Subject:
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NXT and FLL
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Sat, 14 Jan 2006 09:39:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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1556 times
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My questions are mostly directed to Steve H. because I believe that he has more
FLL experience than the other MUP's (sorry if I'm wrong guys). I'm wondering
what your thoughts are on how NXT is going to affect FLL.
I've been bipoler ever since LEGO announced the NXT. I knew that a new platform
was coming out in August, but didn't have any details at all. Now that I've
seen it I am very excited about the huge leap forward in computational power and
the new sensors. I'm OK with the emphasis on studless construction. That's
been a trend in Technic for a while now. But I have a concerns about how NXT is
going to affect FLL.
It will take me a while to become proficient in designing studless robots, and
the goofy form factor of the motors is going to take some getting used to, but
my initial impression of NXT is going to make it much easier to build decent
robots for FLL. By decent I mean robots that can accurately and reliably
navigate, almost all that is needed to score well in most recent FLL challenges.
In fact, I saw a team this year whose robot can theoretically complete all the
missions and it doesn't have any powered manipulators. I seem to remember this
being true in other years also.
So how do you think NXT will change the FLL challenges? It is my belief that
the FLL challenges are designed so a simple point and shoot robot can get about
half the points. This allows every team to accomplish something. The ability
to turn with even fairly poor navigation will get you half the remaining points,
maybe more. That leaves one or two tasks that are tricky. With NXT, I think
that any task that just requires you to drive up and poke or prod is going to be
a gimme. So if we follow the old ratio, half the tasks will only require
mobility and navigation. Twenty five percent have to be harder. Some sort of
sensor feedback requirement? Maybe complex manipulation of an object on the
playing field. And then the last tricky bit. Boy that will need to be really
tricky now.
How will the ultrasonic sensor play in FLL? I haven't played around with them
for almost 20 years, but remember there being interference problems when
multiple sensors are used. Is this true? And if that is true, then does that
eliminate this very cool sensor from use in FLL competitions?
I'm excited and apprehensive about the new motors. It's cool that the encoder
is built in. I wonder how this will be handled in software. They will probably
take all the fun and challenge out of it and supply a motor controller block. I
hope that there will be a direct mode where I can just specify a power level and
close the loop on the encoder feedback. I don't like the form factor as much as
I like the function. Will it lead to bigger robots? The 4'x8' playing field
already is a little crowded. Will it need to become larger?
I'm also a little sad to see how much mechanism the new motors hide from the
user. The new motor probably has approprate speed and torque for FLL uses, so
teams won't have as much need for gears. That's depressing, I like gears and
they are great for introducing some math and physics into FLL. The encoder is
built in, and there is one per motor. Much of the fun in FLL over the years has
been how teams got around the one rotation sensor rule. Some of the solutions
I've'seen have been very elegant. Guess I'll just have my memories (sniff). I
hope you can plug a motor into a sensor port and use it as an encoder. I'd hate
to loose a motor port when all I want is a rotation sensor.
It's going to be a busy, but very fun spring/summer. New coaches and judges
training materials to write. A new programming language to learn. A new
construction technique to master. And then I get to teach it all to everyone
else. I better get an NXT early. So to all of you out there who signed up to
be an NXT tester, just let me say this. My need is great, and I'd appreciate it
if you'd drop your name from the list to ensure that I will be chosen. I'm
doing this for the children. The children are our future! I should be the
chosen one!
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: NXT and FLL
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| (...) Dean, It turns out I'm free to talk about almost all this stuff, because I haven't talked with LEGO about any of it. (...) Yes, I also think having a rotation sensor build into the motor will make it easier to navigate. (...) This is a big (...) (18 years ago, 16-Jan-06, to lugnet.robotics)
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