Astolfo David - Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms NXT

BUILDING ROBOTS WITH LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT

Mario Ferrari

Giulio Ferrari

SYNGRESS

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Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms NXT

Copyright 2007 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication.

Printed in the United States of America

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ISBN-13: 9781597491525

Publisher: Amorette Pedersen

Acquisitions Editor: Andrew Williams

Technical Editor: Dave Astolfo

Cover Designer: Michael Kavish

Project Manager: Gary Byrne

Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien

Copy Editor: Audrey Doyle

Indexer: J. Edmund Rush

For information on rights, translations, and bulk sales, contact Matt Pedersen, Commercial Sales Director and Rights, at Syngress Publishing; email

Lead Author and Technical Editor

Dave Astolfo (GIS A.S.) is a Project Manager/Business Analyst with the technical arm of a North American environmental consulting company. He currently provides project management, technical consulting, database design, and software architecture with a focus on geographic information systems ranging from desktop mapping software to Web mapping portals and mobile software applications. His specialties include database modeling and software design/architecture. Dave is a key contributor to the business development and implementation of products and services. As such, he develops enterprisewide technology solutions and methodologies focused on client organizations.

Dave holds a bachelors degree from Trent University and is a certified Geographic Information Systems Applications Specialist holding a certificate from Sir Sandford Fleming College. In early 2006, Dave was invited by LEGO to participate in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Developer Program (MDP) to help LEGO beta test the prerelease of the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics system. After the release of the NXT, Dave was invited back to participate in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Community Partner Program (MCP) to work with LEGO in developing the product further while providing an ear to the community. Dave has been involved with LEGO all of his life, and he has been working with the MINDSTORMS product since the initial release of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System (RIS) in 1998. Dave is well known for building a MINDSTORMS domino-placing robot that was published in a previous Syngress book (10 Cool Lego Ultimate Builders Lego Mindstorms Robots, ISBN: 1-931-836-60-4). Since then, he has created newer versions with a more recent NXT version being used by LEGO marketing staff in Europe. Visit Daves Web site, www.plastibots.com, for more information on his work.

Lead Authors

Called the DaVincis of LEGOS, Mario and Giulio Ferrari are world-renowned experts in the field of LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics.

Mario Ferrari received his first LEGO box around 1964, when he was four. LEGO was his favorite toy for many years, until he thought he was too old to play with it. In 1998, the LEGO MINDSTORMS RIS set gave him reason to again have LEGO become his main addiction. Mario believes LEGO is the closest thing to the perfect toy. He is Managing Director at EDIS, a leader in finishing and packaging solutions and promotional packaging. The advent of the MINDSTORMS product line represented for him the perfect opportunity to combine his interest in IT and robotics with his passion for LEGO bricks, which started during his early childhood. Mario has been a very active member of the online MINDSTORMS community from the beginning and has pushed LEGO robotics to its limits. Mario holds a bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Turin and has always nourished a strong interest for physics, mathematics, and computer science. He is fluent in many programming languages, and his background includes positions as an IT manager and as a project supervisor. Mario estimates he owns more than 60,000 LEGO pieces. Mario works in Modena, Italy, where he lives with his wife, Anna, and his children, Sebastiano and Camilla.

Giulio Ferrari is Sales Manager at EDIS, a company that specializes in premiums and promotional packaging. He studied economics and engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He is fond of computer programming and mathematical sciences, as well as puzzles and games in general. He has a collection of 1,500 dice of all kinds and shapes. Giulio coauthored the bestselling Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-928994-67-9) with his brother Mario and Ralph Hempel. The book has quickly become a fundamental reference and source of ideas for many LEGO robotics fans. He is also a contributor to Programming LEGO MINDSTORMS with Java (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-928994-55-5) and LEGO MINDSTORMS Masterpieces (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-931836-75-2). Giulio has been playing with LEGO bricks since he was very young, and his passion for robotics started in 1998, with the arrival of the MINDSTORMS series. From that moment on, he held an important place in the creation of the Italian LEGO community, It LUG, now one of the most important LEGO user groups worldwide. He works in Modena, where he lives with his girlfriend, Claire, and his son, Zeno.

Contributors

Bryan Bonahoom is a LEGO MINDSTORMS enthusiast. He is a member of the Lafayette LEGO Robotics Club and one of the original team that developed the Great Ball Contraption. Bryan is also cofounder of Brickworld. Bryan was selected by LEGO in 2006 as a member of the MDP and later as a member of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP). Bryan was also awarded the Best Robot Design Trophy at the 2005 AFOL Tournament at LEGO headquarters as a member of Team Hassenplug. Bryan is possibly most well known for the creation of an NXT-based robot that plays tic-tac-toe with a human opponent.