VI Shots

I just got wind of this cool NXT website through one of the FLL group lists I’m subscribed to, nxtprograms.com.

Dave Parker, the founder of nxtprograms.com says about his new site:

I started this web site in response to feedback that I have heard over and over from parents of kids at our school: They got an NXT set for Christmas, had fun building the one or two sample robots, and now they are having trouble figuring out what to do with it, either due to lack of building experience (especially with the studless NXT style parts), lack of knowledge of any programming, or simply a lack of ideas that are fun but simple enough to do. Lack of programming knowledge, in particular, is a big barrier to most kids and severely limits what you can do with your NXT set. I have also found that most kids don’t have the patience to learn any programming lesson-style during their free time, so this site takes a different approach. There are no programming lessons, but instead there are a variety of free, fully commented sample programs that go along with various fun projects that the kids can simply download and use as it, then perhaps some will be motivated to learn more about how they work by studying the programs. Those of us who have studied any programming know that many times the best way to learn it is by seeing concrete examples. In addition, by following the building instructions for the projects, the kids will also learn various ways of building with the NXT parts.

I have to agree that figuring out where to go next after you have built the included bots is a challenge. My favorite part about the site is the super crisp detailed pictures of the assembly process. All programs are included on the site for free. As an added bonus, at the end of the project page there is a challenges section that gives you ideas on how to expand the project.