BuWizz - High Performance LEGO Power Functions Controller and Battery

[HectorMB]

Thanks a lot, @Zerobricks! I look forward to get the update as tester and see how it performs with the BWs! :)

[aFrInaTi0n]

@Zerobricks Just my experience from two Buwizz 3 of mine:

- "Factory-new" one from Black Friday order failed at first run with the Nordic update and I had to wait for the Buwizz to power itself down to then be able to start it again. Connecting & flashing in in the second attempt worked out as expected without any issues.

- Other Buwizz (which was ordered in August via custombricks.de) had no problems and succeeded directly in the first run of flashing.
 

[Danil]

If I am not satisfied with the beta version of the firmware on my buwizz, then how can I roll back to the previous firmware version?

[Zerobricks]

2 hours ago, Danil said:

If I am not satisfied with the beta version of the firmware on my buwizz, then how can I roll back to the previous firmware version?

You can roll out of the beta before you install it. But once released, the new firmware will be mandatory. There are no differences in performance with the new firmware, but it does remove a few bugs.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Zerobricks

[wower]

Great.. so now we are beta-testers for their product :-/

[aFrInaTi0n]

@wower I think just leaving the Beta program will put you back to the regular releases.

 

Firmware will stay at that version until a newer release will succeed it on the regular release channel.

[Danil]

after installing the beta version of the firmware, as expected, nothing worthwhile from the one who writes the software for buwizz!  he is either a moron, or feeble-minded, or depressive !!!  Swamp Plague!  Do you at least understand what needs to be done and what it is for and for what purposes!  Throw away the PC or smash their heads!  don't write software anymore!  I beg you!!!  after all the torment and other things, buwizz 3.0 is just a battery for a wild price for sbrick!  How long do I need to wait for the buwizz to work as stated ?!  when will a qualified programmer who knows his business appear in buwizz?  P.S.  if you suddenly decided to buy a bouwizz, think about it!  you buy a problem with nerves for your own money.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Danil

[WW Bricks Studio]

9 hours ago, Danil said:

after installing the beta version of the firmware, as expected, nothing worthwhile from the one who writes the software for buwizz!  he is either a moron, or feeble-minded, or depressive !!!  Swamp Plague!  Do you at least understand what needs to be done and what it is for and for what purposes!  Throw away the PC or smash their heads!  don't write software anymore!  I beg you!!!  after all the torment and other things, buwizz 3.0 is just a battery for a wild price for sbrick!  How long do I need to wait for the buwizz to work as stated ?!  when will a qualified programmer who knows his business appear in buwizz?  P.S.  if you suddenly decided to buy a bouwizz, think about it!  you buy a problem with nerves for your own money.

I have installed the beta version of the firmware as well. I think this time they fixed the bug that when a PU motor as a servo motor there is a abnormal shake or extremely turn to one side. Even though, if you turn the bar to the end-point, there is still a cracked sound. And, if you use two BW buggy motors, it is still shut-down like before that I just push the bar up. There are no other better alternative choice of a multi-channel brick control set, just keep reporting the bug, one day, all issues might be fixed...

[Zerobricks]

7 hours ago, WW Bricks Studio said:

I have installed the beta version of the firmware as well. I think this time they fixed the bug that when a PU motor as a servo motor there is a abnormal shake or extremely turn to one side. Even though, if you turn the bar to the end-point, there is still a cracked sound. And, if you use two BW buggy motors, it is still shut-down like before that I just push the bar up. There are no other better alternative choice of a multi-channel brick control set, just keep reporting the bug, one day, all issues might be fixed...

Thank you for the positive feedback. Regarding the a cracked sounds, I would recommend you to limit the steering centering power, to as low as possible, but still strong enough to steer your model's wheels fully. I highly advise against using 100% power, since it can overload the PU motor's protection and disable it during the calibration, we will add a warning at the full app release.

We also got feedback from the beta testing and the response is quite positive, most people had no issues updating theit BuWizz 3.0's firmware.

Regarding the BuWizz shutdown issue, we will introduce firmware based adjustable current limiters in the next firmware update which should limit the motor currents before it triggers the battery cut off.

A quick reminder. The new firmware update is for BuWizz 3.0 only, but that did not stop some people from trying it on their BuWizz 2.0 bricks unsuccessfully - we will correct that in the full ap release.

