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FIRST LEGO League Competition Season is here!
 Across the globe and in a town or city near you LEGO MINDSTORMS robots are buzzing on FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournament tables working to solve our planet's "Power Puzzle."
This year's FLL challenge calls for teams of students ages 9 to 14 to use robotics to understand and create solutions for one of today's most critical environmental issues: energy management and conservation.
With missions exploring solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines and planting trees, teams will have to program their robots to find sustainable options to meet our planet's growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways.
Currently in its tenth year, FIRST LEGO League anticipates its biggest season ever, with more than 10,000 teams in 38 countries competing in hundreds of Qualifying Events and Championship Tournaments. More than 100,000 students will compete to win honors and recognition. Teams will also have the opportunity to participate at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held in conjunction with the FIRST Championship, April 17-19, 2008 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
To find out about Qualifying Events and Championship Tournaments near you, visit the FIRSTLEGOLeague.org Teams and Tournaments Section
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Featured Model - WIRED Living Home - BART The Bartender's Assistant
 The third NXT robot featured in the WIRED Living Home is BART The Bartender's Assistant designed by MINDSTORMS Community Partner John Brost.
BART is designed to deliver glasses full of drinks to visitors when requested. BART features two NXT's, two conveyor belt driven drink stations, a central rotating arm, and a pressure sensitive drink gripper (and delivery mechanism).
Visitors requesting a drink from BART scan an encoded RFID transponder (Radio-Frequency Id-entification) over a prototype RFID sensor designed to work with the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. The RFID sensor is on a central rotating arm. When a visitor scans a transponder, the arm will rotate one of the yellow or blue drink stations (depending on what the RFID sensor reads), a drink is delivered down a conveyor belt into the drink gripper, then the central arm rotates to a drink delivery station where a tasty beverage is released for the visitor to enjoy.
You can read more about how John designed BART on NXTLOG: jbrost76
For more information on the WIRED Living Home, click here
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Featured Model - WIRED Living Home - Tic-Tac-Toe Bot
 Three innovative NXT robots are featured in the WIRED Living Home. One of them designed to entertain visitors is MINDSTORMS Community Partner's Bryan Bonahoom's W.O.P.R., a Tic-Tac-Toe playing robot.
W.O.P.R. is named after the War Operations Planned Response computer from the 1980's movie War Games. The difference between the NXT robot and the movie version is this robot actually plays pieces along with drawing the game board (also this robot does not have the ability to play a game of Global Thermonuclear War!).
The NXT W.O.P.R. has 3 levels of strategy (beginner, intermediate and
expert) so that everyone can enjoy beating the robot once in a while.
You can read more about the W.O.P.R. on Bryan's MDP Page: Bryan Bonahoom
You can see more NXT robots created by Bryan on NXTLOG: bbonahoom
For more information on the WIRED Living Home, click here
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Featured Model - WIRED Living Home - NXT Helicopter
 One of the MINDSTORMS NXT models featured in the WIRED Living Home, the helicopter is replica of a popular helicopter toy from the 1970's, the Vertibird, designed by MINDSTORMS Community Partner's Gus Jansson and David Schilling.
This is an NXT version of very similar RCX based Helicopter that Gus built
several years ago. The project was a huge success and he still runs into
folks at robotics events and schools who tell him how much they enjoyed it.
Yes, this helicopter really flies! Well okay, so it cheats a little. The helicopter "flies" around a central base containing an electric motor, spring lift assist, pitch control, batteries, and a throttle. A 21-inch arm with pitch control and the shaft that transfers the power to helicopter, is connected from the central base to the helicopter. It even has a retractable hook for rescue missions. It uses Bluetooth as a remote control system with an NXT based controller that sends messages to the NXT mounted on the helicopter boom.
You can read more about how Gus and David designed the Helicopter on Gus' NXTLOG: GustavJ
For more information on the WIRED Living Home, click here
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The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor's Guide
 Now available, The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor's Guide by, David J. Perdue from No Starch Press.
The first part of the book contains a brief introduction to the NXT set and a look at the roles the parts in the set play in construction. The book is also full of practical building techniques, tips on how to program with the official NXT-G programming language, and building instructions for 6 sample robots.
For more information about the book, visit the companion website at: nxtguide.davidjperdue.com
To see more books on MINDSTORMS NXT, visit: www.MINDSTORMS.com/books
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The NXTLOG Halloween Building Challenge winners are in. Boo!
 The NXTLOG Halloween Building Challenge had over 40 spooktacular entries. Visit and comment on all the scary robots in this competition by entering the tag "nxt200710
"
Here are the winners (ominous organ music please):
CHAMPION'S AWARD
Grim Bot
Created by:
LegoManCe
The Grim Bot is designed to walk around and hold things in its hand. It can drop candy it holds when instructed to do so. Although Grim Bot is covered in a Grim Reaper's cape, it has an innovative LEGO Skeleton underneath that allows the Grim Bot to "walk" upright. For a creative concept, design, construction, and programming we award the Grim Bot the Champion's Award. (This is LegoManCe's 3rd project on NXTLOG.)
