nxtrc(1)

💖 nxtrc — bestie edition 💖

okay so real quick, this is nxtrc(1), a USER COMMANDS page, and it's about talking to a little LEGO robot over Bluetooth. yeah. that's the whole vibe. let's get into it 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

nxtrc — a program to interact with LEGO NXT via BlueTooth 👑

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🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

nxtrc [-s]

nxtrc [-a ADDR] [-v] command

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

NXTRC (that's NXT Remote Command, iykyk) is a small program that lets you send a bunch of different commands to a LEGO Mindstorm NXT Brick. It uses the Bluetooth protocol, going through the Bluez libraries. no cap.

The option -s kicks off a scan to find BlueTooth devices. If a BT address shows up on the command line, or lives in the Environment Variable BTADDR, then it connects to the NXT and does whatever task you put in <command>. ✨

🫶 heads up bestie: the first time you connect with a device you gotta exchange a password. That task is usually handled by the Operative System BlueTooth Management (like Kbluetooth under KDE). not me having to remind you 💅

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💅 COMMANDS and OPTIONS 💅

• -a — BlueTooth Address of the NXT. It's required if the BTADDR Environment Variable isn't set to the address.
• -b — Get Battery Level 🔋
• -d FILE — Delete FILE frome NXT 🗑️
• -h — display a short help text
• -i — Get info on NXT brick 🧐
• -k — Stop a program running on NXT ✋
• -l[PATT] — List files on NXT brick matching the PATTern if present (e.g. -l*.rxe). N.B. No spaces between -l and PATT! see at the end the patterns allowed 👀
• -m FILE — Play sound file FILE once 🔊
• -M FILE — Play sound file FILE indefinitely 🔁
• -n NAME — Set NXT name to NAME 🏷️
• -p FILE — Run Program FILE on NXT ▶️
• -r FILE — Read FILE frome NXT and save it in the working directory. If FILE is already present it asks for permission to overwrite 🙈
• -v — Be verbose. This is the only option that can be given with another command. It's not always very useful.... 💀
• -w FILE — Write FILE on NXT. If FILE is already present it asks for permission to overwrite 🙈
• -W FILE — Same as -w but forcing overwrite if FILE exists 😤
• -z — Stop Sound Playback 🤫

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🦋 File Names and Patterns 🦋

the naming rules, bestie

On the NXT, file names are of the form "Name.Ext" — with max 15 characters for the Name and 3 for the Extension. periodt.

When you ask for a listing with the -l command you can give a specific file name to see if it's on the NXT and list its size, or a Pattern using widlcards. 🌸

the pattern tea ☕

Due to the limitation of the NXT API, patterns are limited to the form:

• "*.ext"
• "Name.*"
• "*.*"

and this last one is the default and can be omitted. iconic, honestly.

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⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

scan for devices

$ nxtrc -s
 00:10:20:30:40:50  NXT1
 00:01:01:02:03:04  NXT2

set up Environment Variable for connection with NXT1 and ask for info

$ export BTADDR=00:10:20:30:40:50
$ nxtrc -i

load program Prog.rxe on NXT1 and run it

$ nxtrc -W Prog.rxe
$ nxtrc -p Prog.rxe

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💜 EXIT STATUS 💜

nxtrc returns a zero exit status if it succeeds. Non zero is returned in case of failure. simple as that 💅

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Gian Piero Puccioni (gianpiero.puccioni (at) isc.cnr.it)

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🌈 that's the whole page bestie, go forth and Bluetooth your little robot. this was version 2.3, dated July 27 2010 — shoutout to the source, mwah 💖 ✨ 🎀