Toastie

Heehee - this is a full-blown System set featuring some Technic techniques Man, Technic and System are one system ... Best Thorsten

As @BrickTronic said: Very nice presentation. And I loved to see you in person! Best regards and thank you for sharing the slides! Thorsten

Hey dudes (I am trying to be cool), we are supposed to not talk about LEGO (or not supposed to talk about LEGO, dammit what is correct) in this thread, that are pub rules! So @Jim and other EB Police members may show up here and tear this thing down. Just to let you know. And: Technic is still LEGO, or has that completely dissociated (chemist here, I know, nerd, I can live with that). Just to let you know, that is impossible according to Thermodynamics. The 100% dissociation thing. In other words: Technic will always be System . I'll have another pint ... Totally unrelated: Today, it seems that a greeting like "Dear All" or "Moin" seems to be a waste of time. That is OK with me. I am always struggling though with the end of a post dissolving into ... nothing. So, posts begin with nothing, then there is something, and then there is - nothing. This is the way it is today, right? I am a late Boomer, and I am regarded as ancient in happenings, like faculty meetings :D Also, we don't tell people our real names, because it is ... what exactly? A potential security breach? A waste of time? I am just curious. Here is to the given names All the very best Thorsten

Thank you for clarifying (again ^^ - I am slow) PF, WeDo1/2, and Boost are for sure brain-dead, but didn't the PyBricks people give the other LPF2 hubs a brain? Once a PyBricks generated program was running on the hub (City, Technic, etc.) the computer can be disconnected and the hub runs the program independently? I never tried PyBricks, but this is how I understand their website information. May be wrong as well! Thank you again and all the best Thorsten

I had to look it up

63 pages (on my laptop) and counting Best Thorsten

"LEGO Blockly" is @Bliss full graphical programming environment (clicking blocks together) for interaction with legacy LEGO Interfaces (A/B) and PBricks (CM/RCX/WeDo1/2) as well as PF. In addition, it also speaks the LWP3.0 (or LPF2) protocol and has some blocks ready to go. Blockly: Here is what they say about themselves: "Blockly is a library for visual programming that uses drag-and-drop blocks. It's the engine that powers the most popular coding education programs worldwide." LEGO Blockly runs in either in a Chromium browser (I use Chrome for updates ^^) or as a standalone application (This is my preference). You can easily download the latest version on @Bliss website (https://blissca.github.io/lego-blockly/index.html, just click on "open in app" or use the interface directly within the browser without need of any download. It has really cool features - the entire "non-blocking" blocks (i.e., the program continues to run although timers etc. have been started) are so cool. You require an Arduino (Uno/Nano/Mini Pro ...) or compatible as USB interface from your computer to Interface A as well as for PF. All the serial based PBricks/Interface B connect "directly" via Serial2USB adapters. Since I don't want to trap over many cables for my 3 Interface A/1 Interface B plus my pimped Control Center Interface, I use serial to BT or TTL to BT ("HC05") adapters - works like a charm. The software for the Arduino is available here: https://github.com/BlissCA/lego-blockly/tree/main/SketchArduino At least this is my understanding and how I use LEGO Blockly - @Bliss may want to correct me if I am wrong. Best regards Thorsten

Thank you very much! I just edited my post: It IS the Dutch version - the initial screen just shows the multi-language things like "RUN", "INSERT" etc, this is why I thought it was the English version. Sorry for the confusion! Best Thorsten

I don't have a manual for LEGO Lines - any idea where I can find one? What would be a good command for trying it out? Best Thorsten

WOW! You mean Dutch, right? When I start it up, it is in English - which is perfectly fine!!! WRONG: It is the Dutch version, just the initial screen shows INSERT/RUN/etc. When I load a .lin program, it is all Dutch! Sorry! Thank you very much for sharing & all the best Thorsten

Others watch the WorldCup - I am not ... Looking for interactive inputs for Interface B, I believe that the toy pad (LEGO Dimensions) is a viable and "LEGO approved" way of interacting with all the 9V world. Is there any chance, @Bliss, that this may become available in the (remote!!!) future? I am so fired up regarding LEGO Blockly ... Best wishes, Thorsten

Dear All + @Bliss + @amine this is so >absolutely awesome<. I need to make a video, but time is relative :D Control Center is connected to LEGO Blockly using an Arduino/HC05 Bluetooth (BT) combo, running @Bliss code. Interface B is connected to LEGO Blockly using another HC05 BT channel. It is, as if both were connected via a COM port. The program below (now with variables ^^ my fault!!!) exemplarily uses two tasks and one main loop. The loop repeatedly changes the outputs of the Control Center (via the Interface A/LEGO Blockly compatible Arduino). My little opto board hooked up to Control Center feeds its output status (+9V, -9V, OFF) to the inputs of Interface B. What happens is that the Arduino changes its outputs, Control Center reacts accordingly, Control Lab recognizes that and changes its outputs, here only B/F as a visual response. Happy blinking - and rock solid. No glitches, even after hours of BT connections! Crazy. I know that there is RCX, CM, PF, LWP3, etc. access through LEGO Blockly as well, but I treat these (PBricks/hubs) as independent, programmable devices, and prefer NQC or RobotC for making them - independent. I am so happy about LEGO Blockly. There is so much more to it: The entire non-blocking approach, @Bliss is implementing - it is so crucial, when programming "machines"! I never ever thought this would be possible. >All< my beloved "stationary" LEGO interfaces (9750, 9751, 8485) now "live" ... act and respond - using one totally cool intuitive graphical software: LEGO Blockly! All the best and have a nice weekend Thorsten

For sure - I am in no way any skilled programmer - but I have experienced the same issue so often. Fix one thing, breaks three other Well, I wouldn't even call this a bug; the blue button shouted out: Click me! The "return" key is just the "ultimate-good-ol'-days-if-you-press-things-will-happen" key. As in: "Do you want to proceed?" or "If you press return, all data will be erased" Thank you very much for your help! All the best Thorsten

@Bliss Something happened: I was visiting your Blockly website, and tried defining variables - without any program loaded, just a fresh screen. First it was the same thing: No long name variable definitions possible. i, j, k work, but a did not anymore. Then I pulled i onto the workspace, changed it there to j (using its dropdown list). Worked. And from then on I can define names as I see fit ... Loaded the offline version - all works. I have no clue what changed ... it simply works. Next was loading the program I linked to earlier - works also perfectly well now!!! As said, yesterday I shut down my computer, restarted it. Did not work. Today same thing, then visited your website, tried did not work ... BUT WAIT: OH SHHIT! I hit return instead of clicking on OK!!! I thought the blue OK button was the default ... hitting return means cancel, right? Oh my - I am so sorry! It all works as per usual: Perfectly well, I just need to remember to click OK! All the best, Thorsten

Thank you for looking into this! The program you are showing is more or less what I wanted to do - scan then inputs and provide the data to other sections in the program (tasks). EDIT: Below is just nonsense. It all happened, because I was hitting return instead of clicking on the blue OK button! Return just cancels, OK creates the new variable. Whatelse should OK do? I am sorry for the confusion. I just checked: Using the "create variable" tool, it does not list any other variable after trying. The dialog box opens, I type in the new variable name, hit return, the box closes, but there is no new variable when I reopen the variables tab. I bet this is just me screwing things up! I need more training with LBlockly, focused too much on hardware I guess ;). Here is the .json file: https://bricksafe.com/files/Toastie/lego-interface-b-9751/programming-questions/lego-project.json I am using version 2026-06-10-2349 Best Thorsten