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Lego Mindstorms Controlled by Pilot Via JINI
Nobody writes "JavaSoft has a cool article on how they've used their JINI technology to allow a Palm Pilot to control a Lego Mindstorms brick. " The scary thing is that this is one of the more useful applications of Java I've seen...
Leave it to Sun to take two relatively inexpensive technologies which could be easily networked together with their own existing interfaces (rs-232 and Infra-red) and attach their hideously expensive workstations and a terminal concentrator (all of which are easily 10's of times more expensive than the Lego's and Palm Pilots) all to prove that it works with Jini and Java.
Is it me, or does anyone fail to see the reason for doing this? The Mindstorms unit by itself doesn't have the memory or processing power to be able to run either Java or Jini, so why fake it by running it on the workstations and claiming that you're interfacing to small devices with Jini? If Sun truely wanted to show how cool their Jini technology is, they should have picked something with a little more intelligence than the Lego Minstorms brick.
Also, isn't KVM the xterm for the KDE project?
Tell me about it. I had to scrap my plans to create a fleet of killer Lego robots controlled by my Palm. It violated the licence agreement and they threatened to sue.
... Legos were so much better when I was a child. There was rarely a moment of my childhood when I was not gnawing on those delicious and colorful blocks. They don't taste the same anymore. Did they change the recipe?
New technologies always differ from old technologies!
Utilizing a new technology might require a new way of thinking. Inability of inflexible minds to adapt to new ways does not mean the technology is bad. So don't say "that technology is lousy" when you mean "I don't understand it".
Research THEN destroy, if you must.
yeah...this is an interesting topic, i.e. doing distributed computing using ejb jini corba or some such vs. xmlrpc type stuff. ms might be on the winning side.
there. happy?
-- your knees hurt, don't they?
I have some more photos which I took at JavaOne, on my home page. Check 'em out.
.white-mountain.org/jamie/news/1999_javaone_photos /mindstorms/
http://www
I was talking about the comments in general lines, and the feeling you get from slashdot when you come from a place like javalobby. Not about the CmdrTaco particular comment. :). (sorry for my pathetic english btw).
---> Did you know Linux stands for Linux Is Not UniX ?
Anyway, java is highly useful for things like quickly developing complex object and service distribution. For example, encapsulating a service (like a printer in Bangkok, say, wrapped in a java object referenced as an interface), sticking it in a naming directory (could be iiop-based, could be rmi-based, could be something similar to ldap -- java can do it all in a very similar way), and then obtaining a reference to that object and calling its methods from ANY client (an embedded applet on a cellphone, for example) -- this is very cool stuff, and lumping it into the same category as tickertape applets just because they're both java is annoying and ignorant. Should we lump all C stuff together just because it's done in the same language?
The primary advantage of doing all this in java is not platform independence as much as extremely rapid (thus less costly) development.
All this is not to say that any of this will run across linux -- based on Gosling's comments here last week, java will run with these legos and on Palm Pilots better than any linux port for the foreseeable future.
Hallelujah!@
We can herd the electrons this way and that. Use electromagnetism in so many ways. Yes those are versatile. Hell, to do anything usually that's how it's done. But back to my original point is that it's the device (the PalmPilot) that's special... versatile... extraodinary... and not the language (Java) it was programmed in.
---------
James Crawford
drachen@thepcmaster.com
Palm Pilot powered
Tiny plastic bricks of joy
The song of Lego
.................
It was more evolutionary, hence the name. Do some research before spouting off.
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/technicalA rticles/ConsumerProduc ts/JavaTanks/tankdemo.tar.gz
Because they needed a place to put the Jini Look-Up Service. Mindstorms don't have a JVM (Java Virtual Machine) on them and the Palm Pilot only has the KJVM on it which only has socket support, and not RMI (Remote Method Invocation) which Jini Requires. They were using Jini so that a single Palm could connect to a singe tank with no problems and no hassle; no worries that two people are trying to use the same tank at the same time.
Were these PalmPilots the ones w/o infra-red ports, or did the infra-red ports not have enough range for the tanks to pick up?
They were just regular Palm Vs (I think). The range on the Palm Pilots IR *is* really pitiful (something under 2 feet) but that wasn't the point of the demonstration.
