Cosmik42

Control all your Powered Up & Power Function (SBrick) devices with a single software

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The Software can not find my two trains. 
Both trains have the new firmware installed. Yesterday one worked but after a firmware update it stopped working.

Edited by TheLarry98

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40 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Does the software have the ability to simultaneously turn on both ports on a hub in opposite directions so that a engine can have two motors facing in opposite directions?

Absolutely.

32 minutes ago, TheLarry98 said:

The Software can not find my two trains. 
Both trains have the new firmware installed. Yesterday one worked but after a firmware update it stopped working.

They are not discovered at all?

Did you try to pair them? If so it is best that you remove any pairing.

Edited by Cosmik42

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2 hours ago, Cosmik42 said:

They are not discovered at all?

Did you try to pair them? If so it is best that you remove any pairing.

Did I miss something? I start the programm and than press the green button on the hub.
I already remove the pairing (it flashes purple) but nothing changed.
 

poweredup.PNG

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8 minutes ago, TheLarry98 said:

Did I miss something? I start the programm and than press the green button on the hub.
I already remove the pairing (it flashes purple) but nothing changed.

For now detection is based on the name of the Hub. I have a new version using UUIDs coming up.

Make sure your Hubs use one of these 3 factory names: 'HUB NO.4', 'LEGO Move Hub' or 'Smart Hub'.

Let me know if this helps!

Edited by Cosmik42

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27 minutes ago, TheLarry98 said:

@Cosmik42 That was the problem. I renamed the trains earlier. Now it works. Thank you very much!

Great to read! This limitation will be fixed in the next release.

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If I connect a power supply to a PU hub will it power off after time or will it stay powered up? Reason is if I’ve got plenty of them scattered throughout my town I don’t want to turn each one everytime.

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As soon as you turn off the software, your Hub will power off. That said, this is the behavior I see with a standard battery. Not sure how it behaves with a plugged up battery.

Edited by Cosmik42

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15 minutes ago, Cosmik42 said:

As soon as you turn off the software, your Hub will power off. That said, this is the behavior I see with a standard battery. Not sure how it behaves with a plugged up battery.

I believe this is the idea of BLE, isn't it? Conserving as much energy as possible while providing as much service as possible.

I am loosely digging into BLE interfacing - one of the most relevant issues appears to be: Power consumption. It seems that software developers discourage client methods as for example "get all services/characteristics available" simply to save power on the BLE server. From the services available on the HUB.No4 it appears as if there currently is no distinction between "powered by batteries" vs "powered by external power supply" - as there is no external power feed on the current hubs.

Best regards,
Thorsten

   

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One of the things I am hoping for is proportional servo control.

Just half a year ago I was able to get myself the Volvo L350f and this was my first encounter with the Lego servo.
But what a disapointment to see that it only can go fully left or right and that not even subtile.

and we now have several control hubs.....


 

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Quote

One of the things I am hoping for is proportional servo control

I do not own this model, but I can confirm these motors have a very smooth progression.

Edited by Cosmik42

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18 hours ago, coinoperator said:

One of the things I am hoping for is proportional servo control.

Just half a year ago I was able to get myself the Volvo L350f and this was my first encounter with the Lego servo.
But what a disapointment to see that it only can go fully left or right and that not even subtile.

and we now have several control hubs.....

The Lego Servo will go proportional if you use the speed remote instead of the simple PF remote. 

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6 hours ago, mostlytechnic said:

The Lego Servo will go proportional if you use the speed remote instead of the simple PF remote. 

Really?
Never knew this..
(stumbling upstairs and digging in box labeled "Lego electrickity")

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1 hour ago, coinoperator said:

Really?

Yes. That is the idea of "proportional" aka servos: Full forward power applied (as the on/off or "bang bang" PF remote #8885 provides when pushing the buttons up) translates to full 90 degrees of the servo. No power = 0 degrees, full backward = -90 degrees. The #8879 remote (with the dials instead of switches) allows you to adjust the position of the servo.

Have fun!

Thorsten

 

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I am completely reworking the UI to be fully generic.
You can now configure manually a Hub, and be able to control 4 motors out of a Boost Hub if you wish so!

image.png.10b82d13cd2c64d671e686442655b4f3.png

I should have an updated build at the end of the weekend!

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V0.3 is out!

Here is a video that shows the UI improvement:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2311775879052281/permalink/2319137371649465/

Major update with this version:
- New UI
- Improved Hub Detection
- Color In C# Editor
- Light Management

You can download the latest build here:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g32wsw502jwv6oj/AAC0EycS7kgCIluhtVmKt1k3a?dl=1

On 12/31/2018 at 8:56 AM, Giottist said:

My eldest train hub does not cooperate with this version

I have a good news @Giottist - in the latest version you can overide the Hub to make it work as a normal train hub, not a BOOST one.

On 1/2/2019 at 8:09 PM, TheLarry98 said:

I renamed the trains earlier. Now it works. Thank you very much!

Good news @TheLarry98, I detect any Hub regardless of their names now.

Edited by Cosmik42

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Hello everybody, I have two more results to report:

First the speed value is not limited to 100. I can varied from -128 to +126. The value -128 means full speed backwards, 126 full speed forward. 0 stops the motor (and switch the lights off), but 127 do so too, by what reason whatsoever. Speed reglation is very smooth. What do we want more?

