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How to Use Computers to Control Animatronics

An animatronic is a mechanical robot that derives its control from a program running on a computer. Data is transmitted from the computer to the animatronic's gears and levers, which then move in a predetermined manner. To control an animatronic Lego-brand Mindstorms NXT from a computer, connect the two together and run the program designed to be recognized by the robots internal operating system.

Things You'll Need

Bluetooth adapter
Mindstorms NXT animatronic robot
Joystick, PC-compatible
Mindstorms NXT animatronic robot program installation disc

Instructions

- 1
  Plug the USB connector at the end of the Bluetooth adapter into a USB port on the computer (desktop or laptop). Plug a PC-compatible joystick̵7;s USB connector into a USB port on the computer.
- 2
  Click the red ̶0;X̶1; in the upper right corner of the ̶0;Found New Hardware" pop-up window when it appears.
- 3
  Place the Mindstorms animatronic robot on a table or on the floor next to where the computer is located.
- 4
  Press the center button on the the top of the Mindstorms to bring up the menu options. Select the ̶0;Bluetooth̶1; option from the menu, using the buttons on each side of the center button. Press the center button to make the selection active.
- 5
  Click ̶0;Start,̶1; followed by ̶0;Control Panel.̶1; Click the ̶0;Bluetooth tab. Check the Bluetooth checkbox. Select the Mindstorms from the list of devices in the drop down menu. Enter "0000" in the pairing code text field on the Control Panel window when it pops up. Close the window by clicking the red "X" in the upper right corner.
- 6
  Insert the Mindstorms installation disc into the computer̵7;s disk drive. Follow the menu prompts when the installer̵7;s window appears on the screen. Click the ̶0;Quit̶1; button on the installer when it has finished installing the Mindstorms program to the computer̵7;s hard drive. Restart the computer.
- 7
  Launch the Mindstorms program by selecting it from the ̶0;Start,̶1; ̶0;All Applications̶1; menu. Select the Mindstorms robot from the list of names in the program̵7;s left column.
- 8
  Control the Mindstorm̵7;s animatronic robot̵7;s movements using the direction pad and arrows on the program̵7;s screen or with the joystick. Quit the program when you are done. Remove the Bluetooth adapter from the computer.

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