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A NXT controlled digital camera and the longest NXT freefall are launched from the stratosphere!
 At 5:57 am Pacific Time today in the desert outside of Reno Navada, USA, MINDSTORMS robots were launched from a weather balloon into the stratosphere (up to 30KM) as part of the High Altitude LEGO Extravaganza (H.A.L.E.).
Two of the payloads launched were designed by MINDSTORMS Community Partner, Brian Davis. We got a chance to interview him about his robots and this historic event.
How did you get involved with the H.A.L.E. project?
I actually noticed the University of Nevada at Reno balloon missions long before the project was kicked off, and started planning and dreaming of doing a mission like this with the materials I had at hand (namely, LEGO). When the H.A.L.E. opportunity was presented, I jumped at the chance, submitting two payloads to improve my chances of being accepted. To my surprise, both were approved, so I set to work on two very different projects.
Why are you interested in High Altitude LEGO?
Well, since MINDSTORS NXT came along with it's stronger construction and stronger motors, I've been much more interested in outdoor, "all terrain" robots. I built LNE/PackBot as a high-mobility "supertank" for running around in my house and yard (it also handles small steps, curbs, and rough snowfields). I then went on to construct Serenity, a robotic boat. Both of these are "pure LEGO", and I'd yet to make a robot for the air, so... High Altitude LEGO seemed like the next obvious step.
Even more exciting to me is the fact that these robots have to work right the first time, and handle things I don't know about. In the language of space missions, they must be "fault tolerant", and handle all their own decisions, under conditions where there is no possibility of help. These are not robots I can help out of the corner when they get stuck... and that challenge really got my interest.
Is it safe to send LEGO MINDSTORMS into the stratosphere?
Perfectly safe... but I'm having trouble convincing the minifigs that will ride along of that :). Seriously, the NXT can function under the near vacuum conditions, and will function at low temperature (although the payloads do have insulation and heaters to try to keep them warmer than the -60° C temperatures outside). So for the NXT, conditions aren't a major problem.
However, both my payloads have an additional element of risk. Gypsy's primary support is from two large LEGO turntables and studless beams. If those pull apart, or become brittle in the bitter cold and shatter, the payload could fall... and that's a loooong fall! So it will have a "back up tether", a string that should support it if those turntable supports fail. For Lil' Joe the risk is even greater: if anything goes wrong, it will hit the desert floor at something like 300 mph (around 500 kph). So it has been tested a lot... but there's still some risk.
How are you sending your robots into the stratosphere?
The robots are held on a string that hangs below a balloon. Just like you could attach a minifig to the string of a small helium balloon, the HALE mission uses the same idea. Instead of a small party balloon, it uses a very large weather balloon that can lift many pounds. And instead of a minifig or two, the HALE mission will carry half a dozen payloads in addition to GPS and radio equipment. This "infrastructure" (the stuff you need to support the mission) is being provided by the folks at the University of Nevada at Reno, who have experience in this sort of thing.
One of your projects, "Lil' Joe" involves the longest NXT free-fall. How long is the free-fall? Aren't you afraid that you'll risk breaking your NXT?
Lil' Joe is named after Col. Joseph Kittinger who was instrumental in the early days of upper atmosphere exploration as part of Project Excelsior. He is best known for a world record jump from a balloon above 100,000 feet... which in a very small, experimental way I was curious if I could replicate with a LEGO robot. The payload will hang below the main payload string, to be released at high altitude without a deployed parachute (in other words, in free fall). After a short time (nothing like Col. Kittinger's 14 minute free-fall, more along the lines of a 20 to 40 second free-fall) it will try to deploy its own internal parachute, HOPEFULLY descending on it's own. It will contain its own satellite location system, and the parachute & cords are not LEGO... but everything else, from the computer controlling the mission to the motor releasing the parachute to the software running on the NXT and the sensor detecting free-fall will all be "stock LEGO".
The length of the free-fall is actually left up to the robot - it estimates how high it is upon release, and makes a very conservative estimate of the maximum safe free-fall time. Since there are so many unknowns on this, I'm not trying to set a really impressive, multi-minute free-fall record (although I suspect this payload could). First make sure it works, then maybe the next time make it work better. While all this is going on, Lil' Joe will also be logging the accelerations experienced by the payload just before, during, and after the free-fall portion of the mission, to better understand what is happening to a payload under these conditions.
Your second project, the "Gypsy (a.k.a. Nadar 2.0)," will take video and pictures. Why are you taking pictures?
