NXT Python Lightblue Glue

Python/Bluetooth Support for Lego Mindstorms NXT on Mac OS X

The file bluetooth.py contains some Python glue code I wrote to allow NXT-Python to run on Mac OS X without modification. NXT-Python uses the PyBluez package, which (as of April 2008) runs on Linux and (perhaps) Windows but not on Mac OS X. My bluetooth.py implements just the code from PyBluez/bluetooth.py that is needed by NXT-Python. Here's what you need to do:

Make sure that Python 2.4 or higher is running on your Mac.
Download and install Lightblue.
You will also need PyObjC. If you're running Mac OS X v10.5 (Leopard) or higher, PyObjC comes built-in. Otherwise, download and install PyObjC yourself.
Download and install NXT-Python.
Download bluetooth.py
In your ~/.profile and/or ~/.bashrc files, set the PYTHONPATH shell variable to the directory where you saved bluetooth.py. For example, my ~/.profile contains the line

export PYTHONPATH=~/nxt_lightblue_glue

The reason that you're not installing this package as a normal Python package is that it's just a patch to avoid having to modify NXT Python.
Turn your NXT brick on and enable Bluetooth on it. Via System Preferences or the Bluetooth icon at the top right of your monitor, set up the NXT brick as a new Bluetooth device.
In your shell, cd to nxt-python-1.1 (or the directory containing the current version). Launch Python and test your connection by typing
```
>>> from nxt import locator
>>> s = locator.find_one_brick() 
>>> c = s.connect()
>>> c.play_tone(440, 500)
>>> s.close()
```
The find_one_brick command will probably tell you that USB is unavailable and may produce a deprecation warning, but these can be safely ignored.