Technic General Discussion

[Milan]

They are indeed very different.

[AkiyamaWataru]

Hey lxf a permanent awd can nit be turned off. It's always there. For drive train simplicity: A permanent AWD might be better. But installing an activateble awd would be interresting to see. It would need some form of clutch and a lock for it. Do you plan to hard couple front and rear axle or will you be using a central diff?

[syclone]

Thanks for solving the terminology question.

Hey lxf a permanent awd can nit be turned off. It's always there. For drive train simplicity: A permanent AWD might be better. But installing an activateble awd would be interresting to see. It would need some form of clutch and a lock for it. Do you plan to hard couple front and rear axle or will you be using a central diff?

I want to hard couple them with an activable AWD using standard transmission pieces, but the question now is : which wheels should drive always , the rear or the front ones?

[AkiyamaWataru]

Use tje rear. As you accelerate you put more load on the rear and allow for more grip that way.

[bonox]

Might just be simpler to think about the packaging and where you're going to put the linkages, dog clutch gear etc.

Real vehicles go both ends as primary. I think many of the subaru cars are essentially front wheel drive with a take off for the rear. The same probably applies for any car sold as either a front drive only or all wheel drive versions, so much of the smaller VW/Audi set for example.

Then you have the big boys like lambo and porsche, which aim to behave like rear wheel drive until you need the extra traction from the fronts, so they are essentially rear wheel drive with a take off for the front axle.

Each of these are fancy in that they have variable torque distribution between front and rear axles, which you're not going to be able to do.

For an RC car on road, you may find front wheel drive turns tighter corners (especially on slippery floors) but you might like to try drifting it, which will mean rear wheel drive.

With no centre differential and sticky tyres and 'road' you might find it hard to steer or it will start chewing up some parts if you use it hard.

To answer the original question though, 4wd or 4x4 are the same and probably don't have a centre differential. They were designed to operate in 2wd mode on sealed surfaces.

AWD will have a centre (3rd) differential that allows slip between front and rear axles to avoid tyre scrub and poor steering on sealed surfaces.

[Imanol BB]

Hi, i found some more information about 4WD and AWD transmissions, the AWD is thought to give integral drive to all the wheels, but it cant be disconnected from any of the axles, because this, it uses a central differential to allow the slip between the axles while turning, this transmission is likely to be used mostly in sport vehicles and sedans for a better control in the road at high speeds, and the 4WD transmission is thought to be activated in certain situations when extra traction is required, it can be connected and disconnected from the axles, and it is mostly used in off road vehicles like some trucks, so we can say both have the same principle to give the highest traction, but have different working system and are thought to be used in different situations.

[syclone]

Many thanks for the explanations! They solved all my questions!! Those were for a future predecessor of Pentax, one has to practice, right?

On a side note: today I finished a car to chase Nico71's black &lime car, same scale, same wheels and same steering. In the rest it is a completely different chassis.It is an experiment, in a few days you will see why

[syclone]

Is the servo motor worth buying? The thing that bothers me is that it has a strange form and I want to use it in small mocs.

Sorry for double post

[Saberwing40k]

I'd say that yes, the servo is worth buying. As can be seen in my Ice18 car, the servo can be used as part of the frame of a model, and indeed, I made a steering mechanism that was only 7 studs between the wheels. So, it does have an odd shape, but the large amount of connectors ultimately makes it a better choice than an M motor with a return to center mechanism.

[dagupa]

Is the servo motor worth buying? The thing that bothers me is that it has a strange form and I want to use it in small mocs.

Sorry for double post

For me, the servo motor has some great advantages over using a simple motor:

1. I has a great torque, which helps the steering to response even when tires are on an inclined plane or driving over mud.

2. It turns really slow compare to motors, so no gear reduction is necessary. No more delayed steering response.

3. Although is a big motor, is smaller than a return to center mechanism.

4. Eliminate the necessity of rubber bands, which are always a critical point when designing a strong steering mechanism.

[Rishab N]

Well this is a bit ridiculous

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Lego-42056-Technic-Porsche-911-GT3-RS-Box-Only-No-Pieces-Free-Shipping-/152194852287?hash=item236f8525bf:g:cHAAAOSwsTxXkRjd

I don't think the 41999 boxes were ever sold at that price

[Imanol BB]

There is crazy people in the world... and then there is the people who tries to sell things many many times more expensive, if i would need to sell the box, i would sell it for a maximum of $30.

