Lego NXT cave controller

[berrys66]

Tell me if this idea is crazy ...

If you have kids with an Lego NXT robotics kit, or like me own one yourself (just a big kid at heart - see my Birdasuarus bipedal robot video), you could use it as a cave controller to control temperature and humidity. Vernier make temperature and humidity sensors (also do a pH sensor) compatible with the NXT. The NXT control box has 4 inputs and 3 outputs, so it ought to be possible to construct a control box to measure temperature and humidity via the inputs and adjust both via the outputs if suitably wired to a thermostat and humidifier/de-humidifier. you could write a PID controller in Java.

[Boofer]

Wait, let me guess!! An engineer, right!?

Or...you could just buy a wireless humidistat and a Johnson fridge controller. I guess it all depends on how much free time you have, how driven you are, or if you just like to create things. I'm betting on all three.

Short answer: no, not crazy. There is another fridge thermostat project somewhere in here posted, I think, by linuxboy. It uses the controller below.

-Boofer-

[berrys66]

Wait, let me guess!! An engineer, right!?

Well, actually I'd put "IT professional" down for my occupation, but I'm an inveterate tinkerer, hacker and bodger, and just love making and building things, sometimes just for the sake of "doing it" ...

[george]

I just like the idea of the Legos.

[berrys66]

The great thing about Lego is that it's made from food-grade acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

[zenith1]

You've got to love tinkerers. It's hard to imagine all the great things we have that have sprung from the minds of like minded folks.

[Pondering Turtle]

Tell me if this idea is crazy ...

If you have kids with an Lego NXT robotics kit, or like me own one yourself (just a big kid at heart - see my Birdasuarus bipedal robot video), you could use it as a cave controller to control temperature and humidity. Vernier make temperature and humidity sensors (also do a pH sensor) compatible with the NXT. The NXT control box has 4 inputs and 3 outputs, so it ought to be possible to construct a control box to measure temperature and humidity via the inputs and adjust both via the outputs if suitably wired to a thermostat and humidifier/de-humidifier. you could write a PID controller in Java.

Can't you program those with Labview?  You could do some really fine control that way.

[berrys66]

Can't you program those with Labview?  You could do some really fine control that way.

Yes, Labview is available for the NXT. Also RobotC, Lua ... and a whole host of programming languages for remote controlling/remote sensing via Bluetooth or USB (C, C++, C#, Ruby, Python ...).

People tend to think "Lego = kids", but I reckon Lego have sold at least as many of these units to adults as they have to children.

[wharris]

Interesting.
Youtube has several videos of Legos machines solving Rubiks cubes.
 

[zenith1]

very cool stuff!

[Pondering Turtle]

Can't you program those with Labview?  You could do some really fine control that way.

Yes, Labview is available for the NXT. Also RobotC, Lua ... and a whole host of programming languages for remote controlling/remote sensing via Bluetooth or USB (C, C++, C#, Ruby, Python ...).

People tend to think "Lego = kids", but I reckon Lego have sold at least as many of these units to adults as they have to children.

Someone also built a pinball machine with them, of course given the IO limitations he used something like 15.  At that point going with a PLC has to be cheaper.