So what programming language to use? Well, turns out some guy who calls himself Topikachu has already made a ready Linux image with Python installed, and even made Python libraries to interface with the EV3 sensors and motors. Does it get any better than that? He’s made a quick howto on how to install it, which you can read on his github. If you have a USB Wifi dongle too (currently only one is supported, but I’m sure more will be added in time), it was very easy to get it hooked up on wifi too. I just had to log in over usb as described, update the wpa_supplicant.conf and I was good to go without a cable. You may want to check out what IP your brick received before unplugging the usb cable though

The Python API is really great, but I couldn’t find much documentation of it, so I had to read his code and look at his tests to figure out how to use it. Wasn’t too hard though, and here’s a little program I wrote just to test out that things were working (it doesn’t do much, basically just tries to crash :P)

#!/usr/bin/python

import time

from ev3.rawdevice import motordevice
from ev3.rawdevice import analogdevice
from ev3.rawdevice import uartdevice

from ev3 import lego

motordevice.open_device()
analogdevice.open_device()
uartdevice.open_device() 

A = 0x01
B = 0x02
C = 0x04
D = 0x08

right = A
left = D
both = A+D

touch = lego.EV3TouchSensor(0)
ir = lego.EV3IRSensor(3)
ir.set_prox_mode()

motordevice.speed(both,20)

distance = 101

while True:
  time.sleep(1)
  if touch.is_pressed() == 1:
    motordevice.stop(both, brake=1)
    print "stopping\n"
    break

  cur_distance = ir.get_distance()
  if cur_distance > distance:
    print "searching\n"
    motordevice.stop(both, brake=1)
    motordevice.speed(A, 20)
    time.sleep(1)
    motordevice.stop(A, brake=1)
    motordevice.speed(both,20)

  distance = cur_distance

motordevice.stop(both, brake=1)

That doesn’t look so hard, does it? Here’s some additional notes I made for myself to remember what the different functions do and how to use them.

Motors:
A = 0x01
B = 0x02
C = 0x04
D = 0x08
PORTS = A+B # Access both A and B at the same time
from ev3.rawdevice import motordevice
motordevice.open_device()

motordevice.speed(PORTS,20)
motordevice.stop(B,brake=1) # brake makes it actually brake the motor, not just stop turning it

from ev3.rawdevice import analogdevice
analogdevice.open_device()
touch = lego.EV3TouchSensor(0) # Note, the port numbering is 0-3, so the port marked 1 is 0, etc.
touch.is_pressed()

from ev3.rawdevice import uartdevice
uartdevice.open_device()
color = lego.EV3ColorSensor(3)
color.set_color_mode()
color.color_to_string() # This only works for color_mode
color.set_ref_raw_mode() # raw values, -127 -> 127
color.get_value() # raw value from sensor sensor

ir = lego.EV3IRSensor(2)
ir.set_prox_mode() # proximity mode
ir.get_distance() # for prox mode
ir.set_remote_mode() # for using the remote control
ir.get_remote_command() # get remote control command
ir.set_seek_mode() # follow remote control when button pressed
ir.get_all_direction_and_distance #  for seek mode
ir.get_direction_and_distance(chan) #  for seek mode

# This is how I managed to read info from a Hitechnic accelerometer sensor (originally made for the NXT)
from ev3 import robot
from ev3 import sensor
robot.open_all_devices()
iicsensor = IICSensor()
iicsensor = sensor.IICSensor(1, 0x02)
iicsensor.read(0x42)

The village has taken form

Building upwards on the mountain side

Ski slope is taking shape

Closing the loop, now it’s a volcano! :P

Ski jump in place, and ski slopes and tracks in place.

Building up the steep side

Details on the mountain side, trees and cabins.

At this point I was so panicky about finishing up in last few days, I didn’t take any more progress shots. A couple of days later, the mountain was to be moved and set up at the exhibition in Telenor Arena. More on that later

Yes, I’ll be getting back into blogging now, and I’ll be doing some catch-up posts on what I’ve been busy with lately.

