Lego Mindstorms
\'LEGO Mindstorms' is the name given to the consumer version of the
LEGO Company's product line that includes programmable bricks (called RCX'es) along with electro-motors,
sensors, LEGO bricks, and LEGO Technic pieces (
gears, axles, beams,
pneumatic components etc.) to build
robots and other automated or interactive systems. Although technically a
toy, LEGO Mindstorms can also be used (as originally planned by LEGO and
MIT) as an
educational tool; it is a good example of an
embedded system with computer-controlled electromechanical parts. Almost all kinds of real life embedded systems, from elevator controllers to industrial robots, may be modelled using Mindstorms.
The RCX programmable brick contains a Renesas H8/300 microcontroller as its internal CPU. The brick is programmed by downloading a program written in one of several available programming languages from a PC to the brick's CPU via a special IR interface. After program downloading and starting, an RCX-enabled Mindstorms creation may function totally on its own, acting on internal and external stimuli according to the programmed instructions. Also, two or more RCX bricks can communicate with each other through the IR interface, enabling inter-brick cooperation or competition. In addition to the IR port, there are three sensor input ports and three motor output ports.
A selection of programming languages for LEGO Mindstorms
- LEGO-supplied (both graphical):
- RCX Code
- ROBOLAB (based on LabVIEW)
- Third-party (all of them textual):
External links
References
- Benjamin Erwin (2001). Creative Projects with LEGO Mindstorms (book and CD-ROM). Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0201708957
- Dave Baum (2002). Definitive Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS, 2nd ed. APress. ISBN 1590590635
- Ferrari et.al. (2001). Building Robots With Lego Mindstorms: The Ultimate Tool for Mindstorms Maniacs. Syngress. ISBN 1928994679