70 advancedprogrammingandbestpractices2013!10!05

7/25/2019 70 AdvancedProgrammingAndBestPractices2013!10!05

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Bill AucoinMaryland State FLL Committee

University of Maryland, BaltimoreCounty (UMBC)

October 5, 2013

FLL Advanced Programming& Best Practices Workshop
http://www.legoeducation.com/ImagePopup.aspx?reftype=1&refid=1275&defimg=3662&pop=1


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Guidelines For Today

Feel free to enter and leave at any time quietly The toilets are out the back of the auditorium and to the right

This is intended to be a facilitated discussion, not a one-way lecture

Group participation is expected at all times!

This discussion is intended to stand alone

We apologize if some of the topics you have heard already

The target audience is all types of coaches: rookie to expert

We will avoid specific discussions of this years challenge andstrategies for each mission

Feel free to discuss that outside of this clinic

3


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Introductions andAdministrivia


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Dont Be Worried If You Feel That You DontKnow Everything About FLL and Robotics!

We are a team.

We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches andmentors.

We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; welearn together.

We honor the spirit of friendly competition.

What we discover is more important than what we win.

We share our experiences with others.

We display Gracious Professionalismand Coopertitionin everythingwe do.

We have FUN!

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalueshttp://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues


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In The Spirit Of Coopertition, Please ConsiderHelping Other Teams

Coopertitionis displaying unqualified kindness andrespect in the face of fierce competition

Coopertitionis founded on the concept and aphilosophy that teams can and should help andcooperate with each other even as they compete

Coopertitioninvolves learning from teammates

It is teaching teammates

It is learning from mentors

And it is managing and being managed

Coopertitionmeans competing always, butassisting and enabling others when you can

8

http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalism
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalismhttp://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalismhttp://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalismhttp://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalism


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If You Are A Beginning Team, Be ComfortableWith How Far You Team Can Go

9

We are a team.

We do the work to find solutions withguidance from our coaches and mentors.

We know our coaches and mentors don'thave all the answers; we learn together.

We honor the spirit of friendly competition.

What we discover is more important thanwhat we win.

We share our experiences with others.

We display Gracious Professionalism andCoopertitionin everything we do.

We have FUN!

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues

The topics we discuss today might besomething thing you are already doing,

something you can do this year, orsomething you should try next year

You make the choice!

Regional Qualifier !

State Tournament !!

World Festival !!!
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalismhttp://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalueshttp://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalueshttp://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/gracious-professionalism


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It Is Up To The Individual Coaches On How ToTeach/Apply These Ideas With Their Teams

Please try to make FLLa learning experiencefor your teams!


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Agenda

Start End Topic

1:00 PM 3:00 PM FLL Advanced Programming and Best Practices

3:00 PM ??? Open Questions and Answers

Topics

Sensors(including Wait For Blocks and Sensor Calibration)

Squaring Up

Program Flow Control(including Loops and Switch Blocks)

Commenting and Printing Your Programs

MyBlocks Master Programs or Sequencers

Moving and Turning

(including Motor Blocks and Move Blocks)

Base Operations

(including Starting Positions and Attachments)

Motor Reset Blocks

Multiple Sequence Beams

Data Wires(including Constants, Variables)

Generic Tips and Recommendations

Line Following Other References (Books, Websites, etc.)


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Sensors

(including Wait For Blocks

and Sensor Calibration)


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Cougar Robotics Has Offered What They ConsiderTo Be A Better Way To Wait For Sensor

13

http://www.cougarrobot.com

04 WaitForDark.rbt

Author: RobotBillMD

Revision: 03

Required Sensors:

Port 3 - Light Sensor

This program drives forward until it detects a black line.

05-WaitForDark.rbt

Author: RobotBillMDRevision: 05

Required Sensors:

Port 3 - Light Sensor

This program drives forward until it detects a black line. It checks for the

line continually (every 6 degrees) vs. continuously.

