57 replies to this topic

[Lasse D]

Update
I have uploaded a video with the new motors in action showing their characteristics.



The good people over at technicbricks show and present their initial thoughts of the upcoming PF L and Servo motors. There will be two L motors in the rock rawler!

http://technicbricks...h2012-lego.html



Update:
More pictures at this update.

Edited by Lasse D, 27 June 2012 - 10:33 PM.

[Thirdwigg]

Yeah, I am looking forward to more information about the outputs of both motors.  I think the Servo will be a nice addition as well.  Thanks for posting this.

[88high]

Oh. My. Gosh. 2 new motors instead of one!!! I am so getting this set!!!

[jacobkristensen]

Yeah I could be one of those, who get this set. That would mark it as, the second year in a row where I get the flagship model, to myself as a birthday present:sweet:

I just hope the PF S-Motor got all the servo tricks I am hoping for. Which is as described on TB.
The PF L-Motor could maybe be better compromise on my LEGO ATV GP Tank, and do without differentials, in 4 x 4 setup. Which I can't figur out, nor do I want to use the time doing it in, e.g. a cad program. Because I spend hour daily in Visual Studio right now and, that will also be my furture. And SR 3D builder, is really great regards it features and worth it prices. But it control compared to other software made by pro like autocad, just makes it sucks. And blewing up my models.

Regarding the eletrics part, from stand point of a computer scientist and where interestere in physics guy(got in a max level in high school, with good grades!) I will say buy it, buy it, buy it.
And for the sake, of good reason forget all but mindstorms nxt. Lego has been planing of years, to make transision into one electris system suitable for both common usage(train, techninc and robotics(mindstorm). And they haven't release anything new or worth notning regards nxt for long, except some improved sensor. Wich could easliy be convert to PF.Or at is my take

Edited by jacobkristensen, 24 May 2012 - 09:40 PM.

[S.I]

I got myself an FPGA board and half a dozen power functions extension cables for christmas, someday I will hopefully have time to splice the cables to a power source controlled by the FPGA and can use that as a cheapish mindstorms replacement which can be programmed with VHDL or a GUI frontend.

[Lego Otaku]

Nice L and servo.  Now we're still missing just the S motor.  Maybe XS (extra small) motor to replace the $40 red micro motor from over a decade ago.

[jacobkristensen]

S.I, on 25 May 2012 - 01:06 AM, said:

I got myself an FPGA board and half a dozen power functions extension cables for christmas, someday I will hopefully have time to splice the cables to a power source controlled by the FPGA and can use that as a cheapish mindstorms replacement which can be programmed with VHDL or a GUI frontend.

It could be fun. But I rather start of running some C# on a nxt brick or a faster future version of it.
Because some the advance rover algorithm nasa on uses should be freely available some where on the internet. And the that has to be simplyfied and modded to fit the sensor array of a future rover of mine.
But my point still is, that I am not gonna redesign my bots to fit the foolish dimenzion of the nxt motor compared to pf motors.
So I am left waiting in the dark until the reel 3th generation of mindstorms. And oh by  the way already got a rcx 1.5 kit. But that hopeless, boths it software and sensor possiblities.

[Lasse D]

I have updated OP with their later addition of pictures which show the size of the motors better.

The new L motor is especially interesting for me where the XL motor is just a bit on the "big boned" size when building motorized Model Team, resulting in abysmal ground clearance.

[Phoxtane]

I'm planning on getting this set. It comes with a battery box, receiver, and remote [presumably] along with the new motors.

After all, one can never have enough battery boxes. My parents are going to be thrilled once I tell them that I need eighteen AA batteries to power my creations...

[jacobkristensen]

Phoxtane, on 28 May 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

I'm planning on getting this set. It comes with a battery box, receiver, and remote [presumably] along with the new motors.

After all, one can never have enough battery boxes. My parents are going to be thrilled once I tell them that I need eighteen AA batteries to power my creations...

Get the rechargeables ones they are great(and expensive...:( )

[Lasse D]

I have just obtained the motors. My camera is currently recharging, but I expect to present motor characteristics ASAP.
Until then, enjoy the latest photos on TechnicBRICKS.

I have brought out my scale and ruler to give some preliminary info for comparison of all PF motors:

Motor: Length, width, height, cable length, weight
Medium: 6, 3, 3, 19.9cm, 33g
Large: 7, 3, 4, 19.8cm, 44g
XL: 6, 5, 5, 19.5cm, 71g
Servo: 7, 3, 5, 20.4cm, 42g

There are also some preliminary speed info in the crawler thread.

