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EV3 Retirement
The LEGO® MINDSTORMS EV3 is retired as of summer 2021, and LEGO® will support the EV3 software for two more years, until 2023. LEGO® The old software was known as EV3 Lab and was retired as of March 1, 2021 on most platforms. The supported software is known as EV3 Classroom and looks similar to the Scratch programming language, for those familiar.
LEGO®'s replacement for the EV3 is the SPIKE Prime.
The EV3 is still competition legal, so there's no need for an immediate replacement. We have previously seen the retirement of the RCX and the NXT (both of which were legal in the 2020-2021 season), so this is a well-established process.
You also need to make sure that you have the correct software for your EV3, obtainable from LEGO® at this link. The current software is called EV3 Classroom. You will want to remove any old versions of the software before upgrading. Be aware that there could be compatibility issues between your old programs and the new software, so your best bet is to upgrade a different computer to upgrade your existing programs before totally uninstalling the older version.
There may also be a bit of a learning curve on the newer software, so we recommend upgrading as soon as possible. Be aware that if you are programming on a Chromebook, the new software is not available on the Chrome Web Store - you will need to get it from the Google Play Store on Chromebook.
If you have any questions, you can contact Tech Support at 1-866-349-5346, Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ET.
The resource materials FIRST® distributes for Challenge will be geared toward the SPIKE Prime, primarily, so you will need to make any necessary adjustments if using an EV3 (the same is true if you are using an NXT or an RCX). For 2021-2022, we anticipate a guided mission for both the EV3 and the SPIKE Prime, but this will not be the case in 2022-2023.
If you are starting a new team and deciding between an EV3 and a SPIKE Prime, we definitely recommend the SPIKE Prime, especially since there will be a more limited supply of new EV3s due to the retirement.
If you have questions about LEGO's® EV3 phase-out and how it will impact your Challenge teams, please feel free to reach out. This change does not impact Explore or Discover Teams.
You can learn more about the SPIKE Prime from LEGO®, and you can place an order through your FIRST® Dashboard.
All information available here is specific to the Alabama Region and may not exactly mirror what you can expect in other regions.
Want to learn more about FIRST® LEGO® League or FIRST® Robotics Competition in the Alabama Region? Contact the Program Delivery Partner(s) at [email protected]!
To learn more about other FIRST LEGO League regions, visit https://www.firstlegoleague.org/find-first.