I would also like to go over the new calibration steering factors quickly, for those who want to fine tune the steering;

• Centering power - the power used by the motor during the center calibration, I would recommend you to limit the steering centering power to as low as possible, but still strong enough to steer your model's wheels fully. Too high can cause the motor to overheat and turn off during centering.
• Centering PWM time - the time the module spends steeering the wheels in each direction, if the time is too low the motor may not reach the final position, longer times are recommended for models with large gearing or rack lengths.

There are 3 presets available for center steering, light is for small models like 42109 and 42125, medium is for models like 42099 and 42129 and heavy is for the 42114.

You can also change the presets by pressing the custom button at your own risk.

Here is a quick summary of the steering coefficients and their effects:

• Kp - this is the main proportional influence of the steering controller, it tells the steering with what kind of a gain it should work. Having it low reduces the steering response, having it too high can cause it to oscilate.
• Ki - This is the integral influelnce of the controller, I usually leave it at 0.01, having it too high can cause oscillation.
• Kd - This is the derative influence of the controller, default recommended setting is -1.0, but it can be decreased for heavy models where the steering system is slower.
• outLP - this is an output low pass filter which can be used to slow the system down in order to prevent oscillations, but it's not needed and set to 0 in most cases.
• D_LP - This is an additional derative low pass filter which can be used if needed, but I recommend you leave it at 0 by default.
• DeadBandOut - this factor sets a deadpoint band for the servo output, having it too low may cause the servo to constantly try to adjust the position, having it too high will cause the steering to be less accurate.
• DeadBandOutBoost - This is the boost the servo motor receives to move the steering. Some boost is recommended to overcome the initial friction and mass acceleration, but having it too high may cause oscilations. I recommend 5 - 20.
• Liml limits the integral part of the controller, I recommend it having at default setting of 20.
• LimOut is the the current limiter of the servo, reducing it will reduce the current consumption of the motor but may reduce the torque of the steering system.
• Reference rate limit affects the speed of the entire servo steering system. I recommend it set higher for lighter models and lower for heavier models.

And here are the factors which are in my opinion the most important to fine tune your model's center steering (you can leave the others at default level):

• Kp - gain of the steering response
• DeadbandOut - steering accuracy and deadband
• DeadBandBoost - boost to get steering system moving
• ReferenceLimit - speed of the steering system

Regarding the feedback by Danil... It would be very useful if you could state what issues you are actually experiencing so that we can help you.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Zerobricks

[Jim]

17 hours ago, Danil said:

after installing the beta version of the firmware, as expected, nothing worthwhile from the one who writes the software for buwizz!  he is either a moron, or feeble-minded, or depressive !!!  Swamp Plague!  Do you at least understand what needs to be done and what it is for and for what purposes!  Throw away the PC or smash their heads!  don't write software anymore!  I beg you!!!  after all the torment and other things, buwizz 3.0 is just a battery for a wild price for sbrick!  How long do I need to wait for the buwizz to work as stated ?!  when will a qualified programmer who knows his business appear in buwizz?  P.S.  if you suddenly decided to buy a bouwizz, think about it!  you buy a problem with nerves for your own money.

Hi @Danil

While I definitely understand your frustration, Eurobricks is not a place where we call people "morons, feeble-minded or depressive". It okay to discuss issues, but let's keep it civilized and constructive. It's awesome that @Zerobricks is actively answering questions and is trying to help. Let's appreciate that, instead of the continuous hatred posted against him.

Would it be an idea to simply get a refund? Since the product doesn't meet your expectations.

[HectorMB]

1 hour ago, Zerobricks said:

Thank you for the positive feedback. Regarding the a cracked sounds, I would recommend you to limit the steering centering power, to as low as possible, but still strong enough to steer your model's wheels fully. I highly advise against using 100% power, since it can overload the PU motor's protection and disable it during the calibration, we will add a warning at the full app release.

We also got feedback from the beta testing and the response is quite positive, most people had no issues updating theit BuWizz 3.0's firmware.

Regarding the BuWizz shutdown issue, we will introduce firmware based adjustable current limiters in the next firmware update which should limit the motor currents before it triggers the battery cut off.

A quick reminder. The new firmware update is for BuWizz 3.0 only, but that did not stop some people from trying it on their BuWizz 2.0 bricks unsuccessfully - we will correct that in the full ap release.

I would also like to go over the new calibration steering factors quickly, for those who want to fine tune the steering;

• Centering power - the power used by the motor during the center calibration, I would recommend you to limit the steering centering power to as low as possible, but still strong enough to steer your model's wheels fully. Too high can cause the motor to overheat and turn off during centering.
• Centering PWM time - the time the module spends steeering the wheels in each direction, if the time is too low the motor may not reach the final position, longer times are recommended for models with large gearing or rack lengths.

