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13 votes
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How to install Firmware 1.10E on an EV3 home/retail edition brick

New answer (2020) The V1.10E firmware is installed using the EV3 Device Manager web page. The instructions are not entirely clear, but if you visit the web page with Chrome (recommended), Safari, Edge,...
David Lechner's user avatar
10 votes
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Programming Mindstorms on a chromebook

Update Dec 2016 There is now an app for chromebooks on the chrome store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lego-mindstorms-education/jhnhfnolmcleankdkhfklakpchnccipg?hl=en-US I have used it ...
cyber-monk's user avatar
10 votes

Understanding the makeup of an XML .ev3p file

I personally doubt that there is any publicly available documentation of the contents of these files. However, you may gain some insight from the documentation in the "EV3 Block Developer Kit" ...
David Lechner's user avatar
10 votes

How can I make my robot heavier?

Weights: The 2 x 6 x 2 weight elements are pretty good. Boat Weight Train Weight Magnets: Train Magnets are also pretty dense, though not very large and are now rather pricey. Rubber: Any solid ...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
8 votes
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Is there a changelog for any firmware updates on an EV3 brick?

Update: I have found a changelog in the firmware source code available on the download page at http://mindstorms.lego.com. The file is lms2012/doc/Implementation. Here is the history since v1.03 ...
David Lechner's user avatar
8 votes
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List of parts to buy for to "upgrade" existing Mindstorms NXT 1.0 to Mindstorms EV3 set?

I don't know of such a list, but you can find the inventory for the EV3 on Bricklink and other similar sites. However, it would be more economical to buy an entire EV3 set. The 31313 retail set is ...
David Lechner's user avatar
8 votes
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Is the LEGO BOOST kit compatible with EV3 or PowerFunctions motors and sensors?

While LEGO BOOST is compatible with the bricks from other sets, the motor, distance sensor, and Move Hub are not electrically compatible with current EV3 or PowerFunctions components. BOOST uses the ...
8 votes

Lego Mindstorms EV3: programming language recommendation

In general, would you recommend switching to a normal programming language (I am quite "fluent" in languages like C/C++, Python and Java) in order to avoid having to use blocks when building more ...
Alexander O'Mara's user avatar
8 votes

Is it possible to use 5 motors on an EV3 brick?

A sensor port can't directly output to a motor. The sensor drivers can't provide enough power to supply a motor. You have a couple options: Daisy-chain two EV3s together. The first can control the ...
MindS1's user avatar
  • 1,372
8 votes

Lego Mindstorms Ev3 home edition on Mac OS Mojave bug - bricks sometimes go blank

I contacted Lego support and they got back to me with a fix, which worked great. It also has greatly improved the performance of the application. For this issue fix, please install Mono for Mac OS ...
Peter's user avatar
  • 251
8 votes
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EV3 not recognizing resistance correctly (MicroPython)

Here is the schematic of an input port on the EV3 (available on official LEGO MINDSTORMS download page): And this is the implementation of the resistance() method from Pybricks MicroPython: STATIC ...
David Lechner's user avatar
7 votes
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How to get double the speed from 2 regulated EV3 motors?

By adding two motors together with gears, you have doubled the torque the motors provide. Power = torque x speed, so if you don't want the doubled power from the motors to go to the torque component ...
Phil B.'s user avatar
  • 16.9k
7 votes

EV3-specific bricks missing from Lego Digital Designer 4.3.11 (Win)?

I think I might have a more elegant solution rather than downgrading to LDD 4.3.11 : You just need to replace "Assets.lif" file in the 4.3.12 installation folder with the same file from 4.3.11 ...
Kirill Mostachev's user avatar
7 votes

Does LEGO no longer support NXT 2.0 at all?

