Winning Design!: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Design Patterns for Fun and Competition

Chapter 9. Power Attachments

In Chapter 8, you learned why having attachments on our robots are necessary for our robots to complete their missions. And although passive attachments can be very helpful, sometimes, our robot attachments need a bit more horsepower. By adding power to our attachments, we can have a wide range of new functions that our robot can now perform, such as grabbing, lifting, triggering, and even pushing. On the NXT brick, there are only three power outlets, and for most robot designs, two of the outputs will be used for navigation. This leaves only one power source for attachments, so we must use it wisely. Just like with the passive attachments, the idea of having a common interface for fast attachment switching is important. ...