BuWizz - High Performance LEGO Power Functions Controller and Battery

[2GodBDGlory]

21 hours ago, amorti said:

That same MouldKing set has a battery box with not 4 but 6 pf ports. And each of those has not 4 but 6 terminals on it. I have no idea what the extra two terminals do, but it seems interesting that powered up uses six ports with the additional two used for position sensing.

Six terminals! Wow! I previously proposed that a six-terminal PF-based system could have allowed Lego to keep the more flexible nature of PF, along with most of the motors, while still adding at least one "smart" servo.

That's very interesting!

Edited April 12, 2021 by 2GodBDGlory

[Gray Gear]

I've ordered the new Mould King Proportional Remote and battery box today 

The version I ordered only has 4 channels tho I belive, unlike the crane one, and the front buttons are just dummy buttons. So be careful, not all remotes have 6 channels.

I normally don't like to deal with RC stuff, but this one MOC of mine kind of forced me to sooo... You do what you have to 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Gray Gear

[Toastie]

OK folks, I don't want to pester ... I am really just curious.

I studied the BuWizz3.0 website a bit. And then the suppliers of LiPo batteries of the size that possibly fit into the BuWizz Brick.

There are (a few) Chinese LiPo manufacturers who claim that sustained discharge currents of 4(+) Amps are possible with "BuWizz sized LiPos". However, this also reduces the lifetime to less than 100+ charging cycles. This is what I got from a quick search. I would like to see more on that issue. There is no question that electronics can handle 4+ amps. But to supply that usually way larger LiPo pouches/batteries are required (and available of course). The BuWizz brick though is, as copied from the website 9 x 4 x 3 bricks (72 x 32 x 30 mm) in size.

All these 50(+)Watts sustained output claims must come from either: Within 10 minutes (max!!!) of operation or simply as peak wattage.

If not, I am totally puzzled. We are working closely with companies making LiPos (not the electronics - the chemical power source) and with companies making equipment to find failures during LiPo manufacturing (leakage etc).

Please educate me!

All the best
Thorsten

Edited April 12, 2021 by Toastie

[Aerolight]

I was also wondering what lipo was being used to get 11.2v output 3s? 

Looking at rc plane battery's this output is on the low end - plenty on a reputable sight are the same capacity 2300mah (and dimensional size to fit in buwizz)and is rated at 20c or 40amps of discharge with some as high as 70amps from only a 2200mah pack. 

They do go bad regularly but for the sake of £10 (the 2200mah pack with 70amp discharge 3s) its worth the low weight over a larger pack even in rc cars. So in a buwizz these packs would be far more reliable due to the lower amps.

 

[HectorMB]

Then the question would be how's much would be a battery replacement. 

But, anyway, I think that if the info is true, it should be -clearly- advised in the BW website. 

[Toastie]

2 hours ago, Aerolight said:

is rated at 20c or 40amps

OK, I found a good reference (for me that is), which makes a couple of things clearer: https://rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide   

This is copied from the BuWizz website for the 3.0 Pro brick:

Battery

• Battery type: Lithium Polymer (Li-Ion)
• Battery capacity: 2300 mAh 8.5 Wh

I believe LiPo is meant and not Li-ion, but that is not the point. The capacity is 2,3 Ah; lets assume we operate at 2x 3.6 = 7.2 V nominal LiPo voltage. 8.5 Wh does then mean Watt hours per cell, or I am calculating wrong:

3.6 V x 2,3 Ah = 8.3 Wh, which is close enough to 8.5 Wh

8.5 Wh translates to (@100% conversion, which is not the case, but) 8.5 W can be delivered in one hour. With two cells, this should be 17 W in 1 hour (sustained). Looking further into the BuWizz3.0 pro specs

• 2x Power Functions outputs
  • Max continuous current per PF channel: 4 A
  • Max instantaneous current per PF channel: 6 A
  • compatible with older 9V system motors (RC/Buggy motor)
  • Max continuous power per PF channel: 48 W
  • Max total power: over 100 W

I believe it is fair so say that all these numbers are truly ultimate Max numbers, as also indicated, and furthermore, that when you dissipate 100W total, that the battery is "empty" in 17/100 h = 10 min.

Or am I doing something wrong here?

Best
Thorsten 

[Zerobricks]

BuWizz 3.0 uses a 3S custom Lithium Polymer battery with a total capacity of 2300 mAh. This way we no longer have to rely on the DC/DC converter to increase voltage, therebye reducing power losses and increasing available currents.

[Toastie]

So I should recalculate my numbers by using 3x 3.6V, correct? When LiPos are connected in series, the capacity remains the same as each for each individual cell (provided they are all the sam), but as you said, due to the elevated voltage, the externally drawn current goes up correspondingly, right?
Best
Thorsten

[Odinkuijpers]

The main reason to use Buwizz is because it gives you a good quality LiPo battery with an RC receiver in a small, Lego compatible format.

According to Sariel's Motor Specs app, a Lego RC buggy motor draws 3.2A when stalled. This is why it is so important that BW 3.0 can deliver 4A of continuous current per PF port -> you can use these motors to their full potential. For reference, official Lego PF battery boxes have a thermal fuse that cuts the power at around 1A, a threshold easily passed by many Lego motors under load, let alone the RC buggy motor.

Under normal use you'd never continuously power a stalling motor, so you'd only reach high currents at the start of a fast acceleration or when rocking back and forth.

This means the 48W (= 12V x 4A) BW 3.0 can deliver per PF port is awesome, but it will never need to deliver that much power for very long, but only in short bursts.