LEGO officially stopped supporting NXT in 2015, however, as of 2019, the original NXT programming software is still available on the official LEGO MINDSTORMS web page. The original NXT programming ...
David Lechner's user avatar
7 votes

EV3 manual recording for displacement

If your robot has wheels, then measure or calculate the circumference of the wheels. Then you just have to count the rotations of the axle and multiply by the circumference to get the total travelled ...
zovits's user avatar
  • 16.2k
6 votes
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How do you program mindstorms to keep doing a task until either the IR OR the colour sensor state changes

One way of doing this is using a loop and interrupting it. How it works: The "Loop Interrupt" block stops all blocks running inside of the loop, so by interrupting the loop after either wait block, ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes

How can an EV3 motor "remember" it's starting position?

The simplest way to "remember" a starting position is to make the starting position 0. You can do this using Rest in the Motor Rotation block (1). After your motors have moved (simulated by (2)), you ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

DIY EV3 from schematics

Yes! Based on 3 years of extensive study of the internal workings of the EV3 as part of the ev3dev project, I can confidently say that if you build that schematic, you will get something that very ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes

EV3 Ultrasonic Sensor block is not availible in the Home Edition software

You can download the Ultrasonic sensor block (and Gyro sensor too) from the official MINDSTORMS website. Look for "Ultrasonic Sensor Block" near the bottom of the downloads page.
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes

How can I create custom EV3 blocks (developer mode)?

You only need the official LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 software. LEGO provides a "EV3 Block Developer Kit" on the MINDSTORMS downloads page. This contains some minimal instructions on creating blocks. It ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

What is the LEGO EV3 rpf file?

rpf stands for "rudolph program file" [source] (I believe "Rudolf" is the internal code name for EV3.) These are the files created using the "Brick Program" utility on the EV3 brick. Once you have ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes

Is possible to change firmware of ev3 brick?

Connect EV3 with USB to computer, have Lego Mindstorm software open Under Tools -> Select Firmware update and start he update Brick will restart after firmware is updated
user2210382's user avatar
6 votes

Can you extract a program from the EV3 brick to the computer?

Update: There is a tool at http://ev3treevis.azurewebsites.net/ that can be use to create a new .ev3 file from a .rbf file recovered from an EV3 brick. Some information will be lost, but at least ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes
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Why do I not have the Brick Datalog app in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 V1.10E firmware?

Interesting insight. I didn't notice that it was missing. (I wonder if there was not enough room in the flash memory for both this and the new MakeCode stuff - or maybe it was just an accident). I ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

EV3-specific bricks missing from Lego Digital Designer 4.3.11 (Win)?

The current download link at https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd is https://www.lego.com/assets/franchisesites/ldd/installer/setupldd-pc-4_3_12.exe. When installed it still shows the version as 4.3.11 even ...
David Lechner's user avatar
6 votes

What is the use of a single ultrasonic signal?

I'm not an EV3 expert, but my understanding is that continuous mode stores results into a buffer that can be read nearly instantly. Single mode will need to wait to hear a ping back before reporting ...
jncraton's user avatar
  • 40.3k
6 votes
Accepted

Is the LEGO Mindstorms Education (not Home, not Scratch based) Edition for Mac OS gone?

It looks like LEGO have indeed completely pulled the previous version. According to the announcement last year (emphasis added): Mac Catalina Issues […] We have therefore decided to replace the ...
Zhaph - Ben Duguid's user avatar
6 votes

How to prevent my connected axles from falling apart?

You can attach couple of half bushes or full bushes on inner side of the axle near Technic beam like on the other side you have done with a gear. If axle is still trying to slide - fill in the entire ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 23.1k
5 votes

Is it possible to edit a MyBlock input parameter value?

It is possible now (since version 1.3.0) by pressing the button at the upper left corner of the block:
Pavel Malinnikov's user avatar
5 votes

Export LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Lab Code

Recently in the scope of a pet project I have put effort into finding a way for systematic decoding of the rbf file to EV3G compatible high level blocks buildin upon David Lechner's disassembly work. ...
Attila Farago's user avatar

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