My name is Xander Soldaat. I wear many hats; I am a Software Engineer, Infrastructure Architect, and Linux Project Engineer. I love building and programming robots.
Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated by robots. I built many contraptions with Technic Lego and electronics. I guess I’ve been playing with Technic Lego since I was about 6 or so and I still have all of it. Like many others, I had my Dark Ages, mine started at about 13 when started skateboarding instead.
My reintroduction to robotics started in 2007 when I bought a Parallax BoeBot kit with a few sensors. After a while I had learned all I could from the Basic Stamp 2 based Board of Education (BoE), and moved on to the Parallax Propeller. In February 2008 I purchased my first Lego Mindstorms NXT set. Powered by an ARM7 microcontroller it is a very different beast from anything I had programmed before. The LEGO pieces allow me to quickly assemble a new body or modify an existing one should it not work in its current configuration. This makes prototyping very easy and I am a lazy person, I like easy. A few months later I bought a second NXT kit, so I could do more experimenting whilst maintaining a more serious project at the same time. Over the years I have accumulated a fair amount of Lego and additional NXT kits and bricks. In December 2009 I was given the privilege to be part of LEGO’s Mindstorms Community Partner (MCP) program. Together with other MCPs and LEGO we are involved with the development and testing of new ideas and concepts and discussing current and future issues around software, hardware and anything else that might come up.
My wonderful wife, Tammy, is very supportive of my ever increasing collection of robots and LEGO although I do think she wonders if I will ever have enough of either. Everyone who uses LEGO knows, of course, that there is no such thing as too much Lego and you can never have too many robots.
Hello Xander –
Very interesting blog.
May I use the boe-bot with ping sensor image at my website? I’m doing my Master’s 6000 project in Distributed Systems and your boe-bot pic is very high quality and would be perfect for my default page.
I’m hoping to do interactive stuff via the internet and would be happy to discuss it all via email.
Thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
Karl Eldridge
They were sent to me by Parallax. I have some high resolution ones here: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg316/low_frequency/BoeBot/ . The originals were better but I can’t find them.
You’re more than welcome to use them and I’m sure Parallax doesn’t mind. Just make sure you host them on your own server, please 🙂
You can contact me at mightor+at+gmail+dot+com
Regards,
Xander
Thanks Xander. I appreciate you pointing me in the direction of the photobucket. The quality is fine for my application. I will definately host them on my own server!
Thanks Again.
Hi Xander,
This past 2008-2009 FTC season I became a mentor for a rookie FTC team. We used your first version of the prototype board driver within RobotC and went all the way to Atlanta to compete in the World Championships. Thank you for your efforts. After being in Atlanta our students are looking for ways to reach out within the FIRST community and help benefit other teams. Being an engineer myself I would like to teach them about driver development and help develop/test software that continues to push the development of FTC and RobotC. Is there any way our team could assist you in your Hitechnic/RobotC endeavors?
Thanks,
John
Hi John,
Thank you for your kind words and congratulations on making it all the way to Atlanta. I work quite closely with HiTechnic when making these drivers and they are always happy to support me in my efforts. What I need most from people is for them to use my drivers and give me feedback. I started writing these drivers to scratch my own itch and thought that others might find them useful, too. It kind of grew from there. My drivers have been downloaded quite a number of times, but feedback hasn’t been as forthcoming.
So, to answer your question how could you and your team help me? Keep using the drivers and let me know how I can improve them.
Regards,
Xander
PS: I have sent you a copy of this message to your email.
Hey Xander, what schematic software do you use to draw all the circuits on your website?
Sorry it took so long to respond, I’ve been super busy the last few weeks. Anyway, the program I use is ExpressPCB, which you can download here: http://www.expresspcb.com/
Hey Xander. You seem knowledgeable on the NXT I2C bus, seeing that you write drivers. I developed a 3-axis Gyro 3-Axis Accelerometer combined sensor for the NXT, and am implementing my slave IIC routines (on the sensor). However, tests indicate that the NXT seems not to follow the IIC protocol very strictly (it seems to insist on always sending a register address after the device address – can this be eliminated?). Would you be so kind as to email me then I can chat with you about the RobotC’s IIC implementation? Thanks in advance!
