Calibration Block

Use this block to calibrate the minimum (0%) and maximum (100%) values detected by a sound or light sensor.

You will need two Calibration blocks to fully calibrate a sound or light sensor: one to set the minimum value for the sensor and another to set the maximum value. You don't need to calibrate both minimum and maximum values; if you only set one of these values, the default will be used for the other.

One way to fully calibrate a sound or light sensor is to set up two Calibration blocks at the beginning of your program with a Wait block (set to wait for a Touch sensor) positioned after each one. If your are calibrating a light sensor, for example, and you set the first Calibration block to calibrate the minimum value and the second Calibration block to calibrate the maximum value, the calibration procedure would happen like this:

1. Place your robot in the darkest place it will encounter during its program and press the touch sensor. This will calibrate the light sensor’s minimum value.
2. Then place your robot in the lightest place it will encounter during its program and press the touch sensor. This will calibrate the light sensor’s maximum value and your robot will continue on with its program.

You can also calibrate a sensor by placing Calibration blocks in certain positions in your program. For example, if your robot with a built-in light sensor is set to drive under a table (and this will be the darkest place the robot will encounter), you can place a Calibration block (set to calibrate the light sensor’s minimum value) in your program in a position so that it is activated when the robot is passing under the table.

Important: Be aware that you can also use the Calibrate Sensors function in the Tools menu to calibrate light and sound sensors. See the Calibrate Sensors entry in the Help section for more details.

Display Settings

1. The data hub will open automatically when the block is placed in the work area. A number of parameters can be set dynamically using data wires. (See the Data Hub section below for more information.)

Configuring the Calibration Block

1. Choose the port that the sensor is connected to.
2. Select whether you are calibrating a Sound Sensor or a Light Sensor. (Select "Light* Sensor" if you are calibrating an older MINDSTORMS light sensor equipped with an adaptor to work with MINDSTORMS NXT.)
3. With this pull-down menu, choose to either calibrate a new value or delete a previously set value.
4. Use the radio buttons to set either the maximum or minimum value of the sensor.

Configuring the Calibration block’s Data Hub

You can control the Calibration block dynamically by connecting data wires (from other blocks’ data hubs) to the Calibration block’s data hub.

Open a block’s data hub by clicking the tab at the lower left edge of the block after it has been placed on the work area.

Data wires carrying input information to a block are connected to the plugs on the left side of its data hub. Data wires carrying output information are connected to the plugs on the right side.

[A] Input plug
[B] Output plug
[C] Number data wire (yellow)
[D] Logic data wire (green)
[E] Text data wire (orange)
[F] Broken data wire (gray)

Passing data from the input plug to the output plug

If an input plug has a corresponding output plug (see A above), the input data will pass through from the input plug to the output plug without being changed. In this case, you can only use the output plug if the input plug is connected to an input data wire; connecting an output data wire to such an output plug without a connected input data wire will cause the output data wire to be "broken" (and colored gray).

Data wires carry specific types of data

Each data wire carries a specific type of data between blocks. For example, if a data wire is dragged from a logic plug on a block’s data hub, it can only be connected to a logic plug on another block’s data hub. The chart below shows what kind of data each plug can accept or send out.

Data wire colors

Data wires are identified with specific colors: wires carrying number data are colored yellow, wires carrying logic data are colored green, and wires carrying text data are colored orange.

"Broken" data wires

If you try to connect a data wire to a plug of the wrong data type, the data wire will be broken (and colored gray). You will not be able to download your program if a data wire is broken.

If you click a broken wire you can read why it is broken in the small help window in the lower right corner of the work area.

Data must be within the possible range of the plug

If an input data wire transmits a value outside the possible range of the plug it is connected to, the block will either ignore the value or change it to a value within its range. For plugs that allow just a few input values (example: just 0, 1, or 2), the plug will ignore the input if a value arrives outside its range.

For plugs that accept larger input ranges (example: 0 – 100), the plug will force any input outside its range to fit. For example, if a Move block’s Power plug receives an input value of 150, the block will change the input value to 100 (i.e., a number within the Power plug’s range).

This chart shows the different characteristics of the plugs on the Calibration block’s data hub:

	Plug	Data Type	Possible Range	What the Values Mean	This Plug is Ignored When...
	Port	Number	1 - 4	1 = Port 1, 2 = Port 2, 3 = Port 3, 4 = Port 4	Delete = True
	Max/Min	Logic	True/False	True = Calibrate maximum value False = Calibrate minimum value	Delete = True
	Delete	Logic	True/False	True = Delete False = Calibrate