Lowa

Thank you for the feedback, this is very useful to know ! I'll do the test with a cross just behind a curve. I already did a quick verification of our cross with a set of LEGO train wheel and there's not enough play to hit the crossing rail, so I guess we're good. Maybe that was a 'design flaw' in the 9V track. I did notice that that gaps between the crossing tracks in the PF switches are 1mm wider than the gaps in the 9V switches, that is clearly an intended modification of the switch. Maybe the gap in the 9V cross was slightly too tight... I cannot verify that because I don't have a 9V cross track. But we'll check it on our cross and let you know... Thank you, I could not have explained it better...

I haven't worked on the small wheel but I did look at the medium wheels and bought some 1mm thick rubber o-ring. They work fine but I'm wondering if 1mm is not too thin, so I ordered some 1.5mm thick ones to compare. I should have them by the end of next week. I guess the small wheels need o-rings too, even if you don't power them. Without rings the wheels tend to slip over the tracks; they are not spinning. The LEGO tracks are very smooth and I guess the axle just gives a little bit too much friction. I'm waiting for the 1.5mm thick o-rings to arrive and than I'll decide whether I should get 1mm or 1.5mm o-rings for the small wheels. If you insist I can print you some, but I think it would be better to wait another two weeks until I have the o-rings for the small wheels.

We are working on switches. I'm not sure what you mean with 'short' switches. We're planning to release a switch with the footprint shown below. It could be used in three different ways: with a 'turn back' adapter you can use it for a parallel track (like a PF switch) with a 'curve' adapter you can use it in a continuous curve or connect two switches and make a single cross-over Is this what you're talking about ?

Yes, that should work, but you need to center the rail in between 2 studs so you would need to use a 1x2 with a central stud. But unlike with the normal trains the monorail train does not ride on the rail itself so you need to add plates around it. Those plates would not touch the rail but leave a 1/2 stud gap. I'm not sure if that would look good... To close that gap we would have to put the rail on a 2 stud wide tile, but then you're getting very close to the original 4 stud wide monorail tile design.

That might work with injection molded parts but I'm very skeptical with 3D printed parts. Those clips would have a very small 'contact surface' with the rail and when you pull them out of the grills they would most likely break off because you would stress the layer interfaces. They might even break when you try to put them in the grills. The use of grills is a clever approach, but I'm afraid it's not compatible with 3D printing...

If you would put the sign directly onto the motor, yes. I you would put the motor at the base you might need different angles in function of the mechanism used to move the sign.

To all LEGO train automation enthusiasts, Now that our track switch motors are out, I finally found the time to make a short clip of the first fully functional prototype of our level crossing motor. The main goal was to have a small motor specially designed level crossing barriers. We managed to pack a tiny digital servo into a brick that measures 2 studs wide, 4 studs deep and 3 brick high (16x32x28.8mm). In front, the motor has a 'square stud' to attach the barrier. In this setup I also added a prototype of our 'train traffic light' that I put on its side and added 2 red transparent 1x1 round LEGO bricks. The motor and light are controlled with our nControl software. The final motors would be printed in black, as I assume that would be the most requested color for barrier motors. Let us know what you think. This is not a final product, so all feedback/questions/suggestions are welcome!

I see what you mean, but studs are wider than the inner width of the monorail rail...

Ok , good to know. Thanks for the feedback!

We have a detailed example on our website that shows how to control our track switch motors with Arduino, it show how to wire it and the Arduino code: https://www.4dbrix.com/documentation/arduino/2.02.001/ The level crossing barrier motor works in the same way, the only difference would be the angles: you would actuate the motor between 0 and 90 degrees, not between 25 and 105 as for the track switch motor. When we release the barrier motor we will also add an example to our website so you have a starting point.

Ok, do you mean something like this ?

It works like a standard hobby servo motor: 4.8-6V input and a pulse width of 544 - 2400 microseconds. If you're using an Aruidno board, just use the servo.h library with default settings and you're good to go!

I'm going to try to finalize those during the coming weeks. It's a pretty straightforward step from the current design. The ones that move the motor parallel with the track is going to take more time as that requires a fundamentally different design...

There are no technical issues with a making those motors in various colors, it does however complicate the logistics. If you want something in a specific color, you can always ask and we'll do it; we don't charge anything extra for that. But offering the these motors both black and dark gray must be feasible. A grove on the side for the cable of the light would be interesting but I need to check it it's feasible. It was pretty tight to get the motor in there and I'm not sure the walls are thick enough to allow a groove for a cable, but I'll check... Thanks for the suggestion!

FYI: the wire comes out of the motor at the bottom. Internally the wire comes out of the servo motor at the top, but I managed to find the space inside the brick to run the cable down to the bottom so it's easier to hide the cable in your layout. The picture below shows a prototype without studs, the final motor will have 8 studs on the top surface. In the video, the wire of the light comes out at the side, but that's because this is a 'traffic light' on its side. I'm planning to make a variant with cable coming out at the side of the light; so if you put the light on its side like in the video the cable comes out at the bottom.

