Jim

BuWizz - High Performance LEGO Power Functions Controller and Battery

Recommended Posts

I also experienced the same issue. In my case, I used a heavy model (circa 2000 pieces) with 2 buwizz units powering 2 buwizz motors. The motors had no gear reduction and the buwizz units shut down quite frequently.

As @keymakersaid, apparently, the only solution at this moment is to gear the motors down...

Edited by HectorMB

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, keymaker said:

I did, with my Armored Trophy Truck. I needed to change gearing a little to reduce power consumption during starts/stops. There is no solution for this problem as far as I know.

And in which way did you need to change it? Faster or slower? May sound stupid, but I guess it's not trivial to know which one can mean less power consumption. The only way I could change the gearing is making it faster at the diff (currently using heavy-duty diff with red gear, there aren't that many gears in the drivetrain), and for that I'd either have to use weaker old diff, or the new yellow gears which I cannot even buy yet..

Anyway, that's not the optimal solution, as it would decrease climbing performance and controllability. It would be better to have some actual software solution, and I thought this issue has already been addressed in the firmware. I cannot even try acceleration times, as the BrickController app does not have such an option..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
9 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

I am currently testing my build for the BuWizz camp coming up soon. I am using one BuWizz and 2 BuWizz motors. The performance is amazing (never had so much fun with a lego car, it really feels like playing with an RC toy), however, the BuWizz itself shuts down completely occasionally. It does not react to the power button, but if I put it on a charger, it comes back to life immediately and it's not depleted (for example at 60%), I can still continue playing with it without recharging. This repeated 3 times today after about 5 minutes of play each time (maybe each time it took less time to shut down again). Did anyone have similar issue? Any ideas what could be the reason? Is it maybe drawing too much power occasionally? (The firmware is up to date according to the BuWizz app, and I am using BrickController2 for control).

Same here.

Though you said it was for Buwizz camp and the way I understand from the newsletter is that they may supply you with Buwizz units? But I am not sure so you would have to ask them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

And in which way did you need to change it? Faster or slower? May sound stupid, but I guess it's not trivial to know which one can mean less power consumption. The only way I could change the gearing is making it faster at the diff (currently using heavy-duty diff with red gear, there aren't that many gears in the drivetrain), and for that I'd either have to use weaker old diff, or the new yellow gears which I cannot even buy yet..

Anyway, that's not the optimal solution, as it would decrease climbing performance and controllability. It would be better to have some actual software solution, and I thought this issue has already been addressed in the firmware. I cannot even try acceleration times, as the BrickController app does not have such an option..

The problem is (at least in my opinion) related to power (current) spikes during start/stop and lack of software protection against it. How to protect your MOC against it? Change gearing in a way, that there will be less torque required from motors (lower torque = lover power/current consumption). In my case it was change from 16T/16T (motor/wheel) to 12T/20T.

Edited by keymaker

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 minutes ago, Jayden said:

Same here.

Though you said it was for Buwizz camp and the way I understand from the newsletter is that they may supply you with Buwizz units? But I am not sure so you would have to ask them.

Not sure how that works, I asked them already but haven't got a reply yet. Anyway, I don't think that would help, if I just replace the BuWizz with another one in my build, it will probably cut out the same way. And I cannot really just add in one more BuWizz, since the model is designed to have the single BuWizz built into the central part of it.

10 minutes ago, keymaker said:

The problem is (at least in my opinion) related to power (current) spikes during start/stop and lack of software protection against it. How to protect your MOC against it? Change gearing in a way, that there will be less torque required from motors (lower torque = lover power/current consumption). In my case it was change from 16T/16T (motor/wheel) to 12T/20T.

That would be my guess too, so changing the gearing to slower at the wheel means less torque (hence power consumption) on the motor, that makes sense. Not really an option though in this build..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, gyenesvi said:

And I cannot really just add in one more BuWizz, since the model is designed to have the single BuWizz built into the central part of it.

