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J10 · 11-13-2002, 05:46 PM

I don't know much about the Mindstorms kit so I can't compare the two, but this is an EEPROM that retains and executes the code you program it with, via serial cable. The language you use is pretty much a modified form of BASIC, but there is a language interpretor available that can be programmed in java. I know more about BASIC from my college days so I went that way. I'm still trying to understand all of the things you can do with it, but it seems mostly you are just limited by imagination, it should be able to interface with and control off the shelf stepper motors, sensors and such, rather than just the modules that Lego markets for Mindstorms. For instance one thing I can think of is an infrared sensor, laser beam or motion sensor that can turn on/off an electric fence when it senses only large livestock moving close by, saving electricity when nothing is around. That's just an idea I made up for this post, the real possibilities are much larger. Basically you can sense anything that modern sensors will allow while reacting physically to that sense with stepper motors and the like, and how it does that is totally up to the programming that you save to the EEPROM chip which is pretty much the exact same thing as the BIOS chip on your motherboard.

Ya that's right, I'm back.

11-13-2002, 05:46 PM	#3
J10 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: , , . Posts: 84	I don't know much about the Mindstorms kit so I can't compare the two, but this is an EEPROM that retains and executes the code you program it with, via serial cable. The language you use is pretty much a modified form of BASIC, but there is a language interpretor available that can be programmed in java. I know more about BASIC from my college days so I went that way. I'm still trying to understand all of the things you can do with it, but it seems mostly you are just limited by imagination, it should be able to interface with and control off the shelf stepper motors, sensors and such, rather than just the modules that Lego markets for Mindstorms. For instance one thing I can think of is an infrared sensor, laser beam or motion sensor that can turn on/off an electric fence when it senses only large livestock moving close by, saving electricity when nothing is around. That's just an idea I made up for this post, the real possibilities are much larger. Basically you can sense anything that modern sensors will allow while reacting physically to that sense with stepper motors and the like, and how it does that is totally up to the programming that you save to the EEPROM chip which is pretty much the exact same thing as the BIOS chip on your motherboard. Ya that's right, I'm back.