Second yesterday a hand full of WeDo 2.0 medium motors arived and I could tested them this night: They are identical to the motors from the stubby batmobile (better chunk or brickball?). They are recognized immediately by the software and handled equal to the train motor in difference to the original LEGO app. This are good news since we brick railroaders need a lot of such motors for our mocs.The bad news are that theese motors are still incredible expensive. 20,- € or $ for a simple M motor is to much, LEGO. The old M motor from PF costs 9,- at the LEGO store.

Now I download the new version an will play with it. I'm still thrilled :laugh:

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@Giottist - try to plug your old hub that did not use to work. If it is still recognized as a BOOST, you can now reconfigure its type.

36 minutes ago, Giottist said:

First the speed value is not limited to 100. I can varied from -128 to +126.

I have tested this on a WeDo 2.0 motor and on a Train Motor, and 100 remains the max speed for me.

Edited by Cosmik42

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This is not a double post.

I downloades the new version beta 0.3 and tested it immediately a I am still thrilled! It works very well with all connected hub either train hubs or BOOST hubs. All are recognized immediately and configure themselves in a correct way: Imressive and very very comfortable. Any plugged device is recognized and connected correct despite it was connected after or befor starting the BT communication. All three avalable motors a treated in the same way: Like the train motor. You can set the speed from stop (0) to forward (+100) or backward (-100). This is not full speed, I've found in my last posting that full speed backward is -128 and full speed forward is +126. For the next version ... :wink:

Only the sensor shows no reaction (?). It is recognized immediately but there is no display of distance of any object (white paper, my hand and so on) or color (different bricks and plates) In version 0.1 the result was displayed, ideal for test purposes. I used it to discover that the sensor is supported even by the train hub. Perhaps the new version can be enhanced by this function?

Is it correct that the color sensor influences the programs? To test this I have to begin to programm own test sequences, somewhat complicated just for a try out. BTW, Creating own programs is a large advantage of the software.

There is still a minor bug: If the first hub is switched on the software finds at first 29 non existing hubs, the the real hub. Further hubs are added to the list without flaws. Perhaps the empty error messages can be surpressed, they are a little bit distracting. But if you put the scrollbar to the far right you find the real existing hubs and can work with them :thumbup:.

At the moment I know nothing better than Cosmiks software, much better than the original LEGO bloatware.

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1 minute ago, Giottist said:

Only the sensor shows no reaction (?)

I put distance and color debug at false by default now. But you can turn it back on from the 'View' option in the top bar.

1 minute ago, Giottist said:

Is it correct that the color sensor influences the programs?

Yes! And no need to code. Simply add a Program and then add a 'New Sensor Event'. 
With this, you can tell a train to stop, accelerate, or many other things, just by picking in combo boxes!

 

4 minutes ago, Giottist said:

There is still a minor bug: If the first hub is switched on the software finds at first 29 non existing hubs

I *just* fixed this bug. Sorry about that! 
Please download from the same URL again!

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6 minutes ago, Cosmik42 said:

I put distance and color debug at false by default now. But you can turn it back on from the 'View' option in the top bar.

Perhaps I need help: I've activated the debug message but there is still no display ... Did I unstand something wrong?

The bug is gone (ok, there is still a heap of red error messages), thank you a lot for your IMMEDIATE reaction. I've found a missing program part: If I try to disconnect one hub by pressing the button until the led at the hub goes off the software does not recognize this but crashes after a while. For me it seem this part is not still programmed ;) Ok, this function is not so important since all hub switches off themselves after terminating the software.

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24 minutes ago, Giottist said:

Perhaps I need help: I've activated the debug message but there is still no display ... Did I unstand something wrong?

Click here and debug should start showing. If it doesn't then your sensor was not properly detected.

49474905_2436792923214526_32412339851703

27 minutes ago, Giottist said:

there is still a heap of red error messages

Can you give me a sample? You seem to experience something that I cannot reproduce, which is great!

 

27 minutes ago, Giottist said:

If I try to disconnect one hub by pressing the button until the led at the hub goes off the software does not recognize this

Oh indeed! This is not implemented. Will put in in my back log!

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Thank you a lot but take up time.

For the color/distance sensor I have found the following behaviour on the BOOST hub: If the sensor is connected to port D nothing happens. If connected to port C it delivers a lot of correct messages in the debug frame. Absolutely sufficient for development purposes. If a motor is connected to port D the sensor message in the hub box is updated to an erratic value when the state of the neighbor motor is changed. This can be confusing, but the debug display is correct.

In the new version 0.3 the color/distance sensor is detected by the train hub on any port. But it works only with port B. Like the behaviour with the boost hub the display in the hub box is still erratic but the debug messages are correct.

Unfortunately I cannot reproduce the heap of red error messages after connecting more than one hub to the software. It may be an effect of BT radio transmission (?). Still it does not affect the function this is only a neglectable note ...

PS.: The software needs up to 30 seconds to detect a hub (both BOOST and tain) if the color/Distance sensor is connected, but in every case and combination the detection is reliable: Perfect!

Edited by Giottist

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This is wonderful feedback. I think I know how to fix the sensor issue and will work on it today!

I am testing a further improved way to connect a Hub to avoid your issue this kind of console spam.

As for Color sensor, I did remark this. On my side the behavior is that the hub is found ok, but the sensor itself takes some time to show up.

Again, thank you so much for all these precious feedback! We are going to make this little piece of code perfect.

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