MINDSTORM, NXT-G & ISADORA

bruper

I wrote to DiABlu this morning and I received already an answer, hope it makes sense to someone:

"I don't know Isadora, but if it accepts and sends OSC messages that
you should be able to control the NXT.
DiABlu is a bit old, so you might need to download recent serial
communication libraries (I used RXTX) for your system, but it should
work.
If you decide to try it out, make sure you launch it from the command
line so that you have access to the full logging messages. It might
come in handy if something goes wrong...
Jorge"

Skulpture

Isadora doe send and receive OSC so it looks like its possible.

bruper

great, so far so good, I'll need to investigate...

mark

What a great thread. Robotic legos with Isadora -- love it. ;-)

But just FYI, to correct Graham's statement: "OSC is just a protocol abbreviated as OSC it sends numbers via the range of 0.0 to 1.0." -- actually OSC can send any 32-bit floating point number or integer.

The range of floating point numbers are -3.4 × 10³⁸and +3.4 × 10³⁸. (As the numbers get bigger, you lose precision in digits nearer to the decimal point)

The range of integer numbers are -2147483648 to +2147483647

Best Wishes,

Mark

bruper

Thanks Mark, Graham did you by any chance, downloaded the NXT software to have a look? Any help on the OSC connections (Am I greedy?) would be greatly appreciated :)

gavspav

I have a mindstorms kit I got off ebay lately to explore with my kids though typically haven't used it that much.

We made an amazing pinball machine from plans off the website though!

Bruper if you dig into the Diablu stuff and let me know how to install it I can try to get it to work with Isadora.

gavspav

I've started looking into this and not surprisingly I think there are a few ways to do it.

Are you using a mac or a pc. Someone has written a GlovePie script to control the nxt with a wiimote, so it would be possible to adapt this to control it from Isadora via midi/osc/keyboard/take your pick.

http://www.norgesgade14.dk/bluetoothremote.php

On a mac maybe it would be possible to get this to work: http://code.google.com/p/nxtbluetoothbridge/

bruper

thanks gavspav, I'm using mac, I will investigate, but do you mean this?: http://code.google.com/p/diablu/downloads/detail?name=DiABluLegOSC-0.5.zip&can=2&q=

Skulpture

Nope not downloaded it yet. I will do though. And Mark is 100% right in correcting me I was just keeping it simple. It seems Gav is on the case also! Knew Gav would like this ;-)

gavspav

I do like it but I'm not really on the case. Can't think of anything I want to do with it (this week).

Bruper - one thing I wasn't sure of - does the Diablu stuff work with Nxt or Nxt 2.0 (is there a difference?)

bruper

good point Gavspav, I just sent an e-mail to Diablu and will let you know as soon as I receive an answer (from my research "...the NXT 2.0 uses Floating Point operations whereas earlier versions use Integer operation.... The 2.0 software has some great additions (.ric creator, datalogging, etc.) but the software isn't that radically different... In terms of programming and i/o ports they are the same... other differences are plastic and wheels bits and pieces..."

bruper

Gavspav, I now received an answer from Diablu: NEXT2

gavspav

I was going to have a look at this today but I couldn't get the mindstorms software to run on my system - I'm on Lion.

It returns an error 'unable to open resource files.'

A bit of googling suggests its going to eat up time I haven't got.

Bruper can you shed any light on this?

I used windows before I think - or maybe Snow Leopard - but like I said if you're going to use Windows you can just use the GlovePie script above.

The latest stable download of RXTX appears to be the same as the one on Legosc so it looks like you wouldn't need to update the serial library.

bruper

thanks Gavspav, I'm still in Snow Leopard because with Lion there where problems with other software... I will try to find out...

gavspav

I've lent my laptop with 10.6 on to someone so looks like I can't try and get it working without a load of grief.

What you need to do is first connect to the mindstorms. Then follow the legosc instructions - click on legosc.jar/enter the correct com port.

Get the connection set up - I'm guessing the log tab will tell you when you are successfully connected.

For the purposes of this test connect a motor to port 1 of the nxt brick.

Then set the ports up - for the Legosc port choose anything - say 8001.

In the Your Application section enter Isadora and for port enter 1234.

Then open Isadora. Open a new file. Go to Isadora>Preferences>Midi/Net and check the OSC Port no. is 1234 - if it isn't change it to 1234.

Close the preferences.

You should see an Isadora window labeled untitled. In the search box in the top left type osc.

Near the bottom there should be some text labeled OSC transmit. Click and drag it to the big window on the right.

You then should have an OSC transmit actor.

Click on the 1234 in the port section of that actor - it should turn yellow. Then change it to 8001.

Click on isadora in the address section. Change this to one of the addresses that legosc provides eg /motorForward 1 (or if this doesn't work try /motorForward1 - not sure which it is)

Then in the search window in top left, type mouse.

Drag the Mouse Watcher (near the bottom) into the right hand window.

Connect the 'horizontal postion' of the mouse watcher actor to the 'value' of the OSC Transmit actor.

You should now be controlling the speed of the lego motor with the horizontal position of the mouse.

I've tried to attach an Isadora patch to save you doing that bit but not sure its working. In any case its only 2 actors.

Let us know how it goes.

929119-lego_blind_test.izz

bruper

thanks Gavspav, I'm trying.... lets see if I can manage, hopefully, have to investigate as something I'm not familiar with :)
but I'm thankful

Skulpture

Am I being daft but the lego website is awful; been looking for the mac NXT software for nearly half an hour.... any help?

vanakaru

Start here with some good information about installing it

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4158314?start=0&tstart=0

Download with Firefox

[MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0](http://en-us.kb.lego.com/ics/support/DLRedirect.asp?fileNum=84974&deptID=5622)

gavspav

I downloaded that .iso from your link vanakaru and it appears to install ok!

I still haven't got isadora>nxt communication to work - but quite close.

A few additions to my earlier post. I didn't connect to the nxt brick using the nxt software but just paired via bluetooth. I used ls /dev/tty.* via terminal to find out which com port i was using. /dev/tty.NXT-DevB for me.

I put this into the diablu settings and in the log window it opens the port and starts running the server.

It tells you the address legosc is listening too. You use the ip address in the udp adress section of the osc transmit actor in the isadora window. And the last 4 digit number is the port number.

Not sure why I am giving this advice as as I said I haven't actually got it to work!

I've connected legosc to the nxt brick and am receiving osc data from Isadora but haven't managed to get the motor to move!

bruper

exciting news gavspav you're getting closer!