interested in
doing much robotics, you should consider doing some programming. There are a
lot of languages that you can get for free that make it very easy to program the
RCX, and you can do a whole lot more with it if you do. You might surprise
yourself!
If you only want to use remote-control and you don’t want to program, you might
be better off getting the Bionicle Manas set. This set has a pair of motorized
platforms and a pair of infrared remote controllers that can be used without any
computer at all. You can get a Manas set for a lot less than the cost of an
RCX. For example, Kay Bee Toy was selling these sets for about $50, and I think
Target.com was selling them online for under $25 at one point. Compare that to
the $200 price tag for the RIS plus the $30(?) for the remote. (Although you
could avoid buying the remote, and download my free program
Virtual Remote that imitates
it using the IR tower that comes in the RIS set.)
- Chris.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | rcx unit
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| I'm new to the RCX Lego world and robotics. Can I use the remote control unit item# 9738 with the Electric Mindstorms RCX unit item # 884 without any computer programming? Will they work together out of the box? Can the RCX unit be completely (...) (21 years ago, 17-Nov-03, to lugnet.robotics)
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