NXT Cicala

I was looking for an easy way to build custom chassis for various robotic projects. So, I purchased recently the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit. I think that the NXT is an easy way for experiments or prototyping.

I started with the quick project suggested by LEGO in order to learn the shapes and combinations of the various pieces.
After a few days I decided to make my first NXT robot; the NXT Cicala (a two wheeled balancing robot).

I used the light sensor in order to measure the slope of the robot as in the original Cicala version. I wrote a little program in NXC (a simple PID controller - manually adjusted for my sensor and motors) and voila.

front view

rear view

Rosie the robot

Ideas for unicycles by Ken Perlin.

SKATER mini

My favorite camera dolly system by P+S Technik. Very clever!!

Unworkable devices

And speaking about museums, have a look at the museum of unworkable devices.

Amazing!!

Don’t forget to check out the overbalanced wheels section (favorite non-workable device ever).

Retro technology

I observed that the word balancing and the word wheels in the label cloud on the left sidebar of my blog are bigger than other words and I remembered a page about monowheels. The page is part of the museum of retro technology.

Murata boy

Make your own Murata boy! :P

La Cicala

My first robot.
A two wheeled balancing robot based on the Basic Stamp 2 microcontroller.

NXTway-G

A two-wheel self-balancing mobile robot by Ryo Watanabe.

LEGO unicycle

A Lego unicycle by Maurits Kooiman.

ps: LWPR software, PID control - read the comments for more info.