JopieK

very nice job! not only the slot cars, but also just everything!!!

often teachers learn a lot from students ;) (and even... most teachers don't care, but I at least try to really care!)

just an amazing build!!! Really nice work! Look at all that details!

Then you should use BLE of course: Low energy bluetooth. Then you can drive it directly from your phone! Some android phones can already do IR and make a LEGO train run out of the box b.t.w.!

Well, read my article in Railbricks about the Arduino, next issue will have a more advanced one, I can also help you out since I have a lot of experience with Arduino (I'm an Informatics teacher and also create Arduino-like boards for both hobby and educational purposes). I am now moving most of my own train stuff to XBee with the Teensy 3 (arduino compatible ARM board of only 19$) but for my school I use our own Arduino Pro mini + XBee + motor controller board. For my own layout the XBee nodes send IR signals to the trains, for the school system, the control itself is totally arduino (replaces the IR receiver etc.)

Easy to do with an Arduino or other microcontroller indeed! I already thought that the wires would be the problem indeed!

I won't be there this year, but will be in Antwerp next month ;) hope you bring your 7760 there too then! Enjoy Utrecht!

32-bits software works also on a 64-bit system, but one needs to run compatibility mode then of course. I don't see right away why he hacked the 9V, but there must be a reason for it I guess, or you could first try to use the cables as they come.

There is a convertor cable: http://shop.lego.com...nsion-Wire-8886 I'm not sure what you mean by PF IR tower, I guess you mean PF IR receiver? That is totally different from the Mindstorms IR tower at least! It is doable though: http://blog.brickbui...d-monorail.html

Sluban is really bad... if you already look at it it falls apart... (I don't buy it but have seen samples in some stores) and those minifigs are just as bad as it looks I reckon...

Hi alainneke, nice job! Glad you like the stickers! Medium BBB wheels look very nice on the 7760 shunters, better than the originals I think! I like your power pickups as well... you know you can now easily use DCC as well don't you?! (see OpenDCC for example, they have cheap ways for digital control)

@Rob, I have done quite some experiments already with Arduino + LEGO trains. The next issue will continue on this of course! One of the largest issues for exhibition layouts is dealing with cables b.t.w. that is why I now incorporate XBee in my own layout.

It is an interesting addition though!, maybe Phillipe could even incorporate sound measurements in his motor expose?!

That is interesting indeed, one would hope, new version, better version, but alas ;) @DrJB: LEGO has some experience on the matter we would think wouldn't we?!

@Lighti, it needs to be able to draw enough current indeed, that is why I used a 2A version! I have not tested what a AC adapter does with the LiPo, I would not recommend it, but I might try to see how the LiPo behaves (for practical reasons in my school :))

Good to see Laui ;) nice job!

we just saw it today at my school ;) B.t.w. why is the stalled torque lower for the EV3 large servo do you reckon? 50 N.cm for the NXT and 43 N.cm for the new one. In the lower table you say that normal torque is 17.3 N.cm for the new one versus 16.7 N.cm for the old one.

Raspberry PI is more a small computer platform where Arduino is a programming concept + a hardware concept. Disadvantages of the normal arduino's are that they are not very powerful, the Teensy 3 by Paul Stoffregen is programmable using Arduino code but also very powerful (the uC is 48Mhz and will even be even able to run at 96Mhz, a lot of PWM pins, three uarts, etc.), without the need for an operating system. That is one of the disadvantages of the EV3 of course: boot up time is very slow because Linux needs to start first.

A very nice idea!!! @DrJB: Raspberry is a totally different system (much complexer to program). I teach robotics / embedded systems in high school and college so have some insight knowledge on different microcontrollers etc. One might consider a Teensy 3 as backbone however (prjc.com): it is a very powerful ARM processor and compatible with the Arduino environment and language. LEGO will never do this I think since it is way too open, makes them less profit... I'm currently working on an Arduino LEGO train with Xbee, if we (my students and I) get it working, I hope to post more details of course... the programming part is the largest challenge if the hardware is right (new circuit board is hopefully arriving soon from China ;)). B.t.w. WeDo is very nice, but indeed expensive, the concept works great for primary education (especially the younger kids) though! It just works...

@Lighti: This might be a good solution for you...

@jerewrig: welcome to Eurobricks! I use bluebricks as well, too bad that it is difficult to run it on a Mac (I start Windows for it..., one could probably use mono but that is also not that a great solution). B.t.w. a good idea to also introduce yourself so that we also get to know you a bit better :)

Hi guys and gals, Now and then it is very annoying that I only have one PF charging adapter, quite some other perfectly compatible adapters that just won't fir the charger jack, etc. etc. I found a very decent solution to charge our LEGO Train PF LiPo's: The infamous Limor Fried aka Lady Ada sells them for only 2.5$ The battery is charging (red LED is blinking), but there is about 50% chance when one takes a picture that the LED is of and I was too lazy to take another picture with the LED on. Here is an example adapter that I had lying around somewhere. 2.0A 9V DC seems to be working very well. Make sure the adapter can deliver enough current and is also not exceeding 10V (according to the LEGO PF LiPo specs). Make sure that the middle pin is the + and the edge is the - (which is the case for most standard adapters). Hope this is something more people will appreciate. Note: the LiPo is very well protected (my students have been very mean to it and it still works very well), but use this at your own risk of course, if you take the precautions I mentioned you should be fine. If the adapter cannot draw enough current it might overheat though! Also note that the old 9V adapters (often 10V are not DC but AC (~)

I would also like to know that ;)

Link: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/51260 From the cuusoo site: Flash element will allow you to create flashing PF lights by setting the duration of the light/flash and delay (time between light/flash) Flash element must always be on top of connections to other elements to avoid interfering with their power supply (flash will only affect elements added to the top of the flash element). If you need more flash elements on the same battery box: simply add an extension wire and then the flash element. The unit will always flash, no matter the direction of the current. Old 9V bulbs would change state from flashing to fixed if current was reversed. PF flash element will always flash. I like the idea very much!

Welcome to EB JulianGolego!