15 replies to this topic

[PetrXP]

information about new Bluetooth receiver for Power Functions system you can find at this website

[funkdis]

PetrXP, on 10 July 2012 - 02:06 PM, said:

information about new Bluetooth receiver for Power Functions system you can find at this website

This opens up a new weld of possibilities. Laptops, android and iOS devices will make use of it with apps.
Controlling things such as street lighting, movement of trains and monorail ... Mmm

Cannot wait, hopefully there will be something to integrate this with us 9v track guys :)

[eurotrash]

Excellant news!  I'm just sitting here thinking how I could use it.....the possibilities are endless.

[kyphur]

Looks awesome but at $87 per unit that would be a costly train conversion!

I fear we'd be paying for a lot of features that would never be used in a train:

5 non-proportional connectors: I could see using  2, 1 for the lights and second 1 for custom features like doors etc..

3 proportional connectors, we'd only need 1 for our throttle.

Another issue I see with ths product is The connectors face the wires outward, if they were turned in then it would be easer to build into 6 wide trains.

Then there's the fact that the bottom is smooth and LEGO connection options are limited to using technic pins from below or the front/back.

The final issue (for trains) is that the device is 6 wide.

If they could make a scaled down version that had only 1 proportional & 2 non-proportional outputs, is 4 wide and the connector wires are routed toward on end instead of off all four sides which sold for about $30 then I'd be the first one here to convert all of my trains.

While the gyro is a cool feature I could do without it but if it could be in the cheaper "train" version then we could use it for automaticlly throttling up & down for slopes.

Edited by kyphur, 10 July 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[roamingstudio]

On the news post
http://coredevelopersteam.com/news/

Quote

With this app Trains fans will be able to program (in time) train speed, deceleration, acceleration, suspension, railway switches, drawbridges, lights up the platforms, lighting of towns and villages. This app will also be used to program (in time) factories, refineries, funicular, robots, etc.

[SDH]

kyphur, on 10 July 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:

I fear we'd be paying for a lot of features that would never be used in a train:
[...]
3 proportional connectors, we'd only need 1 for our throttle.

I was gonna say that I can see using the 3 proportional connectors to power superlong trains that require 2 or more engines to pull. Now that I think about it you could just gang your cables on top of the unit.

kyphur, on 10 July 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:

Another issue I see with ths product is The connectors face the wires outward, if they were turned in then it would be easer to build into 6 wide trains.
[...]
If they could make a scaled down version that had only 1 proportional & 2 non-proportional outputs, is 4 wide and the connector wires are routed toward on end instead of off all four sides which sold for about $30 then I'd be the first one here to convert all of my trains.

I doubt that they would make one with less outputs that much cheaper, most of their costs must be in the bluetooth receiver. We can dream though... I would love to see the unit you described, hopefully they find it worth their while to put one out.

[kyphur]

SDH, on 10 July 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

I doubt that they would make one with less outputs that much cheaper, most of their costs must be in the bluetooth receiver. We can dream though... I would love to see the unit you described, hopefully they find it worth their while to put one out.

I know $30 is probably wishful thinking but maybe $50 would be obtainable? It's just that with the quantities we'd buy the price would have to be ess and it should also be better suited for our building environment (fit inside 6 wide bodies). Maybe they would give bulk discounts so a train club could get together and order 20 or more at a time for savings of $5 per unit.

[SDH]

kyphur, on 11 July 2012 - 02:53 AM, said:

I know $30 is probably wishful thinking but maybe $50 would be obtainable? It's just that with the quantities we'd buy the price would have to be ess and it should also be better suited for our building environment (fit inside 6 wide bodies). Maybe they would give bulk discounts so a train club could get together and order 20 or more at a time for savings of $5 per unit.

I completely agree with you, and you might have an angle on bulk discounts.

[PetrXP]

kyphur, on 10 July 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:

If they could make a scaled down version that had only 1 proportional & 2 non-proportional outputs, is 4 wide and the connector wires are routed toward on end instead of off all four sides which sold for about $30 then I'd be the first one here to convert all of my trains.

freakwawe has truht: "The price, well I think it is not too much out of range. BT receivers are not that cheap, around 20 EUR."

from this discussion

Edited by PetrXP, 12 July 2012 - 09:45 AM.

[kyphur]

PetrXP, on 12 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

freakwawe has truht: "The price, well I think it is not too much out of range. BT receivers are not that cheap, around 20 EUR."

from this discussion

Maybe it isn't time for a BT receiver in every train then. I like the idea of using my iPad tondrive my trains but not at $100 (after shipping) per train.

Maybe a hybrid solution would be best for the time being:

BT to RF device? This would allow cheaper RF receivers in our trains and only require 1 BT transceiver. For a low cost solution coms to the train could be 1 way only requiring a receiver in the train or a more expensive option would be RF transceivers in the train so that itncould report back to the base which would ofmcourse relay the info to the phone/tablet.

Of course the rf receivers/transceivers would need to be addressable but that's just a little bit of data in transmission (id prefix)

[AndyC]

PetrXP, on 12 July 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

freakwawe has truht: "The price, well I think it is not too much out of range. BT receivers are not that cheap, around 20 EUR."

from this discussion

The actual Bluetooth receiver chips themselves aren't nearly that expensive, you can get them for a couple of Euros each without even buying in bulk. The custom molded casing is probably considerably more expensive. I still think there'd be much more call for a simpler, smaller device that could be produced a lot cheaper and would probably sell in bigger quantities too.

[clcwong]

what is non proportional?

Maybe we could build one with off the shelf bluetooth module n a simple microchip.

[Legotom]

clcwong, on 14 July 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

what is non proportional?

Proportional means that you can control the power coming out. So it gives you speed steps like the current Lego PF controller. Non-proportional is just on or off, so good for lights.

[Rob Klingberg]

Does anyone plan to purchase one of these (or has anyone already)?  I'd be interested to see how it actually performs, quality of construction, battery life, etc.  Also very interested to see how they implemented the PF connectors-- doesn't Lego have a lock on design for those elements (plugs, connectors, etc.)?  I thought the PF intellectual property was licensed for non-commercial use only.


Overall, it does look like a promising new accessory.

--Rob

[Phoxtane]

I believe the designers of the product were focusing on those who build Technic-themed MOCs; thus, the many proportional and non-proportional connectors. While I find the unit itself to be intriguing, I won't be buying one because they are enormously expensive!

[kyphur]

I certianly won't buy it in the current form as it simply isn't practical for train building unless you’re building like 10 wide...