Talking to your EV3: EV3Messenger

I was contacted Joeri van Belle last week about a new project that he is working on, a C# project that allows you to send messages to your EV3.  Using it, you can send and receive messages between your EV3 brick and PC. On the brick you can use the standard BT communication blocks, so you can do this without ...

Read More »

EV3 Supply Issues

It seems that “due to unprecedented demand”, there is a world-wide shortage of EV3 hardware.  This seems to affect the Educational set which some of LEGO’s distributors are marking as out of stock until March 2014.  I currently have no info on what the situation is on the retail EV3 set.  I’ll update when I know more. I am surprised ...

Read More »

Stay Sharp: Monobrick for the EV3

If you’re a fan of C#, then you will love Monobrick, a communication library that works with the EV3.  It uses the EV3’s direct commands to remote control the brick.  It works with both the NXT and the EV3.  You can simply import the library into your project and start hacking away. A simple example: using System; using MonoBrick.EV3; public ...

Read More »

Awesome EV3 Daisy Chain Cable

Finding the right USB cable for your EV3 daisy chaining needs is not easy.  Most of them will stick out like a sore thumb, but not this one.  It features 90 degree angled connectors that work with you, rather than against you.  I came across this one on Deal Extreme two weeks ago and ordered it straight away.  I wasn’t ...

Read More »

Review: The LEGO Build-it Book – Volume 1

As most of my readers know, I am not much of a studded LEGO builder, most of my creations are Technic studless LEGO.  When Starch approached me to review this book I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to do build any of the models in it.  Lucky for me, the models in this book are mostly ...

Read More »

New Release: ROBOTC 3.62

This is most likely the last 3.x ROBOTC release.  It fixes a couple of things, you can find the list of changes below.  Download your copy of it here: [LINK]. 3.61 to 3.62 Changelog Bug Fix: Fixed additional bug in “NXT Brick – Joystick” windows with the “Improper Argument” message box. Installer Fix: Updated Code Signing Certificate for Installers – ...

Read More »

HiTechnic Sensor EV3 Blocks

HiTechnic has brought out a couple of EV3 programming blocks for its sensors. The blocks and instructions on how to import them into your software can be found here: [LINK]. With these blocks you will be able to use the Angle, Compass, Accelerometer, IRSeekerV2, and Gyro sensors.  Cool!

Read More »

New MINDSTORMS EV3 Site is Live!

The new LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 website is live! You can download the software while you wait for your set to arrive.  You can also see all the cool bonus models in great detail.  So what are you waiting for?  Point your browser here and check it out!

Read More »

Controlling the EV3 over TCP/IP

Anders Søborg has written a great guide on how to establish a TCP/IP connection with the EV3: [LINK].  He’s working on a C# library that will make it very easy to remote control your brick this way, using direct commands over TCP/IP.  It’ll be part of the next release of his Monobrick library. I am looking forward to seeing how ...

Read More »

PSA: Issues with Some EV3 Battery Packs

Over the past few days I’ve seen stories regarding the LEGO Education EV3 Battery Pack circulating on the various forums and FB groups.  Yesterday LEGO Education released a statement to customers and partners who are affected by this issue, confirming the problem.  I’ve put a small excerpt of the statement below.  You can download the full text here (zip file ...

Read More »