There are 3 presets available for center steering, light is for small models like 42109 and 42125, medium is for models like 42099 and 42129 and heavy is for the 42114.

You can also change the presets by pressing the custom button at your own risk.

Here is a quick summary of the steering coefficients and their effects:

• Kp - this is the main proportional influence of the steering controller, it tells the steering with what kind of a gain it should work. Having it low reduces the steering response, having it too high can cause it to oscilate.
• Ki - This is the integral influelnce of the controller, I usually leave it at 0.01, having it too high can cause oscillation.
• Kd - This is the derative influence of the controller, default recommended setting is -1.0, but it can be decreased for heavy models where the steering system is slower.
• outLP - this is an output low pass filter which can be used to slow the system down in order to prevent oscillations, but it's not needed and set to 0 in most cases.
• D_LP - This is an additional derative low pass filter which can be used if needed, but I recommend you leave it at 0 by default.
• DeadBandOut - this factor sets a deadpoint band for the servo output, having it too low may cause the servo to constantly try to adjust the position, having it too high will cause the steering to be less accurate.
• DeadBandOutBoost - This is the boost the servo motor receives to move the steering. Some boost is recommended to overcome the initial friction and mass acceleration, but having it too high may cause oscilations. I recommend 5 - 20.
• Liml limits the integral part of the controller, I recommend it having at default setting of 20.
• LimOut is the the current limiter of the servo, reducing it will reduce the current consumption of the motor but may reduce the torque of the steering system.
• Reference rate limit affects the speed of the entire servo steering system. I recommend it set higher for lighter models and lower for heavier models.

And here are the factors which are in my opinion the most important to fine tune your model's center steering (you can leave the others at default level):

• Kp - gain of the steering response
• DeadbandOut - steering accuracy and deadband
• DeadBandBoost - boost to get steering system moving
• ReferenceLimit - speed of the steering system

Regarding the feedback by Danil... It would be very useful if you could state what issues you are actually experiencing so that we can help you.

MANY THANKS FOR THIS! Indeed, I was missing this kind of summary for the release of the testing version. 

In general, after playing a little with the new app and with loaded motors, i have very good impressions. Thare still few things that I will try to summarize and send as a feddback, but this guideline you mentioned trully helps, thanks.

[Danil]

2 hours ago, Jim said:

Hi @Danil

While I definitely understand your frustration, Eurobricks is not a place where we call people "morons, feeble-minded or depressive". It okay to discuss issues, but let's keep it civilized and constructive. It's awesome that @Zerobricks is actively answering questions and is trying to help. Let's appreciate that, instead of the continuous hatred posted against him.

Would it be an idea to simply get a refund? Since the product doesn't meet your expectations.

Dear Jim! Having paid YOUR money, having received, in fact, an extremely limitedly similar device, in contrast to the one stated on the OFFICIAL website, where there is not a word that there may be problems with the device, while everything is painted brightly and perfectly! Having voluntarily and forcibly made a person a beta tester (I generally applaud such impudence! BRILLIANT!), If I want to have a ghostly functionality that was declared in the stock (stable fw), I am offered to pay my money again to get my money back! Scam of pure water!

3 hours ago, Zerobricks said:

Спасибо за положительный отзыв. Что касается треска, я бы порекомендовал вам ограничить усилие центрирования рулевого управления как можно более низким, но все же достаточно сильным, чтобы полностью управлять колесами вашей модели. Я настоятельно не рекомендую использовать 100% мощность, так как это может привести к перегрузке защиты двигателя PU и отключению ее во время калибровки, мы добавим предупреждение в полную версию приложения.

Мы также получили отзывы о бета-тестировании, и они положительные, у большинства людей не было проблем с обновлением прошивки BuWizz 3.0.

Что касается проблемы отключения BuWizz, мы представим регулируемые ограничители тока на основе встроенного программного обеспечения в следующем обновлении встроенного программного обеспечения, которые должны ограничивать токи двигателя до того, как это приведет к отключению батареи.

Быстрое напоминание. Новое обновление прошивки предназначено только для BuWizz 3.0, но это не помешало некоторым людям безуспешно опробовать его на своих модулях BuWizz 2.0 - мы исправим это в полной версии ap.

