Double-tracked is my attempt at a robust tank using the rubber treads. I used the rubber treads instead of the hard plastic treads since they have much better grip (and I have no plastic treads). This worked very well. The only down side to this is that there was no suspension. Also, the gears connecting the front and back treads would often catch on the ground. Overall though, I think this could outperform almost any other Lego tank the same size with hard plastic treads. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

You've probably noticed that I've changed the name from racing truck to just truck. this is because there was too much friction and it was too big that having a fast gear ration didn't work well. So I did a 1:1 gear ration and focus on how controllable it was since the two motors were linked with a differential, so different speeds on the two motors made different gear ratios and speeds. It created smooth moment and power. Gear train 2 motors with one to one gear ration - 1 differential to add them together - drive train - differential - differential. I enjoyed building this since this is my first build with differentials. Program Nothing out of the ordinary for the program. It's controlled by the PSP-NX-V3. When the program first starts, it finds the center for steering using the Hitechnic PID block. R1 turns the steering right, L1 turns it left, R2 returns it to center. The two joysticks control the two drive motors. You can download the program at my blog. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

This is my half tracked vehicle. It is remote controlled by the PSP-NX-V3. In "normal" mode it is driven by one joystick, it has no differential but when turning, the back two motors go at different speeds, simulating a differential. When you hold down the R1 button, it goes into "two joystick" mode where the left and right joystick control the treads independently, great for getting around tight corners, the right joystick also controls the front wheels. You can download the program and building instructions at my blog My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

I was a little disappointed about my results this year but I still did better than my first year (2011). I only got 1 trial correct but that one trial was the best trial I’ve gotten ever, but, due to chance/human error, trial 2 and 3 were a fail, lowering my score. Trial 2 seemed to fail due to a shake of some sort. I slowed down that part in the video but I’m still confused as to what happened. In trial 3, the table was lower (there was more than one arena), in the rules it did say that it was supposed to deal with a bit of variation (but it also has said that the last 2 years I’ve done this, but never changed the height). Overall, this is still the best robot out of all three years, if i had completed all three trials successively I believe that i would have gotten second again. They have not posted the final results yet, so I just know that i didn’t get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, since they announced that. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

Hardware There are two driving motors. One in the front and one in the back. It is 4 wheel drive but it cannot turn. The drive motors are not geared. The third motor is used to control the arm. that is geared down 1:5. The arm lifts up the front wheels, it drives foreword to get the front wheels on the next step, then the arm goes back, and lifts up the back wheels and the robot drives forward to get the back wheels on the step. Program The program is really simple. The PSP-NX-V3 remote control's the robot. one joystick turns the drive motors, and the other moves the arm. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

Hardware This has two main parts (the front and the back) on the front there is the PF battery box, front driving motor, and the steering motor along with PF LED lights. On the back section there is the back driving motor and the NXT. The two parts are connected by one axle, which stays in surprisingly well. Program The program was pretty simple. I used ROBOTC again. The program uses the PSP-NX-V3 to control the driving. Right joystick controls the drive motors and the left joystick controls the steering. You can download the program at my blog My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

Hardware This is simple - just some wheels geared down 1:3 to move the card in and out over the color sensor. The touch sensor senses whether the card is being pushed in. and I also had a touch sensor and motor for the door but that was only to prove that the card reader worked. Program I programmed using ROBOTC. I wanted to re-teach myself ROBOTC and I really like it. I'm never back to NXT-G. ROBOTC is just easier once you learn it. I was having trouble having it read the card (and tell me the code) because it was too inaccurate - it would give me the wrong colors a lot so instead it only figures out if it is the correct card. You can download the code at my blog. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/endersbyt

Hardware This uses 3 motors and 2 sensors. On the controller it uses the Touch sensor as the trigger button and the color sensor as an indicating light. There is also a motor on the controller that controls the angle of the launcher. It s linked with the motor that moves the launcher up and down. The third motor moves a 5m beam up and down. When the beam is up it holds the rocket back, and when you press the touch sensor, the beam is pulled down and the rocket is released. The rocket is down a ramp by a rubber band and then fly's of the ramp. Program The program is pretty simple. First you pull the rocket back with the rubber band than turn the black knob to move the beam up - as soon as the beam is about halfway up the motor begins to turn to make sure its all the way up then lock. you can then use the motor on the controller to move the launcher up and down. then you press the orange button and the launcher locks its position and waits for you to press the touch sensor - when you press the touch sensor the rocket is released and the program starts over again. You can download the program st my blog. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/tendersby Facebook page: http://facebook.com/MindstormsPodcast

A simple robot that shoots beams and other things that are the same thickness like pencils and bushings. Hardware There are 2 main motors geared up 32 times it's speed - which makes up o 4000 RPM output. shooting the beams very fast and pretty far. At the back there is a gear box (from and OLD BIONICLE set I think) and that adjusts the angle of the shooter up and down. The controller is one motor on the side for controlling the speed and a light sensor for indication the speed range (0-11 is red 12-75 is blue and 75-100 is green) and information is displayed on the screen - read the next section for more info on that. Program The program does a simple task of turning 2 motors but displays a lot on the screen. First it resets the motor on the controller and then the program is started. You use the motor to control the power - every degree = 1% of power. This program calculates the RPM and displays it in a bar and the number. it also displays the % power and the Output RPM. The RPM calculation is from NXT Programs: 3-Speed Transmission with Clutch. You can download the program at my blog. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/mindpodplus Facebook page: http://facebook.com/MindstormsPodcast Thanks to musikConomy for intro music

This is a simple robot that turns on the lights after a certain amount of time. It turns a dimer that is connected to extension cords. Overall this is pretty simple - I only made one program and that program counts down till the alarm then goes off when time is up. You can download the program at my blog. There will be a second version that works with normal room light switches - I'll post about that soon. Pictures at my blog. My Blog: http://Mindstormspodcast.wordpress.com Google Plus page: http://bit.ly/mindpodplus Facebook page: http://facebook.com/MindstormsPodcast Thanks to musikConomy for intro music