Oh okay that was my suggestion

2 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

if I just replace the BuWizz with another one in my build, it will probably cut out the same way

Yes it probably would.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Instead of Buwizz doing weekly YT videos, I would really like to see Buwizz doing some (regular) updates on the 2022/Q1 app milestones which were introduces back then.
The longer this lags behind with any updates (we are in Q3 already) for me it gives the bad taste of having poor support from the vendor.
I know that app development may be difficult - nevertheless giving honest PR to the customers is on another page and I would really appreciate some updates there.
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all introduced features to be delivered in notime, but at least I would appreciate some regular updates to see for myself if Buwizz is / will be the right product for me personally.
This better PR I am speaking of could also be utilized to bind users more to the product/vendor's site by giving the users a functionality for registered Buwizz units to be able to vote for a certain (preselected by Buwizz) features which should go into development next.

For example I am desperately waiting for a failsafe feature which I see as absolutely mandatory for faster models in conjuntion with the limited BT range of the system (even as a total optional thing to be enabled on purpose to not interfere with regular users who don't need). Also an two-button-Input like a paddle shifter would be really neat for utilizing regular servos to shift gearboxes. E.g. push "+" / "-" buttons of that input control would do a 90° turn and stay in that state.


Sorry for giving this kind of negative post, but for a ~200 € product I am expecting way more from the vendor. I would really like to get a 3rd and maybe 4th Buwizz 3 - but as long as there comes no single update I am not considering to burn more money into this seemingly "already to be considered discontinued?!" product - which I find very sad.

Buwizz camp is currently happening and I generally am aware of ZeroBricks to be considered as a private EB user here (on purpose no mention to his account) and here it's not the official support of the vendor, also that he may not be allowed to give any detailed reply here even if he would like to.
But maybe this honest opinion may be recognized somehow.

Looking forward to see more technical updates from the Buwizz Dev team - even if the estimates for the Q1 feature list will be postponed further to the future because of implementation issues.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
36 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

Instead of Buwizz doing weekly YT videos, I would really like to see Buwizz doing some (regular) updates on the 2022/Q1 app milestones which were introduces back then.
The longer this lags behind with any updates (we are in Q3 already) for me it gives the bad taste of having poor support from the vendor.
I know that app development may be difficult - nevertheless giving honest PR to the customers is on another page and I would really appreciate some updates there.
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all introduced features to be delivered in notime, but at least I would appreciate some regular updates to see for myself if Buwizz is / will be the right product for me personally.
This better PR I am speaking of could also be utilized to bind users more to the product/vendor's site by giving the users a functionality for registered Buwizz units to be able to vote for a certain (preselected by Buwizz) features which should go into development next.

For example I am desperately waiting for a failsafe feature which I see as absolutely mandatory for faster models in conjuntion with the limited BT range of the system (even as a total optional thing to be enabled on purpose to not interfere with regular users who don't need). Also an two-button-Input like a paddle shifter would be really neat for utilizing regular servos to shift gearboxes. E.g. push "+" / "-" buttons of that input control would do a 90° turn and stay in that state.


Sorry for giving this kind of negative post, but for a ~200 € product I am expecting way more from the vendor. I would really like to get a 3rd and maybe 4th Buwizz 3 - but as long as there comes no single update I am not considering to burn more money into this seemingly "already to be considered discontinued?!" product - which I find very sad.

Buwizz camp is currently happening and I generally am aware of ZeroBricks to be considered as a private EB user here (on purpose no mention to his account) and here it's not the official support of the vendor, also that he may not be allowed to give any detailed reply here even if he would like to.
But maybe this honest opinion may be recognized somehow.

Looking forward to see more technical updates from the Buwizz Dev team - even if the estimates for the Q1 feature list will be postponed further to the future because of implementation issues.

I fully subscribe this, indeed. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am pushing as much as I can, so all I can advice is that you send such requests to the support for additional pressure. Unforutnately besides me nobody else in our team regulary checks the Eurobricks forums...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, Zerobricks said:

I am pushing as much as I can, so all I can advice is that you send such requests to the support for additional pressure. Unforutnately besides me nobody else in our team regulary checks the Eurobricks forums...

Thanks Zero for that comment. I will try it out with another mail to the official support mail.

Thanks for all your efforts and hope you had a nice camp experience!