Thank you! Yes, the lights are separate and can be removed / replaced by something else. The motor is a 2x4x3 brick with 8 studs on top, so you can customize it the way you want. I didn't think of that but this tiny motor could indeed be put into a base of a functional semaphore signal... that's an interesting idea...

Thanks! Yes, the idea is indeed to be able to link all the sensors, motors, lights, etc. with the nControl software. So automatically lowering/raising the barriers when the sensor detects a train is a typical application of that.

Yes, that is a valid point. Both approaches have their pros and cons. But as we're 3D printing it is feasible to have a number of different motor designs for different situations, and maybe that's what we have to do. The design that moves the motor away from the track just needs some fine-tuning so there's not point not to make them if there is an interest. The design that moves the motor parallel to the track still needs to be done.

Our US store ships worldwide; the controllers are $39.95 and the motors are $14.95. They will also become available in the European Bricklink store. We haven't fixed prices in € yet; the initial idea was to have the same price: 1$ => 1€; the higher value of the € could cover the European vat taxes. However, the € has lost and keeps on losing value with respect to the $ that this is no longer sustainable and we'll have to adapt the € prices... We don't have prices in £, you'll need to see what works best from the UK: prices in $ or in €.

We started production and the first systems are available! As availability is still limited we haven't put them in our Bricklink store yet. However, they are available, so if you want to purchase a system, please contact us at info@4dbrix.com.

@Glenn Holland, @M_slug357 Thanks for the feedback! Moving the motor in that direction indeed complicates the mechanism because one of the supports for the levers is in the way; it will also put more strain on the mechanism but I'll see what I can come up with...

Thank you! I have indeed been busy with designing an 'extended' version of our track switch motors. I made a prototype that moves the motor 4 studs away from the track. The arm is as low as I could make it to cover the 'supports' of the LEGO lever system; the 'arm housing' is 4 plates high (12.8mm). The supports of the lever are 11.4m high, so the extension arm is hardly higher than the lever supports and lower then the top of the yellow lever. The extended motors work flawlessly, see video. I also don't see any issues to make the arm longer. The main question is: what's the optimal length for the extension arm ? The longer the arm, the longer/wider the cars can be; but also the larger the footprint of the motor becomes... To everybody who's interested in the extended motors: would this motor work for your long engines/cars ? If so, do you have any suggestions for the length of the extension arm ? If not, what needs to be changed ? Extended Motor Standard Motor The behavior of all the lights can be customized and linked in nControl; so it is indeed possible to combine multiple standard lights and make them function as one 'global' light. This is in line with the general philosophy behind nControl: provide easy to use basic control for entry-level users, but also provide full access to all the underlying functionalities for advanced users. Still, I think at some point I will still give it try to see if I can make a 'Pennsylvania style' light. I might not be that hard... and I think they could add a special touch to the layouts. Sure, not a problem.

I'm working on a range of bricks for Arduino - mechanically compatible with LEGO technic, electronically compatible with Arduino - which I plan to make available in our bricklink store early next year. Below you have a short video with a demo: a servo motor controlled by a rotation sensor, both are connected to an Arduino nano board. What do you think ? What else would be useful? Both the motor and sensor are fully LEGO compatible: Some technical details on the motor and sensor: Motor: 0-180 digital servo housing dimensions: 3 x 4 x 5 studs technic axle connection to motor 4 technic peg connectors on the front 4 technic axle connectors on the sides (2 on each side) Sensor: measures rotation with a resolution up to 1 degree variable resistor 360 rotation capabilities housing dimensions: 3 x 4 x 2 studs technic axle connection to sensor 4 technic peg connectors on the top

The light I showed is inspired by the classic 12V LEGO train lights (7860) but adding a third light is most likely possible. It's mainly a matter of finding a way to get it all the components fit inside the brick, but I think it's feasible and I'm certainly going to try it. The Pennsylvania style lights, well, that's another story... I'm not saying it's impossible, but there are a few things that have to be clarified. It's not only the number of lights that play a role but also the 'pattern' in which they have be switched on, for example The more patterns you want, the more complexity it adds to the electric circuit, the more pins you need from the controller, the less lights you can add per controller, etc. But if you take the light in the picture you posted and consider 3 patterns: a) vertical line, b) horizontal line, c) diagonal line. That would most likely be feasible to make. If there are 3 pattern options, that light would also be compatible with the red-orange-green light and could use the same controller. Another point is that when I google those lights, I see an infinite number of slightly different variations of these types of lights. So maybe we need to find a consensus about a 'standard design' for such a light. I'm certainly interested in checking the feasibility, because those could be very neat train traffic lights... The current light (picture I posted) also supports 'flashing' of the top and/or bottom light. So that's another things you need to keep in mind in while defining the specifications.

Yes, that's the idea! The train traffic lights have 2 ultra bright white LEDs. The casing has to 2 'inverse studs' where you can add transparent LEGO bricks to choose the color. The back of the light has 3 studs to mount it.