Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming : Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 1

by sunata-s0907 in Circuits > Robots

78 Views, 2 Favorites, 0 Comments

Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming : Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 1

cover_Instructables.png

Does Programming Environment Affect Performance? A Comparison for Robotics Competitions

When using LEGO SPIKE Prime for a robotics competition, does the programming environment impact performance? I conducted an experiment to compare different programming environments and see how they affect robot movement.

Supplies

1 PC with Windows 10 or 11 operating system.

Tested Programming Environments

I compared the following four environments:

  1. Word Blocks (SPIKE App 3) → Download here
  2. Python (SPIKE App 3) → Download here
  3. Python (Pybricks) → More info
  4. C Language (spike-rt) → GitHub repository

Test Method

To compare the environments, I ran the following test:

✅ The robot moves straight and stops when the color sensor detects red

✅ Travel distance before detection: ~30 cm

✅ Speed: ~900 deg/s

✅ Measure the stopping distance (braking distance) from the moment red is detected until the robot stops completely

✅ Conduct five trials for each environment and calculate the average stopping distance

✅ The same logic was used for all environments

Program Code

pg.png

Robot Configuration

ロボット.PNG

I used the following robot setup:

  1. Left motor: Port A
  2. Right motor: Port B
  3. Color sensor: Port C


Results: Which Environment Performed Best?

Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming : Which is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 1

Here are the average stopping distances (shorter is better):

1️⃣ 24mm - C Language (spike-rt)🏆

2️⃣ 26.6mm - Python (Pybricks)

3️⃣ 27mm - Word Blocks (SPIKE App 3)

4️⃣ 27.2mm - Python (SPIKE App 3)

🔹 The C language environment (spike-rt) had the shortest stopping distance, meaning it responded the fastest.


Want to Try C Programming on LEGO SPIKE Prime?

If you’re interested in trying C on SPIKE Prime, there are beginner-friendly learning materials available. As of March 2025, a trial version is also accessible—give it a try!

To See More

If you're interested in more LEGO SPIKE Prime experiments with C language, check out this related article:

🔹 Introducing SPIKE-RT: the C Language Software Platform for LEGO SPIKE Prime

🔹 Enhancing LEGO SPIKE Prime Line Follower with C: Speed & Stability Comparison


More tests are planned, including further evaluations for robotics competitions. Stay tuned for future updates! 🚀