Actually, what was the point of having the Palmpilots in there in the first place, if the workstations were there anyway?
This was the JavaOne conference! They wanted to show of as much cool tech as they could. The KJVM was the BIG this this year, after all, they were selling Palm Vs for $199 with the KJVM already on it for people to play with. Jini was also a hot item and a really good idea for this particular problem. I believe people used their own Palm Vs to control the Tanks. WAY TOO COOL... :) I get giddy every time I think about it.
I wear pants.
yep, the palms are running through a Jini proxy as well. all of the source can be found at the link supplied.
jakd
okay had to say it...;)
-- your knees hurt, don't they?
That java would make the *coolest* toys ever made that much cooler...I may have to sell a kidney and pick up as many Mindstorms systems and a Palm Pilot as I can...
Dan "Don't step on the legos" Turk
Now, just develop a similar app for a Firecracker unit, and freak the girlfriend and the cats by going around the house and not only controlling a robotic Lego set, but turning the lights on and off at will.
Remote control: man's ultimate fantasy!
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
In defense of java, I happen to find it very useful. In fact I'm researching a java telephony solution right now using JTAPI that seems pretty slick. Just because it isn't perl doesn't mean its' evil. :-]
----- this is my sig, do you like it?
Obviously not all the slashdot writers are up on the technology they report about.
I guess this is a useful technology if I can control my legos!
Sorry, but I just don't get it and I work at Sun. Why the hell should anyone care about Jini? I hear all the propaganda at work but I just don't see a compeklling reason for the world to start using Jini. Of course, I may just be daft. This may be like Novell's NDS: really cool, useful and important but hard to explain until someone actually sees it or reaps its benefits.
_damnit_
_damnit_
It's my job to freeze you. -- Logan's Run
Well I needed an excuse for myself to go out and by some of these Legos, look's like I might have found one ...
How come Legos weren't this good when I was a child ?
I used to have a sig but I left it on a bus
This is great. Two of the neatest technologies to come out in the last few years brought together. Quick, give them a prize, before Microsoft steals the idea, incorporates it into Win2K, and ruins it!
(darren)
It strikes me that to judge this technology demo as a "more" useful demonstration of Java strikes me that CT has no real clue of the uses of Java. When it comes to new development of information systems its either C++, Java, Perl or VB. Sure there are other examples but these are the main languages. Java is currently being used with great effect on both client and server side in all of my recent contracting gigs. Java and CORBA are a potent combination for n-tier systems. The fact that Java is entering college syllabi as computer language of instruction is further corroboration. Admittedly, Java is not for system development, but that still leaves the other 90% (anecdotal). Easy Brothers, Bruce.
That's really pathetic. We've written a robust distributed monitoring system completely in Java and integrated it into our website with Servlets. Creating a distributed system and controlling it via a servlet through RMI is insanely simple and performs suprising quickly...
I'll grant you that this is one of coolest applications of Java... but useful? You people must not get out much... heck... I don't get out much either so that's not really an excuse. If someone would just get a stable, reliable, and fast Java 2 VM running on Linux some of you people will see what Java is capable of. It's really a shame. Sun's released HotSpot on NT and Solaris, mix the two together and you have x86 on UNIX, what's the problem here?
Moe
What planet are you from anyway? *You* may not use it for anything, that doesn't mean it is useless for everyone else too. I'm a developer of an application server written in Java. I think our customers would disagree with you about the usefulness of Java.
This was a contrived example to showcase the Jini technology of Sun.
IR was irrelevant to the example. You could have Palm VIIs controlling the tanks over the web through a wireless connection w/ out much more code.
Also, the IR port on the Palm doesn't have a lot of range and is very directional, so you don't beam your app or business card to everyone with a Palm in the room, only the intended receiver.
In a real world app you would want a small/cheap client, like a Palm V as opposed to buying a bunch of workstations.
The idea of Jini is to put intelligence in smaller devices like a VCR, you would just plug it into a net and it would automatically be able to communicate with your camcorder, TV, satellite receiver, etc. Noble idea for the future but right now all I really just want is to be able to set one damn clock in my house and have them all sync.
I didn't want it to happen, but it did. I don't know, I guess it's just your joyful, happy nature. Can we get together and talk? I want to start my life with you.
