evank

Most of the Lego software for the 8-bit and 16-bit systems (TC Logo, Lego Lines, Control Lab, etc.) is in the "Vintage Lego Robotics" collection at Archive.org. Most of the manuals are there too.

Thanks! I checked out your Youtube channel -- your creations are amazing.

I used Dacta software (set 9700, with an Apple II clone and programmed in BASIC) to control the spark plugs on my life-size Lego V8 engine. Just finished it today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0tipi42d5k&ab_channel=EvanKoblentz

I posted here a couple of months ago. Two updates: I replaced the rubber bands with proper springs, and I doubled the power! https://youtu.be/_91beNB1CFU

Thanks very much. PS. I clicked the link in your signature but it does not work.

I made a life-sized V-8 car engine. :) It's exclusively from 1970s-1980s parts. Some of them I had already from childhood and many of them I had to acquire, but there's nothing that was not available back then. Obviously the rubber bands (serving as valve springs) and the rubber hoses are not Lego, but my justification is that plenty of official Lego sets in the 80s included rubber bands and rubber hoses, so the company made a precedent. (I tried the 1980s shocks for valve springs, but they are too firm.) An earlier version brought me the "Best Technic" award at Brickfest (Philadelphia) last fall; this version is improved in several ways. I would like to make directions and sell them on Rebrickable. First I have to learn how to use Studio! I estimate there are somewhere around 1,500-2,000 pieces. Maybe more. https://youtu.be/F-x7YFMWnBQ?feature=shared

I would like to know what programming language is inside the Code Pilot hardware for reading barcodes, and whether anyone has hacked it in interesting ways.

It is pretty cool that your post worked out this way! There is a lot more technical information that I hope to get online soon. I will post about it here.

There are 13 manuals at https://archive.org/details/@magicratandbarefootgirl now. I found that it's easiest to select the list view, not the default grid view, and then to sort by title, not by the default of date uploaded. More to come.

Just realized my request for the Lego Engineer software duplicates the fourth message of this entire thread from 2012. :) I sure would like to find that software.

A link to 1.3 was already shared. What is "Let's Go"...? Everyone: who's got a copy of Lego Engineer? Links to it across the web are all broken. :(

Thanks Jar. It was much easier and faster with the spiral bindings removed. The older TC Logo documents were already PDF'd and shared widely around the web before I discovered these sets a few years ago. Just centralizing them now into a safe place.

Control Lab books are all on the Archive.org site now. Several more TC Logo books (from set 9700) may appear soon. :)

He's good, but mainly he is just a Bruce wanna-be. I stopped working on the examples book because its spiral binding was very tight and I was afraid of damaging the paper by turning one more page. Instead, I consulted with @jarstx and suggested removing the spiral wire very carefully, scanning the pages as flat sheets, and then taking it somewhere to be professionally re-bound. He agreed, as long as I promised to do the quick-start guide too, which I was going to skip. I agreed, removed the spirals tonight, and got through the first two chapters. Now the process is no longer painstaking, merely tedious. :)

You're confusing the sets. I am talking about Control Lab software for the mid-1990s Interface B #9751. Those cards you mentioned are for Mindstorms RCX. https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=S&catString=166.36.633 Yep, right reference. :) Hey I am from New Jersey!

Thanks again @eloybroock! The reference guide is online now: https://archive.org/details/@magicratandbarefootgirl. Next, I got through the first 24 pages of the examples book. Only 102 pages to go there. :( PS. Kudos to anyone who knows the "magic rat and barefoot girl" reference without Googling it.

Got yet another 40ish pages done tonight. Final 40 in another day or two.

Pretty sure I'm just talking to myself now. :) I got on a Skype call with the former Lego employee in Denmark. It turns out he worked on the education and curriculum side. He was not an engineer or involved in the hardware/software development. Oh well. :(

Update, 11:55pm, Sunday ... 50% through the 160-page reference guide. Meanwhile the (short) "directions for use" guide is posted. See https://archive.org/details/@magicratandbarefootgirl.

Update, 11:40pm, Saturday ... got through the first chapter of the reference guide (40 pages) ... a very tiresome task, but it's important! Look on the bright side, it is 1/4 done.

Hey look! One of the books magically showed up on Archive.org. What are the odds. :) https://archive.org/details/cl_setup I will see about editing the title to something more useful. I plan to change the description too. It says this is one of five documents, but there are more than five things to be uploaded. This document is 50ish pages. It took about 45 minutes to scan, save, and upload. The reference guide is 160 pages so it will take much longer. 4:19am here, off to sleep...

They're here! These four manuals are insanely helpful, and I've never found any of them online. Fixing that soon. :) Our purchase includes four books: - Setup Guide and Introductory Explorations - Reference Guide - Technology Investigations and Inventions - Quick Start Guide: Creating a Fan Control Project The first two books are the good ones. They cover everything you need to know about how to use the 9751 Interface B and the Control Lab 1.x software (I don't think there ever was a 2.x, but I'll find out in my phone interview with the Lego engineer in Denmark, which is scheduled for Monday.) The third book, Investigations/Inventions, is basically just examples for classroom teachers. It is similar to the 1980s version mentioned by Lukazi at http://lukazi.blogspot.com/2014/07/lego-legos-first-programmable-product.html (see in the literature section where it says "Technic Control 1 Resource Guide.) The fourth book isn't so exciting. Just a quick demo of an electric fan model. I will focus on the first and second book. @jarstx, thanks for helping make this purchase happen!

Good morning everyone (here in the States it's morning) -- another wild day of Covid-19! But I'm excited because, according to the post office tracker, the Control Lab reference guide is arriving this afternoon. Can't wait to read it and hope it magically appears on Archive.org in not too long from now.

I made a Facebook group earlier this year called "BrickHacks". You should post about it there.

Wow! That should be its own thread.