Creating a 50 dollar Mindstorm.....

[MrWizard]

Hello Roboteers,


Little bit about my project.  I am trying to create an alternative for the mindstorm on a smaller budget.
My son already has an extensive collection of Lego. So  I decided to use Lego as a basis for the robot.

Lego is very versatile, quick and easy to build with. I have look at at the mindstorm products and they are well worth the money I must say.
But building a Robot controller and program it yourself is the extra fun ofcourse.

I am just starting with making the pieces fit to the lego system (not the nxt).

If somebody also experimented with this conversion..maybe we could share some ideas.

[SmAsH]

wait so are you trying to make a sort of mindstorms thing? like have the mcu inside a block?

[MrWizard]

No not the -brick- .  I am using the 50 dollar controller and other selfmade parts.
I adapt it so I can use it with Lego parts and create a flexible kind of Minstorm with already bought Lego parts
The NXT is very nice but limited. So I am trying to build a flexible alternative.

I still use C programming as the main programming language.

[SmAsH]

so are you building any kind of electronics into the bricks?

[MrWizard]

so are you building any kind of electronics into the bricks?

Yes , next thing to get the light-resistors mounted on some brick. Have some IR modules ready also I have made 2 different models with IR , one amplified like in the tutorial and another model from another website..

I will post the test results. (all build with pots so I can use it also for line following)

[MrWizard]

so are you building any kind of electronics into the bricks?

Small update on experimenting for about 2 hours.

Cheap mindstorm photorevore robot..

[Gertlex]

I'm surprised more people don't just build their robots into lego chassis.  Especially the experimental living room sort.

Mine:

[Ro-Bot-X]

A few years ago, some time before NXT talks were even out in the open, I used a lot the old Mindstorms kits. I still use them, but now I focus on the other type of robots. But at the time, being frustrated with the size and limitations of the RCX I thought about building a similar controller but smaller and cheaper and with more possibilities.
Since I didn't know much about microcontrollers, I chose something that was easy to program and small in size. Today I would choose a Mega168 or so...

So here is my microsize intelligent bricks that I've built at the time: Nemesis and Perseus bricks. If you Google the names you'll find more info about the micros. I have used them for line followers and mini sumo bots made out of Lego Technic and Mindstorms elements.

[SmAsH]

wow you guys, these look great! these holidays im trying this!

[galannthegreat]

Lol, screw paying a fortune for the mindstorms kit when you can make your own augmented boards into lego mindstorms like things, and btw, these all look really awesome!!! Maybe i should try this out.

[MrWizard]

A few years ago, some time before NXT talks were even out in the open, I used a lot the old Mindstorms kits. I still use them, but now I focus on the other type of robots. But at the time, being frustrated with the size and limitations of the RCX I thought about building a similar controller but smaller and cheaper and with more possibilities.
Since I didn't know much about microcontrollers, I chose something that was easy to program and small in size. Today I would choose a Mega168 or so...

So here is my microsize intelligent bricks that I've built at the time: Nemesis and Perseus bricks. If you Google the names you'll find more info about the micros. I have used them for line followers and mini sumo bots made out of Lego Technic and Mindstorms elements.

Nice work about the Lego-Bots you all...

I am already working on a smaller version , but same basic design.

Now I am trying to get some IR modules (self made, not Sharp) working.

Nice to know to have some fellow (Lego) roboteers who are also prototyping with Lego.

[Admin]

I've made like 20 robots out of legos like 8+ years ago. I got them to do fairly advanced stuff too, like the wavefront algorithm and a robot that shoots rubber bands at flashlights. They used the old HandyBoard from MIT.

Reminds me, maybe I'll upload a video or two of them . . . just subscribe to my YouTube account and stay tuned . . .