The ev3dev distribution is a full Debian (jessie) Linux distribution running on

the 3.16.x kernel that has been customized for the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 controlle
r.
Rather than use custom language bindings that use direct access to mmap ed files,
this distribution aims to allow as many programming languages as possible to acc
ess the EV3 peripherals using simple Linux file access. If your favorite program
ming language is available as an ARM port, and it can read and write files, you
can use it to program the EV3.
Currently the ev3dev distribution includes the following languages:
bash/dash
awk/gawk
perl
Lua
guile
ruby
python
Google Go (golang)
Node.js
If your favorite language isn t listed, you can still program with the EV3. ev3dev
supports standard apt tools, so once you get up-and-running you can install wha
tever language you like.
And although you can directly access the APIs via file I/O if you want to, let s f
ace it: that s tedious. It s much easier when you have a higher-level library to use
. Learn more about our pre-made language bindings on the documentation page.
Features above and beyond the official LEGO kernel include:
Support for Atheros, Realtek, and other wifi chipsets so you re not stuck with one
specific wifi dongle
Support for SSH terminal sessions
Ethernet over USB functionality and a full network stack
Actual user accounts instead of passwordless root access
Fully upgradeable and customizable install using standard apt tools, running on th
e brick
NFS file share / file transfer capability
Automatic NTP clock updates
Access to device drivers through user-space filesystem
Built in text editors like vim and nano
Prebuilt support for programming languages like Lua, perl, gawk, Python, guile,
Ruby, and more
Support for all host operating systems including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, e
ven Blackberry!
Put more simply: ev3dev can do almost everything normal Linux can, while the sto
ck LEGO kernel cannot.
Using the ev3dev Kernel:
Don t want to give up your official LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kernel and rootfs? You don t
need to!
Just install ev3dev on any microSD card (min 1GB suggested, but can you even buy
one that small anymore?) and plug it into the microSD slot on the EV3. The uboo

t loader will look on the card, find the ev3dev kernel and happily boot that ins
tead!
When you want to use the official LEGO tools, just shutdown the EV3, unplug the
ev3dev microSD card and restart the brick.
This is still an early beta, so it s not as polished as the official LEGO offering
, but it s getting better every week as we add support for more of the native EV3
drivers. Alongside the main kernel, work is also being done on brickman, which a
dds a LEGO-like GUI.
Currently, the project is being maintained by @dlech and @rhempel in their spare
time. Active development is being done in the main ev3dev-kernel repo as well a
s in places like brickman and other related packages.
ev3dev supports many of the basic functions of the brick, including:
Motors
Sensors
Sound
LEDs
The LCD
Does ev3dev replace the firmware on my EV3 programmable brick?
No. ev3dev runs completely off of an SD card, leaving the existing firmware inta
ct. To restore the original functionality of your brick, just power it off and r
emove the SD card containing ev3dev. When you turn it back on, it will boot usin
g the existing firmware.
Can ev3dev do everything that the official firmware can?
No. Although the goal is to support as much as we can, some things will probably
never make it in to ev3dev for various reasons. Here are some things that ev3de
v doesn t do (currently):
Offer a GUI on boot
Run programs from EV3-G
Automatically configure PC interaction (networking)
What s a Linux?
If you are at this section right now as a result of true inquiry, that probably
means that ev3dev isn t something for you (yet). We re currently in a heavy developm
ent stage so ev3dev requires some more advanced knowledge and lots of time to us
e. We invite you to look here often, because some day we will have many more use
r-friendly features for you to take advantage of. Stay tuned!
Our official unified language binding repository currently has support for C++, Lu
a, Node.js, R and vala. These libraries are all built around a single API specif
ication that ensures that interface is almost identical for each, and they are b
eing updated and enhanced regularly.
Unified bindings:
Lua
C++
Node.js
R
Vala

What is ev3dev?
LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is awesome

ev3dev is SUPER awesome!

ev3dev is many things

ev3dev is EV3 software re-imagined
If you are like us, you have probably found that while the software that comes w
ith the EV3 is great, it just doesn t do quite everything you would like it to.
We have rebuilt much of the software for the EV3 from the ground up. We have cre
ated our own hardware drivers using sysfs so that you can easily program the EV3
using any programming language. It is as easy as reading from and writing to a
file.
This also means that ev3dev is NOT compatible with most other EV3 software and t
ools.
ev3dev is NOT firmware
Think of it as dual boot. ev3dev is installed and runs on a microSD card and doe
s not touch the existing firmware in your EV3. To run ev3dev, just insert a micr
oSD card with ev3dev installed and boot your EV3. To boot from the firmware, jus
t power off and remove the microSD card.
ev3dev is a Linux kernel
We have taken the Linux kernel from LEGO, updated it to v3.16 and enabled many h
ardware drivers. This means support for lots of Wi-Fi dongles, Bluetooth gamepad
s and keyboards, USB audio device and more. If your hardware works on Linux, it
will probably work with ev3dev.
ev3dev is Debian Linux
The ARM9 processor in the EV3 is one of the Debian supported architectures. This
means most of the 37500+ Debian software packages will run on your EV3 - no com
piling necessary. Installing a package is as simple as sudo apt-get install pack