Credits: This program is adapted from the program provided by Cougar

Robotics

http://www.cougarrobot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=78&Itemid=118

Give these a try to see which ofthese programming styles work

better for you


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Wait For NXT Buttons: Can Be Used For OperatorInteraction


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Back To Agenda


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Program Flow Control

(including Loops and

Switch Blocks)


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Repeated Code Execution

Loop Blocks


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Loop Block: Commonly Used When ExecutingPortions Of Code When Waiting For A Condition


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Loop Block: The Loop Will Run Continuously UntilThe Selected Condition Is Met


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Here Is A Way To Ramp Up Your Speed

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Use the value of the loopcounter to control the

motor power


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Conditional Program

Execution

Switch Blocks


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Switch Block: Executes Different Sequence BeamsDepending On A Condition/Sensor


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You Can Nest Switch Blocks For Extra Logic

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You Can Use Data Wires And Values To ControlThe Switch Block

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Three Values and the defaultcondition is 2 (value = 20)

Set default button

Add or remove conditions

Flat view turned off

Note: This would NOT worksince I never connected thesensor to the switch block! Oops


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Back To Agenda


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MyBlocks


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My Blocks Can Be Used To Combine CommonSections Of Code Which Is Repeated

O Of Th B R f O M Bl k I


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One Of The Best References On My Blocks IsOnline at www.NXTprograms.com

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http://www.nxtprograms.com/help/MyBlocks/tutorial.html?r44b=no

E Y K Th I A i t d With


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Ensure You Know The Issues Associated WithMyBlocks When Using Them

When you edit a MyBlock, you can affect every program that usesthat MyBlock

You need to re-download each program that uses the MyBlock to the robotto ensure each program is refreshed

Downloading the MyBlock does not update the robot

Deleting or renaming a MyBlock will break any program that usesthe MyBlock

You need to edit each program that uses the MyBlock with the newlyrenamed Block

A program and all of the MyBlocks it uses share the same list ofvariables

Only one copy of a specific MyBlock can run at the same time

If you need to run the same MyBlock concurrently, copy the MyBlock andgive it a different name

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MyBlocks Are Stored In Their Own Folder

Moving a file to a different folder with break any program that isusing that block

Use Pack and Go to transfer programs

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MyBlocks Can Be Broken

A MyBlock will be broken if it has two data plugs with the samename

A MyBlock will be broken if it uses data wires and there is a problemwith the data wire connections

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Back To Agenda


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Moving and Turning

(including Motor Blocks

and Move Blocks)


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Differences Between Move and Motor Blocks

Move Block Motor Block

Number of motorscontrolled

1, 2 or 3 Only 1 motor per block

Motor Synchronization? Synchronization & Steering *

Block to Block ErrorCorrection?

Block to Block Error Correction Block to Block Error Correction

Motor Power Control? None If selected, power control willincrease/decrease power tomaintain desired motor rotation

Motor Action None Ramp Up Ramp Down Constant

34

Only if the duration isdegrees or rotations

* If you choose to control two motors (Example: B & C), the motors will be synchronized* If you select three motors, motors B & C will be synchronized

l bl h k d h l


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For More Reliable Movements, Use Either Locked-Wheel Turns orMove Blocks With -100,0 or +100 Steering Commands

35 http://paris.utdallas.edu/IEEE-RS-ATR/document/2009/2009-15.pdfhttp://www.ieeereliability.com/Newsletter/1_2010/Article1.htm

Recommendations

Based on this battery-voltageexperiment, we came up with thefollowing recommendation for FLL

teams when using NXT Softwareto program their LEGO NXTrobots:

Whenever you use the MOVEblock to control your robot, ensure

both drive motors maintain thesame power level (e.g. only usesteering values of -100, 0, or+100).

Tip


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Basic RobotManeuverability

Move Blocks andMotor Blocks


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Differences Between Move and Motor Blocks

Move Block Motor Block

Number of motorscontrolled

1, 2 or 3 Only 1 motor per block

Motor Synchronization? Synchronization & Steering *

Block to Block ErrorCorrection?

Block to Block Error Correction Block to Block Error Correction

Motor Power Control? None If selected, power control willincrease/decrease power tomaintain desired motor rotation

Motor Action None Ramp Up Ramp Down Constant

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Only if the duration isdegrees or rotations

* If you choose to control two motors (Example: B & C), the motors will be synchronized* If you select three motors, motors B & C will be synchronized

Carnegie Mellon University Provides A Summary


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Carnegie Mellon University Provides A SummaryOf The Advantages & Disadvantages Of Each

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http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/downloads/lego/resources/nxt/pdf/Motor%20vs.%20Move%20Blocks.pdf


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Other Move and Motor Block Considerations

Motor Blocks with its Next Action Parameter set to Constant willapply the specified power level throughout the motion of the motor

A Move Block will decrease the power near the end of the motion(so it does not overshoot the requested duration)

A move block is similar to a Constant Motor Block for most of the durationfollowed by a Ramp Down Motor Block in this sense

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Driving Straight

What Are Some Considerations For


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What Are Some Considerations ForMaking The Robot Move Straight?