Hello Xander,
I saw on http://forums.nxtasy.org/index.php?s=41b389e7a034c7187d8c506a82696e7b&showtopic=3753&st=0&p=28719&#entry28719
that you have some knowledges about the new temperature sensor for NXT.
I do not find it in your sensors drivers.
Have I missed it or is this integration still in progress ?
Best regards.
Sylca
Hi there Sylca,
I don’t have one of these sensors yet. However, I am working on trying to acquire one, so stay tuned.
If you want, maybe we can work on it together, as I’ve one.
Even if I’m quite a rookie on RobotC, my main difficulty is that I’ve only the sensor, I’ve no datasheet or anything to help to program it (the shop did not sent anything but the sensor !). My searches on Internet gave nothing.
I think I can use your work on some other sensors (if you agree, of course), but I do not know which memory offset are to be queried, which modes are available (I know that there is °C and °F, but that’s all), etc.
You can email me directly (I’m the webmaster of the website I indicated in this post) if you want.
Sylca
Hello Xander,
I’ve taken out a Codatex RFID from my cupboard and tried to re-use your driver template to implement my own.
I encounter some problem with the I2C communication (ERR_COMM_CHAN_NOT_READY => infinite loop in your common.h driver part).
Would you mind if I send you my file ?
Maybe the problem will splash into your eyes !
(I’m sure it’s a dummy thing, but impossible to find it !)
You can reply me at : sylcalego@cacheux.info
if you’re interested (I’ll then give you my MSN address if useful).
Thank you for your kindness.
Sly
Xander,
Some students in my class have used your nxtcam drivers to create soccer robots. Although I haven’t been as successful with tracking the red ball, I would like to thank you for your updates to Gordon Wryth’s nxtcamlib. Maybe you should look into the robocup games 🙂
Helemaal niets met jouw wereld, maar geef les op een vmbo en laat de leerlingen (2e klas) spreekbeurten doen over creativiteit, kunst cultuur en gedrevenheid, las dat jij in het fort een middag deed over jouw gedrevenheid, de lego robotten, doe je zoiets ook wel eens op een school, (presentatie)kan je leerlingen dan bevruchten en verassen??? (kostenplaatje? en kan je zomaar op een dag in de week?)
Hoi Aagje,
Ik stuur je wel een mailtje!
hi,
what happened to nxtasy.org its been taken over 🙁 🙁
It hasn’t been taken over, the DNS records are still fine. We’re working on it.
Hi, Xander.
You are an inspiration.
I am impresed with your conceptuaal designs of Lego models and your finese in programmng the interface drivers.
A rare combination of skills, and very impressive.
This is also of specific interest to me, because of my ancient hobby interest in mechano-electronics.
From watching your recent video online, I realize that there are several similarities in our historical trajectories, separated by a quarter of a century in time (mine being the earlier one, of course). I won’t go into details here.
I currently use RobotC to program my Lego models. Although it may appear that my objective is to entertain and instruct our 7 grandchildren, it is primarily just for me. I really enjoy building and programming Lego robots, and I especially appreciate a reason to build and program anyhing. I also use C to program PIC microcontrollers for interface and control, and I have used these PIC systems to connect with Lego, mostly through I2C.
The Lego NXT system, with RobotC and PIC programming, has given me the opportunity to extend my hobby interests to span a time interval over a half a century.
I would like to propose to Lego that they have an annual high-profile award for outstanding contribution to someone in the Lego community. I nominate you for the first award.