Edited August 5, 2016 by ImanolBB

[syclone]

I need your help, my NXT died. It has no speaker, for some reason while I was updating the software it shut off and the connection was lost. Since then no life signs, tried a lot of things.

Contacted CS, but being a retired product they didn't offered any help.

What should I do with it?

Edited August 7, 2016 by LXF

[Jim]

Contact TLG, they should be able to help.

Contacted CS, but being a retired product they didn't offered any help.

I'm pretty sure he tried that

[syclone]

What is education service team?

The email seems to be computer generated, because they recommend me doing all what I've done and my NXT doesn't has speaker, so no sound os generated.

Dear Daniil,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I’m sorry to hear your NXT brick is making a clicking sound, won’t turn on and isn’t being detected by the NXT software. The most likely cause of this error is that the NXT brick lost power during a firmware update.

We’d be happy to help you solve this problem and, if you’d like to speak to us directly, please call our LEGO Education Customer Service team on 00800 5346 5555 from Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00 hours.

If you’d prefer to work through our troubleshooting guide yourself, please follow the steps below.

NXT Troubleshooting Guide (NXT Brick Undetected)

First, try to reset the brick and update the firmware:

1. Charge your NXT brick

Make sure your NXT brick is at least 50% charged.

2. Reset your NXT brick

• Disconnect your NXT from the computer.

• Turn over your NXT brick and you’ll see 12 circular connection holes (6 above the battery and 6 below). There’s a silver button inside the top-left tube. Insert a paper clip into that tube and press down the silver button for 20 seconds.

3. Reconnect NXT to your computer

• Open up the NXT software on your computer.

• Connect your NXT brick to your computer using the USB cable.

4. Update the firmware

• If you don’t have the latest firmware version, download it from LEGO® Education Resources Online (LERO) at lego.education.com

• Select ‘Tools’ in the NXT software and then choose ‘Firmware Update’.

• Select the firmware file you want and click ‘Download’. This process usually takes 15-20 seconds and the green progress bars at the bottom of the update box will show you how much of the file has downloaded. When the download is complete, you’ll see a message saying the update was successful.

If you follow these steps and continue to experience the error, please contact our LEGO Education Customer Service team, since the NXT brick is a discontinued item, so by calling us we should be able to give you further help and advise.H

Edited August 8, 2016 by LXF

[KamalMYafi]

My NXT died.

I have that problem too (long time ago), then i telled it to my 'Robotic Teacher' to fix it and the NXT was sent and fixed on the Center of the Robotic Course. I don't know how to fix it and who fixed it, but it takes more than a month!

Edited August 9, 2016 by KamalMYafi

[syclone]

In the education service was redirected to the normal CS, I am a bit upset. Wrote them another email, if they send me a second email that doesn't help I probably will post it on Bricklink for sale or something . I'll hope the best

Edited August 8, 2016 by LXF

[syclone]

Alive:D

The second email did help.

Here is a tutorial they provided:

Once the p-brick is turned on, let's try another hard reset to delete all traces of the damaged firmware from your intelligent brick. When holding down that hidden button for at least 20 seconds, please make sure the brick is not connected to the PC just yet. Normally the brick would start clicking again now, but because yours is a little bit silent, we will just have to believe in it.

The "hidden button" can be found at the back of the brick in one of the dark grey connector holes right under the USB-port, I am sure you know it already. It's easy to reach with a paper clip or a LEGO® antenna.

Only connect the brick to your computer when you already have the NXT software open and wait for a driver to install. If your NXT is not recognized when you try to update the firmware (Tools -> Firmware Update), there is a chance a wrong driver has been installed. Maybe you spotted something like "Bossa Program Port"? Please try the following:

1) Make sure to connect your NXT via USB.

2) Press down the Windows key and the letter "R" on your keyboard.

3) In the field type in devmgmt.msc and confirm with enter.

4) This will lead you to the device manager, here click on "Ports (COM & LPT)".

5) Right click on "Bossa Program Port" and choose "Update Driver software".

6) Choose "Browse my computer for driver software".

7) Choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

8) Choose "LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Firmware Update Mode".

