Lesson: Controlling the Hardware

In former times there have been two major obstacles one had to face when trying to build a robot on his own:

one had to possess very distinct mechanical skills to assembly the machinery (let alone the tools) and
one had to deal with the electronic controlling of the robot's hardware on a low, i.e. very machine-oriented level

As a matter of fact, building even a very simple robot was extremely difficult without having a degree in cybernetics and being in possession of a machine factory at the same time.

The appearance of the LEGO MINDSTORMS™ marked a turning point: everybody who was able to put two LEGO^® bricks together was more or less in the position now to build robots at home.
The second barrier was overcome by languages like leJOS; in fact it is particularly easy with leJOS to control the LEGO MINDSTORMS™ robot's hardware.
In the following lessons we will discuss how this is done for RCX related parts like

Buttons
LCD
Motors
Sensors
Infrared interface.

Buttons
takes a look at the VIEW, PRGM and RUN buttons on the RCX.

The LCD
introduces two classes which may be used to display simple output on the RCX display.

Motors
discusses the important topic of controlling the motors you might have connected to the RCX.

Sensors
delivers insight into the perception abilities you can add to your robot.

The IR interface
describes some simple mechanisms to transfer infrared signals between the RCX and the LEGO^® tower.

Sound
works on the audio capabilities of the RCX.

The leJOS Tutorial

Start of Tutorial > Start of Trail

	Buttons takes a look at the VIEW, PRGM and RUN buttons on the RCX.
	The LCD introduces two classes which may be used to display simple output on the RCX display.
	Motors discusses the important topic of controlling the motors you might have connected to the RCX.
	Sensors delivers insight into the perception abilities you can add to your robot.
	The IR interface describes some simple mechanisms to transfer infrared signals between the RCX and the LEGO^® tower.
	Sound works on the audio capabilities of the RCX.