Thank you for your kind words, Locksley! I’ll mail my contacts in Lego to ask when I can expect my prize, haha. Hopefully you can inspire your grand children to be as interested in technology and science as you have been all these years. It’s good for them to know the science and work behind the everyday electronics they see.
hallo xander,
ik ben robbe callewaert en ik doe mee aan het wereldkampioenschap robocup junior waar een van de opdrachten er uit bestaat een blikje opnemen en ergens anders op een verhoog neer te zetten en dat moet gebeuren met één motor. Daarom heb ik het systeem van de snatcher van Laurens Valk gebruikt maar dan was het probleem dat de robot te groot was om nog door de poorten van de robocuparena te kunnen dus ik heb het systeem verkleind maar het was nog altijd te groot.
maar ik was twee weken geleden, zaterdag (19/2/11) op jouw voorstelling over lego mindstorms
en daar heb ik opgevangen dat het ook met tandwielen kan maar dat het niet in laurens
nxt 2.0 discovery boek staat omdat er niet genoeg tandwielen in de nxt 2.0 zitten.
ik zou dat graag eens proberen, misschien is het systeem dan compacter.
zou jij weten hoe het met tandwielen mogelijk is?
Ik zal wel even aan Laurens vragen of hij hier op kan reageren. Ik ben niet zo’n held in het bouwen van robots, ik ben meer van de software en sensoren 🙂
Hoi Robbe,
Misschien kan je zo’n mechanisme proberen:
Of,
Succes!
Laurens
zeer erg bedankt, ik zal dit zeker proberen
vriendelijke groeten, robbe
hallo Xander,
wij zijn Emma en Tobiah aan het WK robocup junior wij hebbn een vraag voor jouw,
Ik moet een lijn volgen die op sommige momenten onderbroken word, Wij werken met 3 sensoren 2 aan de zijkanten en 1in het midden, Als de linkse of rechtse zwart zien dan corrigeert hij zich door om zij eigen as te draaien, Als de middenste sensor zwaart ziet versnelt hij, Heb jij ideeën om die opdracht uit te voeren wij dachten alvast aan het volgen van de muur
Ik stuur wel een mailtje.
Dear Sander,
Is it posible to ask questions about BricxCC and nxc?
Regards,
Jan Kromhout
Hellevoetsluis-NL
It is always allowed to ask questions, whether or not I can answer them is another question 🙂 There’s a great forum you should check out, though. There are a -lot- of people who use NXC there: http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/mindboards/ . I am one of the moderators there and you’ll probably get a much better answer there 🙂
[…] been talking to Xander Soldaat, and I think I may start my first NXT homebrew project.. I’m not telling what it is, and […]
Hallo Xander, Hier zijn we weer, het groepje belgen dat deelneemt aan Robocup Junior in Turkije. Deze keer is het een mama aan de lijn, de mama die 2 maand terug mee was in Sint Kathelijne Waver toen jullie die uiteenzetting gaven. De ouders van de 3 kids hebben alles in het werk gesteld voor de nodige sponsoring, nu zijn de kids verder bezig met het programmeren. Wij ervaren echter dat zij niet verder vooruit komen, de tijd begint te dringen, en de kinderen worden zenuwachtig. Ze spreken zelfs om alles af te blazen, dat zou wel heel erg jammer zijn. Wij voelen dat wij iets moeten doen, ze zitten echt vast en wij kunnen hen geen raad geven. Zij hebben tot nog toe alles alleen gedaan. Ik denk dat ze jou al contacteerden, maar ik denk dat er meer nodig is. We zochten al naar mensen die hier iets over weten, maar helaas zijn dit witte raven. Is er een mogelijkheid voor jou om hen enkele tips te geven, of is er een mogelijkheid dat wij eens naar Nederland komen? Wij veronderstellen dat jouw tijd beperkt is, maar wie niet waagt …, Het zou leuk zijn mochten wij een beetje van je tijd kunnen stelen, tegen vergoeding uiteraard. Kan jij daar eens over nadenken? Het zou hen zeker een boost geven. Groetjes, Lucie, mama van Emma.