I'm really surprised that the rabid Lego fans who read Slashdot haven't gone nuts over everybody saying 'Legos' instead of 'Lego bricks'. It seems every time there is a Lego story, at least a hundred people get all freaked out over saying 'Legos' or 'Lego bricks' or some such thing. It's almost as bad as the Java people in this story complaining about the 'best use of Java' comment in the story post. Lighten up.
:)
And in case of oncoming flame, this was a joke.
OK, so this is a cool demo. But look under the covers, and you see problems with Sun's Java and JINI implementations. Palms have IR transceievers, so do the tanks - why do I need some workstation to mediate simple communication - wouldn't it be cooler to have the Palms speak directly to the tanks? The Palms are running KVM, which is nifty at first glance, but then you realize that it isn't really running Java(tm) - JINI is too big to fit in the multi-megabyte Palms. So, given that we have three computer systems in the demo (Palms, Tanks & workstations), and JINI is only running on one of them, how is this a good demo of JINI's networking prowess?
I think you're underestimating the usefulness of Java network programming. I'd be interested in seeing someone get this same application up & running (with Jini-like useability) coded in C/C++.
As someone who writes networked code in both, I can testify to the ease of Java's networking API. Also, the advantage of the Jini network (i.e. just plug the damn thing in to start it, unplug it to stop it -- no configuration on either side) is a huge plus....
I'm not disagreeing with you though; my Palm V is one of the most useful things I own -- I just think you're missing the overall usefulness of Jini and Java.
--Mid
Red Hat has demonstrated an Linux-powered Intel Celeron controlling up to 10 Lego Mindstorms tanks simultaneously. The sad thing is that this is the best application of Linux I've seen so far.
Not so funny now, is it?
Of course, I write Java on FreeBSD. The only way I would be less welcome around here would be if I was writing Visual Basic on NT. We all know that solving problems and writing useful software is not nearly as important as the language and platform you choose.
yeah these mindstorm thingys are super cool. We got to use like 500 bucks worth of em to make a robot for a competiton. We won of coarse!! However it was because we had the most simplistic design, and that prevented us from getting strangled by automation. I would like to get this up and running, i would like to remote control a mindstorm via my palm. As i understand it they were un controlable before this, you just had to program them and hope it worked. A friend of mine rigged a setup in which one mindstorm IRed the other and told it where to move, but that was unsucessfull as we were only allowed to use one, and his method was superduper slow in a 2 minute competiton.. With this we could build our robot as complex as possible and not worry so much about that pesky postage stamp programming, which gets to be a real pain in the arsky after like 50 stamps. If only they'd give me a compiler and some libraries (like motorA(forward 5seconds) maybe??) that would be cool. The postage stamp coding may work for dummies but it gets really annoying if you're a lego dominatrix like me. Or we could just go hemo's route and make a perl script to do it. Would that get us the award for "first robot controlled via internet"?
char *stupidsig = "this is my dumb sig";
Is is just me, or is /. maturing real fast.
Just a few months ago, anything about java would stir up a storm of complaints from the script kiddies going "not perl, not C, not cool".
I believe this was due to the *incredible* amount of PR surrounding java, and that tends to put off many sw guys (me included). Now that java has matured a lot, has proved a success in many projects and is turning into the best ally Linux has in the corporate world (yes!) the talks have matured.
I see a lot professionals here discussing their successes, frustations, experiences and more importantly their perception of this web technology. Also you must hand it to the moderators, a few days ago they got flamed for their handling and moderation of the java posts but have turned 360 degrees, better than Mr Gates himself, Kudos kiddies, kudos. It probably comes from the fact that java and linux are natural allies and java IS VERY WELL entrenched in the corporate world and will open MANY doors for linux to sneak in. As a side note, my own company is now replacing NT boxes in production with Linux boxes running Oracle and Java. getit?
Keep posting on java, it is the biggest technological maverick and a defining force in the landscape of the industry. It will greatly help linux. A win-win.
ejboss@ejboss.org
largest drive = 500 megs probly. cheap.
extra software for pilot = no. a simple serial port program will do it..available free.
optimal model = a palm pro with an upgrade card. the upgrade has a more powerful LED than the standard palm iii or iv or whatever.