ROBOT DESIGN AWARD
BatBot
Created by: nxtmania
BatBot is a robotic bat that uses three motors. Two motors are used to move the LEGO accordion-like extending wings, and the third motor drives the robot back and forth along a string! It is almost 30 centimeters high and 50 centimetres wide (when the wings are opened). BatBot moves along the string, flaps its paper wings and says a few things. We wouldn't want BatBot greeting us on Halloween! For nxtmania's creative design, BatBot receives the Robot Design Award. (nxtmania has 13 projects on NXTLOG.)
ROBOT PERFORMANCE AWARD
There were so many great robots up to the Robot Performance Award that we had to choose two!
thing (addams family)
Created by:
nxtbuilder678
"Thing" crawls (using its fingers only) and it makes weird noises. It has 5 fingers. The 4 in the front are for movement and the "thumb" on the side there for decoration. When "Thing" sees something it starts to crawl and laugh. For the innovative crawling mechanism on this creepy crawler, nxtbuilder678 wins the Robot Performance Award. (This is nxtbuilder678's 14th NXTLOG project.)
Cackling Sam
Created by:
Plums'R'us
On Halloween night Cackling Sam hides in the bushes and waits for trick-or-treaters to walk by. When the ultrasonic sensor sees something within three feet, he uses two motors attached to a series of levers to make the skull rise. A third motor acts as a hinge for the jaw. The mouth opens and he starts talking. When he is done talking, the mouth closes and the skull lowers. He then waits for the next trick-or-treater. For the innovative performance on this ghoulish creature, Plums'R'us wins the another Robot Performance Award. (This is Plums'R'us's 1st NXTLOG project.)
CREATIVE USE OF NXTLOG AWARD
A Haunting Report
Created by:
NatoNX
The Haunting Report is given by Larry L. LEGO your friendly neighborhood news reporter! He reports news on all the charming hauntings they are having in LEGOville on Halloween night. Larry L. LEGO at first appears bored by the news until...! Read more about this haunting report and see NatoNX's LEGO Models and NXT robot on this fun and creative NXTLOG. (NatoNX has 4 projects on NXTLOG)
HONORABLE MENTION(S)
The Ghost
Created by:
abcde13
Jawster
Crawling Beast
Created by:
srh1502
Halloween Ghost
Created by:
simon.p449
Is that an arm?
Created by:
teenager101
Enter the NXTLOG LEGO Sumo Building Challenge!See the contest description and rules on this NXTLOG:
NXTLOG LEGO Sumo Building Challenge
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MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo Competition on NXTLOG
 Sumo (相撲): a competitive sport from Japan where two wrestlers attempt to force one another out of a circular ring (dohyo) or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet.
MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo: a competitive sport where two LEGO MINDSTORMS robots attempt to force one another out of a 4' diameter circular ring (dohyo) by pushing or disabling one's opponent (flipping, lifting, etc.).
MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo Competition: A building challenge where NXTLOGgers design and submit a MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo robot that could actually compete in a live competition. A panel of MINDSTORMS experts will build a select number of finalists, and those robots will be constructed and tested in an actual MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo match! Are you up for the challenge?
For the full contest description and rules see this NXTLOG:
Good luck and play well!
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LEGO MINDSTORMS Robots to be featured as part of the WIRED Living Home
 The WIRED LivingHome is a collaboration between WIRED magazine and LivingHomes — a pioneer in green, prefabricated development. They have constructed the first ever WIRED Home, a showcase of the best in sustainability, technology and design. The home is located in Los Angeles, California, USA and is fully automated to allow for simplicity and control. It is filled with the latest in gadgets, gear, appliances, and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT of course.
Members of the MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP) worked together to develop and create three innovative NXT robots that will be featured in the home. The first is Bryan Bonahoom's W.O.P.R., a Tic-Tac-Toe playing robot to entertain WIRED Living Home visitors.
The second robot is BART, designed by John Brost. Bart is an autonomous bartender, and can carry and deliver up to three drinks at a time.
The third robot is a copy of a popular helicopter toy from the 1970's, the Vertibird, designed by Gus Jansson and David Schilling.
There is also a full scale LEGO model of the WIRED Living Home in the children's room. Stay tuned for more stories on these incredible inventions and inventors.
You can tour the WIRED Living Home starting November 1, 2007 (tickets can be purchased through the WIRED Living Home website). A percentage of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Global Green USA, a national leader fighting for solutions to global warming including green building, and Enterprise, the national leader in creating environmentally sustainable homes and communities for low-income people.
For more information on the WIRED Living Home,
click here
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LEGO MINDSTORMS Events
Nov 11 - Dec 31 - MINDSTORMS NXT Holiday Building Challenge on NXTLOG
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LEGO MINDSTORMS Press Releases
For the latest Press Releases and Image Library, Click Here
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