NEW! version 2.3 available! 

The most visible change is that the  name changed to lowercase nxtrc and now it has a configure and a  Makefile (Thanks  Damian!). See the ChangeLog in the Readme file for more.

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I work on Linux and I found that there is very little around on how to use the NXT Mindstorm by LEGO with BlueTooth on Linux, so I started writing my own set of tools. I have finished a first version of a Program to interact with NXT and a group of functions to do various tasks.

It's called nxtrc (NXT Remote Command) and the Help that tells you what it can do is this:

nxtrc vers. 2.3 - A program to interact with LEGO Mindstorm NXT
using a Bluetooth connection.

   Usage: nxtrc [-a ADDR] [-v] command
        -a  ADDR     Connect with NXT at ADDR
                       required unless -s is used
                       or ADDR is in BTADDR Env Var
        -v           Be verbose
      and one command
        -i           Get info on NXT brick
        -l[PATT]     List files on NXT brick 
                       matching PATT if present (e.g. -l*.rxe)
                       N.B. No spaces between -l and PATT!
        -b           Get Battery Level
        -n  NAME     Set NXT name to NAME
        -w  FILE     Write FILE on NXT
        -W  FILE     Same as -w overwriting FILE if exists 
        -r  FILE     Read FILE frome NXT and save it
        -d  FILE     Delete FILE frome NXT
        -p  FILE     Run Program FILE on NXT
        -k           Stop a program running on NXT
        -m  FILE     Play Sound File once
        -M  FILE     Play Sound File indefinitely
        -z           Stop Sound Playback

    or
      nxtrc -s         Scan for BT devices

    if more than one command is given only
    the last one is performed.

It wasn't easy as BlueTooth support with linux is not well documented but with the Bluez utilities and some info I found on the net I was able to communicate with the NXT.I wrote a short intro on how to do that,it's obsolete now but you can find it here.

Download the source of nxtrc and follow the instruction to build the program. The Readme is available as well as a text file. An HTML version of the Man page is here.

With this and the excellent NXC compiler by John Hansen I am having a lot of fun with Linux and the NXT

If you want to contact me you can E-Mail to
gianpiero.puccioni AT isc.cnr.it
Please put NXT or NXTRC somewhere in the subject.

Have Fun!
GianPiero Puccioni