MP3..look on freshmeat.lots available.
yep. ive done something similar..i actually mounted a palmpilot as a linux drive off the irda port. IR comm issues = range..its not too far.
Yes, it is true that there is no such API for C/C++. Does that mean that it couldn't be done? Nope. (and I am in no way volunteering to do it :)
I think that the jini concept (and related items) are cool despite of the language it's written for/in.
Somebody mentioned the X-10 system, but I didn't see anyone mention another relatively small, mobile device: AIBO. While undoubtedly pricier than the Mindstorm kits ^_^;;, this would be an interesting thing to see.
I could see a lot of potential in an X-10/Jini/Palm crossover. Forget about a universal/learning remote, how about a context-sensitive remote? You just point your Palm at the TV and it automatically changes its controls to those of the television remote; point at the lamp and you get a switch, which sends a signal to your X-10 unit via the Jini proxy.
Nothing worth doing is worth doing today.
>Two of the neatest technologies... /. in a positive light! Don't you know that the enemy of your enemy is still your enemy when you are a maniac linux advocate?
How dare you describe anything made by Sun on
C was revolutionary. Java is not.
Java AND C were hardly revolutionnary, all they did was a "bestOf" features of language and ideas of their time. Java did not invent anything just repackaged the web ideas in the coolest way, just like C packaged the "system" ideas of the time and provided an elegant way to adress hw architecture is a portable way. Java does the same at a higher layer, the web layer.
That being said there is something revolutionary about the distributed handling of java, it is truly net oriented. Ever looked at EJB?
matt
-- C++ guys, don't be so negative, there is nothing to fear but a bright future for net based OO technology--
Seems there was too much time on them. :-)
another example here
+&x
I had a 486/66 w/ a 6.4 gig drive.. You can buy a $30 bios ISA card (I forgot where I got mine.. but off of the net) to allow you to do this.. Watch how you add up all these numbers tho if you are buying everything separately i.e. ird controller, cheap harddrive etc etc.. computers are so dirt cheap it is much better to just buy the cheapest new computer you can find (which will be a million times faster) than start plugging things into your old machine.. (which unfortunately at the time was how I went about it)
You are sick. Sick, sick, sick. Who would ever think of making something so disgusting with Legos?
And where can I get one?
:)
theoretically anything can be done if enough time/effort goes into it. point is, the java.net package is available TODAY.
-- your knees hurt, don't they?
The scary thing is that this is one of the more useful applications of Java I've seen...
:)
Man, that one stung! Really.
I don't know how much exposure there has been to Java applications that are actually useful, but damn!
I'm currently working in a small group, in a large company, that is developing (the group) a DB (Oracle 8) centered, distributed (web) application for designing industrial and utility-scale boilers for electricity production. We're talking 1.21 GigaWatts here, Marty! It's my first project with this new group, and it's slick as snot.
Some other notable Java apps: NetBeans and FreeBuilder (granted, they're devtools themselves, but they're java and they nifty), Lotus domino is available as a Java app.
And then there's always Applixware Office Anywhere that is written purely in Java.
Really, I'm surprised at the off-the-cuff derission against Java, Rob (old bean).
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
-linley@megami.org, too lazy to log in.
Hmm. I'm not sure how a 486 dx2 66 would handle playing 128+kbps mp3's back at full speed. I seem to remember my 486-100 could just barely play them back at full speed and I couldn't do anything else on my system while it did, or the mp3 would 'skip'.
Strangely enough, the XML-RPC specification announced by Microsoft today is more likely to run on the Lego RCX directly.
How about the very powerfull sets of cross-platform software I helped write for my company to preform yeild analysis on the semiconductors we manufacture. It's ALL written in Java. Why? Because it greatly cut developement time. It had to work on Win, Solaris, HP-UX, VAX, and several other systems. The web deployment of the end-user clients allowed anybody to use it anywhere, including our customers, without any intervention by us. Plus distributing new versions is as easy as uploading a file. And speaking of customers, our main customer is HP. We happen to be the top manufaturer of HP inkjet heads (the small semiconductor on the head of the cartiage that spits the ink out). So next time you buy ink for your HP printer remeber that if it wasn't for supposedly worthless Java you would be paying much much more for it.
