The final product.
A view from above (note: in this orientation,
the robot's front is at the top, and the rear
is at the bottom).
Your First Program
Now that the chassis is built, it's time to
experiment with a program or two. Plug the left
drive motor into port B and the right drive motor
into port C. Then, turn on the NXT and navigate
to the NXT Program menu. This feature will allow
you to create very simple programs for your robot,
as opposed to the more complex computer-based
software we'll be looking at next time.
The very first thing to try is to make the robot
move forward and backward in a straight line. This is
the robotic equivalent of a program that says "Hello
World!" As your first step in the NXT Program editor,
select the "Forward 5." Then select "Empty" for step 2;
"Backward 5" for step 3; and "Empty" for step 4.
Finally, choose "Loop" instead of "Stop," and press
"Run" to see Eddie move for the first time.
Because we consider the drive wheels to be the
front of the robot and the caster to be the back,
Eddie actually drives backwards when you tell him to
go forwards, and forwards when you tell him to go
back. The reason for this is his gear train.
NXT Program icon.
NXT menu screen after turning it on.
Programming on the NXT.
64 SERVO 08.2010