Matched wheels

Same diameter? How To Make Your FLL Robot Go Straight on YouTube

TheFLLCoach (Vienna Robotics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OlAO9Ho-N58

Matched motors

http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/TechBrick/TechTips/NXTCalibration/index.htm

Programming

Move vs. motor blocks

Wheel slippage

Friction control

Programming correct/varying power levels

Using external items

Line following with a sensor

Wall following by running along wall45

Sometimes Features Are Used To Ride Along The
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OlAO9Ho-N58http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/TechBrick/TechTips/NXTCalibration/index.htmhttp://www.techbrick.com/Lego/TechBrick/TechTips/NXTCalibration/index.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OlAO9Ho-N58


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Sometimes Features Are Used To Ride Along TheTable Wall

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Be careful of themounting location(s),because the robot might

have a difficult timemaneuvering away fromthe wall

Picture courtesy of Marco Ciavolino


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Robot Turns

For More Reliable Movements Use Either Locked Wheel Turns or


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For More Reliable Movements, Use Either Locked-Wheel Turns orMove Blocks With -100,0 or +100 Steering Commands

48

http://paris.utdallas.edu/IEEE-RS-ATR/document/2009/2009-15.pdfhttp://www.ieeereliability.com/Newsletter/1_2010/Article1.htm

Recommendations

Based on this battery-voltageexperiment, we came up with thefollowing recommendation for FLLteams when using NXT Softwareto program their LEGO NXTrobots:

Whenever you use the MOVE

block to control your robot, ensureboth drive motors maintain thesame power level (e.g. only usesteering values of -100, 0, or+100).

Tip

Experiment with different types of turns and

see which one is more reliable for you!


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am I there yet?


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Smooth Running by Dave Parker

50

http://forums.usfirst.org/showpost.php?p=53233&postcount=7


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Navigation

Where Possible You Should Sense Your Outside


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Where Possible, You Should Sense Your OutsideEnvironment For Navigation

Dead Reckoning Maneuvering without using sensors to determinewhere you are relative to the positions of the mission models

Fix Using sensors to determine your position relative to the matandmission models by sensing the outside environment

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Good - Motion with Move/Motor Blocks using time (seconds)

Sensitive to starting position Sensitive to starting orientation Sensitive to battery voltage

Better - Motion with Move/Motor Blocks using internal sensors(rotation or degrees)

Sensitive to starting position Sensitive to starting orientation

Best - Motion with Move/Motor Blocks while sensing or contactingthe external environment (light, color, touch, ultrasonic, wall,mission model, strategic object)

Relatively insensitive to starting position and orientation Sensitive to sensor performance and environment

How Accurately You Need To Navigate Depends


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Initial Guidance

When leaving the base, sometimes you can be prettyloose with your navigation accuracy

Midterm Guidance

While approaching the mission models, you shouldtighten up your navigation accuracy

Terminal Guidance

At the very end of your maneuvering, you must ensurethe accuracy and precision of your navigation aresufficient to get the job done

How Accurately You Need To Navigate DependsOn What Part Of The Mission You Are Executing

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Some of the better teams can program some of their missions such thatthey can loosely place the robot in the base and have the robot figure

out where it is and where it needs to be after leaving base

If Your Robot Needs Accurate Alignment In The


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If Your Robot Needs Accurate Alignment In TheBase, Consider An Alignment Fixture

The attachment needs to bemade out of LEGO-manufacturedpieces [Rule 4]

The team member must not be

touching the alignment fixturewhen the robot leaves base[Rule 16]

54

Picture courtesy of Marco Ciavolino


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Back To Agenda


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Motor Reset Blocks


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Motor Reset Blocks

Move Block Error Correction and Motor Reset


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Move Block Error Correction and Motor ResetBlocks Going 8 Rotations With A Final Brake

58

2.2 2.3 2.1 2.0

8.6

8.0

With one move block, the motors

will go exactly 8 rotations

2.2 2.3 2.1 1.4

8.0

Notes:The last move block in each sequence above uses

brake, all of the others coast.