Lucie,
Ik mail je zo wel even 🙂
– Xander
Hi Xander,
I’m Rox Cosico, a coach from a Robotics team from the Philippines. We learned from Marc-Andre Bazergui that you have been doing some work in integrating Kinect with NXT. We would like to know more about it. Wendel who is also with the Philippine team is doing some work with the Kinect and it would be great if we can learn how we can also make Kinnect and NXT work together. Thanks,
Rox
Rox,
Please contact me directly at mightor_@at@_gmail.dot.com (remove all the extra stuff)
– Xander
Hi Xander
I wonder if you can help me, I’m developing a NXT sensor, which I wouldlike to open source it, but, I have few questions that I would like to ask you, is there any chance to contact you
Thanks
Henry,
Please contact me directly at mightor_@at@_gmail.dot.com (remove all the extra stuff)
– Xander
HI Xander
I did sent you an email, 🙂
Many Thanks
Hi Mr Xander,
Me and my robotics club wish to thank you for all the support you have given to Lego Mindstorms users and also for the projects that keep us all entertained!
Currently, our club is short on funding and we do not have any computers for our members to use. A lot of our members do not own a personal laptop which they can bring to our activities. Because of this, many want to learn programming but are unable to.
Please share this link out to help us gain attention that we may reach out to potential funders! Thanks!
Our Fundraiser: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fundraiser-for-kwang-hua-robotics-club/x/4132359
Olá,
Gostaria de saber se vocês tem alguma informação sobre como programar o LEGO Mindstorms EV3 na linguagem C em uma solução freeware.
Desde já agradeço.
Atenciosamente,
Caian Monteiro.
=============================================================================================================
Hello,
I wonder if you have any information on how to program the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 in the C programming language in a freeware solution.
I thank you.
Kind Regards,
Caian Monteiro.
Take a look at the ev3dev project: http://www.ev3dev.org/
Hi Xander,
I’ve watched the video of Lego 8258 Full RC done by you. Excellent job! I really would like to have one like yours.
I wonder that is there any instruction for it? Material list etc…
Thanks in advance for your interest
regards,
No, I made that thing years ago, there are no instructions or materials list, I’m afraid. What you see is all I have.
= Xander
Thanks for reply.
Im really sorry:(
Dont you have a suggestion for LEGO MOCs to me that i may follow?
I am not really all that familiar with the Technic community. I am much more involved in the MINDSTORMS community. I am sorry I cannot really help you here 🙁
again thank you-
wish someone luck to you
regards,
hey mr.xander, i have a question about your NXT cable mod.I am using a VEX cortex 2.0 trying to connect a VEX IQ color sensor to my VEX cortex. I used your NXT cable mod to make the connector although it took a little bit more modding. I was wondering if you have any idea how I can program a VEX IQ color sensor to a VEX cortex?
Reply soon,
Paul Pryor
Hi Paul,
I am not sure, tbh. There’s a lot that goes into talking to an IQ sensor, especially the digital ones, like the colour sensor. You could probably find some information about how to communicate with it here.
= Xander
This is Mark again, I tried using the Dexter industries GPS Robot C Google Earth code and I have errors in the code (do you know which program I am talking about?).
The errors I run into are *Warning*: Invalid ‘=’ operation for types ‘TNxtButtons’ and ‘char’
and undefined procedures
Could you please post your question in the ROBOTC forums: http://robotc.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=41 ?
Thanks!
Hi,
I have no comments except that your blog is very nice! but I have a question… I have problem with the xbee communication between PC/ Visual Studio and NXT/RobotC. I can receive data from NXT but I cannot send data to NXT from PC. The connection is ok but the message seems to not be good. I use xbee.h and NXTBeeComms.h. The version of RobotC is 4.0.
Thanks in advance!
mp
Hey there mp,
I have not done any tests with ROBOTC 4.x and the Xbee stuff. What do you see is happening with the messages? Are they garbled?
Hi Xander,
Thanks for your answer! Regarding the message from PC to NXT I have the information that the output of Receive(h) is -1, error in the transmission if I well understood the text in NXTBeeComms.h. On PC and Visual studio, I use xbee_conTx() function from XBee.h.
Thanks again, MP
Hi Xander,
I thought you may be interested by the launch of a SBrick competitor called BlueSmartControl: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628872772/bluesmartcontrol-remote-lego-or-fischertechnik-cre?token=11e55740
Maybe it’s worth an article on your blog 🙂
Sly (the french heli-pilot!)