And I would love to see someone try and implement a system like this in ANY other language in the same time/cost frame with the same flexability. I tell you it can't be done.
www.freebsd.org/java
It's currently at version 1.1.8.
As far as using the Linux-compatible stuff, I haven't tried that yet.
Funny, the online registration system that I used Java servlets to write seems pretty darn useful.
And because I wrote it in Java and used the Servlets specification, we'll one day be able to move it (not port it) to Linux.
Yeah, we could do it in C++, but why? Speed? Hm, working fine, says we can scale to thousands more folks. Development time? Nope, came together quite quickly.
Yeah, yeah, you can do OO in Perl if you try really hard. And you can write objects in Visual Basic too (or so they claim). Java makes it easy for you, and makes it harder (though not impossible) to do it the wrong way.
Or was Rob bashing java servlets? What exactly do you want people to do? HTML "applications" aren't the way to do things. We want thin clients that run across many platforms, don't we? So to break up the MS stranglehold? But we bash people experimenting with the fledgling version of this technology? What is it that we want, anyway?
I see servlets on webpages for data retrieval, traffic views, heck, even clothes shopping. It seems to work very, very well.
Zipwow
I don't know which is more depressing, that 2/3 didn't care enough to vote, or that 1/2 of those that did are crazy.
You are correct- the lego side of things is not running Java. There is currently an attempt to write a JVM for the lego, but it has not (as far as I can tell) made any progress for months.
~luge
IAAL,BIANLY
OK - this is just my (read: JUST MY) opinion on the whole Java vs C++/C issue.
:-). There's no native methods in it, either.
:-). Why didn't the Java guys just provide a set of wrappers for that??? Or at least provide a set of methods to interface with it?
I'm a comp-eng student, and have learnt a decent amount of Java. I've also played around with it a fair bit (as an aside, does _anybody_ know a decent amount about the ImageProducer/ImageConsumer framework???). I'm also trying to teach myself C++ at home, with a decent amount of success.
In NEITHER area am I ANYTHING close to expert - so please feel free to correct me about any of the details that follow.
Java - the idea - is very cool. This is what most people tout when they say JINI is blahblah, or this does that, etc etc. The whole point of Java and all it's peripheral technologies is hugely distributable code. That's really cool.
Java - the implementation - is very good in SOME ways, but fairly bad in others (AGAIN - MY OPINION ONLY! CALM YOURSELF!). For instance - a genetic algorithm program that I've written gets quite nice speeds running under the BlackDown port of JDK1.1.7 in Linux (haven't tested it anywhere else
On the other hand - any AWT stuff that I've tried to do is almost pathetically slow, especially compared to the X-Windows stuff that I've tried to do. I also suspect (but aren't sure) that the Swing components are add-ons to the whole AWT idea, and not a fundamental re-organisation of the AWT event model (am I right???). The reason that I say this is because there's lots of things about the AWT event model that suck - for instance, only one thread for the entire AWT system (how do you implement sprites easily? You can't - you have to manually write code that updates each one in turn. With new AWT threads being spawned at will, you could just "spawn" a new sprite with internal timing signals, and everything would be fine and dandy).
Look - XWindows was ALREADY a platform-independant and fast windowing toolkit (with networking capabilities too
Also - C++ (ANSI) is extremely fast and fairly standard. Java is basically a subset of the C++ methods, along with a whole bunch of new code ("libraries") and some kewl new ideas about method/class organisation, all organised in such a fashion as to make it platform independant.
So _WHY_ is it so slow? Sure, it's interpreted virtual machine code, not precompiled actualy machine codes (hence bytecodes and JVM, etc), but (for instance) VMWare runs an extremely tight virtual Intel processor that gets about 50-75% actual speed (by this I mean that if I run VMWare on my Intel processor I get about 50-75% of the actual processor speed as the speed of my virtaul processor)!
So my opinion is that Java is an extremely good idea that was moderately badly implemented. Again, just my opinion.
As a corollary, by the way, that means there's a market for good implementations of similar ideas. Because lets face it - the Java idea has so much to offer computing/programming.
One final time, Just mY oPinIon
-Shane Stephens
I am a thirteen year old chinese whore. Want sucky fucky?
