python-ev3dev version 2 for ev3dev-stretch available in beta

After several months’ work, python-ev3dev version 2 is available in beta. This release is specifically targeted at ev3dev-stretch, and comes with a variety of improvements to existing interfaces as well as some new features. In particular, we hope that writing software for driving robots will now be significantly easier.

The highlights include:

• New classes are available for coordinating motors: ev3dev2.motor.MotorSet, ev3dev2.motor.MoveTank, ev3dev2.motor.MoveSteering, and ev3dev2.motor.MoveJoystick.
• Classes representing a variety of motor speed units are available and accepted by many of the motor interfaces: see our docs to learn more.
• Friendlier interfaces for operating motors and sensors: check out ev3dev2.motor.Motor.on_for_rotations and the other on_for_* methods on motors.
• Easier interactivity via buttons: each button now has wait_for_pressed, wait_for_released and wait_for_bump
• Improved ev3dev2.sound.Sound and ev3dev2.display.Display interfaces
• New color conversion methods in ev3dev2.sensor.lego.ColorSensor

If you haven’t already, see @dlech’s news post on Stretch for information on the new ev3dev version. If you’re running the image from August 6 or newer, the library should come pre-installed; otherwise, you’ll need to install the python3-ev3dev2 package via apt-get.

Once your ev3dev installation is ready, head over to our upgrading guide to get started!