How to make Mindstorms respond differently, depending on which sensor is triggered?

Question

I am new to Mindstorms (but in my day job I am a programmer).

I want to make my robot do one thing if the touch sensor on port 1 is pressed, and do something different if the touch sensor on port 2 is pressed.

If nothing is pressed, I want it to keep driving straight ahead.

I can see how to tell it to drive along until one of the sensors is triggered. I.e. "drive along until sensor 1 is pressed", but I can't see how to say "... until either sensor 1 or sensor 2 is pressed".

In answer, it would be great if you could:

tell me the blocks to use
give me a screenshot of a program
link to a program which has a similar effect

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 27 '11 at 15:41

I believe one possible answer can be found in the sample program for the color sorter in the Mindstorms control software. The technique that kit uses is to create a series of nested if/then loops:

if (Color == red) {
  //do red things here
} else {
  if (Color == blue) {
    //do blue things here
  } else {
    if (Color == green) {
      //do green things here
    } else {
      if (Color == yellow) {
        //do yellow things here
      } else {
        //default actions here
      }
    }
  } 
}

Using this as a template, you could use a structure like:

if (Touch Sensor 1 == Pressed) {
  // Special Action 1 (i.e. turn left)
} else {
  if (Touch Sensor 2 == Pressed ) }
    // Special Action 2 (i.e. turn right)
  } else {
    // Default Action (i.e. drive forward)
  }
}

Hope this helps - I don't have quick access to the Mindstorms environment right now or I could set up a quick screen shot. I can only refer you to the ColorSorter program in the samples.

Thanks, matthew. This is the structure I've arrived at, and it seems to work, but I'm intrigued by @joubarc's idea of concurrency. I'll have to try that out too. — AJ., Dec 28 '11 at 11:13

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 25 '11 at 22:08

It sounds like you will need to create an infinite loop block to constantly check which touch sensors are being pressed and if not, carry on with whatever instruction you wish. The loop block can be found under the flow category:

enter image description here

I recommend you read through the instructions (listed under Help > Contents and Index... in the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software).

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:47

1

I had exactly this question. Based on Matthew's answer, I got this working. Here is a screenshot of the My Block I created to do this: TwoSwitch.

enter image description here

TwoSwitch sets one of two variables to true: Pressed 1 or Pressed 2. You can then act on those values using tests. Here, I'm looping until button 1 is pressed. If button 2 is pressed, I play a sound and get another button press.

enter image description here

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:47

Community

1

answered Oct 14 '12 at 23:52

metadaddy

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3

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 26 '11 at 09:31

1

You could also have 3 different concurrent tasks - one which is you main "go forward" program, and two others which listen for sensors and do things accordingly.

answered Dec 26 '11 at 09:31

Joubarc

21,187
2
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I'd illustrate, but I don't have NXT-G installed right now, and with the crappy connection I have, downloading it takes forever. – Joubarc Dec 26 '11 at 09:33
NXT-G doesn't quite work that way. It runs through a set of instructions once, unless it's placed in a loop. – Ambo100 Dec 26 '11 at 10:46
Sorry, but you can have concurrent tasks by dragging additional beams from the center hub. – Joubarc Dec 26 '11 at 12:05
That's true but you will also need to place it in a loop, otherwise it will run through each block only once. – Ambo100 Dec 26 '11 at 12:39
Well yes, true enough — I didn't want to imply otherwise. – Joubarc Dec 26 '11 at 14:21

How to make Mindstorms respond differently, depending on which sensor is triggered?

4 Answers4