LEGO Engineer
Frequently Asked Questions

What is LEGO Engineer?

LEGO Engineer is the graphical programming environment for the LEGO Dacta serial interface box (Interface B). It was developed at Tufts University's Center for Engineering Educational Outreach and Mechanical Engineering Department under the LDAPS project which is a NASA LTP project.

Read an overview of LEGO Engineer.

What are the system requirements for running LEGO Engineer?

System Requirements
PCMac PowerPC
Windows 95/NT or higherSystem 7.5 or higher
33 MHz Processor60 MHz PowerPC Processor
16 MB RAM16 MB RAM
7 MB Hard Drive Space12 MB Hard Drive Space
1 Free Serial Port (COM1 or COM2)1 Free Serial Port (Printer, Modem, or USB w/adapter)

Note: Must have ROBOLAB, LabVIEW 5, or LabVIEW 5 Student Edition installed on the system.
Note: For an iMac or a new G3, you will need to purchase the Keyspan USB to serial adapter (around $79.95).
How is LEGO Engineer different from Control Lab (LEGO/LOGO)?

LEGO Engineer is not a commercial product and thus is free.
LEGO Engineer is built on top of LabVIEW, while Control Lab is built on top of LOGO. LabVIEW is graphical while LOGO is text-based. Here is an illustration of the difference... the following two programs both turn a LEGO motor on for one second:
LEGO Engineer LEGO/LOGO
to motor
talkto "motora on
waitfor 10
motora off
end
Also, with LEGO Engineer you can use the Vernier student sensor adapter to give you more flexibility with the types of experiments you can perform.

Does Lego Engineer have project pages like Control Lab? With Lego Engineer can one make project pages with buttons, graphs, text, etc like with Control Lab?

The "front panel" of Engineer is used as the "project page", and yes you can make buttons, graphs, text, etc.

What age-range or grade level is LEGO Engineer targeted at?

Builder, the introductory programming style of LEGO Engineer, can be (and has been) used by anyone from Kindergarten on up. Engineer, the main programming style of LEGO Engineer, has been used successfully in classroom settings by students as young as fourth grade. It has been used in informal settings with students as young as kindergarten. As far as classroom use of Engineer below fourth grade - the data just isn't there yet.

Can I use other sensors besides the four LEGO sensors with LEGO Engineer?

Yes! More information coming soon...

What are the technical specifications of the Serial Interface Box?

Please see the overview of LEGO Engineer for the answer to this question.

What sensors does LEGO make?

Please see the overview of LEGO Engineer for the answer to this question.

Which LEGO kit do you recommend I buy?

In addition to the serial interface box, you will need the Mac or PC serial interface cable that LEGO Dacta sells to connect the box to the serial port of your computer. The interface box comes with its own AC adapter power supply. To obtain LEGO sensors and other pieces, we recommend the Control Lab Kit #9701.

Can I use LEGO Engineer with the RCX?

No. ROBOLAB is the software that is used to program the RCX. LEGO Engineer works on top of ROBOLAB or LabVIEW.