As for the 2300mAh capacity, I think this means the battery can deliver 2.3A for 1 hour. Or 1A for 2.3 hours. Or 4A for 34.5 minutes.

Could anyone please correct me if I'm wrong?

Edited April 13, 2021 by Odinkuijpers

[Odinkuijpers]

@Zerobricks

Does BW 3.0 have low voltage protection? I mean some form of automatic power cutoff when voltage gets below 3.2V per cell, or 9.6V total?

You mentioned no longer having to rely on the DC/DC converter to raise the voltage. Does this mean you removed the converter entirely in BW 3.0?

Edited April 13, 2021 by Odinkuijpers

[Zerobricks]

9 hours ago, Odinkuijpers said:

@Zerobricks

Does BW 3.0 have low voltage protection? I mean some form of automatic power cutoff when voltage gets below 3.2V per cell, or 9.6V total?

You mentioned no longer having to rely on the DC/DC converter to raise the voltage. Does this mean you removed the converter entirely in BW 3.0?

Of course the BuWizz has low voltage, balancing, charging, overcurrent, etc... safety circuit.

Yes, there is no more DC/DC converter for ports, the only DC/DC converter left is one for charging the battery.

[Aerolight]

Has anyone received their buwizz 3.0 yet? delivery was slatted for April but with just a few days to go looks like may is more lightly. 2 models eagerly await their heart. 

[HectorMB]

I just received a mail yesterday informing that BuWizz bricks delivery is delayed until May 15 due to delays in the supply of a piece. The motors are also delayed until June. 

I am in the smae situation than you, @Aerolight. I have even a MOC waiting for these bricks, but seems that everything keeps delaying, so is our turn to be pacient ;)

[ScT]

Quote

Dear customers,

We want to inform you about the progress of BuWizz 3.0 Pro and BuWizz Motor release and delivery.

As you know, we shipped the first, smaller, batch of BuWizz 3.0 Pro in March, but we did not receive the second batch yet. Unfortunately, one of more than 100 components did not arrive on time because of Covid-19 related disruption of delivery routes worldwide.

Our manufacturer promised us delivery of the second batch in the week of May 10-14.

Based on the above information, the release date for BuWizz 3.0 is May 15th, 2021.

BuWizz Motor is also experiencing delays – we are still waiting for final samples to confirm the first production batch. Release date for the BuWizz motor is beginning of June 2021.

We are terribly sorry for the delays.

Thank you for your patience and support.

That's the email that @HectorMB was referring to.
Just gotta have patience :)

[Aerolight]

should have checked my e mail before posting sry, any timeline is better than no timline tho 

[Scoar Sonander]

But is there a timeline on the updating of the App? I can't find any updates on the App store...

[marcus2388]

Hi,

quick question regarding the size of the buwizz3.0:

how far is the pinhole away from the ground? I'd love to build a dummy to already include it in ongoing projects... and the dimension between the bottom of the device and the first pinhhole is likely to be the most critical factor. (because due to cable-management there should always be space above the top of the device)

I am using this mock-up right now... but I am not sure, if I guessed the distance of two plates under the pinhole correctly:

 

[syclone]

6 minutes ago, marcus2388 said:

Hi,

quick question regarding the size of the buwizz3.0:

how far is the pinhole away from the ground? I'd love to build a dummy to already include it in ongoing projects... and the dimension between the bottom of the device and the first pinhhole is likely to be the most critical factor. (because due to cable-management there should always be space above the top of the device)

I am using this mock-up right now... but I am not sure, if I guessed the distance of two plates under the pinhole correctly:

You can see the dimensions in Sariel's review @03:59:

Your mock-up seems correct.

 

[HectorMB]

Is someone else having problems with the BuWizz website? To me, it seems that the page is fallen. 

[HectorMB]

Sorry for the insistence, but does someone knows something about the shipping of the BuWizz bricks? Indeed, it seems that the motors will start shipping next well but I had no news from what's happening with the bricks. 

[ScT]

Hey. Their website is working fine for me.
It also states on their product pages that the Buwizz 3.0 brick is shipping sometime in June 2021, wheras the Motor is shipping sometime in July 2021.

I unfortunately(?) ordered mine together, in one order, so have to wait probably until July for my Brick, as the motors introduce a delay. Ah well. :)

[ScT]

Quote

Dear BuWizz customers and supporters

IMPORTANT NOTICE Regarding BuWizz iOS and Android App:

Please download and save all the custom profiles you made in BuWizz App to your phone or tablet.
New BuWizz App update will be available in a few days on iOS and Android. While we have tested the transfer of custom profiles from the old App to the new version extensively and found no issues with the transfer, we cannot guarantee 100% every profile transfer will be OK.

Downloading custom profiles is just a precautionary measure. It is considered good practice to create backup of your profiles periodically, so you do not lose them in case something goes wrong.

BuWizz 3.0 Pro and BuWizz Motor:

We have finally solved all the problems! We received the first batch of BuWizz 3.0 Pro and BuWizz Motors from production – see images below.

If everything goes as planned, and we are 99,9% positive that it will, the first production batch will start shipping next week.

The long-awaited day has finally come!

Thank you for your support and patience.

Best Regards,

BuWizz Team

Received update #5 just now.

Edited June 4, 2021 by ScT

[HectorMB]

Let's see! Hopefully we get those bricks. 

I haven't received any update, by the way! . Edited: just got it! 

Edited June 5, 2021 by HectorMB

[keymaker]

Please tell, what will be the colour of the case for motor? Because on photos from e-mail update I saw white-ish(?) cases.

Edited June 5, 2021 by keymaker

[HectorMB]

I think it's light bluish grey, no?