Lego NXT機器人3D模擬軟體的開發與評估

Abstract

本研究目的是開發與評估 LEGO Mindstorms NXT 模組之 3D 模擬軟體，並提出對未來發展類似機器人 3D 模擬軟體之建議。本研究使用 Waterfall Model 開發模擬軟體，首先分析 NXT 機器人模組之 3D 模擬軟體的設計需求，再使用Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio與Microsoft Visual Studio 2008實作模擬軟體；接著進行教師及學生使用模擬軟體評估，並依據評估結果做軟體的修改。 研究結果發現： (1) 除了聲音感應器未能模擬之外，教師及學生皆認為模擬軟體能模擬實體機器人行為動作。 (2) 教師及學生皆認為模擬軟體能模擬真實世界的 3D 環境，惟地圖內容物可再豐富些。 (3) 教師及學生皆認為模擬軟體使用者介面很方便。 (4) 教師及學生皆認為使用模擬軟體的程式編輯器輸入與傳輸程式至模擬軟體很方便，惟與實體機器人程式編輯器的操作介面有些微差異。 (5) 教師及學生皆認為以幾乎同樣的指令即可適用於模擬軟體與實體機器人的操控。建議未來發展類似模擬軟體時，需求分析可參考學生的意見，以及實體機器人與模擬軟體使用相同之程式編輯器。

This study developed and evaluated a 3D simulator for LEGO Mindstorms NXT module. Suggestions on developing a similar 3D robot simulator were also proposed. The waterfall software engineering approach was employed to develop the simulator. The simulator was evaluated by both high school computer teachers and students for its appropriateness on instructional purposes. Final revisions on the simulator were made based on the evaluation results. The findings of this study were: (1) The simulator successfully simulated the behaviors of the physical robot except the feature of a sound sensor. (2) The simulator could provide a 3D environment similar to that of a real world. (3) Teachers and students considered the user interface of the simulator easy to use. (4) Teachers and students considered the program editor (Microsoft Visual Studio 2008) for the simulator easy to use. (5) The instructions for controlling the simulation robots worked the same ways as controlling the physical robot. We suggested that a careful requirement analysis from student perspectives is necessary for future improvement of the simulator.