Я также хотел бы быстро перейти к новым калибровочным коэффициентам рулевого управления для тех, кто хочет точно настроить рулевое управление;

• Центрирующая сила - мощность, используемая двигателем во время калибровки центра, я бы рекомендовал вам ограничить усилие центрирования рулевого управления как можно более низким, но все же достаточно сильным, чтобы полностью управлять колесами вашей модели. Слишком высокое значение может привести к перегреву двигателя и отключению во время центрирования.
• Время центрирования ШИМ - время, в течение которого модуль поворачивает колеса в каждом направлении. Если время слишком мало, двигатель может не достичь конечного положения, для моделей с большой зубчатой передачей или зубчатой рейкой рекомендуется более длительное время.

Доступны 3 предустановки для центрального рулевого управления: легкий - для небольших моделей, таких как 42109 и 42125, средний - для моделей, таких как 42099 и 42129, и тяжелый - для 42114.

Вы также можете изменить предустановки, нажав пользовательскую кнопку на свой страх и риск.

Вот краткое описание коэффициентов рулевого управления и их влияния:

• Kp - это основное пропорциональное влияние контроллера рулевого управления, оно сообщает рулевому управлению, с каким коэффициентом усиления он должен работать. Низкое значение снижает реакцию рулевого управления, а слишком высокое может привести к его колебаниям.
• Ki - это интегральное влияние контроллера, я обычно оставляю его равным 0,01, слишком высокое значение может вызвать колебания.
• Kd - это отрицательное влияние контроллера, рекомендуемое значение по умолчанию -1,0, но оно может быть уменьшено для тяжелых моделей, где система рулевого управления работает медленнее.
• outLP - это выходной фильтр нижних частот, который можно использовать для замедления работы системы, чтобы предотвратить колебания, но он не нужен и в большинстве случаев установлен на 0.
• D_LP - это дополнительный деративный фильтр нижних частот, который можно использовать при необходимости, но я рекомендую вам оставить его на 0 по умолчанию.
• DeadBandOut - этот коэффициент устанавливает диапазон мертвой точки для выхода сервопривода, его слишком низкий может привести к тому, что сервопривод будет постоянно пытаться отрегулировать положение, слишком высокое значение приведет к менее точному управлению.
• DeadBandOutBoost - это усиление, которое серводвигатель получает для перемещения рулевого управления. Рекомендуется некоторый наддув, чтобы преодолеть начальное трение и ускорение массы, но слишком большое его значение может вызвать колебания. Рекомендую 5-20.
• Liml ограничивает составную часть контроллера, я рекомендую установить его по умолчанию 20.
• LimOut - это ограничитель тока сервопривода, его уменьшение снизит потребление тока двигателем, но может снизить крутящий момент системы рулевого управления.
• Предел эталонной скорости влияет на скорость всей сервосистемы рулевого управления. Я рекомендую установить более высокое значение для более легких моделей и более низкое для более тяжелых моделей.

И вот факторы, которые, на мой взгляд, являются наиболее важными для точной настройки центрального рулевого управления вашей модели (вы можете оставить другие на уровне по умолчанию):

• Kp - усиление реакции рулевого управления
• DeadbandOut - точность рулевого управления и зона нечувствительности
• DeadBandBoost - ускорение для приведения в движение системы рулевого управления
• ReferenceLimit - скорость рулевой системы

Что касается отзыва Данила ... Было бы очень полезно, если бы вы могли указать, с какими проблемами вы действительно сталкиваетесь, чтобы мы могли вам помочь.

Dear ZeroBrix, along with the update I would like to see a full-fledged guide regarding the new firmware and especially the innovations in the steering part. If possible in both cases ...

[Zerobricks]

Danil, please contact the support and I'm pretty sure we can come to some kind of an agreement. Please also put your reference there, so we know who you are.

Regarding beta testing, we needed a way to test the firmware update on a vast variety of different devices and setups. There's no other way to get constructive feedback and colaborate with our users than a test version.

The guide will be updated accordingly once the full app is released.

[gyenesvi]

@Zerobricks thanks for summarizing the steering control parameters. Are these parameters part of an algorithm in the mobile app, or inside the firmware itself? If it's inside the firmware, do these somehow appear in the Buwizz protocol as well?

You mentioned that the beta testing is for Android. With the full release, will this be also available for the iOS version soon? Thanks!

[Zerobricks]

38 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

@Zerobricks thanks for summarizing the steering control parameters. Are these parameters part of an algorithm in the mobile app, or inside the firmware itself? If it's inside the firmware, do these somehow appear in the Buwizz protocol as well?

You mentioned that the beta testing is for Android. With the full release, will this be also available for the iOS version soon? Thanks!

