NXT RFID Reader

The biggest limitation of the Lego NXT system for people looking to use sophisticated sensors is the brick's lack of a serial UART. A straightforward solution exists in the form of a cheap microcontroller acting as a UART to TWI(I2C) bridge. Here is an example of using a $4 microcontroller to integrate a Parallax RFID Reader with a Lego NXT.

The two-wire interface allows the NXT to read tag IDs, read the number of tags in the input FIFO, clear the tag input FIFO, put the RFID Reader into low-power standby mode, and control the state of the RGB LED.

The schematic is posted on my blog and source code is available by request: http://inductivekickback.blogspot.com/2009/10/lego-nxt-rfid-reader.html

- Daniel Veilleux

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Lego
• NXT
• RFID
• Parallax

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