Build robots and contraptions! Experiment with mechatronics using Arduino and LEGO Mindstorms NXT!

Use the Bricktronics Megashield Kit to connect up to six LEGO NXT motors and four LEGO NXT sensors to an Arduino Mega.

• Supports up to six LEGO NXT motors, and reading their encoders
• Supports up to four simultaneous LEGO NXT sensors
• Supports LEGO NXT touch sensors on all four sensor ports
• Supports LEGO NXT 2.0 color sensor on all four sensor ports
• Supports LEGO NXT ultrasonic sensor on all four sensor ports
• Uses standard LEGO NXT cables
• Tested compatible with the Arduino Mega 2560, but should work on many other Arduino compatibles
• Solder the kit, download the easy-to-use Arduino library, check out the examples, and start building!

Options

The Bricktronics Megashield ccomes as a pre-assembled kit. It does not supports the "stacking headers" that many Arduino shields use to permit stacking multiple shields (due to interference between the motor ports and the stacking headers), which means that you must place the Megashield as the top shield of your stack. However, we did include an extra set of holes next to the header pins, which can be used to attach wires and test probes. You can also get a set of standard female headers to fit in those extra holes.

What you need

The Bricktronics Megashield Kit connects an Arduino Mega to LEGO NXT motors and sensors. Arduino, motors, sensors and NXT cables are not included. The Mindstorms NXT 2.0 set includes three motors, two touch sensors, one color sensor, one ultrasonic sensor, and a variety of NXT cables.

Motors take more power than can be supplied by a USB cable (USB is limited to 500 mA maximum). The LEGO NXT motors typically need about 600 mA each, but under heavy loads can require up to 1000 mA peak per motor. You typically want about 600 mA per motor, but up to 1000 mA peak per motor. A 9 volt 2 amp wall adapter works great for a couple motors, and any 2.1mm 9 volt adapter with at least 1.3 amps should work. If you want to power your creations on the go, a 6 AA battery pack works well.

Open Source Hardware

This kit is open source hardware. We make the hardware source files like the schematic and the pcb files available for anyone to use as long as they credit us and release any modifications as open source hardware. The schematic and pcb files are available on the Bricktronics Shield download page.

Feedback

When you're finished building the kit, let us know how it went! We use feedback to improve future versions of our kits, and the warm fuzzies help us make more kits! Let us know in our forum or via email.

Notes

A portion of the profits of this kit go to John Baichtal, an author of the Make: Lego and Arduino Projects book.

Wayne and Layne, LLC and our products are not connected to or endorsed by the LEGO Group. LEGO, Mindstorms, and NXT are trademarks of the LEGO Group.