Winning Design! de James Trobaugh

Winning Design!: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Design Patterns for Fun and Competition

James Trobaugh

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 12 dec 2010

Winning Design! LEGO Mindstorms NXT Design Patterns for Fun and Competition is about design that works. It’s about building with LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT for fun, for education, but especially for competition. Author James Trobaugh is an experienced coach and leader in the FIRST LEGO League. In this book, he shares his hard-won knowledge about design principles and techniques that contribute to success in robotics competitions.
Winning Design! unlocks the secrets of reliable design using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. You’ll learn proven design patterns that you can employ for common tasks such as turning, pushing, and pulling. You’ll reduce and compensate for variation in performance from battery charge levels and motor calibration differences. You’ll produce designs that won’t frustrate you by not working, but that will delight you with their reliable performance in the heat of competition.
Good design is about more than just the hardware. Software counts for a lot, and Winning Design! has you covered. You’ll find chapters on program design and organization with tips on effective coding and documentation practices. You’ll learn about master programs and the needed flexibility they provide. There’s even a section on presenting your robot and software designs to the judges.
Winning Design! is the book you need if your involved in competitions such as FIRST LEGO League events. Whether coach, parent, or student, you’ll find much in this book to make your design and competition experience fun and memorable, and educational.
Please note: the print version of this title is black & white; the eBook is full color.

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Descriere

Ever since the introduction of the LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics kit in 1998, there has been a desire to explore all the possibilities of what can be done with it. Along with this desire, many different LEGO robotics competitions emerged as well. Among the most popular today is FIRST LEGO League (FLL). LEGO MINDSTORMS kits have changed considerably over the years, and the current MINDSTORMS NXT system offers an array of new functionality with improved sensors, motors, and programming abilities. For people who have been working with the MINDSTORMS system for many years, these changes have been welcome additions. However, for people new to the world of LEGO robots, things can get overwhelming very quickly. The goal of this book is to help coaches and team members better understand what it takes to build a winning robot for competitive LEGO robotics events. Some knowledge of the LEGO MINDSTORMS system would be helpful prior to using this book. The design principles covered in this book are intended not to be strict guidelines but design foundations to help get teams to the next level of competiveness. Over the years, I have observed that teams typically need a few years of competing before they learn all the helpful tips and tricks that are used by winning teams. With the help of this book, a team should be able to learn some of these steps earlier and use them as a foundation for creating its own winning ideas and designs.

Notă biografică

James J. Trobaugh is an experienced coach and leader in the FIRST LEGO League. He is author of the acclaimed book Winning Design!, focusing on the physical aspects of LEGO MINDSTORMS robot design. He s been involved with FIRST LEGO League since 2004 as coach for Team Super Awesome, and as a technical judge at LEGO World Festival. He is also the FIRST LEGO League Director of the Forsyth Alliance in Forsyth County, Georgia. James started out as a LEGO hobbyist by founding the North Georgia LEGO Train Club in 1998, and has found in LEGO robotics a natural blending of his LEGO hobby and his day job as a software architect. An added bonus is the joy of sharing his love of technology not only with his own children, but with kids in general.