Master the grammar of NXT-G and build a ScanBot

LEGO and National Instruments designed the computer language NXT-G to explicitly run on a toy, but that doesn't mean it's "just a toy" or that it can't be used to write "real" programs. There is a lot of power under the hood in NXT-G. In this chapter download from The Lego Mindstorms NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build, master some quirks and tricks that will allow you unleash the hidden power of NXT-G. Chapter coverage includes:

• Finding help when you need it (the hidden guidebook)
• The basics, including terminology
• Sequence beams
• Branching and sequences
• Blocks and structures
• Loop and switch structures

The chapter concludes with a lesson on how to build and program your own ScanBot (image-scanning robot) using only a basic MINDSTORMS NXT kit.

Title: The Lego Mindstorms NXT Idea Book: Design, Invent, and Build
Authors: The Contributors of the NXT Step Blog
Publisher: No Starch Press
Chapter 2 and 15 (excerpts): The Grammar of NXT-G; Scanbot
ISBN: 1-593270-52-6; Copyright 2005 No Starch Press. All rights reserved.
Used with permission from the publisher. Available from booksellers or direct from No Starch Press