What Are These Motor Reset Blocks Actually


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What Are These Motor Reset Blocks ActuallyDoing?

Both move and motor blocks will keep track of, and try to correct for,

accumulated errors in the motors These errors are typically very small when the motor and move blocks include abrake

When the coast option is used, these errors can build up

Setting direction to stop does not appear to reset accumulated move ormotor errors

This might be an error in the NXT-G help

It is never necessary to use motor reset blocks at the beginning of aprogram

All motors are automatically reset at the beginning of a program

Motor reset blocks might be helpful at the beginning of code packaged inmyblocks

It depends on what the motors are doing prior to and at the beginning of the myblock

59

The Bottom Line:


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Experts Recommendation On Motor Reset Blocks

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For most FLL teams, motor reset blocks are not relevant and you never really need

them If you use brake for all of your movements, as many FLL teams do, accumulated errors are small Its coasting that causes big errors to accumulate

The main good use of motor reset blocks in FLL is when teams combine more thanone outing into a single longer program (e.g. a menu or sequencer program)

In this case, it is necessary to coast the motor(s) to make it possible to adjust a motorized attachmentbetween outings, since the program is still running Coasting the motors may cause large errors to accumulate (as the humans move the coasted motors

between outings) which will forwarded to the next motion, which is definitely not the desired result. In a sequencer, each outing should begin with a Red Reset and end with a Coast for any relevant motors

Another possibleapplication for the making sure a new motion starts from a fresh

measurement would be the first movement after pushing into a stationary object withthe intent to stall into it, such as having the robot push into a wall until it stallsAt this point, the rotation counts can be unpredictable (especially left to right), and you want your first

movement away from the wall to start at zero accumulated error on both sides This is only really applicable if you drive into the wall by rotations/degrees (when seconds is really the

better choice when a stall is expected) Many teams are likely to use degrees anyway because they dont know any better


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Back To Agenda


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Multiple Sequence

Beams

You Can Use Multiple Sequence Beams For


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p qConcurrent Robot Operations

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Move Forward

While Moving Forward(move block on other

sequence beam), moveMotor A

Note: Can do the same thingwith a motor block in serieswith a Move Block as long asyou uncheck the Wait for

Completion option

Branch Sequence Beams Can Be Added In The


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qMiddle Of The Main Sequence Beam

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NXT Program Flow Rules


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NXT Program Flow Rules

The program runs until it reaches the end of all sequence beams ora stop block whichever comes first

A Block can only start when there are values on all of the input datawires

A Loop Block or Switch Block cannot start until there are values onall of the data wires that enter the block

A data wire that starts inside a Loop Block will have a value onlywhen the Loop Block finishes

A data wire that starts inside a Switch Block will have a value onlywhen the Switch Block finishes

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Be Careful Of Multiple Sequence Beams


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p qKnow The Issues With Them!

Use multiple sequence beams only when you think you really needthem

Avoid busy loops where one sequence beam is hogging the CPU

Dont try to control the same motor on different sequence beams at

the same time

Be very careful about data wires going into and out of Loop Blocksand Switch blocks

Only one copy of a particular My Block can run at a time

If the same MyBlock is on different sequence beams, it will run the first MyBlock, then run the second instance once the first one completes

Copy and rename the My Block if you need to run multiple copiesconcurrently

66


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Back To Agenda


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Data Wires

(including Constants

and Variables

Data Wires Carry Information Between


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Programming Blocks

You create a data wire by drawing it out of a blocks data hub

Nearly all of the programming blocks have data hubs and cansupport data wires.

Open a blocks data hub by clicking the tab at the lower left edge of

the block after it has been placed on the work area.

The cursor will change shape when it hovers over or is near a dataplug. If you then press the mouse button and drag to the right, adata wire will unroll that can be connected to a plug on anotherblocks data hub.

To delete a data wire that stretches from left to right between twodata plugs, click on the right plug

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Programming Blocks

Data wires carrying information to a block (i.e., carrying input) areconnected to the plugs on the left side of its data hub. Data wirescarrying information away from a block to another block (i.e.,carrying output) are connected to the plugs on the right side.