“Whoah, that guy does not look good. I better keep my distance, in case what he has is contagious. I hope I don’t they don’t make me sit here and wait next to him…”

“Hello Sir, how may I help you?”
“Uhm, hi, I’m here to visit my daughter who was brought in earlier to give birth to my grandchild.”
“Ok, then you need to take the elevator up to the first floor…”
“Eh, sorry what, first floor? Isn’t this the first floor?”
“Well, yes, in Norway it is, but we’re speaking English now, so this is the ground floor, and you need to take the elevator up to the first floor, so that would be second floor in Norwegian then.”
“Uh, yeah, uhm, ok… and then?”
“Then you just follow the corridor, past the toilets, and walk to the end, there’s the maternity ward.”
“Ok, what room is she in?”
“You didn’t tell me her name…”
“Oh, right, it’s Johanna Hansen”
“One moment please… She’s in room 103″
“Ok, so second floor, 103, got it, thank you!”
“I thought I said first floor, I hope he presses the right button in the elevator…”

“Oh, the doctor’s office’s door is open. I wonder if he has a patient in there… No, don’t look, there could be more contagious people in there! Or maybe he’s just bracing himself to call in the sick dude in the waiting room. I bet doctor’s are afraid to catch all the diseases coming in here too…”
“Pling!”
“Ah, there’s the elevator. Now let’s see… Second floor, was it? No, first floor, no, eh… Shit… Ok, I’ll try the 2-button.”

*elevator music*

“Hum di dum….”

“Pling!”

“Ok, here we go…”

“Oh, this looks like the cafeteria. Did the receptionist mention that in any way? No, I thought he only said something about toilets… Maybe it wasn’t this floor after all. Hm, I could have a look around on this floor first, just to be sure. But maybe I’ll grab something to eat first, I am sort of hungry, and that croissant looks delicious.”
“Hello, can I get you anything?”
“Yes, I’ll have a croissant please.”
“Here you are Sir, that’ll be 10 bucks.”
“Let’s see… Here!”
“Thank you.”
“Btw, is the maternity ward on this floor?”
“No, it’s one floor down.”
“Ah, ok, thank you.”

“Maybe I’ll just sit over here and eat my croissant before I go down. Wouldn’t want them to think I prioritized getting some food before coming to visit. Oh man, I’m going to be such a lousy grandfather. Mmmm, this croissant is quite good. I wonder what that guy over there is here for. He’s so nicely dressed. Oh, what if he’s the hospital administrator? Nah, I doubt that.”

“Munch munch”

“Ok, that’s the end of the croissant, better head down a floor then. Time to go see my grandchild!”

“Pling!”

“Ok, so, button 1 this time.”

“Pling!”

“Ok, here are some toilets! So just follow this corridor then… Oh! babies! Oh, hey Dan! How is Johanna? Why aren’t you in there with her?”
“I fainted, so they threw me out…”
“She’s still in labour?”
“Yes, apparently, we’re having twins!”
“You are? Oh dear… congratulations then!”
“Yes, well, I’m a bit overwhelmed… If you want to see the first twin, it’s her right inside the window here. They don’t trust me to hold her right now because I fainted earlier, but I’m sure they’ll let you go inside and see her. I hope Johanna is ok in there though, apparently, the second twin was a bit reluctant to come out…”
“Oh my, yes, I hope she’s ok. I don’t think I should go in, I’d probably faint too! I did when Johanna was born… I’ll just go in and see the first born then. Does she have a name yet?”
“No, when we were told it was twins, we wanted to reevaluate the name we had in mind, since we now need two names.”
“I see…”

