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Connect with EV3

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Harco Kuppens edited this page Jun 12, 2018 · 17 revisions

The thonny-ev3dev plugin assumes by default that you use USB tethering mode on the ev3 with the default ev3dev credentials to connect with usb cable to the ev3.

  • ip=192.168.0.1
  • user=robot
  • password=maker

With same settings you can also use bluetooth tethering mode, but we prefer USB tethering because that is easier to setup and use. Easier because once you have it setup you just connect the usb cable and the connection works with the fixed ip=192.168.0.1.

However if you want to use a different connection with different ip address or credentials you can change this in the Thonny options window in the EV3 tab (access via menu "Tools->Options") . However it is wise to stick to the user 'robot', because the ev3dev's GUI shown on the EV3's screen, called brickman, by default looks for programs in that user's home folder.

All actions in the thonny-ev3dev plugin which need a connection will give you a nice error message what is possibly wrong when they fail to connect. Either you forgot to connect the EV3 or the address/credentials are setup wrong.

Classroom setting

In a classroom setting, where you have multiple students with multiple computers, USB tethering makes the setup much easier. You just can configure each computer in the same way to connect to the fixed ip=192.168.0.1. Then the EV3 can connect to any computer and it just works. You could see the USB cable connection as the token which decides which computer/student gets its turn to program the EV3.

Note that when using bluetooth or wifi in a classroom then you need a separate address for each EV3, and students should hand over the connection when handing over the EV3. This is more difficult to setup and to control in a classroom then the usb tethering solution mentioned above.

Quickly setup USB tethering

The official ev3dev tutorial for setting up USB tethering is here. Below are my short instructions:

  • Disconnect USB cable
  • Reboot EV3 brick
  • In the menu select:
    • Wireless and Networks > Tethering > Gadget : click ‘enter/OK’ button to enable (if not yet enabled)
    • Note: switching between enable / disable does not work without rebooting
  • Then EV3 setups a LAN where the EV3 has IP address 192.168.0.1 and the EV3 brick is also the router of this LAN
  • This IP address is shown on top of screen when not connected to notebook/PC via USB – it disappears when connected via USB

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