VU-LEGO Real Time Target

A user-friendly Blockset for embedding real time Simulink designs on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick.

The Villanova University LEGO Real Time Target (VU-LRT) enables rapid implementation of Simulink-based designs on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT platform. It is similar in aim to the Embedded Coder Robot (ECRobot) package by Takashi Chikamasa, but is more consistent with the Real Time Workshop development pathway, and is less constrained by ECRobot's function call / data store architecture. An automated installer is shipped with VU-LRT - see the README.pdf in the download. Examples include motor speed control, a line-following robot, and a re-implementation of the NXTway-GS self-balancing two-wheeled robot.

***NOTE***
VU-LRT was developed as an NSF and MathWorks funded project aimed at exploiting Simulink code generation tools and low-cost hardware platforms, (such as the LEGO MindStorms NXT), for educational purposes. In R2012a, the MathWorks added code generation capabilities to core Simulink without the need for additional toolboxes thereby providing a more cost-effective solution for bringing rapid prototyping into the classroom. The MathWorks also provided a free LEGO MindStorms NXT Target support package which delivers similar functionality to VU-LRT, but which is now professionally supported by the MathWorks. As a result, VU-LRT will no longer be actively maintained after the R2011b release and the authors will be transitioning their own courses to the new R2012a Simulink and MathWorks LEGO MindStorms NXT Target support package. The authors wish to thank the many enthusiastic supporters of VU-LRT who have developed so many creative projects with VU-LRT. We hope and expect that this creativity will continue to expand and flourish using the new MathWorks tools that have become available.