and now for something different...

Tuckie · 11-06-2004

I've had a lego mindstorms kit lying in my closet for years now and ive been thinking about putting it to some good use. My idea is to make a motorized tripod, using lego mindstorms, with a cantenna mounted on top. Is it possible to make a vb program to have the cantenna point to the strongest signal? There is a vb library for mindstorms for those who are wondering. (mindstorms sdk)

beakmyn · 11-06-2004

If I'm not mistaken the lego mindstorms run a form of Labview from National Instruments which is much more powerful then VB for this sort of thing.
It doesn't seem too difficult to do either way. Right a program that pans the antenna through xxx degrees and run the snr through an alogrithm that watches it increase then when it decreases below a threshold it pans back and then continues to pan back and forth less degrees until it 'locks' in. You'll want to have a threshold for lock lest the motor get parkinsons and oscillate a couple degrees back and forth continuosly.

BTW, you can also get video camera pan tilt units on eBay pretty cheap. They can be put in scan mode where they pan xxx degrees or you can use a remote to manually pan and tilt them.

Tuckie · 11-07-2004

since i have lego mindstorms, free is better than cheep. Are there any snr scripts already out there in order to save me some time?

beakmyn · 08-28-2006

Klatoh Verata Nicktoo!

It seems Adrian went ahead and built it:

http://www.smithstuff.net/steercan/Steercan.htm

Dutch · 08-28-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by beakmyn

Klatoh Verata Nicktoo!

It seems Adrian went ahead and built it:

http://www.smithstuff.net/steercan/Steercan.htm

You are hereby ordered by the Council of Zombierevivialprotagonists, to change your avatar tagline from "Post Whore" to "Zombie Reviver, 2'nd class".

Dutch

nashr · 08-28-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by beakmyn

Klatoh Verata Nicktoo!

It seems Adrian went ahead and built it:

http://www.smithstuff.net/steercan/Steercan.htm

Oh, come on... every good geek should know it's "Klaatu barada nikto"... unless you're referring to "Klaatu... verada... necktie?" from Army of Darkness, but then you missed that one too.

Thorn · 08-28-2006

Got GORT?

beakmyn · 08-28-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nashr

Oh, come on... every good geek should know it's "Klaatu barada nikto"... unless you're referring to "Klaatu... verada... necktie?" from Army of Darkness, but then you missed that one too.

I got it, I got it! I know your damn words, alright?

11-06-2004	#1 (permalink)
Tuckie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 63	and now for something different... I've had a lego mindstorms kit lying in my closet for years now and ive been thinking about putting it to some good use. My idea is to make a motorized tripod, using lego mindstorms, with a cantenna mounted on top. Is it possible to make a vb program to have the cantenna point to the strongest signal? There is a vb library for mindstorms for those who are wondering. (mindstorms sdk)

11-06-2004	#2 (permalink)
beakmyn root\.workspace\.garbage. Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 4,762	If I'm not mistaken the lego mindstorms run a form of Labview from National Instruments which is much more powerful then VB for this sort of thing. It doesn't seem too difficult to do either way. Right a program that pans the antenna through xxx degrees and run the snr through an alogrithm that watches it increase then when it decreases below a threshold it pans back and then continues to pan back and forth less degrees until it 'locks' in. You'll want to have a threshold for lock lest the motor get parkinsons and oscillate a couple degrees back and forth continuosly. BTW, you can also get video camera pan tilt units on eBay pretty cheap. They can be put in scan mode where they pan xxx degrees or you can use a remote to manually pan and tilt them. __________________ It's not Intelligent Design, it's peer pressure. ┌──────────────────────────────┐ ╞ NS Icons Explained\|et hoc genus omne ╡ └──────────────────────────────┘

08-28-2006	#4 (permalink)
beakmyn root\.workspace\.garbage. Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 4,762	Klatoh Verata Nicktoo! It seems Adrian went ahead and built it: http://www.smithstuff.net/steercan/Steercan.htm __________________ It's not Intelligent Design, it's peer pressure. ┌──────────────────────────────┐ ╞ NS Icons Explained\|et hoc genus omne ╡ └──────────────────────────────┘

08-28-2006	#7 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,032	Got GORT? __________________ Thorn "Lawyers should never marry lawyers. This is called inbreeding. It produces idiot children and more lawyers."

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11-07-2004	#3 (permalink)
Tuckie Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 63	since i have lego mindstorms, free is better than cheep. Are there any snr scripts already out there in order to save me some time?