Subject:
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Re: idiot's guide to programming the rcx
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.rcx
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Date:
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Tue, 2 Nov 1999 04:32:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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1418 times
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In lugnet.robotics.rcx, Rob Hendrix writes:
> Can anyone tell me the EASIEST alternate programming language to use for the
> rcx. I mean, back in the days of BASIC, I was one of my state's top student
> programmers. But that was in the eighties.
The almost universal answer to the question "what is the best/easiest
alternative programming language for the RCX" is three little letters: "NQC."
If you are at all comfortable with programming in a "scripted" language like
BASIC, then you should have little trouble with the NQC syntax. Especially if
you read the (very concise!) on-line help from top to bottom before you start
coding. NQC is the easiest because you can download the NQC compiler plus a
great GUI front-end called RCX Command Center in one neat bundle, and install
the thing in just a couple of meg of hard disk space. RCXCC adds a ton of
great features (I just _love_ the joystick control window) to what is already a
very potent yet easy language.
I was shocked at the recent MindFest event at MIT to realize that virtually all
of the robots being demonstrated there were programmed in NQC. (Including Team
Ferrari/Berri's awesome tic-tac-toe machine!) The only exceptions that I saw
(not that I asked _everybody_, mind you) were actually brought by the very
authors of the other alternative programming languages. (For the record, I did
also see robots programmed in LegOS, pbFORTH, RoboLab, and even the stock LEGO
software, but definitely the minority.)
I have certainly "hit my head on the ceiling" as it were in NQC, but not so
hard that I've scrapped it yet. (And I might add that the limitations of NQC
are actually imposed by its reliance on the standard LEGO firmware, not by any
lack of effort on the part of its creator, Dave Baum.)
If you want to do graphical programming, check out RoboLab. (The only
commercial package listed here, but very reasonably priced.) If you want raw
C/C++ programming power, go with LegOS. If you want to be able to program your
RCX from a simple ASCII terminal, go with pbFORTH. From what I've seen, these
are all fine environments to work in, and each has its strengths. But do
yourself a huge favor and check out NQC first.
If you're just getting started with the RCX, here are a few useful URLs that
you should know about. (You apparently already have the most important one,
http://www.lugnet.com/ !!!)
Mindstorms Internals: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics/
NQC: http://www.enteract.com/~dbaum/nqc/index.html
RCXCC: http://www.cs.uu.nl/~markov/lego/ (Includes NQC compiler in download!)
pbFORTH: http://www.hempeldesigngroup.com/lego/pbFORTH/
LegOS: http://www.noga.de/legOS/
RoboLab: http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/graphics/robolab.html
And most importantly, have fun!
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: idiot's guide to programming the rcx
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| Ooooh. thanks for posting all those links. Nice to find all the various programming software out there. Tom (Having just cracked the box on his Mindstorms he got for his birthday in August) Chris Phillips <chris.phillips@comp...oards.com> wrote in (...) (25 years ago, 3-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics.rcx)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | idiot's guide to programming the rcx
|
| Can anyone tell me the EASIEST alternate programming language to use for the rcx. I mean, back in the days of BASIC, I was one of my state's top student programmers. But that was in the eighties. (25 years ago, 2-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics.rcx)
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