Subject:
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The Scout brick: smart or dumb? (was: Robotics Discovery Set)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Mon, 6 Sep 1999 19:58:43 GMT
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Viewed:
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706 times
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In lugnet.robotics, Robert Eddings writes:
> [...]
> Quickly, for those that don't know, the Scout is programmable from
> buttons on the brick. It has two sensor ports and two motor ports. A
> light sensor is built into the front of the brick and does not use a
> sensor port.
> [...]
> 2. There is a dark plastic section on the brick that is in the same
> position as the IR on the RCX. Strangely, this is ignored in the
> documentation. The box says that the Scout can communicate with an RCX
> but this is said in the well known "LEGO vague" text that can also be
> taken to mean that this is an add on feature.
> [...]
> Also, I control my RCX via the IR port on my Palm IIIx and would like to
> do the same on the Scout so we can go there too.
Robert,
I just got a good real-life look at the 9735 Robotics Discovery Set this
morning -- and boy oh boy does that blue Scout brick look a lot like the
yellow RCX brick! Reading your post above and seeing it in person, I'm only
getting more and more curious now!
I have to wonder: How dumbed down *is* the blue Scout brick compared to the
yellow RCX brick? (I don't mean the shipping software, I mean the brick
itself at the hardware/firmware level.) Is the Scout 80% as capable as the
RCX? 60%? 20%? What has the Scout got for guts?
Some quotes from the official LEGO MINDSTORMS site are interesting...these
are all from <http://www.legomindstorms.com/products/rds.html>...
"ENTER THE WORLD OF ROBOTICS.
The Robotics Discovery Set provides everything needed to bring your
smart LEGO® creations to life. Using the Scout's hands-on Command
Center, create over 3000 different behaviors — all at the touch of
a button."
This suggests that the chip at the heart of the Scout isn't just a total
no-brain chip. It must have a CPU and some RAM and a ROM, yes? (Anyone
torn one apart yet and looked under the hood?)
"THE SCOUT
The Scout is a powerful LEGO® microcomputer that acts as the brain
of your robot. Using your Scout, you can build and program LEGO®
robots that do what you want."
Is the phrase "powerful LEGO® microcomputer" just marketing fluff, or might
there actually be something halfway powerful inside the Scout, as there is
inside the RCX?
"BUILD ROBOTS THAT WORK TOGETHER
The Scout can communicate with robots from the Robotics Invention
System™."
OK, it's gotta have -something- for a brain, and some means of communcating
with the external world.
"COMING IN FALL 2000
Unleash the full power of your Scout with booster sets that let you
program the Scout from a computer, enhance your sensor capabilities
and build more robots."
What might this possibly mean? That a year from now, the Scout will have
functionality similar to the RCX where you can download your own programs?
How might TLG provide these so-called "booster" sets? Might it be software
that downloads new firmware to the Scout, giving it RCX-like potential?
What I wanna know is: On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), how
likely is it that the Scout brick (currently crippled by the default
firmware) is actually a general-purpose brick much like the RCX? It sure
sounds to me like it's -almost- as cool as the RCX, but just crippled until
someone figures out how to uncripple it.
--Todd
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Robotics Discovery Set
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| I bought the LEGO Robotics Discovery Set yesterday. The programmable brick in this set is called the Scout and has a blue cover. Quickly, for those that don't know, the Scout is programmable from buttons on the brick. It has two sensor ports and two (...) (25 years ago, 1-Sep-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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