How was your build?

[Kristine Odahowski]

When I watched the video and Jen said we would build the bot from the Lego book I thought-yikes- I hate that build. Our first nxt programs were through a Science Center so this was the build they presented and it took a lot of time for first time participants. So when I go my kits I found Dr. Graeme http://drgraeme.net/default.htm builds and used them in my lego programs I found the video instruction of builds really helpful starting out.

 

When doing outreach I have to get kids building and programming in an hour, so they can feel some passion for the experience and develop a personal desire to want to do more with their robots.

It was easier for me to build the book bot now because of the number of simple bots I built and number of times I have dumped boxes and had to sort parts.

Hey nxt newbies how was your build experience?

[Jennifer Kay]

Kristine - Great resource. I've added it to the resources document. Thanks!

-- Jennie

[Michael Rabourn]

Building with NXT is time-consuming. I came across this site and found it to be very useful. All of the projects are free on the web but he also makes a CD available for purchase if you would prefer: http://www.nxtprograms.com/projects/html. Great building ideas listed in order of increasing level of difficulty along with programs to control them.

[Michael Rabourn]

Oops...corrected link follows: http://www.nxtprograms.com/projects.html

[Damien Kee]

If you're looking for another quick build, my design has been popular with teachers - 

http://www.damienkee.com/home/2011/8/20/domabot-classroom-robot-design.html

It is not as strong as the Edubot from LEGO, but it is very quick to build :)

We've got teachers from all over the world using it!

http://www.damienkee.com/domabot-global-map/

[Kristine Odahowski]

I have used nxtprograms too, good resource.

[Kristine Odahowski]

Thanks Damien for sharing your work.

[Cindy Med]

I did the tripod and it was time consuming, and hard to distinguish some pieces at first.  I was never a logo user or a puzzle fan, so  I think building the robot is the hardest part.  It took me several evenings to complete it and at the end I realized I had put one of the assemblies on too far back and the sensor wouldn't fit, but then I realized if I moved it forward a notch it worked!  But I can see my(special needs) students getting frustrated - or maybe not since some of them are in a Lego building club after school already. 

[rka...@att.net]

I use Damian's Domabot and Dave Paker's ExpressBot in my classes. Both are easy to build and are durable enough for my middle school students to use on a daily basis. My students are constantly driving their robots off their desks and dropping them on the floor. Probably not good for the NXT brick, but they are still holding up. 

[Damien Kee]

Can I add you to our global map of DomaBot users??  

http://www.damienkee.com/domabot-global-map/

We're getting quite a good coverage of the world :)

Regards

Damien Kee

[Linda Joiner]

I'm using a used kit with missing parts. After waiting 2 weeks to get the big parts that were gone, I realized I also had many small parts missing. I couldn't complete the build as directed. Luckily, my son is a lego builder (he's 18 now) and he was fascinated by what I was doing (he'd never experienced robotics). When he saw I was having trouble due to missing parts, he offered to help. He was also unable to come up with workable substitutions, so he closed the book and finished it on his own. I have a working robot! I was able to follow along through much of it from the book that with a complete kit, I shouldn't have any issues completing the build on my own. 

[androidrobo BG]

Ask yourself what your goals are to create a robot, what your motivation - otherwise you can leave halfway without knowing why you started.