Even more than Lego, I love my Mac. Though trying to combine the two has caused some headaches. As the Lego group has not yet endoursed the Mac platform for their Mindstorms, Spybotics or MovieMaker sets. All the official software is made for Windows, though their education department, Lego DACTA, has some Mac versions of their RoboLab software.

So if you are the happy owner of a Mac and a Mindstorms set, you might be in a bit of spot. But don't despair, you are not alone! Many Mac lovers have developed several solutions. And in the hope of helping others in the same situation, I have here tried to gather a description how I make it work on my iMac running Mac OS X.

I split the page in different scenarios:

You just bought a RIS set, and found out 5min ago that it only runs on Windows!

You opened MacNQC, but can't find the nice drag'n'drop bricks like on the PC!

The closest you want to get to programming, is pressing the Bold button in Word!

Everyone else on the web has something called LDraw and you want it too!

I wanted to see the world through my Lego's eyes, so I bought Vision Command...!

You just bought a RIS set, and found out 5min ago that it only runs on Windows.

Ok, the basics:

Step 1
Download MacNQC

Step 2
Connect your Lego IR Tower and you can start to program your Lego!

Step 3
There is no step 3. You have a Mac, remember!

First you'll need some software to program and communicate with the RCX. For this you have Dave Baum's excellent MacNQC. The application is easy to use and no setup with drivers and commandline commands are needed. Just install, plug your Lego Tower and start playing, as easy as as anything else on a Mac. This is the most userfriendly solution for anyone. And the programming language Not Quite C is very easy to learn. It runs nicely on Mac OS X, and covers all the features of the RCX, as well programming your Spybotics and Mana.

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You opened MacNQC, but can't find the nice drag'n'drop Lego bricks like on the PC!

Not Quite C:

Personally I have no programming knowledge and I find programming in general very difficult. I need buttons to press and graphical interfaces! Running the original Mindstorms software on my cranky maybe-I'll-let-you-start-me-up-today windows PC, I felt right at home. Nice and easy graphical interface and very easy to understand. If you are like me, you might find it a bit hard-going in the beginning, as running Mindstorms on a Mac you need to get your hands a bit dirty with programming. But I must admit, with a bit of time and persistence, you'll get on top of it in no-time, even with no programming skills or knowledge. And today, I could never go back to the Mindstorms software. I would find it very restricting and slow-going. So don't let the programming stop you, it is very rewarding!

Here are some great resources for you, to help get you started with NQC programming:

Mark Overmars - NQC Tutorial
This is the best starting point! Mark has made a very easy step by step tutorial for people who has never done much programming before (like me!). It will get you up to speed in no-time. Go to his site and scroll a bit down to the tutorial section or you can download it in Word (415kb) or PDF(280kb) format here!

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The closest you want to get to programming, is pressing the Bold button in Word!

I NEED buttons:

I am afraid there is no complete graphical solution. At least I have not found it!
Though you do have a smaller control application. Barney Hilken's Robot Controller, is like an advanced remote control. I use it often after I have finished a robot, to test the behaviour. One very interesting part of Robot Controller is it's AppleScript capabilities. With the ease of the AppleScript language, you can nearly program your creations fully, instead of NQC.
Or, if you are willing to put some cash into it, you could check out Lego's education department, DACTA. There RoboLab software seems very good, though I have not tried it.

If you have a Palm, you can install PBrick Remote, to use it as a remote control! It works quite well on my m105.

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You see everyone else on the web has something called LDraw and you want it too!

LDraw?

LDraw is great! It enables you to build Lego models on you computer. A great way of documenting your models before you take them apart and start on a new one! You can also make nice step by step building instructions or render realistic images. Having said that, I found it a bit messy to set up and get started with.

Here's a quick overview:
LDraw is a big collection of Lego parts that has been pre-designed. To use these parts, you need an application that helps you to put them together and build your model. If you want to make realistic 3D images, you need a seperate rendering program and usually a small fileconverter. You should find everything you at LDraw.org. Most of the solution are for PC, but there are Mac apps as well.

Then I have a confession to make... for my LDraw setup I run Windows 98 via Virtual PC. I have not found the Mac solutions complete enough for my needs.

I use:
MLCad for designing models
L3P with L3PAO for converting
Pov-Ray for rendering

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I wanted to see the world through my Lego's eyes, so I bought Vision Command...!

The Lego webcam:
For my Vision Command set, I have not found any substitute for the original software for the Mac. So I'm afraid you won't get to interact with your robot, not until someone manages to make some apps. But, you can easily make the camera itself work! The Lego webcam is made by Logitech, and will work as any other webcam. So what you need is just a driver for Mac OS X to pick it up. And for this you have macam, an excellent webcam app, that gives you full access to almost all webcams, and it can be used by any QuickTime enabled applications. So I often use it with QT Broadcaster to conference with my family. If you are making movies, macam saves in .mov format (QT) so you can use iMovie for your editing!

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