= RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for MATLAB =

^''These webpages are monitored by '''''Google Analytics''''' (see [wiki:Google

Analytics Privacy Policy])''^
Welcome to the '''RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for MATLAB'''. This toolbox is dev
eloped to control LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots with MATLAB via a wireless Bluetooth co
nnection or via USB. This software is a '''free open source product''' and is su
bject to the [wiki:GPL GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (GPL)]. The development of the
RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox was motivated by a [http://www.lfb.rwth-aachen.de
/mindstorms RWTH Aachen University student project - MATLAB meets LEGO Mindstorm
s -] for electrical engineering students and therefore designed mainly for educa
tion purposes.
The toolbox functions are based on the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Bluetooth Communicati
on Protocol to control the intelligent NXT Brick via a '''wireless Bluetooth con
nection or via USB'''.
Although a Bluetooth connection is not recommended for a real-time robot control
ling in general (because of its high latency) this toolbox provides MATLAB funct
ions to interact with a robot directly. Latencies via USB connections are much s
maller and allow for more sophisticated applications.
The main advantage of this remote control concept enables you to '''combine robo
t applications with complex mathematical operations and visualizations within M
ATLAB'''. This toolbox opens unlimited possibilities to provide the robots artif
icial intelligence and other improvements using the manifold MATLAB features and
calculations for '''digital signal processing'''.
[[BR]]
|| (!) ''' See [http://www.mathworks.com/hardware-support/lego-mindstorms-matlab
.html The offical Mathworks support page for Lego Mindstorms]''' ||
[[BR]]

= MATLAB meets LEGO Mindstorms - First Semester Student Laboratory =

[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:Robo_pdf.png, height=150, nolink)]] [[I
mage(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:projektlogo_900x177.png, 400, nolink)]] [[
BR]] [[BR]]
The '''RWTH Aachen University first semester student laboratory - MATLAB meets L
EGO Mindstorms -''' has been established since winter 2007 as a required course
for '''Bachelor of Science students of Electrical Engineering, Information Techn
ology and Technical Computer Science'''. In this lab the students learn how to u
se '''MATLAB for digital signal processing'''. Based on known mathematical basic
s the students perform signal measurements and analyse the characteristics of th
e different LEGO Mindstorms NXT actors and sensors in the first half of the proj
ect. In the second half they are motivated to develop and program their own robo
ts. As the pictures below illustrates a first impression, the '''individual and
creative ideas of the students for their robots''' e.g. maze solver, morse en- a
nd decoder and scanner robots, are unlimited. In winter 2008 '''over 380 student
s and 80 supervisors''' participated in this project and developed and programme
d 200 robots based on the RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for MATLAB.
For more information please visit the project page '''[http://mindstorms.lfb.rwt
h-aachen.de/]''' or contact the organisators at the '''[http://www.lfb.rwth-aach
en.de/en/ Institute of Imaging & Computer Vision - http://www.lfb.rwth-aachen.de
]'''. [[BR]] [[BR]]

[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:mindstorms_ws0708_06.jpg, height=180, n
olink)]]
[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:mindstorms_ws0708_25.jpg, height=180, n
olink)]]
[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:mindstorms_ws0708_26.jpg, height=180, n
olink)]]
[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:mindstorms_ws0708_linear2DScanner_03.jp
g, height=180, nolink)]]
[[Image(ProjectMATLABMeetsLEGOMindstorms:mindstorms_ws0708_34.jpg, height=180, n
olink)]]
[[BR]]
[[BR]]
= Authors =
||'''Project members:'''
:'''
||Dorian Schneider
r
||Martin Staas
||Linus Atorf
||Rainer Schnitzler
Prof. Tobias G. Noll
||Alexander Behrens
||Achim Knepper
||Thomas Herold
||
||'''Former members:'''
||Aulis Telle
er Administration:'''
||Johannes Ball
||Robert Schwann
||Andr Bell
||Axel Cordes

||

|| '''Organisation

||

schneider(at)lfb.rwth-aachen.de || Dorian Schneide

||
||
||

martin.staas(at).rwth-aachen.de ||
linus.atorf(at)rwth-aachen.de || '''Faculty:'''
rsch(at)eecs.rwth-aachen.de
||Prof. Til Aach ( ),

||
||
||
||
||
||

behrens(at)lfb.rwth-aachen.de
knepper(at)lfb.rwth-aachen.de
herold(at)iem.rwth-aachen.de
telle(at)ind.rwth-aachen.de

||
||'''Testing:'''
||Marian Walter
||
||
|| '''Project Serv

|| balle(at)ient.rwth-aachen.de
|| Daniel Brckner
|| schwann(at)eecs.rwth-aachen.de ||
|| (bell(at)lfb.rwth-aachen.de)
||
||
||

'''Contributors:'''[[BR]]
Laurent Vaylet, Vital van Reeven, Bernd Neumann, Yvonne Nix, Sacha Franssen, Flo
rian Schröder, Stefan Schürmans, Michele !McColgan, Nick Watts, Paul H
ollensen
'''Octave Development:'''[[BR]]
Andrew Gee, Patrick Gosling
Most contributors are members of the RWTH Aachen University - [http://www.rwth-a
achen.de].
[[BR]]
[[BR]]
= Copyrights =
The RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox is free software: you can redistribute it and/
or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by t
he Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option
) any later version.
The RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox is distributed in the hope that it will be use
ful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABIL
ITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
more details.

You should have received a copy of the [wiki:GPL GNU General Public License] alo
ng with the RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licen
ses/>.
[[BR]]
Disclaimer: This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the [http://www
.lego.com LEGO Group]. LEGO, MINDSTORMS, TECHNIC, and NXT are registered tradema
rks of the [http://www.lego.com LEGO Group].