dr_spock

I have this set. I followed the color dots in the instuction booklet. Blue goes to A, Green goes to B, Orange goes to D, C is not connected.

Congratulations on 100000.

It could be an easier building and playing experience with a single piece nose for certain segments of the population. I guess it depends on whom TLG targets for a specific product set. An Amtrak passenger train would be cool.

Who created the English language with so many exception rules? What were they drinking? I used to care about proper use of trademarks when it was part of my job.

It is possible to wire two PU motors to one port on the PU hub. https://youtu.be/GxYYXx2Cyt0

The Roboremo app for Android can be used for creating a custom interface on a tablet. It has support for buttons, sliders, etc. No UI programming skills are required. Then bluetooth serial to your master EV3 device.

I think the EV3 motors use a double encoder to count rotations. It is not impossible to make an adapter so the EV3/NXT servo motor looks like one of the supported motors to SPIKE. It won't be as simple as an adapter to use your collection of Power Function train motors with the Powered UP city hub. EV3 sensors use I2C serial communication. You can probably use an Arduino as an in-between device interface. Happy hacking.

There is one way to find out. Test it out. The limiting factor could be the type of motor drivers in the PU hubs and any protection circuitry. Or maybe make your own high power driver circuit with appropriate battery supply and use the PU hub PWM signals to control it.

Maybe it has to do with costs. I have purchased spools of ABS for less than spools of PLA. PETG and ASA are pricier than PLA. I do like TPU, although I haven't printed anything LEGO compatible with it yet.

I buy lots of parts from LEGO to build MOCs for events that our LUG participate in. I guess that is a practical reason.

I don't think most people do. ABS is a much more challenging plastic to print. I don't usually print ABS for LEGO but sometimes it can be the better material to use. I found PLA can deform over time under stress. The axle holes in my PLA train wheels lost some clutch power after being connected to Technic 6L axles for a year or so. They pull off now with barely any effort. The ABS printed wheels still got good hold on the Technic axles. The PLA for the Powered UP male connectors is still fine after a year or so since the Technic hub and train hub female sockets don't put much pressure on them. I print ABS in a spare bathroom with the exhaust fan running like the fume hood back in the high school chemistry lab class. Best to experiment and see what works well with your printer and application. There are so many variables in 3D printing.

That Voxelab has a heated bed. It should be able to print ABS. Although, you may have to make or get an enclosure for it if you have issues with ABS warping. I bought a $200CAD kit printer a few years ago. With some tuning and mods it can print decent custom LEGO parts like PU connectors and train wheels. I think the lower the price, the more effort you'll have to put into it. But once I have it dialed in, it works great. For tiny detailed parts, a SLA resin printer would produce in finer resolution than a FFM printer.

I keep track in my head. I would remember a part but not where I stored it or used it last. Every now and then I would change my MOC design while I'm bulding based on what parts are within easy reach.

Your motor is showing signs of wearing out. They do that sooner or later depending on the load conditions placed upon them. There are ways to connect a PU motor to PF. You can wire pin 1 & 2 of the PU connector to the C1/C2 pins on the PF connector. Some PU motors have rotation sensors but Power Functions have no support for that feature. PF cable from burned out motors makes a good adapter.

Pretty sure the RP2040 can be reprogrammed with the right software programmer and knowing which pins to jumper. I have one those shields. I used for a bluetooth to Power Function IR controller (https://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/drspock/arduino/prototype-shield.jpg) The Pi is more powerful than ESP32. You could run a webserver for guests at your LUG events to connect with their own phones through wifi and play with your Powered UP display. You can connect a bunch of Pies with HAT on a IP network and Node-Red. It's COVID safer and you don't risk your smart device or PU remotes getting lost/stolen.

It looks like the tabs are melted into place. It might be possible to reshape them with a hot blade so the blue cover can be removed. Otherwise, it could be break them and reglue the cover on.

Does it come with a Christmas tree?

There doesn't seem to be any clear detailed picture of the underside of the HAT. Knowing what chips used could help figuring out if you can run 9V through it without letting out the magic smoke. The HAT is like the motor driver board with an STM32 microcontroller for the ESP8266 Wemos. Using a microcontroller means the firmware can be updated.

Look like this piece -> https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=41531&idColor=5#T=C&C=11

Wire the train motor to pins 1 and 2 on the PU connector. Connect pins 4 and 5 together on the PU connector. Connect pins 3 and 6 together. This will ID the motor as PU train motor to the PU hub. I don't have a 12V train motor to test.

The 88010 remote will act like the joystick on/off PF IR remote when you have the PU simple medium motors connected to the 88009 PU hub. You can use the 88010 remote with other hubs but you'll have to use a smartdevice running the Powered UP app as a go-in-between and code your own control profile. An inexpensive Chinese android tablet should be able to run Powered UP app. Or you can use one of the non-LEGO solutions like Legouino with an ESP32 microcontroller module.

You would have to make or get a PU to PF adapter if you want to keep the PF battery box in those sets.

It's your hobby, do what turns your drive shaft. I went from HO scaled trains to LEGO trains. I find not having a real scale and not superdetailing everything is more relaxing. I do not use 3rd party since I learned make my own (a carry-over from scratchbuilding in HO). I'm in a LUG and we seem to have some unwritten purity rules in our bylaws.

Have you tried connecting with a different phone or tablet? Not too sure, but I don't think the Crocodile app supports the LED lights. Does it work if you only have the motor connected to port A?

At the end of the day, any increased costs of doing business will eventually be passed on to you. It's the Lord Business way.