Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming : Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 2

Does the Programming Environment Affect Precision? A 360° Rotation Test

When using LEGO SPIKE Prime in robotics competitions, does the choice of programming environment impact movement precision?

To investigate this, I conducted an experiment comparing different programming environments.

Supplies

1 PC with Windows 10 or 11 operating system.

Tested Programming Environments

I compared the following four environments:

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

Robot Configuration

For the test, I used a car-type robot with the following setup:

Left motor: Port A
Right motor: Port B

Test Method

Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming : Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 2

To compare the environments, I conducted the following test:

✅ Command the robot to rotate 360° using a specified motor angle

✅ Measure the difference between the target and actual rotation angles

✅ Perform 10 trials for each environment and calculate the average error

✅ The same logic was used for all environments

Program Code

Python(SPIKE App3)

tread = 8

d_tire = 5.6

goal = 360;

for i in range(10):

motor.reset_relative_position(port.A, 0)

start_angle = motor.relative_position(port.A)

motor.run(port.A, -300)

motor.run(port.B, -300)

while tread/d_tire*goal > -motor.relative_position(port.A):

pass

motor.stop(port.A, stop=motor.BRAKE)

motor.stop(port.B, stop=motor.BRAKE)

time.sleep_ms(500)

print("error:", abs(motor.relative_position(port.A)-start_angle) - tread/d_tire*goal )

Python(Pybricks)

hub = PrimeHub()

motorA = Motor(Port.A, Direction.COUNTERCLOCKWISE)

motorB = Motor(Port.B, Direction.CLOCKWISE)

tread = 8

d_tire = 5.6

goal = 360

for i in range(10):

start_angle = motorA.angle()

motorA.run(300)

motorB.run(-300)

while tread/d_tire*goal > motorA.angle() - start_angle:

pass

motorA.brake()

motorB.brake()

wait(500)

print("error", motorA.angle()-start_angle - tread/d_tire*goal )

C Language (spike-rt)

void Main(intptr_t exinf)

{

dly_tsk(5000000);

uint8_t tread = 8;

float d_tire = 5.6;

uint32_t goal = 360;

motorA = pup_motor_init(PBIO_PORT_ID_A, PUP_DIRECTION_COUNTERCLOCKWISE);

motorB = pup_motor_init(PBIO_PORT_ID_B, PUP_DIRECTION_CLOCKWISE);

int8_t i;

for (i = 0; i < 10; i++){

pup_motor_reset_count(motorA);

pup_motor_set_speed(motorA, 300);

pup_motor_set_speed(motorB, -300);

while(tread/d_tire*goal > pup_motor_get_count(motorA));

pup_motor_brake(motorA);

pup_motor_brake(motorB);

dly_tsk(500000);

float error = pup_motor_get_count(motorA) - (tread / d_tire * goal);

syslog(LOG_NOTICE, "error: %d.%05d", (int)error, (int)((error - (int)error) * 100000));

}

Results: Which Environment Was Most Precise?

Here are the average rotation errors (smaller is better):

1️⃣ 12° - C Language (spike-rt)🏆

2️⃣ 13° - Python (Pybricks)

2️⃣ 13° - Python (SPIKE App 3)

4️⃣ 14° - Word Blocks (SPIKE App 3)

Additionally, I measured the error fluctuation range (consistency):

1️⃣ 2° - Python (SPIKE App 3) 🏆

2️⃣ 3° - C Language (spike-rt)

2️⃣ 3° - Word Blocks (SPIKE App 3)

4️⃣ 5° - Python (Pybricks)

Key Takeaways:

C Language (spike-rt) had the most accurate rotation (smallest error)

Python (SPIKE App 3) had the most stable results (smallest variation)

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:

Enhancing LEGO SPIKE Prime Line Follower With C: Speed & Stability Comparison
Introducing SPIKE-RT: the C Language Software Platform for LEGO SPIKE Prime
Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming: Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 1
Comparing LEGO SPIKE Prime Programming: Which Is Best for Robotics Competitions? - 3 (Coming Soon)

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