In the EV3 software (EV3-G), the Pathfinder 16-Way shows up as a LEGO Infrared Sensor. So you do not import a library: you read it with the Infrared Sensor block in the right mode. Work through the steps on the left and the blocks on the right grow with you. These pictures were taken in EV3-G after opening each program (100% size, English interface), so they look exactly like the software.
You need to read the sensor again and again. A new program already has the green Start block. Attach an orange Loop block after it and put a Wait block inside, so it reads every 0.1 seconds.
On the EV3, the Pathfinder 16-Way shows up as a LEGO Infrared Sensor. Drag the Infrared Sensor block from the yellow Sensors tab and choose the mode at the bottom left of the block; the number at the top right is the port: choose 1 (the sensor is in port 1). The product puts different values in different modes:
| Block | What you get | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Measure → Proximity | Line position (coarse) | -16 to +16 |
| Measure → Remote, channel 1 | Line position (fine) | -100 to +100 |
| Measure → Remote, channel 2 | Line width | 0 to 16 |
| Measure → Remote, channel 3 | Light value of the outer channels (#1: L1) | 0 to 100 (0 black, 100 white) |
| Measure → Remote, channel 4 | Light value of the outer channels (#2: L16) | 0 to 100 (0 black, 100 white) |
| Measure → Beacon, channel 1: Heading | Rough light of all 16 channels (in pairs) (#1: P1) | 11 to 99 (tens = first channel, ones = second channel, each 1 black to 9 white) |
| Measure → Beacon, channel 1: Proximity | Rough light of all 16 channels (in pairs) (#2: P2) | 11 to 99 (tens = first channel, ones = second channel, each 1 black to 9 white) |
Use blocks of only one mode in a program (Proximity, Beacon or Remote). Every mode change makes the EV3 pause for about 1.1 seconds.
Use the Text block from the red Data Operations tab to join a name (for example POS) and the reading, then feed it into the green Display block (mode Text → Grid, Y = the line). The yellow and orange lines are data wires: drag one from the sensor to the Text block, and one from the Text block to the Display block. Put a "Display → Reset Screen" block before the loop. Click a function and the blocks and result change to its example.
The simulator is only a sketch: the conversion is simplified, so a real sensor may differ by one or two steps. The darker the circle, the darker that channel sees; red ring = that channel counts as on the line.
Every value EV3-G can read has a small program you can copy (sensor in port 1). Press "Try it" to jump to step 3.
What EV3-G cannot read: line segments, the on-line bitmap, last side the line left, black/white threshold, calibration count, the exact 0–100 light value of channels 2 to 15, device ID and firmware version. The modes 3 to 6 added in firmware v4.0 (for example millimetre distances, bitmaps, connection state, device ID) cannot be read with EV3-G blocks either. For these, use Pybricks (the EV3 needs a different microSD card) or clev3r.
----. Each reading also waits about 1.2 seconds. The program does not stop, and it works again when you plug the sensor back in.