Hi xander, I have recently been assigned a lab in my class involving a nxt lego robot. My assignment is to process a set of light sensor readings so that my robot can return to specific lines that have certain properties. We have board with various colored strips in a row that are separated 3 inches apart. I was just wondering if you would be able to help me start this program.
-sincerely Michael
Please try the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Facebook group for specific programming issues: https://www.facebook.com/groups/legomindstorms/
Hi Xander!
I want to use your custom firmware for the nxtcam, but I don’t know how to upload it to the sensor. I’ve download the software firmware updater from mindsensors and the .hex files from sourceforge. But :
1/ the software don’t see my NXT
2/ the software tell me that your hex files was not good.
So , could you send me your last firmware Hex file and the method to upgrade my NXTCam ??
Thanks a lot,
Thibaud
I am wondering if there are uptodate drivers for the EV3 using the HiTechnic IR LINK.
I haven’t made any updates in a while, but I believe they work.
Thanks for the reply.I’ll be switching over to RobotC today. I forgot to ask if there were any plans to support daisychaining with the ev3s in Robot C, preferably with usb.
Thanks again,
Ed
There are currently no plans to support daisychaining in ROBOTC for EV3.
Hi Xander,
Do you maybe have somewhere the implementation of the exchange of data (simple communication – exchange) between EV3 and PC using JAVA and LEJOS, over Bluetooth? If not, can you suggest me some posts where I can be able to figure out the way to do that?
http://botbench.com/blog/2013/10/19/talking-to-your-ev3-ev3messenger/
Thanks in advance,
Marko
I don’t have this information, but I am sure that the fine folks in the Lejos Facebook group can help you much better than I can!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/171961966219209/
Ok. Thanks. I will check it 🙂
Hello!
First of all let me thank you for RobotC. It great alternative to the original LabView-like progamming environment.
But it seem’s like RobotC development is over, especially for EV3. Do you have plans to continue development?
Thank you.
Hi there,
You might be better off asking that question here: support@robotc.net. I’m afraid I can’t answer that question for you.
= Xander
hello Mr. xander i want to connect 2 ev3 robots together using bluetooth by roboc . is it possible?
I’m afraid not. The code to allow this kind of communication was never fully implemented.
Hello Xander,
some time ago you wrote an article about the Findball. Tris10.com no longer exists but do you know if it´s possible to contact the old developer of this Findball? Or if the code of the used Tiny20 was published?
Hi there,
I don’t have Tristan’s contact details. I have no idea what happened to his sensor company.
Regards,
Xander
Hi Xander,
Thanks for all your work with the 3rd Party drivers for RobotC, it’s super helpful!
I’m working with students to compete in RoboCupJr Maze in Australia, and need to use the Mindsensors IR Temperature Sensors, preferably with RobotC.
On the Mindsensors website, it says that they’re supported in the driver suite, but it doesn’t look like they’re in there. Is there anything you know about the driver for this sensor?
Thanks!
Hi there Andrew,
Have a look at this: https://github.com/botbench/robotcdriversuite/blob/master/examples/mindsensors-irthermometer-test1.c
I am pretty sure this is the example program for that specific sensor.
Regards,
Xander
Hello Xander,
I’m developing right now a soccer bot, well, I’ve purchased some weeks ago a mindsensors sensor mux (on generationrobots), but I can’t find libraries or/& examples for NXC. On mindsensors.com there is no support for such mux any more – what is pretty strange. I found your library for RobotC – I hope that maybe you have the library for NXC.
Thanx in advance!
Jarek
Hi Jarek,
I never really wrote any libraries for NXC, ROBOTC was more my thing. I have not really been involved with either MINDSTORMS or ROBOTC for quite some time now, so I don’t think I can really help you out. Perhaps consider switching to ROBOTC 🙂
= Xander
Hello Xander. You are an inspiration. NXTCAM V5 is my latest passion for line tracing.Please let me know if you have anything.