Using Elixir to get the fun back in Lego Mindstorms
summary
Uses EV3 Dev Linux on an SD card, installs Erlang and Elixir, and controls motors by writing values (‑100 to 100) to the duty_cycle_sp and Run files; builds a Elixir EV3 library that exposes macros for sensors and actuators. Each sensor and motor runs as a process per sensor with asynchronous messages; a gen_fsm line follower steers by biasing wheel speeds and successfully follows the left edge in demos. Direct commands over Bluetooth work but incur latency up to ~250 ms; Wi‑Fi is chipset‑restricted and SD cards prove flaky.
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chapters (22)
- 0:00Start
- 3:33First Encounter 2008
- 6:37Elixir to the Rescue 2015
- 7:38Getting Elixir on EV3
- 8:12File Alchemy
- 10:19Reading Values
- 16:20Naive Approach
- 17:08The Golden Trinity of Erlang
- 18:13Sensor Proxies
- 19:10Color Sensor
- 20:12Bumper
- 20:47Architecture
- 21:53Line Follower
- 23:29Niceties
- 26:19Direct Commands
- 29:56Bluetooth Issues
- 31:25EV3 Library
- 32:37Teaching Programming
- 33:46Junior Beamster Initial Learnings
- 38:14Learning Curve
- 39:17Thinking
- 40:56Visual Elements
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