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Programming Blocks

You create a data wire by drawing it out of a blocks data hub

Nearly all of the programming blocks have data hubs and cansupport data wires

Open a blocks data hub by clicking the tab at the lower left edge of

the block after it has been placed on the work area

The cursor will change shape when it hovers over or is near a dataplug

If you then press the mouse button and drag to the right, a data wire willunroll that can be connected to a plug on another blocks data hub.

Deleting a data wire

To delete a data wire that stretches from left to right between two dataplugs, click on the right plug

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Data Wires Carry Specific Types Of Data


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Data Wires Carry Specific Types Of Data

Each data wire carries a specific type of data between blocks. Forexample, if a data wire is dragged from a logic plug on a blocksdata hub, it can only be connected to a logic plug on another blocksdata hub.

Data wires are identified with specific colors:

wires carrying number data are coloredyellow

wires carrying logic (true/false) data are colored green

wires carrying text data are colored orange.

72


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Back To Agenda


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Line Following

Follow TheYellow Brick

RoadBlack Curvy Line

2 State Line Follower Most Basic


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2 State Line Follower Most Basic

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http://www.nxtprograms.com/line_follower/steps.html Note: For FLL, thesedisplay blocks might be

an unnecessary waste ofthe NXT memory

You will not be able toread the display as it isrunning anyway!

Question: How long willthis line followerprogram follow the line?

3 State Line Follower Adds Go Straight


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3 State Line Follower Adds Go Straight

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Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programminghttp://www.nostarch.com/nxt-g.htm

Go straight if you are justover the edge of the line

5 State Line Follower


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5 State Line Follower

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http://www.nxtprograms.com/line_follower/steps.html

Proportional Line Follower


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Proportional Line Follower

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http://www.nxtprograms.com/line_follower/steps.html

This is getting a bit

advanced for most FLLteams

My opinion: If the childrendont understand it, dontuse it

This Line Follower Sets The B Motor Speed To AC t t d Th ttl th C M t S d


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Constant and Throttles the C Motor Speed

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http://www.hightechkids.org/sites/default/files/CoachingLibrary/fllprogramming_nxtPL_v1.0.1.ppt

Proportional Integral Differential (PID) Controllers Are OverkillFor Most FLL Applications (But They Show Up At The World


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pp ( y pFestival All The Time)

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http://nxt-progs.blogspot.com/2011/02/line-following-pid-controller.html

If your team memberscannot understand it,DONT use it.

There Are Even Fuzzy Logic Line Followers


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There Are Even Fuzzy Logic Line Followers

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http://stefans-robots.net/en/fuzzy-line-follwing-nxt-robot.php


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Back To Agenda


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Squaring Up

You Can Set The Orientation (Heading) Of TheRobot By Backing Into The Wall Or Using Sensors


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Robot By Backing Into The Wall Or Using Sensors

You can use either time or multiple touch sensors to back into thewall and orient the robot perpendicular to the wall at any time

You can detect the motor stall condition to see if you are against ahard object (e.g. the wall)

You can use light or color sensors to detect the location of a lineand orient the robot perpendicular to the line

85


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Back To Agenda


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Commenting and

Printing Your Programs

What the Heck Is ThisProgram Telling Me?

Annotations (Comments) In The Programs Help ToDocument The Program (Judges like it too!)


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Document The Program (Judges like it too!)

Tip

You can entercomments which aregeneric to the entireprogram by clicking

on the start icon


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Printing Your Programs

You Can Print Directly To Your Printer Or CaptureThe Printout Electronically In HTML and RTF


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The Printout Electronically In HTML and RTF

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HTML will create both the HTMLcode as well as pictures of the codeThese pictures can be inserted intomost document editing programs

Rich Text Format (RTF) can beopened with most common word

processing programs

When You Print To A Rich Text Format (RTF), ThisIs What You Get When You Open It In MS Word


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Is What You Get When You Open It In MS Word

Printing To HTML Will Generate Images WhichCan Be Cut and Pasted Into MS PowerPoint


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Can Be Cut and Pasted Into MS PowerPoint


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Back To Agenda


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Base Operations

Time in Base is Time

Not Earning Points


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Back To Agenda


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Master Programs

or Sequencers

A Sequencer Program Can Help With Speeding UpYour Pitstops In Base


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Your Pitstops In Base

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00-MasterProgram.rbt

Author: RobotBillMDRevision: 02

Required Sensors:

None (NXT Buttons Used)

This program is used to execute a set of

three programs in rapid sequence. Prior to

each program, this master program waits for

the orange button to be pressed.