age-name.
ev3dev is more than just EV3
The ev3dev drivers will run on any Linux. This means you can use LEGO MINDSTORMS
and LEGO WEDO sensors and motors with anything that runs Linux, from your deskt
op to you Raspberry Pi.
ev3dev is a work in progress
This is by no mean a polished product yet. But don t let that scare you away - it
is very usable. You can help make it better.
What can it do?
ev3dev can
Solve a Rubik s Cube
Catch a ball
Speak with an accent
Attend quarterly meetings
Draw a dinosaur
Use WeDo sensors and motors
Do just about anything you can imagine
How do you use it?
First, you need to download and install the latest image file on a microSD card.
Check out the Getting Started page for step-by-step instructions. Or, if you ar
e not using ev3dev with an EV3, check out the DKMS driver package.
Then, you can write a program however you like. You can use just about anything
with a SSH client - Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, Blackberry, etc. The docs
page has information about how to use the drivers and has links to libraries co
ntributed by users for some programming languages.
If you need some ideas, check out the projects on our Share page. If you get stu
ck, check out the Get Help page.

Most USB webcams are supported under Linux nowadays, but many chipsets are not p
ublicly documented and their Linux driver are based on partial reverse-engineeri
ng of Windows drivers. Thus, we favour webcams which comply with the USB video d
evice class (UVC) standard. Here is a list of common UVC webcams.
This project requires a webcam with built-in compression; we do not want to proc
ess raw video on the EV3 CPU. Inexpensive MJPEG webcams are now available, and i
t is easy to decode and display MJPEG streams in a web browser.
The webcam should be backward-compatible with USB 1.1, as the Host port on the s
ide of the EV3 brick does not support USB 2.0.
To connect two cameras to the EV3 brick, a small USB hub is required.
We use a pair of Logitech C170 webcams (VGA, MJPEG) which were already known to
work with ev3dev (see [AD4M4ST0R]). We stream at 120x160 mono by default to maxi
mize frame rate, and the user can manually request a stereo snapshot at 2x480x64
0 when the vehicle is stationary.
I had success with a Logitech C170. You can see at link above that Logitech C270
also works. Both are UVC (USB Video Class) devices so I believe most-if-not-all
UVC devices will work, see Linux UVC driver and tools.
There are other classes of video devices supported by V4L2, some of them already
included in ev3dev kernel. I had success with a LEGOCam from old Mindstorms Vis
ion Command set after requesting ev3dev developers to add the STV06xx driver.
Those work as video devices with V4L2. They deliver a video stream, if you just
need a photo you grab a frame from the stream. But there are pure photo devices,
I had suceeded with my old Canon IXUS 500 using just gphoto2 to control it.
Generally speaking, if it is USB and it works out-of-the-box with Raspberry Pi R
aspbian it will work with EV3 ev3dev. But don't forget that EV3 USB is just 1.1,
not 2.0 (bandwidth is 11 Mbps, shared with other devices you might use like WiFi). Some drivers will work only with smaller resolutions and slower fps.

Requisitos de sistema
O que necessrio:
Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 bits ou 64 bits) ou Windows 8
Requisitos bsicos:
1 GHz
512 MB de RAM ou mais
200 MB de espao no disco rgido
Conexo com a Internet
Porta USB 1.1 (recomenda-se 2.0)
Para videochamada e gravao HD de 720p:
Intel Core 2 Duo de 2,4 GHz
2 GB de RAM
200 MB de espao no disco rgido
Porta USB 2.0
Velocidade de carregamento de 1 Mbps ou superior
Resoluo de tela de 1280 x 720
specificaes
Especificaes tcnicas:
Videochamada HD (1280 x 720 pixels) com sistema recomendado
Captura de vdeo: at 1280 x 720 pixels
Tecnologia Logitech Fluid Crystal
Fotos: at 3,0 mexapixels (com otimizao do software)
Microfone embutido com reduo de rudos
USB 2.0 de alta velocidade certificado (recomendado)
Clipe universal que se ajusta a laptops e monitores LCD ou CRT
Software da cmara Web Logitech:
controles de panormica, inclinao e zoom
Captura de vdeo e foto
Rastreio de rosto
Deteco de movimento

The USB video device class (also USB video class or UVC) is a USB device class t
hat describes devices capable of streaming video like webcams, digital camcorder
s, transcoders, analog video converters and still-image cameras.
The latest revision of the USB video class specification carries the version num
ber 1.5 and was defined by the USB Implementers Forum in a set of documents desc
ribing both the basic protocol and the different payload formats.[1]