I know this sounds pathetic, but there is a page in the www.lego.com domain where Lego specifically explains that it is company policy to refer to them only as Lego bricks. They specifically condemn the use of the phrase "legos" and, IIRC, directly exhort parents to correct their children when the kids use the plural and not the "proper" phrasing. That was one of the sicker examples of management-speak I've ever seen...
~luge
IAAL,BIANLY
Not a prob. :)
[kersnip]
On the other hand - any AWT stuff that I've tried to do is almost pathetically slow, especially compared to the X-Windows stuff that I've tried to do. I also suspect (but aren't sure) that the Swing components are add-ons to the whole AWT idea, and not a fundamental re-organisation of the AWT event model (am I right???).
Essentially, yes.
The main difference between Swing and AWT is that every AWT widget has a native peer -- basically a hook into the windowing toolkit of the console's graphic environment. In Swing, every widget is "lightweight" -- it's drawn entirely through Java's neato rendering context APIs. This gives you a lot of flexibility and lets you do cool things like insta-double-buffering and translucent UI components with a minimum of effort. However, it is definitely slower.
The event model is the same for both Swing and AWT.
The reason that I say this is because there's lots of things about the AWT event model that suck - for instance, only one thread for the entire AWT system (how do you implement sprites easily? You can't - you have to manually write code that updates each one in turn. With new AWT threads being spawned at will, you could just "spawn" a new sprite with internal timing signals, and everything would be fine and dandy).
Ummm... there's only one *event* thread in AWT. You can have as many threads as you like merrily drawing away to the Graphics object of your choice. The single-event-thread system only screws you if you're doing something like multi-modal input (which I am :().
Look - XWindows was ALREADY a platform-independant and fast windowing toolkit (with networking capabilities too :-). Why didn't the Java guys just provide a set of wrappers for that???
Ever use X over a modem? Or any connection that wasn't a LAN? It is VERY high bandwidth, and therefore not a good thing to tie your windowing toolkit into when you are a networking-oriented language. And if you can't use X in that manner, why use X at all?
Wrapping X in a properly object-oriented fashion was probably more work than JS was willing to commit to.
Or at least provide a set of methods to interface with it?
We're using just such a toolkit in our next project to drive a wall-size display. No URL off the top of my head, unfortunately, but such things are out there.
Also - C++ (ANSI) is extremely fast and fairly standard. Java is basically a subset of the C++ methods, along with a whole bunch of new code ("libraries") and some kewl new ideas about method/class organisation, all organised in such a fashion as to make it platform independant.
OK, here's where I get pissed. :) ;). The fact that Sun is harping this silly cross-platform angle is incidental.
C++ is a bastard hack. It is a crufty, inelegant glomming of some OOPy-sounding keywords onto a language that was NEVER designed to be used in an object-oriented fashion. The concept of OOP was around for a looong time before C++; Java is the first mainstream P/L to be architected from the ground-up with OOP in mind. THAT is why it has greatest programming language design in the history of computing (note my omission of the word "implementation"
[kersnip] So my opinion is that Java is an extremely good idea that was moderately badly implemented.
I think every real java programmer in the world would agree with you on that one. The fact that the Creator permits a virtual-platform networking-centric elegantly OOP language to be wholly owned by a traditional "big iron" computer corporation has contributed greatly to my cynicism and festering sense of misanthropy.
You just point your Palm at the TV and it automatically changes its controls to those of the television remote; point at the lamp and you get a switch, which sends a signal to your X-10 unit via the Jini proxy.
Yes!
This is exactly what I got about what was the "thing" with Jini - devices that can communicate with each other on the fly, dependent only on context.
Other examples using the Palm (or some other handheld) with Jini-capable devices: programming the thermostat in the house, setting the vcr, collecting voice messages from the phone (for later playback). Or as ordinary as finally making the handheld's synchronization with the desktop a lot more seamless.
Tons of possibilities...
Where the value of X-Mailer: is the true measure of a man...
Here is the challenge. Develop an alternative hardware, with more sensible specs. Like 1M flash ROM and 1M RAM, or more. Also, has to be extensible (3 sensors and 3 motors are not enough). Has to fit into Mindstorms case. Alternatively, has to have its own Lego-compatible case with at least 6 motor ports and 6 sensor ports.