Credits: This program is adapted from the

program provided by Cougar Robotics

http://www.cougarrobot.com/index.php?optio

n=com_content&view=category&layout=blog

&id=78&Itemid=118

http://www.cougarrobot.com

There are many differentways to implement asequencing program

Have your team generatetheir own!

Consider an initial motor reset and a final coast foryour last motor/move blocks when using sequencers


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Back To Agenda


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Other References

(Books, Websites, etc.)

The FIRST Forum Is A Good Way To Discuss AndGet UNOFFICIAL Advice On FIRST LEGO League


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Get UNOFFICIAL Advice On FIRST LEGO League

10

http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=24

The MD FIRST Website Has Many Great Resources


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http://www.mdfirst.org/programs/first-lego-league/fll-team-resources.html

Make Sure You Sign Up For TheFLL Coaches List Service (listserv)
http://www.mdfirst.org/programs/first-lego-league/fll-team-resources.htmlhttp://www.mdfirst.org/programs/first-lego-league/fll-team-resources.html


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FLL Coaches List Service (listserv)

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https://lists.umbc.edu/lists/info/FLL_Maryland_Coaches

Our Own Techbrick Provides Resources That AreUsed Worldwide Thanks Marco!
https://lists.umbc.edu/lists/info/FLL_Maryland_Coacheshttps://lists.umbc.edu/lists/info/FLL_Maryland_Coaches


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Used Worldwide Thanks Marco!

10

http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2011/Resources/index.html

Training Is Available Via Carnegie Mellon
http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2011/Resources/index.htmlhttp://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2011/Resources/index.html


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v3.010 LEGO, FIRST and FLL Do Not Endorse Any Specific Tutorial Software

In Addition To All Of The Other Lists OfResources, Consider Some Of These


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Resources, Consider Some Of These

Dave Parkers Website A Frequent World Festival Judge

http://www.nxtprograms.com - Well documented NXT-G code!

NXT-G Tips & Tricks on Team Hassenplug Website and CodeExamples

http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXTGTips/

http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXT-GCodeIndex.html

Minnesota FLL High Tech Kids

http://www.hightechkids.org/

Northern California FLL - Playing at Learning

http://www.playingatlearning.org/NCaFLL

FLL Freak Skye Sweeny

http://www.fll-freak.com/

Cougar Robotics (former high performing FLL team)

http://www.cougarrobot.com/10

In Addition To All Of The Other Lists OfResources, Consider Some Of These (Continued)
http://www.nxtprograms.com/http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXTGTips/http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXT-GCodeIndex.htmlhttp://www.hightechkids.org/http://www.playingatlearning.org/NCaFLLhttp://www.fll-freak.com/http://www.cougarrobot.com/http://www.cougarrobot.com/http://www.fll-freak.com/http://www.playingatlearning.org/NCaFLLhttp://www.hightechkids.org/http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXT-GCodeIndex.htmlhttp://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXTGTips/http://www.nxtprograms.com/


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esou ces, Co s de So e O ese (Co t ued)

Oregon State Robotics

http://www.ortop.org/fll/

The NXT Step http://www.thenxtstep.blogspot.com/

10

Telephone Support Is Available For Technical StuffThey Dont Answer FLL-Specific Questions
http://www.ortop.org/fll/http://www.thenxtstep.blogspot.com/http://www.thenxtstep.blogspot.com/http://www.ortop.org/fll/


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y p Q

LEGO Education

866-349-5346

7:30AM to 5:30PM CST

LEGO Retail

800-838-9647

7:30AM to 5:30PM CST

10


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Popular

Reference Books

Jim Kellys Book On FIRST LEGO League Has BeenPretty Popular


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10

This book is a bitdated, so rememberthat the officialrulestake precedence

Programming References In Print


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Additional Print References


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The LETS GO Boys and Girls Manual Provides ACurriculum and Instructional Exercises For FLL
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1430229640/ref=sib_dp_pt


