In the official LEGO SPIKE App, the Ranger 2-Way shows up as a Color Sensor. So you do not import a library: you read it with the raw red / green / blue blocks under "More Sensors" and then convert the numbers into the left, right and average distance. Work through the steps on the left and the blocks on the right grow with you. These block pictures were built in the official web app (spike.legoeducation.com) and exported, so they look exactly like what you see in the App.
A sensor has to be read again and again. First put the yellow "when program starts" block, attach "forever" under it, and put "wait 0.1 seconds" inside, so it reads every 0.1 seconds.
The official App reads the Ranger with three blocks from "More Sensors": raw red, raw green and raw blue. Each block starts with a port drop-down; pick the port the Ranger is plugged into. The number you get has to be converted before it is a distance:
| Official block | What it gives you | Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| raw red | left distance × 256 | ÷ 256, then round down (the floor block) → left distance 0 ~ 120 cm |
| raw green | right distance × 256 | ÷ 256, then round down → right distance 0 ~ 120 cm |
| raw blue | average distance × 256 | ÷ 256, then round down → average distance 0 ~ 120 cm |
These three blocks are in the "More Sensors" extension: press the extension button at the bottom left of the App and add "More Sensors". To round down, use "floor of" from Operators. 120 = nothing in front.
In "Variables", make a new variable (for example "Left distance" or "Right distance"). Use "set … to …" to store the converted value in it. That gives the value a name; after that, use the variable to show or check the value. Click a function and the blocks and result change to its example.
The simulator is only a picture: the distance comes straight from where the obstacle is on the screen. A real laser can be off by 1 to 2 cm and only updates about every 0.1 seconds. 120 = nothing in front (or farther than 120 cm).
Every function the official App can read, each with a set of blocks you can copy (port C). Press "Try it" to jump to step 3.
What the official App cannot read: the official App only reads the sensor's "combined data", so it cannot read the Ranger's laser OK, power-on status, fault status, millimetre distance, sensor ID, firmware version and sensor connected. To use them, switch to the MBC SPIKE Blocks website or Pybricks (both have all of them; the hub needs Pybricks firmware).