Should I buy Vex or NXT?

[agent47]

I am new to this forum so I apologize if this is the wrong section to post this:

I am in the market for a new Robotics Kit. I have a lot of experience with the Lego Robotics Invention System. Now I am stuck between deciding to get either the new NXT from Lego or the Vex.

Can anyone give me some reasons to choose Vex over Lego? I want to be able to progam the robots I create. I used NQC for the Lego robots.

Thanks.:)

[I D Miller]

I can't tell you why not choose lego because i have not used lego but i have been using Vex for almost a year.... 11 1/2 months. hers the pros and cons of it.


Pros
all metal design allows for easy compaibility to erector sets plastics nylons anything that you can put a few drill holes in. you can do the same with legos by modding them but trying to get something to mount to them thats not designed to could be difficult.

stronger due to the fact it's metal over plastic. Vex labs recentally introduced AL parts to keep the weight down on the stainless steel.

You can order pnumatics for the vex system that are ready to go if you have a programming kit for the system.

nice starter kit selection.

lots of decent accessorys like tank tread kits chain and sprockets and gears wheels ultra sonic sensors switches moters servos etc

Cons
the prices of them are fair i'm spoiled from the 1/2 off sale at radio shack. and that leads to another con

only avaliable at ebay ( very limited) and www.vexlabs.com

not a huge selection of gears both toothed and sprockets

some weakness in the motors and chains but not that you can't over come it unless your building some super large bot.

the fact that radio shack no longer is supporting them there is an article on bot mag here that talks about revell taking over the "toy" side of it to lower to prices and get it out on the market.

now there is plenty more pros and cons out there i'm not into programming i get confussed easily mixing numbers symbols and letters is a disaster for my brain. anyway i have 2 starter kits and 6 hard ware kits and 2 of every kit other kit that radio shack carried. havn't ordered the pnumatics yet. the controllers are nice but some have some bad traces in them and you will have to send them out for repair or fix it your self it's not too incredibly complicated inside the transmitter.

but personally i have about 1500$ invested in vex and i wouldn't change it except i wish i had more money and time to invest with it.


peace

[agent47]

Thanks for your reply. You have definitely given me some food for thought.

If there is anyone out there who can comment on the programming aspect of Vex, particularly what the learning curve is like for a beginner, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

[skimoose]

Programming for a novice is very easy using EasyC, the vex programming kit. If you can create a logic flow chart, you can program vex with EasyC. The GUI is similar to the LEGO GUI programming software, both RIS and Robolab.

In pro mode you can also see the C line code so you can begin to understand the C language behind the EasyC GUI interface. I'm told the new version of EasyC will have the ability to edit the C line code directly or export the code to C for use with MPLabs IDE which is a more advanced programming tool. I've already written some fairly complex autonomous code with EasyC with few problems, and I've also used a few non-vex sensors, too.

Vex is definitely a more robost system the NXT. More motor ports, more analog and digital inputs, and interupt ports. I'm just starting to toy with the serial transmit/receive ports (TX/RX).

Some people don't like the erector style hardware, but I think it's much better than the LEGO style. You can build robots almost as fast as LEGO, but I'd like to see someone make a LEGO robot that can lift 3 pounds on a 12" long arm. Vex is that robust.

The website www.connvex.org has some great photos of vex robots competing in this year's FIRST Vex Challenge. You'll see robots lifting 4+ softballs at a time into 24" high goal, or manuvuering a 30" exercise ball around. One robot (18"x18"x18") was able to lift that 30" ball 12" off the ground.

If you're going to stay in robotics for any length of time, go with Vex.

[sidneys1]

I've use the LEGO NXT for a year now, and this is my second FLL year (I was Pres. both years). Here's Lego's pro's and cons:

PROS:

Every Lego piece in the world is compatible
Lego's are inexpensive ($80 for 672 NXT-related pieces, $175-250 for the retail NXT kit)
The NXT brick can interface with several third-party sensors
You can program it with NXT-G, NXC, NBC, C, C#, Java and others
The brick sports Bluetooth and I2C technology
You can make your own parts
Can interface with standard servos
Supports LEGO pneumaticsCONS:

Pieces are mostly plastic, so are only moderately strong
Default programming environment needs RAM through the nose...Anyone else who uses the NXT, please let me know I'm not alone ;)