 

Regards

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@aFrInaTi0n, I am totally with you on this, I have just returned from the BuWizz camp, where I tried to discussed these issues with the team members in person (along with others having the same problems), so let's hope there will be steps forward soon. I agree that the highest priority is to make it failsafe so that it does not shut down for fast models (the biggest problem is that it's unpredictable when it shuts down, because it depends on many circumstances), but as I was told it must be done in firmware, whose development is outsourced, so it is particularly cumbersome. On a positive note, we were shown a demo version of a gearbox shifter module, so let's hope that that one gets incorporated into an update soon.

BTW, the camp was a nice event, a great way to meet in person, compare our models, approaches to the same problem, and interesting lessons learned from racing a bit :) So I can encourage you all to participate next time! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@gyenesvi Thanks for the update and the details. If it is outsourced, they should have some money planned to a certain amount of time for the ext. company. Maybe just asking kindly to deliver the features which were (maybe) promised to Buwizz in a certain amount of time/cost.
Its easy to point towards the external company, but I think as being the client to the ext. company you can expect them to deliver - otherwise they will laugh about you burning money into them.

I had two ideas since I posted my kind-of "ranting" post:
 

  1. Doing a Google Forms Poll for users from this thread to just set one single question like "I would like to have more frequent updates about upcoming app & firmware development" with a yes/no option to strengthen up our voice as a community of their customers.
    (I don't know if it is possible to do polls here in EB directly or if it is generally wanted if for e.g. me setting a Google Forms Poll for this)
  2. Writing an mail to Buwizz to ask if they need support in communication with the external company, because I am an senior system-engineer in a development-team, because I think the Buwizz-team may not be developers for themselves and maybe fooled by the external company telling bs-reasons to just earn money by doing nothing

Edit: Created a poll, just a preview of how it could look:
Buwizz-Poll.png

One thing there: Without asking for an email address this poll could easily be manipulated in one or the other way - on the other hand I am an IT guy and I really don't want to gather email-addresses (which I wouldn't make use of anyways, but people have to trust me on this, or others may not participate..)

Any opinions welcome.

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi guys,

have a questions for Buwizz 3 or lets better say the app: Is it possible to use for example the "Button" command to rotate a PU motor a certain angle? So like implementing a stepper motor.

Thanks in advance!

*Edit: Oh man now I just read the post from @aFrInaTi0n above....

Edited by Jundis

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Jundis said:

Hi guys,

have a questions for Buwizz 3 or lets better say the app: Is it possible to use for example the "Button" command to rotate a PU motor a certain angle? So like implementing a stepper motor.

Thanks in advance!

No.

This annoyance is bothering me too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 8/8/2022 at 5:43 PM, aFrInaTi0n said:

Writing an mail to Buwizz to ask if they need support in communication with the external company, because I am an senior system-engineer in a development-team, because I think the Buwizz-team may not be developers for themselves and maybe fooled by the external company telling bs-reasons to just earn money by doing nothing

I don't think that's the case, there are skilled guys in the team. If you are in this business then you know how project roadmaps and deadlines work, especially within smaller teams. But I think you are right regarding the published software dev roadmap and how customers' expectations could be managed in a better way. Communication is key, more transparency with the changes would be appreciated. Based on the published blog post we can see what the team wanted to achieve in Q1, but apparently it takes more time. Which itself is not an issue, but the changes in the roadmap should be regularly communicated. As @gyenesvi mentioned we've already seen the gearbox-stepper functionality working at the BuWizz Camp, but it'd be great to know when to expect it in the public release.

@aFrInaTi0n you could start a public poll to but I'm not sure how many BuWizz users are represented here on EB, how strongly the outcome could back up your message. I simply suggest to drop an e-mail to the BuWizz team and explain what your (and the others) expectations are.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, kbalage said:

@aFrInaTi0n you could start a public poll to but I'm not sure how many BuWizz users are represented here on EB, how strongly the outcome could back up your message. I simply suggest to drop an e-mail to the BuWizz team and explain what your (and the others) expectations are.

Also came to that conclusion and did exactly this.. :D
Answer for the failsafe feature: no estimation, except hopefully before end of the year.

