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Build and program MINDSTORM NXT robots with Daniele Benedettelli, one of the world’s most respected NXT robot builders. He shows you how to build and program them from scratch, starting with the simplest robots and progressing in difficulty to a total of seven award–winning robots! You can download all the code, along with low–resolution videos that show how your robot works when it’s finished. You don’t need to be a programmer to develop these cool robots, because all the code is provided, but advanced developers will enjoy seeing the secrets of Benedettelli’s code and techniques revealed.
What you’ll learn
How to create award–winning robots from scratch to final programming
How to build each robot and which materials to use
Why certain features have specific designs
How to program your robot–all code is available for free download
Inspiration and tips and tricks on robotics, a particularly valuable resource for teachers and students
Who this book is for
Anyone interested in building robots or seeing how it is done. Programmers interested in learning how robots are programmed.
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Daniele Benedettelli lives and works in Italy, in the beatiful south of Tuscany. While he was attending high school, apart from the compulsory studies, his main passion was writing music and playing the piano, passion to which he devoted his childhood. When he was not playing the piano, you could find him playing with LEGO. This last passion doze off during the dark-age-of-LEGO, when real life interests get the better of building plastic creations. In 2002, Daniele scraped enough savings to get the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System, and from that moment on, a new manner of thinking about LEGO disclosed to his eyes: the adult carreer in the LEGO Community started! In 2006, he got a BSc degree cum laude in Computer Engineering (Automation line) from the University of Siena with a thesis whose approximately translated title is 'LEGO MINDSTORMS-based mobile robots team'. A toy, destiny, we could say. In 2006, he was selected by The LEGO Company as member of MINDSTORMS Developer Program, and in 2007 as one of MINDSTORMS Community Partners. The year 2007 has been a turning-point for Daniele. He gave birth to a LEGO NXT robot that can solve automatically any 3x3 Rubik's cube in less than a minute. This robot is the mechanical side of the project called the LEGO RUBIK UTOPIA. The world has gone actually crazy about this wonderful contraption. In 2009, he published the book 'LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Thinking Robots' with No Starch Press: in this book you can find a revamped version of the Rubik's Cube Solver robot. Other famous robots are a LEGO MINDSTORMS Portrayer Robot that can draw anything in its unique style, and Cyclops, a social NXT-Android humanoid robot. His activity with LEGO on the NXT line is continuing now in the group of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners 4. In 2009 he got the MSc degree in Robotics and Automation from the same University. He is currently working as teacher. In his spare time, he enjoys composing songs and music for spots and short films.
If you're searching for some exciting NXT projects and ideas--or would simply like to build JohnNXT, a replica of the famous Johnny 5 robot--you will enjoy Daniele Benedettelli's book Creating Cool MINDSTORMS NXT Robots. The book presents helpful ideas that you can use in your own inventions and carefully integrates them in a variety of robots with detailed building instructions. In fact, these very features are why I've given the book five stars: challenging robot projects, excellent discussions of useful concepts and ideas, and exceptional building instructions.
Most of the robots seem intended for more advanced users looking for a challenge; in other words, these are generally more complex robots. For example, there are several walking robots--including three bipeds (two-legged robots), one of the most difficult types of robots to create. And with the exception of the massive, multi-NXT robot "JohnNXT" (chapter 8) and a remote control (chapter 9), you can build all the robots from the parts in a single retail LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set. All the programming in the book is done in NXC (Not eXactly C), an unofficial text-based language with a C-like syntax.
Along the way you'll find in-depth explanations of robotics concepts and helpful descriptions of the robots. Besides an entire "theory chapter" on building biped robots (chapter 1) and another such chapter on finite state machines (chapter 3), the robot chapters themselves include explanations of concepts such as hysteresis, writing a multitask program, and quadruped (four-legged) walking as well as information on the robots' functionality and history. The author also does a good job of presenting and explaining the programming. Although prior NXC experience is helpful, such experience is not required....
The BIs (building instructions) are outstanding, which is important since they are a major part of the book. The author used advanced BI techniques, including complete electrical cables and callouts, and Ldglite to render the images, creating BIs that are remarkably "LEGO-like." I found that the BIs were generally very easy to follow even though many of the steps were complex. Such clarity is invaluable for a book that is filled with building instructions.
I admit that I didn't build the famed JohnNXT robot. Why? For starters, I don't have all the necessary pieces! All the same, I'm glad to see that the author included the robot because a number of readers will want tackle this enormous project.
In conclusion, this book is ideal for you if you're a more experienced NXT user looking to broaden your robotic horizons--while having lots of fun. Nevertheless, even if you're new to the NXT set, you would still enjoy the book. Either way, after working through the projects and grasping the concepts, you should be well-equipped to create your very own cool NXT robots.Read more ›
I've used this book in teaching a tech club of 4th-8th graders. Several students have also taken the book home and built robots from it. The plans are good, and the descriptions excellent. It is also helpful in using NXC to program the mindstorms.
I've been waiting for more than 2 months to get this book. Finally I got it from amazon a few days after the book released.
I have 8 NXT book, nothing is as details as Daniele's Book. The best NXT book so far.
There are 6 robots describes in this book. From the concept and then step-by-step assembly it and even the guide line to program it. So you not only able to build the robot, but also teach you how it works.
The cream-of-the-soup of this book of course is the JohnNXT ...... About 1/3 of the book focus on this great Robot. If you plan to build JohnNXT, this is the only book you need.
I'm really impressed with Daniele, I cant wait to the next book "Lego Rubik Utopy (LRU)".
One of the better books at this moment for the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotic set. This book is clearly written and despite the black and white images, the building instructions are also very clearly written.
This book is obviously written by people who know what they are doing and motivated to reach the highest standards.
After a short program in the Nxt-G programming language, they started to use the NXC programming language for the rest of the book. What makes this book so outstanding, everything is very well documented and everything is explained in great detail.
This is also an easy and pleasant to read book. And many times you find here what is missing in other books. For me, esspecially the introduction of NXC was very usefull. I wanted to use C for a long time, but I did not found the answers I was searching. This book takes its time to show you the mechanics behind th programming language. It teaches you clearly how to construct event tables and how you can visualise the design process, structuring your thaughts.
Also the walking models are very interesting. It gives you a clearly understanding about the problems of let a robot succesfully walk.
What I do missing is coverage of the acceleration, gyroscopic and compass sensors. It should be nice if those sensors also where covered in this book. But it is almost impossible to cover everything and an author has to draw a line.
The projects are well choosen and all very interesting. Personally Quasimodo I find the less interesting robot. While NXT AT-ST is in my opinion a very nice project to understand a walking robot. But I have to be honest, at this moment I am building the AT-ST robot. I did not have the time to build the other robots.... Nevertheless, I took a quick look and i found the other projects also very impressive.
This book is a must have for every serious Lego Mindstorms NXT builder. You definatelly will refer back when building your own creations. I gave it five stars because it is well deserved.
Congratulations for the author and everybody worked behind the scenes of this book. A job very well done!
I wish you all very much reading and building pleasure. This book will surely touch your creativity and imagination.
My son loves this book. He has had it for almost 2 years and still loves it. He has sucessfully created several of the robots without trouble. He was 8 yrs old when I bought it and is now 10. He sneaks and reads it under his covers at night.
Of course, this book includes detailed high quality black and white building instructions for seven projects. Color instructions would increase the book price a lot! All the programs source code is available here http://www.apress.com/book/downloadfile/3995 Danny
