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Subject: 
Re: Something else is needed, I think...
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.robotics
Date: 
Sun, 2 May 1999 13:41:54 GMT
Original-From: 
Luis Villa <LIV@spamlessDUKE.EDU>
Viewed: 
811 times
  
I think this was only mentioned on the legos mailing list, but
there are now two web-based compilers for LegOS. Write the code on
whatever text based system you have, cut and paste it into a form on the
web, and voila! Get a .srec file mailed back to you to use. You can find
the URLs on the LegOS web page. For those of you even mildly skilled in C,
there really isn't a better way to go.
I know it's not quite the pre-packaged, lightweight solution that
either Mark or Laurentino had in mind, but technically speaking, you don't
actually have to download anything at all, and it gives you a full LegOS
system. Just a thought-
-Luis
P.S. For those of you who know some C, but are slightly intimidated by
learning LegOS from the ground up, I have a starter's HOWTO at
http://arthurdent.dorm.duke.edu/legos/HOWTO/HOWTO.html
It's not yet complete, but that and the web-compilers should be a good start
for those of you who just want to get their toes wet with LegOS.


On Sun, 2 May 1999, Laurentino Martins wrote:

At 07:59 02/05/99 Sunday , you wrote:
I'm just wondering how many people agree with me on this point...

I think that another code development system is needed for the RCX.

Why?

Well, it seems like everything that's already out there is either
overkill (legos, pbforth for rcx), or suffers from limitations imposed
by the standard rcx firmware (mindstorms, nqc, et al).

I believe that in terms of complexity, something halfway between legos
and nqc is needed.  Something like the Handyboard's Interactive C for
the RCX would be about what I might imagine for such a middle-ground
development system.  The first phase of such a project would doubtless
be to write an alternative firmware that is more accomodating to complex
programs than the exiisting firmware.  I would not expect this new
firmware to be in any way compatible with the old.  Making a compiler
that would work with this new firmware would have the benefit of being
more flexible than nqc because the old firmware's limitations (such as
32 integer variables, and no local variables) could be eliminated, and
more practical than legos because it would undoubtably be much more
lightweight than the legos package along with a full-blown H8
cross-compiler.


Sorry to disagree, but I think we already have a very good range of developing systems: (1) The LEGO software for newbies, (2) RcxCC + NQC + Spirit.ocx for the large majority of the projects, and (3) LegOS for those who want to go beyond the limitations.

Now I believe there is too big gap between NQC and LegOS, and maybe there should be made some effort for creating a reliable LegOS setup for Windows based PCs. I'm thinking in a InstallShield type of setup that setups everything with a few clicks, installs some IDE editor (and F1 key help) and is ready to start compiling after that.
And why Windows based PCs? Because people who want to migrate are most probably already using it for NQC. :->
LegOS is already an established platform, so instead of shorting the gap, we should build some bridges instead.

By the way, I want to thank Mark Overmarks and Dave Baum for creating RcxCC and NQC. IMHO it's one of the best things that happened to the RCX and CyberMaster world and I'm sure they will be the main development platform for LEGO computers for years to come.
You may not give much importance to this, but being a CyberMaster owner I'm happy to be "stuck" with this great platform since I depend a lot on the Spirit.ocx for creating great projects.
Thank you. :-)

PS: I know there are other languages out there that use the Spirit.ocx, but I'm a C/C++ addict and this is my language of choice. :-)


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Did you check the web site first?: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Something else is needed, I think...
 
(...) Sorry to disagree, but I think we already have a very good range of developing systems: (1) The LEGO software for newbies, (2) RcxCC + NQC + Spirit.ocx for the large majority of the projects, and (3) LegOS for those who want to go beyond the (...) (25 years ago, 2-May-99, to lugnet.robotics)

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