“There’s my little girl! Oh, why are you screaming? Is grandpa scary? I’m sorry I didn’t bring you anything. I doubt your parents would have wanted me to let you eat croissants anyway! Oh, there’s a water cooler out there, why didn’t I see that earlier? Hey, look Dan, your daughter is so cute! I’m sure they’ll let you come in and hold her now, have a cup of water, and you’ll be fine!”
“Is the old man saying something to me from in there? I can’t tell through the sound proof glass. I’ll just smile and nod… Maybe I’ll have a glass of water. Oh, he smiles… He must be happy to see his granddaughter.”
“That’s the spirit! He’s going to make a fine father…”

It even has a mini ambulance

It’s not easy to see from this angle, but I even tried to emulate the bench on the back. I didn’t want to take any shots at an angle, because the sides look really crappy because of the headlight bricks

The stripes on the pavement is an attempt at making a hopscotch court, which was not easy to emulate in this way. The icecream seller has found a good spot for selling his icecream though

The yellow rocking animal thingy is attached to a flexible tube that actually makes it able to move in the way the real thing does (I do not know what those things are called, but I remember them fondly from when I was a little kid).

One of my favourite things of this playground is the swing. I was testing out a different use for that tyre, but seeing how it looked with the chain through it made me realize I had to use at as a swing attached to a tree in this way Also notice the kid burying his legs in the sandbox

I wanted it to look like a Mercedes Rescueline as used in Norway when I grew up in the 80s/90s, and I think I achieved the look fairly well at this scale. One of the things I would never have thought of without the help of my car loving friend is the use of those wheels. They’re actually a smaller type wheels from the tiny cars Lego make that are way smaller than minifig scale, with a motorcycle tyre on top of the original tyre. It fits perfectly, and looks great

The back door opens to reveal space for a stretcher, an intravenous line, a seat for a paramedic, and a defibrillitor.

See how it just fits in the gate to it’s garage in the hospital

The ground floor has the reception, a waiting area and a doctor’s office. Quite tight spaces, the receptionist is the only one who has a fairly good amount of space. The doctor’s office has a chair for the patient and a patient bed, but I would say it’s a bit hard to move around in there The waiting area has room for three people, and has a couple of plants to keep them company.

The first floor has a maternity ward. It has room for three birthing mothers, four babies, and seats for the anxious dads to wait outside. One of the last minute add-ons to this floor, that ended up being one of my favourite interior details, is the water cooler.

The second floor has the cafeteria. It’s used by both visitors and employees. It serves a healthy menu, but also sells some treats like croissants This floor also has an MRI machine. That one was not easy to make both functional (able to fit a minifig that could slide in and out), look like an actual MRI machine, and fit into the tight space of the hospital. The operator of the machine is shielded behind a glass wall. The last thing on this floor (except the balcony) is a room with bedding for two patients, which was excruciatingly hard to photograph because of the obtrusion the window design is making on the inside.

Last thing my hospital had to have was an operating room, which has an operating table, a big lamp to provide enough lights, a monitor and a sink for the surgeons to scrub in. This shot also shows the helicopter landing pad, which can be used to transport patients who can’t be treated at this small hospital to a larger one.

I have just finished my hospital! I used Ullevål Universitetssykehus in Oslo as inspiration for the facade, although the original is much larger than my building…

The hardest part of getting the facade right was those window arches. Took me quite some time to figure out how to get those right. I’m quite pleased with the result.

On the back I chose to emulate an expansion that had been made to the building in a more modern architecture, to break it up a little, but also to add more room inside. I think it worked quite well to serve both purposes

Another thing  I spent a lot of time working on for this hospital was the elevator design. A hospital has to have an elevator, and I wanted mine to actually have doors that worked and looked like real elevator doors. Not exactly easy in a tight space with LEGO. This is what the result looks like.

Click the picture for a view of the doors in the open position The doors are not really attached to anything, but they are locked in place on top and rests against the wall, so they don’t fall out… until the elevator is moved to another floor, then they tend to fall out easily into the elevator shaft

There are lots more pictures to check out on flickr, and  I will also show some more of them here and talk about the interior and the ambulance I made for this in a later post. Stay tuned