LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide Second Edition
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LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide Second Edition ■ ■ ■ James Floyd Kelly LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming Guide, Second Edition Copyright © 2010 by James Floyd Kelly All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-2976-6 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-2977-3 Printed and bound in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. 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For the LEGO MINDSTORMS team, past and present… Contents at a Glance ■ Chapter 1: Robots and Programs.........................................................................1 ■ Chapter 2: Program Structure............................................................................11 ■ Chapter 3: Hello World!......................................................................................17 ■ Chapter 4: Get Movin’.........................................................................................31 ■ Chapter 5: Record and Playback........................................................................43 ■ Chapter 6: Make Some Noise!............................................................................51 ■ Chapter 7: Wired!...............................................................................................63 ■ Chapter 8: True or False?...................................................................................75 ■ Chapter 9: Feedback ..........................................................................................85 ■ Chapter 10: Wait for It! ....................................................................................101 ■ Chapter 11: Round and Round .........................................................................113 ■ Chapter 12: Decisions, Decisions.....................................................................131 ■ Chapter 13: Stop It!..........................................................................................147 ■ Chapter 14: Pick a Card, Any Card...................................................................153 ■ Chapter 15: Apples and Oranges......................................................................163 ■ Chapter 16: Inside or Out? ...............................................................................177 ■ Chapter 17: Yes? No? Maybe? .........................................................................191 ■ Chapter 18: Title = Anything You Like .............................................................201 ■ Chapter 19: Basic Text.....................................................................................221 ■ Chapter 20: Basic Math....................................................................................229 ■ Chapter 21: Staying Alive.................................................................................237 ■ Chapter 22: Your Own Filing Cabinet ...............................................................241 ■ Chapter 23: Calibration ....................................................................................253 ■ Chapter 24: Motoring .......................................................................................259 ■ Chapter 25: Messages......................................................................................267 ■ Chapter 26: My Block Is Your Block ................................................................277 ■ Appendix A: Math Basics for NXT ....................................................................289 ■ Appendix B: SPOT Building Instructions ..........................................................293 ■ Appendix C: Image Editor.................................................................................305 Index.....................................................................................................................311 iv ■ CONTENTS Contents Contents at a Glance................................................................................................iv About the Author ....................................................................................................xv About the Technical Reviewer...............................................................................xvi Acknowledgments ................................................................................................xvii Introduction.........................................................................................................xviii ■ Chapter 1: Robots and Programs.........................................................................1 What Is a Robot?..............................................................................................................1 What Is a Program? .........................................................................................................1 Programs are for Humans Too.........................................................................................3 Programs are Merely Instructions ...................................................................................3 The Challenge of Programming .......................................................................................4 NXT-G...............................................................................................................................5 ■ Chapter 2: Program Structure............................................................................11 What Do I Mean by Structure?.......................................................................................11 Planning Your Program’s Structure ...............................................................................11 Moving Into Real Code...................................................................................................13 Exercises .......................................................................................................................14 Exercise 2-1. Move One Object Nearer to Another ...............................................................................14 Exercise 2-2. Place Objects at Corners ................................................................................................14 What’s Next?..................................................................................................................14 v ■ CONTENTS Exercise Solutions .........................................................................................................15 Exercise 2-1..........................................................................................................................................15 Exercise 2-2..........................................................................................................................................15 ■ Chapter 3: Hello World!......................................................................................17 Programming the DISPLAY Block...................................................................................17 Waiting for the Results ..................................................................................................20 Doing More with DISPLAY..............................................................................................21