This is probably a good place to start.
If priced at $100 (heck, even at $200) I'll buy it.
Then I'll consider to drive it with JINI. (I'll probably wont't do it anyway.)
--
Industrial space for lease in Flatlandia.
Mindstorms are great! I no longer need a degree in electronics or mechanical engineering! Now not only can I built a Mindstorms case that will dissassemble itself whenever I need to swap out hardware, I can built my next garage door with them, too. Perhaps a Mindstorms controlled tractor-mower? Sit in the shade and steer the mower around like a video game! An army of Mindstorm-enhanced appliances, from the ashtray that empties itself to the 'Fridge-buddy' that retrieves me another cool Guinness on demand; All controlled from the comfort of the Mindstorm chair.( complete with 21 inch monitor, self adjusting keyboard and autovariable cushion firmness!! )
.sig: Now legally binding!
Miko gave his "courage under fire" award to the Lego team because, before their demo, they found out that the overhead lights screwed up the IR towers, and they figured out how to splice two towers together to get redundant coverage. Or sometihng like that. Pretty neat.
And apparently it's not pure Java (I didn't read the entire article) - the mindstorms are merely running a jini proxy, which is presumably written in NQC. At least, when I asked the guy at JavaONE, that's what he said they used.
That was supposed to be a wry aside, or that's how I took it, and see how much happier I am?
There is already a technology that does just that. It is called X-10. I have a friend that has it installed in his house and can control his entire house from a computer. The technology speaks to different items through power cables in the house. You can find the FAQ Here.
This is not the sig you are looking for...
Even though the software was in Java, it's really the fact that the Palms can be used in such varying ways that is the coolest fact. I mean here we can control our TV's, print to IR printers, transfer files through air, unlock cars that use IR remotes, etc. This little device can do it all. The fact that the software was written in Java, IMO is of no consequence. The program to control the legos I'm sure could have just been written in another language. You've got to love how these companies tout their software by making is seem like something so revolutionary when it's not. C was revolutionary. Java is not.
I sure love my PalmIIIx. Never leave home without it.
---------
James Crawford
drachen@thepcmaster.com
Cant wait for the first Java-controlled coffee machine. *rips the pun-alert siren off the wall*
This is not off topic! He said it's made out of legos! Maybe if he said that he uses the IR remote on his Palm III to control the erection level and the jizz pump on his lego wang, then it would've been on topic?
That is a pre-release! And yes, I have tried it, and continue to use it together with Apache, JServ, JConnect and Sybase to run a fairly high volume website. One line snappy come-backs only work in sitcoms, bub.
I've tried to do a similar thing (w/out the Palm Pilot) and the 486dx4/100 was choking on the mp3. Now, this may have been caused by any # of things: low memory (20MB), slow HD. Of course, that was just my situation...
Look on the LEGO Mindstorms page, one of the recent new contributors is this one Japanese guy who created his own AIBO from a few Mindstorms kits - called it MIBO. Uses a couple of RCX units, and is pretty complex. He goes by (may even be his name) Jinsato.
. html
Here is a link to his page:
http://www.mi-ra-i.com/JinSato/MindStorms/index
There is also stuff on the LEGO site...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
I don't know about the IR stuff, but I'll see what I can do about your other points.
:) but jumped on 192. But YMMV.
Harddrive: A machine of that age should have support LBA (aka translating BIOS), check your CMOS settings to be sure, so there isn't a limit on the hard drive size you can put in it.
CLI MP3 player: Personally I swear by mpg123. The newer versions have jukebox support so they can be controlled from an external program (i.e. a perl script listening on your IR port)
You may find problems with your machine not being able to play high bitrate MP3s without jumping. I had a 486 DX4/120 and that could cope with 128Kbps (so long as i didn't want to use it for anything else at the same time
This would make a good topic for an Ask Slashdot (if it hasn't already been done).
What's up with the Java bashing?? I'd say one is ignorant if he cannot recognize the benefits of having more than one language. Perhaps some people think they're losing ground to 'this upstart OOP language!' - pfft. Try it, you might even understand and like it.
