Lego.pdf

Lego Mindstorm with Linux Mini−HOWTO

Luis Villa

luge@users.sourceforge.net

Revision History

Revision 1.1

October 29th, 2000

The Lego Group's Mindstorm Robotics Invention System (RIS) is probably the best reasonably cheap

robotics kit available. However, the standard software is (unsurprisingly) MS Windows dependent. Don't

despair− there are several options that allow Linux users to use their Mindstorms from within Linux. This

Mini−HOWTO is intended to serve as a very brief introduction to the options available, and as a gathering

point for more information.

Lego Mindstorm with Linux Mini−HOWTO

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. ....................................................................................................................................................1

1.1. Acknowledgements. ..........................................................................................................................1

1.2. Disclaimer. ........................................................................................................................................1

1.3. Copyright. .........................................................................................................................................2

2. The Mindstorms Architecture. ......................................................................................................................3

2.1. The Basic Hardware. .........................................................................................................................3

2.2. Standard RCX Programming. ...........................................................................................................3

2.3. Where the Linux Tools Fit In.. ..........................................................................................................3

2.4. Hardware Requirements for the Linux Host. ....................................................................................4

2.5. The CyberMaster and Scou.. ............................................................................................................4

2.6. Mindstorms Vision Command. .........................................................................................................4

2.7. Important Note about the MS Windows CD.. ...................................................................................4

3. LegOS. ..............................................................................................................................................................5

3.1. Homepage. ........................................................................................................................................5

3.2. Author. ..............................................................................................................................................5

3.3. Type. .................................................................................................................................................5

3.4. Language. ..........................................................................................................................................5

3.5. Platforms. ..........................................................................................................................................5

3.6. Description. .......................................................................................................................................5

4. Lego::RCX.pm. ...............................................................................................................................................6

4.1. Homepage. ........................................................................................................................................6

4.2. Author. ..............................................................................................................................................6

4.3. Type. .................................................................................................................................................6

4.4. Language. ..........................................................................................................................................6

4.5. Platforms. ..........................................................................................................................................6

4.6. Description. .......................................................................................................................................6

5. Not Quite C (NQC) .........................................................................................................................................7

5.1. Homepage. ........................................................................................................................................7

5.2. Author. ..............................................................................................................................................7

5.3. Type. .................................................................................................................................................7

5.4. Language. ..........................................................................................................................................7

5.5. Platforms. ..........................................................................................................................................7

5.6. Description. .......................................................................................................................................7

6. pbForth. ...........................................................................................................................................................8

6.1. Homepage. ........................................................................................................................................8

6.2. Author. ..............................................................................................................................................8

6.3. Type. .................................................................................................................................................8

6.4. Language. ..........................................................................................................................................8

6.5. Platforms. ..........................................................................................................................................8

6.6. Description. .......................................................................................................................................8

7. TinyVM and leJOS. ........................................................................................................................................9

Lego Mindstorm with Linux Mini−HOWTO

Table of Contents

7.1. Homepages. .......................................................................................................................................9

7.2. Author. ..............................................................................................................................................9

7.3. Type. .................................................................................................................................................9

7.4. Language. ..........................................................................................................................................9

7.5. Platforms. ..........................................................................................................................................9

7.6. Description. .......................................................................................................................................9

8. Remote Java APIs. ........................................................................................................................................10

8.1. Homepages. .....................................................................................................................................10

8.2. Type. ...............................................................................................................................................10

8.3. Language. ........................................................................................................................................10

8.4. Platforms. ........................................................................................................................................10

8.5. Description. .....................................................................................................................................10

9. TCL RCX. ......................................................................................................................................................11

9.1. Homepage. ......................................................................................................................................11

9.2. Authors.. ..........................................................................................................................................11

9.3. Type. ...............................................................................................................................................11

9.4. Language. ........................................................................................................................................11

9.5. Platforms. ........................................................................................................................................11

9.6. Description. .....................................................................................................................................11

10. Pylnp. ............................................................................................................................................................12

10.1. Homepage. ....................................................................................................................................12

10.2. Author. ..........................................................................................................................................12

10.3. Type. .............................................................................................................................................12

10.4. Language. ......................................................................................................................................12

10.5. Platforms. ......................................................................................................................................12

10.6. Description. ...................................................................................................................................12

11. Other Linux Tools. ......................................................................................................................................13

11.1. LeoCAD. .......................................................................................................................................13

11.2. POVRAY. .....................................................................................................................................13

12. Other sources of information. ....................................................................................................................14

12.1. LUGNET.. .....................................................................................................................................14

12.2. The Official Mindstorms Site. ......................................................................................................14

12.3. The Hardware Sites. ......................................................................................................................14

12.4. Historic Lego Bots and Construction Guide. ................................................................................14

1. Introduction

If you've seen those cool Lego Mindstorms kits, but despaired at the big "requires Windows" stickers on the

side, don't despair: there is hope for you yet. Not only is there software that allows you to program your RCX

from GNU/Linux, odds are you can do it in your favorite languages: C, Perl, Java and Forth are all available

for your use. This document is not intended as documentation for all of these: rather, I hope to provide

highlights and contact information for each of the various Linux options, so that this document can serve as a

starting point for Linux users who are considering purchasing Mindstorms kits, or for Mindstorms owners

who are considering switching to Linux and wonder whether or not they can continue to use their most

expensive toys :)

It is extremely important to note that while I try to keep a pretty good finger on the pulse of the online

Mindstorms community, I'm not omniscient: it's quite possible that this list is incomplete. If you know of

other Mindstorms options that run on Linux, please drop me a note at luge@users.sourceforge.net s o that I can

add to the document and share the options with others who may be considering buying a Mindstorms to use

with their GNU/Linux computers.

1.1. Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank the authors of the programs listed below, both for writing them in the first place for all of us

to use and also for giving the earliest version of this document a once−over.

Additionally, I'd like to thank Dave Baum, who asked me to join with him in writing the book "Extreme

Mindstorms". Writing that let me spend a lot of time with the Mindstorms that I wouldn't have had otherwise,

including the time that led to this HOWTO. If you are interested in exploring "power programming" for the

RCX, I'd strongly suggest this book. There are some other good books out there (notably the O'Reilly book)

but this one is extremely up to date, and more importantly, just about every line of code in it (as far as I

know) will work with Linux. I know this is a pretty shameless plug, but I'm pretty proud of it :) You can buy

the book here.

Also, Steve Baker and Matthew Miller, and many others on Lugnet, provided many helpful suggestions to

several early versions of this text. Their thoughts are present in several places throughout the text, and can be

assumed to be responsible for all the good stuff. :)

Finally, thought not direcly related, Michael Littman, formerly of Duke University and now of AT&T

actually paid me to play with LEGO last summer. Without the opportunity that he gave me, I would not be as

involved or as knowledgeable with the online Mindstorms community as I now am.

1.2. Disclaimer

The LEGO Company ( http://www.lego.com/ ) is very, very protective of their trademarks. This document is

not in any way authorized by or associated with The LEGO Company, nor do I as the author claim to have

any relationship with The LEGO Company. To see more about their policy on legal usage of their trademark,

check out http://www.lego.com/info/fair.asp , particularly the part (about halfway down) titled "How

LEGO(r) Enthusiasts May Refer to LEGO Products on The Internet." I have attempted to abide by those

guidelines faithfully; like everything else in this document, though, if you spot a violation of the guidelines,

please let me know by writing me.

1. Introduction

Lego Mindstorm with Linux Mini−HOWTO

1.3. Copyright

This document is distributed under the LDP Copyright. You can find a copy of it here.

1.3. Copyright

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