Lets hope for the best.. guess its the only thing which we can do.. :)

Edit: Yeah, honest (even if earlier deadlines have to be pushed etc) regular updates would be better than just no updates.

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 9/1/2022 at 9:25 AM, kbalage said:

 I simply suggest to drop an e-mail to the BuWizz team and explain what your (and the others) expectations are.

This is indeed what I already did twice: onece 2 month ago, and other one this week. And both with same result: no answer. 

I share the feeling that BuWizz is an small company having a lot of obstacles along it's career. But I cannot avoid to feel a little disappointed with all this. From the beginning (the big delay in delivering the Buwizz units themselves) and with the following app development, I have the sentiment that the company is not being able to deliver what they claimed they were to. I have no doubt that the buwizz units deliver a ton of power, but it's a quite pricey stuff just to do that. 

 

For those that already have (and paid!) The Buwizz units, I also agree that, besides sending a message to the company, we cannot do anything else but wait. But it's also quite true, I think, that all these issues may have have an impact in the company's reputation as well as the future potential future buyers. At this moment, honestly, if a colleague ask me about buying it or not one of these units, I have to unfortunately to say that I'll strongly discourage him/her to do it.

By now, my units are just at the end of the drawer, just waiting for any update, as, by now, I prefer to use other batteries or power suppliers that will do a more precise job with -this is also true- a significant cost in power delivery.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@HectorMB I'm wondering what are the functions that you are missing, what did you expect to do with your units that don't work at all? 

I also wish the BuWizz team had much bigger resources and could push the developments out faster, but I think every basic function I expected to work is working. For me the most important feature of BuWizz 2 & 3 is to be able to provide high(er) voltage to my LEGO builds and it works. Of course I would love to have e.g. controller support as I hate touchscreen control, but as I've seen during BuWizz camp kids are just fine with it so I accept that my need was not the first on the priority list.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My major interest -which was said as a feature from the beginning- is to be able to control the rotation in a degree-wise form. I don't know how many times already buwizz users asked for this. Moreover, as others mentioned before, and to make it failsafe. There are other features that could be great, as the one you just mentioned, off being able to use a controller instead the phone... But this was not indeed described as a feature from the beginning, so I have to consider it as a plus... If it ever comes. 

1 minute ago, HectorMB said:

 

 

Edited by HectorMB

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I see, well that is a missing feature indeed. I don't want to defend the BuWizz team here, but apparently precision control of the PU motors is even a challenge for the folks at LEGO themselves, at least the lack of meaningful updates in the past 2 years for the Powered Up app shows me that, after all this time we still don't have access to the hardware encoder data. Another alternative would be the SBrick Pro app that is supposed to be able to do it, but that's also in development for years now. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Your have a point, @kbalage, even the Lego app is not the sharpest when controlling the rotation. Nevertheless, one thing is not been the best and other one is not being able to do it at all, which is the current state off the buwizz app. That's why, even being bulkier and releasing less power, I'm now using Lego technic hubs for my MOCs. 

 

I don't give up on buwizz, of course. I think there's a lot of potential on the unit. But, as I said, I have the feeling that they are not delivering what was stated. This is specially flagrant when taking into account the price of each of these units. At this moment, I think that the buwizz 3.0 is not worth the price by far. But I still hope that, at some point, it will do better. 

I'm not upset, just disappointed. It's up to each one to think what it worse. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, HectorMB said:

This is indeed what I already did twice: onece 2 month ago, and other one this week. And both with same result: no answer

Strange... I mailed them a few days ago and got an answer the following day.

Still you describe exactly both features I need for my MOC.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm usually responding to support with technical issues and I try to respond within a day. BUT certain specific things I can't answer like function implementation dates and such are transfered to other members. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Zerobricks, I'm aware of your efforts, and, indeed, the absence of response is not my biggest complain. I think that, indeed, you do more than good here. Regarding communication, is true that a clearer and more frequent official updates from  buwizz (not via this forum) is also missing, and indeed, pointed out by many buwizz customers. Personally, my disappointment goes more for the product/app delivery. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't know this was asked before but is someone tried use spike essential's small motor as steering servo with buwizz 3.0? I tried it today after get my 3.0 but it seems not work right.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.