Gypsy is an improved version of a project I put up on NXTlog named "Nadar". The goal with Gypsy (named after a robot from the TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000") is to automate an off-the-shelf digital camera to take both still images as well as video. This way I could get a pre-programmed variety of images and movies during the mission, instead of the typical "one picture every 30 seconds" technique that is commonly employed on balloon missions like these.
Additionally, I wanted to be able to control the cameras' pitch (how far up or down it is pointed) to get images up and down the payload string as well as towards the horizon. Gypsy will be following a complex "script" of commands during the mission ("take 10 photos, tilt to look straight down, take four photos, take 40 seconds of video", etc.), and in addition to controlling the camera, will by logging more than 10 different environmental variables (sound, pressure, light, temperatures, etc.) at intervals of a few seconds, storing these using a "data compression" technique to fit as much as possible into the NXT's memory. If this sounds complicated it is, but when it's all done the program is surprisingly small - about 17k in the NXT. NXT-G can churn out some amazingly compact efficient code if you work with its strengths (My Blocks and wires).
What are you hoping to accomplish at the end of this event?
Primarily, showing that a nearly "pure LEGO" robot can do some very impressive stuff in such a hostile environment. Personally I love the challenge of trying something new, and these two payloads have pushed my understanding and use of the NXT, electronics, and NXT-G much further. There may be better ways to do everything I'm trying to accomplish... but doing it with LEGO allows single individuals or small groups to do this sort of thing at a fairly high level for very low cost.
You can learn more about all the H.A.L.E. missions by visiting: http://www.unr.edu/nevadasat/HALE/
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High Altitude LEGO® Extravaganza (H.A.L.E.) Commemorates 10 Year Anniversary of LEGO MINDSTORMS® by Launching Robotic Experiments to Near Space
 College professors, middle school students and robotics hobbyists will unite shortly after sunrise tomorrow, July 29, 2008, to launch several MINDSTORMS robots into the Earth’s stratosphere to collect data, explore conditional effects of the Earth's atmosphere, and to set a world record as part of the High Altitude LEGO® Extravaganza.
Joining The LEGO Group to support the science experiment are Nevada Space Grant, the University of Nevada-Reno, Energizer and National Instruments to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the LEGO MINDSTORMS® robotics platform.
The MINDSTORMS robots will be launched from a desert location 30 miles outside of Reno, Nevada, USA into near space on an atmospheric weather balloon that will reach an altitude of more than 100,000 feet (30km). At that altitude the robots will be above 99.9% of the atmosphere. The payloads will be exposed to extreme cold and radiation of near space. The sky looks black and the curvature of the Earth is evident.
Once the weather balloon reaches maximum altitude, it will burst and the robots will parachute back down to the Earth individually or as a group depending on the robot’s desired experiment. Two weather balloons will be deployed to carry the payloads of the robots.
Brian Davis, a part-time professor at Indiana University, contributed two of his custom NXT robots to the experiment. The first, Gypsy (called Nadar 1.0 on NXTLOG), has been programmed to automate a digital camera to take both still and video images while in the balloon. His second robot, Lil' Joe, will attempt a world record for the longest MINDSTORMS NXT free-fall; the robot will detach from the balloon at maximum altitude and fall until a pre-programmed parachute is deployed.
“I love building LEGO mechanisms because the inherent limitations and versatility of the medium offer unique design challenges,” said Davis. “Additionally, since LEGO bricks are infinitely reusable, I can build and test prototypes much faster than I could in other mediums. I’m excited to take my experiments to a new level; I’ve never tried to build a robot that could function under these conditions and function right the very first time. 100,000 feet above ground is no place for a mistake.”
Children are also getting involved in H.A.L.E. FIRST LEGO League Team 90 from Virginia is getting a head start on this year’s annual challenge, “Climate Connections”, by sending up a robot they created that has been programmed to measure and log Ultraviolet radiation as a function of altitude while on board the weather balloon.
“I am confident that the team will learn something about Earth science and Global Warming through this program,” said David Levy, coach of the team. “We are treating our participation as a FIRST LEGO League research project for the upcoming season’s challenge, so I expect that the team will learn how to seek out the advice of experts in the field, come up with their own solutions through experimentation, document their work and have lots of fun in the process.”
Other robots will seek to collect data in relation to ozone concentration, the impact of varying temperatures and air pressure on objects, particles in the air, impact of flight conditions and varying g-forces as a function of altitude.
