Tag Archives: Featured

I recently started getting into retro computing, and got myself a Z180-based RC2014 compatible board, the SC126. It features an SD card adapter, which you can boot from, and store files on. On CP/M, there is a way to transfer files via the serial port, using the xmodem protocol. However, getting this to work on a Mac is not immediately ...

I recently bought an ODROID GO to do some development on, and learn more about FreeRTOS. The ODROID GO is a small, handheld, Gameboy sized ESP32-WROVER based device. It is super cheap, about €45 or so, and packs a real punch. The screen is a lovely 320×240 TFT LCD. I first started playing with it, using the Arduino development environment, ...

This is a project I’ve had on the shelf for quite some time (2 years or so), and only just now finished up. Ever since I saw these HEXBUG Battle Spiders, I’ve wanted to tear them apart and supply them with a more capable brain. These Battle Spiders are mechanically really interesting. All the 6 legs are powered with a ...

My little brother dropped by last weekend, while on his journey through Europe by bike.  So, what’s more fun than playing with robots when it’s raining cats and dogs outside? That’s right, adding cameras to the robots!  I didn’t get any pictures of the robot with the camera on it, but you can see where it was held by the ...

The long awaited EV3 building and programming book by Laurens Valk is finally available!  It’s called “The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book” and it’s 370+ pages of awesomeness. Where to start?  The book has been printed in full colour, which is a massive improvement over his previous book and a real pleasure to read.  The colours are very bright and ...

Mindsensors have released a new sensor, or rather, a new edition of one of my most favourite ones: the LineLeader v2.  The v2 has a new, better, processor inside and has been optimised to work better with the rather, ehm, tempestuous I2C implementation on the EV3.  That means that you can be sure that it will operate just fine.  Other ...

In my last post about the VEX IQ building system I had a small video featuring my VEX Quadruped.  I’ve done a bit of work on it since then and the gait has been greatly improved.  I also added some small rubber feet on the legs.  These are the traction links from the Tank Tread & Intake Kit. Due to ...

The firmware used by National Instruments and Robomatter for their respective programming environments has been pushed to Github.  It is based on the sources of LEGO’s firmware version 1.05A.  Please note that only the master branch has been pushed out, the private development branches will remain as such. The extended firmware sports a number of improvements, including: opcodes to turn ...

It’s here!  The first beta of ROBOTC for EV3 has arrived! It took a bit longer than we’d hoped for but the wait is over.  You can now program your EV3 with ROBOTC.  This is the first public beta and as with all betas, there will be some missing features and bugs.  The basic functionality is mostly all there: General ...

These files have existed for a little while now but I never got the official OK to distribute them.  However, one of my readers (Marius Steffen) was given two Dropbox links via LEGO Customer Support to these specific files.  That must mean that the documentation is no longer under NDA and so I now feel no reason not share them ...