Update
I finished recording a video of the motors right before the camera went out of power. The upload is at 15% with 126 minutes remaining before the youtube video is ready. I have also takes a couple of pictures where you can see all 4 motors together:

Edited by Lasse D, 27 June 2012 - 08:05 PM.

[Aqualize]

The L motor is something I will like most definitely. Every time I build something with the M motor I'm concerned with bracing it well and annoyed that only has technic holes on the front side.

[Crtlego]

Aqualize, on 27 June 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

The L motor is something I will like most definitely. Every time I build something with the M motor I'm concerned with bracing it well and annoyed that only has technic holes on the front side.

Same. I often find myself using one of these to help mount the M Motor better

Plate 2x2 with Holes

[Lasse D]

The video was finally uploaded. See OP. The new L motor seems to be superior to the M motor in many ways: Nearly same speed but with substatially more torque, better mounting points (for Technic models) and doesn't seem to use much more power. I await Philo to add it to his experiments and motor comparisons.

[jorgeopesi]

Thank you dude for this information, Spain to the Eurocup final yujuuuuuuuuuu...

[Burf2000]

Thanks for posting this, I sooo can't wait to get some of these motors, when is the set released?

[efferman]

august the 4th says amazon. i guess lego shop at home will it sell from early juli

[Burf2000]

Thanks, I think this will be one of the first sets ever that I will instantly go out and buy.  NO joke, I usually wait for deals or see if the price goes down, but nope, this is being brought straight away!

[Viktor Kovacs]

Nice review! Now we have the XL, L, M and E motors (=could be called the Small motor) and a real servo. My only question would be the difference between the old receiver and the new if there is any. What builders could really use now is a new remote control with dual channel direct pwm mode, similar to what the old radio based RC system used. (the receivers support it, but there is no official remote that outputs this command)

[Doug72]

Anyone know the cost of these new motors yet ?

[DLuders]

Crtlego stated on this Eurobricks post that he "was able to call Lego from the U.S. and I only thought of asking for the following prices:

L-Motor (6000564) - $27 -Not Available
SV-Motor (6000566) - $36.89 -Not Available"

  

[Jetro]

DLuders, on 30 June 2012 - 03:24 PM, said:

L-Motor (6000564) - $27 -Not Available
SV-Motor (6000566) - $36.89 -Not Available"[/color]

Wow, that's a lot more expensive than the other PF motors :(

[DLuders]

In today's TechnicBRICKS "Tech Talk 08 -- Designing the Power Functions System" interview with Gaute Munch (Product Manager of LEGO Power Functions), he said:

"The LPF Servo motor has front and back outputs giving an easy build of e.g. 4-wheel steering.
The output can, from its center position, turn up to 90 degrees clockwise and counter-clockwise with 7 steps in each direction. In total you have 15 positions:

•1 center position
•7 positions clockwise
•7 positions counter-clockwise

"When the Servo Motor is controlled with full power in either direction it will turn to the full 90 degrees position (for example with the IR Remote Control).

"When it is controlled with power steps in either direction it will turn through the 7 positions corresponding to the 7 power levels (for example with the LPF Speed Remote Control or the LPF Rechargeable Battery box).



Fernando Correia (Conchas) noted that "From the explanation above, new PF Servo motor does feature proportional turn, with PWM control devices like 8879 Speed Remote or 8878 Rechargeable Battery Box.  If controlled via the 8885 bang-bang IR Remote Control, it also features return to center when the remote is not actuated.  Overall unit size is 5x3x7 modules."

[timslegos]

Does it hurt the servo motor to be stopped at 90 degrees or some other step along the way?  For example, would it be safe to have the servo motor hold a pneumatic switch open for a period of time?

tim

[allanp]

timslegos, on 01 July 2012 - 05:05 PM, said:

Does it hurt the servo motor to be stopped at 90 degrees or some other step along the way?  For example, would it be safe to have the servo motor hold a pneumatic switch open for a period of time?

tim

Should be fine if it works like most other RC servos. The internal motor will have power given to it until the output shaft reaches it's required destination. At that point power is cut from the motor and it stops where it is. When the control stick on the transmitter is released and allowed to go back to centre, all the other motors would stop, but the servo starts and goes back to centre, and then stops. So no more stalled motors and precise control, perfect for pneumatic switches and so on.