Energizer provided H.A.L.E. participants with long-lasting Energizer® Lithium AA batteries, which are 33 percent lighter than ordinary alkaline batteries and perform in extreme temperatures from -40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 to 60 degrees C), which are ideal for the conditions the robots are anticipated to experience on the balloon.
You can learn more about the individual H.A.L.E. missions as well as learn how you can track the event live tomorrow by visiting: http://www.unr.edu/nevadasat/HALE/
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MINDSTORMS NXT Summer Sports Building Challenge
 This is a summer where the whole world is busy with sports activities. We want to challenge you to create a robot that can compete in a sports discipline.
You have until Sunday August 31, 2008 to enter your robot.
See the Summer Sports Building Challenge
NXTLOG for more details.
Good luck and go for the Gold!
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MINDSTORMS NXT NXT Building Challenge Winners
 The quality of projects submitted to this competition proved that two (or more) NXT's can be better than one! There was a wide range of innovative entries including robots with two or more NXT's onboard the robot, robots being remote controlled by a second NXT, and two or more autonomous NXT robots working together with synchronized communication. Please visit, comment, rate, and get inspired by all the robots entered this competition by entering the tag "nxt200805"
Here are the winners:
CHAMPION'S AWARD
Copycats
Created by:
Natwan33
Natwan33 got the idea for the Copycats robots from the book Creative Projects with LEGO MINDSTORMS by Benjamin Erwin. The book was made for the RCX, but the idea of a robot copying another robot's moves is still a great one, and a creative use of 2 NXT's! One of the two NXT robots is the the "leader" and sends some random numbers and logic to the "follower," and both robots do the same random move. Natwan33 provides a detailed description, a LEGO Digital Designer file to help you build the robot, annotated program files, as well as video of the copycats in action. Congrats on winning the Champion's Award! (This is Natwan33's 2nd project on NXTLOG.)
ROBOT DESIGN AWARD
tri-bot mine field exploration game
Created by:
yacker2000!!!!
Yacker2000!!!! combined a Tribot vehicle with a remote control to create an obstacle course game for his NXT NXT contest submission. The aim of the "tri-bot mine field exploration game" is to retrive all the items (balls) from a mine filed. The Tribot vehicle can withstand a single mine blast before the remote control is disabled. For an innovative concept, game, as well as a KISS approach in robot vehilcle and remote control design, yacker2000!!!! wins the Robot Design Award! (yacker2000!!!! has 28 robots on NXTLOG.)
ROBOT PERFORMANCE AWARD
Super Dragster
Created by: NXTGeneration
The NXTGeneration FLL team imagined that if you can build a dragster with two NXT's... then why not go for one with four! This team pulled their NXT resources together to build a SUPER dragster with 12 NXT motors on board as well as 4 NXT bricks. The motors pull in 2 blocks. The upper block of motors consist of 7 motors and the lower block consist of 5 motors joined together. The dragster also use 2 differentials. NXTGeneration claims that this dragster runs very fast. This team provies an LDD file of the dragster, as well as a detailed NXTLOG and annotated program files. For NXTGeneration's amazing design, programming, and team efforts, they are presented with the Robot Performance Award. (This is NXTGeneration's 3rd project on NXTLOG.)
CREATIVE USE OF NXTLOG AWARD
NXT Whac-A-Mole
Created by:
LinearActuator
One of the most creative projects submitted to this challenge, a NXT Whac-A-Mole! The idea of this model is to push, or hit as many moles that pop in and out of the "Mole Whacking Platform" as quickly as possible. When a mole is hit, a score indicator mole that is attached to the score tower will be raised. The NXT Whac-A-Mole is controlled and powered by two NXT bricks, one controlling the mole's touch sensors and motors, and the other controlling the score tower and indicator, light sensors, and any other sensors and motors that cannot be plugged into the first NXT brick. LinearActuator provides excellent pictures, a detailed NXTLOG and screen shots of the master and slave prgrams. We would love LinearActuator to share an LDD file and a video of the robot in action. (This is LinearActuator's 2nd project on NXTLOG.)
HONORABLE MENTION
Techno Arm
Created by: papusa8r
NXT Bike
Created by: LeoBello
BattleBots
Created by: Mister.Tux
Overhead Travelling Crane
Created by: koldo
Meteorologic Station 1.0
Created by: truppelito
The Claw of Dexterity
Created by: stephen1675
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LEGO MINDSTORMS Events
JUN 18-21 - Brickworld in Chicago, IL
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LEGO MINDSTORMS Press Releases
For the latest Press Releases and Image Library, Click Here
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