The parameters are sent to the FW which in turn controls the motor, it has to be done at FW level, as Bluetooth communication would be too slow to control the servo motor.

You can find the API here: https://buwizz.com/BuWizz_3.0_API_3.6_web.pdf Page 11 should be relavant to you.

Testing is open for iOS too, please have a go too. The link is here.

[gyenesvi]

Great, thanks!

[2GodBDGlory]

I've got a question for anyone with a Buwizz 2.0 or 3.0 and a multimeter: At full charge, what output voltage do you get when measuring from the contacts with a multimeter? I know the nominal voltage is 11.2, but I'm curious if the full-charge voltage goes much above this. The reason for my question is that I am working on building a custom 3s Lithium battery, and at full charge I'm getting a voltage readout of 12.3V. More power is great, but I'm not sure if Lego stuff will be happy above 12V... What I'm hoping to hear is that Buwizzes are in a similar range when fully charged, thus implying that my battery is safe to use.

[Zerobricks]

BuWizz 2.0 uses 2 lithium cells in parallel with a DC/DC converter, the output voltage voltages is kept stable depending on the speed mode:

SLOW: 5.2 V
NORMAL: 7.2 V
FAST: 9.2 V
LUDICROUS: 11.2 V

Buwizz 3.0 uses a 3S battery pack (3 batteris in a series) so the voltage is between 12,5 V when full and around 11 V when empty. It's also the reason why speed modes don't work on BuWizz 3.0.

One more note. Most Lego motors are internally actually a 12 V design, which are used at 9 V.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Zerobricks

[2GodBDGlory]

2 hours ago, Zerobricks said:

BuWizz 2.0 uses 2 lithium cells in parallel with a DC/DC converter, the output voltage voltages is kept stable depending on the speed mode:

SLOW: 5.2 V
NORMAL: 7.2 V
FAST: 9.2 V
LUDICROUS: 11.2 V

Buwizz 3.0 uses a 3S battery pack (3 batteris in a series) so the voltage is between 12,5 V when full and around 11 V when empty. It's also the reason why speed modes don't work on BuWizz 3.0.

One more note. Most Lego motors are internally actually a 12 V design, which are used at 9 V.

Thanks for the information! I'm glad to hear that Lego motors hold up to the peak 12.5V of the 3.0!

[FX6000]

Hello everyone,
I have issue with BuWizz 3.0. A little background: a few days ago I bought BuWizz 3.0, delivery was great by DHL. BuWizz was a bit cold so I left it for a few hours to evaporate condensate. When I try to charge BuWizz nothing happened. 
The guy from the support said that this is a deep discharge of the battery and advised to charge for many hours from a non-intelligent usb charger. I have charged it from PC, iPad charger, iPhone charger, USB extension cable (Power Strip), but no luck. I used original cabel supplied with BuWizz.
Any help or advise? Thanks!

[aFrInaTi0n]

@FX6000 Have you used another cable to test? maybe its just the cable?

[FX6000]

44 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

@FX6000 Have you used another cable to test? maybe its just the cable?

I did, I tested 2 cables: USB 2.0 to Type C and USB 3.0 to Type C. No luck

[slug420]

Just got a buwizz3 to use with 42099.

I had thought that like two, 3.0 had ludicrous mode and fast mode etc.  I now see that 3.0 doesn't have those modes and just runs at 12 volt all the time... Which is I understand it should still be better than the normal Lego hub which runs at 9 volt.

What I'm wondering is... 42099 doesn't seem noticeably faster with the buwizz....

I have switched the gears around in 42099 so that it is slower but has much more crawling power... Should using buwizz Make it faster but maybe I'm just noticing it since I'm not comparing them side by side?  Or if I switch the gears back will I have more crawling power plus the speed from the higher gearing?

 

I guess I'm wondering if my understanding is correct and this pack is running at a higher voltage than the Lego hub... Where should I expect to see that improvement? Speed? Or torque/power?

[ScT]

@slug420 I have 42099 (Well, the @efferman MOC version) and i can see a difference in speed with the hub being swapped for BuWizz. I can also see that there's a torque difference when climbing.

Sure, the difference isn't huge, but it was easily noticable. Perhaps around 10% faster, if i were to guesstimate a number.

[Zerobricks]

I would just kindly like to ask everyone, not to send me private messages regarding their BuWizz orders or issues and to use the official contact site instead. I will respond to them during the working days, but please understand that during the weekends I'm off work.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Zerobricks