What's NXT

What's NXT is a weekly column written by Jim Kelly at The NXT Step Blog. Jim writes about LEGO Mindstorms NXT and all the cool news related to it.

While I didn't get the fancy packaging that the retail version will provide, I was just as happy when a plain brown box arrived .

The motors, brick, and cables were packages separately from the smaller pieces. The connectors, beams, rods, and misc. pieces were in a large plastic bag that had to first be sorted.

I had a couple of containers for my old RCX that I chose to use because they worked so well for me. I managed to purchase a larger plastic case to hold all the old RCX parts, and then began the counting. I first sorted all the parts based on the picture that LEGO released showing them all nicely placed. Trust me, mine never even came close to looking that good.

CMU Reveals Crusher

CMU finally revealed Crusher to the public last Friday (yea, I'm behind). The new vehicle, based losely on Spinner, isn't able to invert itself like its younger brother, but is still amazing nonetheless. WTAE.com has some coverage of the launch with video. Notice the unique way that Crusher turns, by lowering its inner wheels and raising the outer ones. The 6.5 ton vehicle is fully autonomous and is able to travel at a top speed of 25 mph.

Crusher's hull is made from high-strength aluminum tubes and titanium nodes protected by a steel skid plate that can absorb shocks from impacts with rocks or tree stumps.

Each of its six wheels are powered by an electric motor, which are in turn powered of off banks of batteries which are charged by a deisel engine.

Initial applications for a vehicle like this would be in support positions, remotely delivering goods and weapons to soldiers in the field. The project is funded by DARPA and has cost $35 million USD to date.

Crusher will undergo extensive field tests under the purview of the Army and DARPA every quarter for the next two years. Much of the emphasis will be on increasing its autonomy capabilities. It's expected that the Crusher platform will influence unmanned vehicle design efforts funded by the Army's Future Combat System.

Roller-Skating Robo-One

Here's a fun link for your Friday enjoyment - a rollar skating Robo-One. A quick check over to our favorite Japanese-related robot site, Robots Dreams, revealed more information. The robot, named Plen, has 18 degrees of freedom and stands 9 inches tall. It retails for about $2,000 USD. More information and video of Plen are on its website.

Wipe away those tears robot lovers! The DARPA Grand Challenge is back (pdf), and in case you've grown tired of dangerous mountain passes and arid deserts, this year's race is in da 'hood ... of sorts.

The DARPA Urban Challenge will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area.
...
To succeed, vehicles must autonomously obey traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.

Additional improvements include prizes to the top three winners, to the sum of $2 million, $500 thousand, and $250 thousand respectively, and two ways to enter the Challenge: 1) Teams may submit a proposal for up to $1 million USD in exchange for government use of their technology or 2) Old-school style qualifying events. The contest is slated for November of 2007.

Getting to and finishing at the National Qualifying Events (NQE) also has its perks - semi-finalists in the NQEs get $50,000 and finalists get $100,000. So, if you finish first place over-all, you're looking at a cool $2,150,000 USD, not to mention fame and glory.

DARPA will be holding a Participants Conference for those teams intending to compete. You'd best start talking to your friends now, as the conference is a mere 3 weeks away (May 20th). There will also be a live webcast of the event. More information on the Challenge is at DARPA's Grand Challenge website.

NXT MDPers

The LEGO Mindstorms NXT "gag order" is finally up! Now all the privileged few that gained access to the holy grail, Mindstorms Developer Program (MDP), can share the glories of their lifestyle. We're written previously about our favorite NXT site, The NXT Step blog, run by Jim. Jim has agreed to write a weekly column for GoRobotics.net about NXT. Stay tuned for that this coming Wednesday. Jim already has a torrent of information pouring forth on his site about NXT. Also check out Jim's list-o-links for other MDP participants. As of 11:00AM EST all the sites are informationless, but I'm sure it'll start coming soon. Flickr pictures tagged "thenxtstep" are here.

Update: Filip, over at bNXT is also covering a lot of NXT news as it happens.