Connecting your LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 to Bluetooth

You can use Bluetooth to communicate wirelessly between the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 P-Brick and EV3 Software! Bluetooth has a shorter range than Wi-Fi, but uses less power and you don’t need a wireless router to set it up.

Follow these steps to set up Bluetooth on your P-Brick:

  1. Use the arrow buttons to choose Bluetooth in the 'Settings' screen on the P-Brick. A pop-up will appear with a list of options.
  2. Using the up and down buttons for navigation, highlight 'Bluetooth', then press the center button and a checkmark will appear in the Bluetooth box. You’ve enabled Bluetooth and should see a icon in the top left of the P-Brick display.

    If the 'iPhone/iPad/iPod' option is checked, you won’t be able to connect to anything except an iOS device like an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. For all other connections, keep this unchecked.

To connect your software to your P-Brick

macOS

  1. Start the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Software and connect your P-Brick to your Mac using the USB cable.
  2. In the EV3 software, make your way to the Hardware Page and click Refresh.
  3. A new window will pop up and list all previously connected and available P-Bricks. It might take a few minutes before your P-Brick is shown. Find the one you want to connect to and select it.
  4. Bluetooth will now be available as a connection type. Select it by clicking the button below the Bluetooth icon.
  5. Confirm the connection and password on your P-Brick.
  6. Enter "1234" as the Passcode in the 'Pairing Request from: EV3' window.
  7. The P-Brick will now be connected to your Mac using Bluetooth.
    If your P-Brick never shows up on the list of available P-Bricks, restart your P-Brick and continue with the following steps:
  8. Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock and choose Bluetooth.
  9. Choose 'Set Up New Device' or 'Add new Device'.
  10. The Bluetooth Setup Assistant will search for all devices available over Bluetooth. It might take a few minutes before your P-Brick is shown. When it is, choose it and click 'Continue'.
  11. Confirm the connection and password on your P-Brick.
  12. This first attempt will most likely fail because the Mac’s default passcode is set to "0000".
  13. Click on 'Passcode Options'.
  14. Choose 'Use a specific passcode' and enter "1234", then click 'OK'
  15. Confirm the connection and the password on your P-Brick.
  16. You’ll now see a window confirming that your P-Brick has been paired successfully. Click 'Quit'.
  17. Your P-Brick will now show up on the list of known Bluetooth devices.
  18. Repeat steps 1-7.

Windows

  1. In the EV3 software, make your way to the Hardware Page and click Refresh.
  2. Your P-Brick will be available over Bluetooth. Click on the button below the Bluetooth icon to connect.
  3. Your computer will connect to your P-Brick. You might have to confirm the connection and password '1234' on your P-brick at this stage.

If you can’t see the P-Brick in the Hardware Page in the application, continue with the following steps.

  1. Open the Start Menu and click on 'Devices and Printers'.
  2. Click on 'Add a device'.
  3. It’ll take a moment for your P-Brick to show up in the list of available devices. Select it and press 'Next'.
  4. The PC will try to connect to the P-Brick.
  5. Confirm connection and password on the P-Brick.
  6. On the PC, enter "1234" like below and click 'Next'.
  7. When the pairing process is done, the following window will pop up.
  8. Repeat Steps 1-3.

If you have any problems, get in touch with us.

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