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The Help Provided With The NXT-G Software IsWell Documented and Very Helpful


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Programming References In Print


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A Very Good (and Free) NXT-G and EV3 Tutorial IsAvailable at STEMcentric.com


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http://www.stemcentric.com/nxt-tutorial/ http://www.stemcentric.com/ev3-tutorial/

EV3 Tutorial

LEGO, FIRST and FLL Do Not Endorse Any Specific Tutorial Software

NXT Tutorial:

Training Is Available Via Carnegie Mellon


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v3.011 LEGO, FIRST and FLL Do Not Endorse Any Specific Tutorial Software


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Back To Agenda


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Generic Tips and

Recommendations

The NXT-G Software Has Default Ports ForVarious Outputs and Sensors


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Port Default Usage Notes

A Motor Block and Lamp* Block Attachment motors, if needed

B Move Block Robot mobility (left motor)

C Move Block Robot mobility (right motor)

1 Touch Sensor

2 Sound Sensor (Not Allowed In FLL)

3 Light Sensor

3 Color Sensor4 Ultrasonic Sensor

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While you can reprogram each port for a different device, it is easier to staywith the default outputs and sensors for each port

If You Have A Block That You Would Like ToReuse, Use Mouse Drag To Replicate


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AB/C 1 2 3 4

Tip

3

For FLL, you should use port 2for the second sensor, if you usemore than one of a certain type

When Debugging Software, Here Are Some Tips


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Annotate your software so you know where to make any changes

If you think you have several changes

Change only one thing at a time

Start with the changes closest to the beginning of the program

You can put sound blocks in to have the robot give you audible

signals when the robot does something Drawback: the soundblocks will take up extra memory in the NXT

You can put breaks in the code by inserting a motor stop blockfollowed by a wait for block (one possible example provided below)

12 This could be made into a myblock

Highly Recommended!File Naming Convention and Regular Backups


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Tell the team to use a standard naming convention

One I like is For example: wbaPickupMeat_v2

Create an online backup of the programs every day

Create an online back up of the profile directory by just copying this folderpasting it to the same folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\LEGOCreations\MINDSTORMS Projects\Profiles\Default

I usually do not use different profile names with NXT-G; I use the defaultprofile for the entire team

This ensures any myblocks etc. are all shared by the team

See naming convention above to prevent overwriting myblocks

Periodically, create an offline backup by copying this folder to a USBthumbdrive or equivalent

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Bluetooth Is Disallowed By FLL At The CompetitionBluetooth Can Be Used During Your Practice


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Bluetooth communications are not allowed at the competitions

Bluetooth can be very helpful during practices

The NXT Brick has Bluetooth built-in

You either need a computer with built-in

Bluetooth or you need a Bluetooth dongle

Tip

How To Connect Via Bluetooth to NXT Robots


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Turn on the computer

Slide in the Bluetooth dongle (some computers do not boot with the dongle installed)

On the computer, open the Bluetooth Devices window

If any NXT device is listed in the Devices list, Remove it (otherwise, a 'Line Busy' error will pop uplater). Make sure 'Turn discovery on' is selected. Close the Bluetooth Devices window.

Switch on the NXT, and select 'Search' from the Bluetooth menu, then 'Connect' to the foundcomputer. Accept the passcode [1234].

On the PC, a window comes up mentioning that a Bluetooth device is requesting to connect,asking if you want to allow connection. Click on the message to allow connection. A new windowpops up, asking for the passcode. Type in the passcode and click Next. Again, the NXT beeps toverify the passcode; press the orange button on NXT to accept.

Open the Bluetooth Devices window. Select the NXT device and press 'Properties'. In the new

window that opens, click the 'Services' tab. Now, Windows starts searching for services that NXTsupports. Select all available services (in my case, two serial ports) and press OK. Windows nowinstalls some new drivers. After that, close the Bluetooth Devices window.

Now, start the Mindstorms software on the PC, and open the NXT window. Scan for NXT devices,and after finding NXT, click "Connect" (if not already connected during scanning).

12

Thanks to Andy Traiger of Vienna Robotics


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Back To Agenda

Here Is A Way To Detect How Many TouchSensors Are Pressed


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Connect all of the touch sensors together using RCX to NXTconversion wires and plug them into one port