Programming with colour

[Kriplus]

I don't write that often in here, but I simply had to share this model.

A friend and I have worked on how to introduce kids to programming from a very early age and this is our first project:

As said this is our first project in this direction and we are already tinkering with the next project, as this model have quit a few problems. The steering is not precis enough, red balls are often registered as yellow and you need two NXT models to build it!

The idea with the next model is that the students should put QR stickers on a paper. We then use a smartphone to register the QR codes. The smartphone then tell the robot how to drive based on the QR codes. The only problem is that we haven't tried to combine smartphones and mindstorms yet. Does any one here have any idea what program to use, how to start working on it or another place we might be able to find some startup help?

Part of the model builds on Robin Newmans ball sorter, found at:

http://r.newman.ch/lego/

The program can be downloaded at:

https://www.mediafire.com/?9h6bb8pggw6ymhm

[kieran]

Sending codes via Bluetooth from the phone to the nxt will be fine, but you will need to create an app on the phone i would think. It's not that hard but will be lots of work. Then you need the robot software on the nxt to make it drive around. I use nxc for programming mine.

[Jim]

Hi,

If I am not mistaken, iOS is not suitable for communicating directly to the NXT unit via BT. Android does a better job.

Does it need to be an app on a phone?

[Kriplus]

Not really, but we thought it would be the smartest and we had seen a few clips with people combining android phones with mindstorms. We have a good grasp of programming with NXC(also the bluetooth part), but we just don't know where we should start with the android.

[Jim]

If you don't have experience with programming Android, it might be an idea to start with a simple PC applications. Possible make a number of buttons, each with a different command. Pressing the buttons generates a sequence which can be sent to the NXT robot. When you've got that working, you could consider trying an Android version. However, making an Android app requires some time to learn.

[Kriplus]

Thanks for the help. Do you know any program examples we can use as inspiration?

[Jim]

Do you have any experience in writing computer software? C# or Java or something?

[Kriplus]

Yes, betwen the two of us we have experience in programming in java, html, python and lots of varriations of C (which was why we decided to write the program for this model in NXC)

Edited May 20, 2014 by Kriplus

[peterlee]

Thanks for sharing the info.It is appreciated very much. And I wonder whether there are some differences between the java qr code generation add-in I am testing these days and the one you mentioned above? Do you have any ideas about it? Or any good suggestion? Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Arron