I use both Perl, C and Java - your choice of language should depend on what you'd like to make. Not on the degree of your stubbornness. The must go as fast as possible all the time servers - well - code them in C, optimize it in your assembler, but why not make the clients in Java? Seems logical enough to me.
Imagine all code being uncommented Perl - now wouldn't that be a riot! A true Tower of Babylon ;)
Kingpin
Unable to read configuration file '/bigassraid/htdig//conf/14229.conf'
Geocrawler error message.
Users should be able to moderate Robs posts, so that when he starts trolling about a language he obviously hasn't used recently, it doesn't start yet another java flame (YAJF). The people I feel sorry for are whoever at Andover.net is going to have to maintain those perl scripts, after Rob finally loses it...
${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
Well Starportal, Sun's enterprise staroffice versions that runs in a browser needs java really bad!!! :)
The first? java office suite since corel java office? Maybe the computers are faster this time around?
I remeber starting the Corel beta on a 4 processor (167MHz) Sun Enterprise 4000 with lots of memory... Didn't work properly..
Java is far from perfect, but it's still the best thing going when it comes to widely supported languages and libraries.
Firecracker and X-10 are one in the same (as I understand) I think that is what he was speaking of.. As far as I've seen the X-10 products do not as of yet have a univeral remote, which the original poster would like tosee implimented.
Maybe they could use it to control MIR?
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"I'm not gonna say anything inspirational, I'm just gonna fucking swear a lot"
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Hmmm, if you combine this with the palm's ability to steal auto security codes, maybe you could make a robot that goes around stealing cars! >:>
Generic Man
Why did they have to go through the cradle/workstation/infrared-tower setup?
Why didn't they control the tanks directly from the PalmPilot infra-red ports?
Were these PalmPilots the ones w/o infra-red ports, or did the infra-red ports not have enough range for the tanks to pick up?
Actually, what was the point of having the Palmpilots in there in the first place, if the workstations were there anyway?
with Legos
The correct use is "GNU/Legos", get it right
Do you know of an ftp server where I can get GNU/Lego? Lego model quality has been going down hill for a while (the techniccal term is Town Juniorization), and it's too expensive, so if we can just convince some toy manufacturers to come out with high quality open source lego-compatible bricks, I'd be really jazzed. Mega-blocks are almost there, but not quite, and those Ramboesque Best blocks make me cringe.
Until then, I'll have to stick with my propietary Lego ( I just counted 12 models in my office, geez).
George
And people mocked the matrix...see, it's the way of the future...
"Tank, I need a pilot program for an XXXX helicopter" and boom, there it is...analogy with Jini, simply connect to it, request, and receive...
Ok, maybe not, but I'm tired, gimme a break...
I almost thought you were serious for a minute. Very funny. C is widely used because it is easier to write a compiler to translate C into efficient machine code than it is to do the same for other languages. C is efficient because it is very close to assembly code, remember C has been called the, "Portable Assembler." You may like C because you're familiar with it (as am I) but that doesn't mean it's a good language.
Even though it was implemented on a PalmPilot, I think it's the fact that the force of electro-magnetism can be used in so many ways that is the coolest fact. I mean you can microwave food, herd electrons into doing our work, see, etc. This force of nature can do it all. ENIAC was revolutionary, the PalmPilot is not. I sure love my electro-weak force. Never leave home without it. ;)
Scuttlemonkey is a troll
I have a 486 DX2 66 machine which I don't use anymore. I was thinking about what to do with it and then I realized that I could use it as an MP3 server connected to my stereo. There is nothing fancy about this but I would like to control it with a Palm Pilot via Infrared (IR). So I will be running Linux (no X stuff just CLI), attach an IR port to the PC. Run MP3 player. Control it with the Palm Pilot. Here are the questions that I have (I do not own a Palm Pilot yet so I am pretty ignorant about them): What is the largest harddrive 486 can handle and cost? Do I need extra software for the Palm Pilot? What is the optimal Palm Pilot model for this? What is the best MP3 software for CLI? What are the issues with the IR communication? And the most important one: Has anybody done this already?
What is the largest harddrive 486 can handle and cost?
Do I need extra software for the Palm Pilot?
What is the optimal Palm Pilot model for this?
What is the best MP3 software for CLI?
What are the issues with the IR communication?
And the most important one:
Has anybody done this already?