If there's no entries below ports (COM & LPT), you may also want to check for "LEGO device" in the list in your device manager, this usually appears as a separate entry. If you have no luck, try playing around with the connection a bit, doing a hard reset once more while the p-brick is connected, unplug and reconnect the brick and so on. The NXT should always be turned on, if you think the NXT is in sleep mode (this happens after approximately 10 minutes) you can easily revive it by pressing the orange button again.

If your intelligent brick is not recognized as a USB-device at all, please try different USB-ports and a different cable if you have a second one available at all.

[KamalMYafi]

Alive:D

The second email did help.

Here is a tutorial they provided:

Once the p-brick is turned on, let's try another hard reset to delete all traces of the damaged firmware from your intelligent brick. When holding down that hidden button for at least 20 seconds, please make sure the brick is not connected to the PC just yet. Normally the brick would start clicking again now, but because yours is a little bit silent, we will just have to believe in it.

The "hidden button" can be found at the back of the brick in one of the dark grey connector holes right under the USB-port, I am sure you know it already. It's easy to reach with a paper clip or a LEGO® antenna.

Only connect the brick to your computer when you already have the NXT software open and wait for a driver to install. If your NXT is not recognized when you try to update the firmware (Tools -> Firmware Update), there is a chance a wrong driver has been installed. Maybe you spotted something like "Bossa Program Port"? Please try the following:

1) Make sure to connect your NXT via USB.

2) Press down the Windows key and the letter "R" on your keyboard.

3) In the field type in devmgmt.msc and confirm with enter.

4) This will lead you to the device manager, here click on "Ports (COM & LPT)".

5) Right click on "Bossa Program Port" and choose "Update Driver software".

6) Choose "Browse my computer for driver software".

7) Choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

8) Choose "LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Firmware Update Mode".

If there's no entries below ports (COM & LPT), you may also want to check for "LEGO device" in the list in your device manager, this usually appears as a separate entry. If you have no luck, try playing around with the connection a bit, doing a hard reset once more while the p-brick is connected, unplug and reconnect the brick and so on. The NXT should always be turned on, if you think the NXT is in sleep mode (this happens after approximately 10 minutes) you can easily revive it by pressing the orange button again.

If your intelligent brick is not recognized as a USB-device at all, please try different USB-ports and a different cable if you have a second one available at all.

WOW, why at that time i'm not ask to there.

Edited August 9, 2016 by KamalMYafi

[rzepak]

Hi!

I'm not sure if I should open new topic so just to be safe I'll ask here.

If I want to build something RC, which set should I buy? Or should I buy sbrick/wait for buwizz?

Sets I own:

1x 42044-1

1x 42048-1

1x 42031-1

1x 42032-1

1x 42034-1

1x 42021-1

1x 42008-1

1x 8045-1

1x 8281-1

(plus a lot of regular lego)

so actually only one big set 42008, but I'd love to build something RC from this, I just wonder if I should buy VOLVO L350F Wheel Loader, search for 4x4 Crawler 9398 or 8043? let's say I have around 200 EURO to spend on lego plus sbrick if needed.

Or maybe buy set like Volvo and sell controller and IR receiver, and buy sbrick?

Edited August 11, 2016 by rzepak

[syclone]

Volvo has the whole range of PF, go for it

You should buy a BuWizz when it will be available, too

[Gnac]

The Volvo contains a more varied selection of PF parts compared to the 8043; it's actually a pretty good way to get a taste of everything.

8043 contains:

• 4x M motors
  
• 2x IR receivers
  
• 2x IR controllers
  
• 1x AA batterybox
  

42030 contains:

• 1x M motor
  
• 1x L motor
  
• 1x XL motor
  
• 1x Servo motor
  
• 2x IR receivers
  
• 2x IR controllers
  
• 1x AA batterybox
  

[Jim]

...and sell controller and IR receiver, and buy sbrick?

I wouldn't sell a thing

I have been playing with the SBrick profile creator and it's awesome. The 8043 is arguably the best set ever. Getting a 8043 and turning it into an Ultimate S version is probably one of the coolest things you can do.

Maybe it's not necessary to get the actual 8043 set by the way. It contains a lot of common parts, so you might be able to Bricklink the parts you don't own. But if you can get a (used) 8043 and an SBrick for around 200 euro, that would be a nice objective.

Just my two cents.

[Lego2016Lego]

How do you get the gear "PRO" badge?

[Jim]

How do you get the gear "PRO" badge?

Make some supa dupa awesome MOCs and it will appear magically