COOL: Little Robots for Big Kids

faq
search
add article
cool-stuff
how-to
main
tips

COOL: Little Robots for Big Kids

Posted by Jason on Monday March 26, @10:53PM
from the automated-fun dept.
If you're like me, and you like to tinker with Lego Robotics, you're going to love NQC. You can program code and upload it to your RCX all from FreeBSD!

NQC (Not Quite C) is a simple C like programming language that you can use to program Lego Mindstorms Robots. You'll find it in the ports tree under /usr/ports/lang/nqc.

Before you install it, you may wish to modify the patch-aa file for whatever serial port your infrared tower will reside on (it defaults to COM1).

To change it to COM2, modify the patch like so:

Login: root
Password: ********

cd /usr/ports/lang/nqc/files
ee patch-aa

change this:
+DEFAULT_SERIAL_NAME = "/dev/cuaa0"

to this:
+DEFAULT_SERIAL_NAME = "/dev/cuaa1"

Now install NQC like any other port and you're ready to go.

If you would like to learn more about NQC, there are a few books available on the subject.

Dave Baum (Creator of NQC)
Extreme Mindstorms: an Advanced Guide to Lego Mindstorms
Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms

O'Reilly and Associates
The Unofficial Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS Robots

(note: if you have never heard of Lego Mindstorms before, and you have always wanted to create robots- check out Lego Mindstorms.

< | >

Related Links

Articles on Robotics
Also by Jason
Contact author

If you have ever wanted to learn about Cisco Routers, check out my new book "Cisco Routers for the Small Business" - it's Cisco CLI for the Regular Guy!

Sponsors

The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them.
( Add a Reply )

"You never know how many friends you have until you own a Condo on the beach." -- Jason's Postulate

[ main | post article | search ]