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pasztorl

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Everything posted by pasztorl

  1. pasztorl
    I would like to ask you, if you know more LEGO trains forum, share the SBrick project with them and please tell them to write questions here, in this site to keep the information in one place.
  2. pasztorl
    Cool, thanks for your help! Please write me an email address, I will send you the 3D file.
  3. pasztorl
    Thank you! I'm happy for the big interest from train fans. Please spread the world about this project. We need your support @ kickstarter!
  4. pasztorl
    As far as we tried, you don't need to disconnect and reconnect. We already built models that use more than one SBrick, and the phone maintains a connection simultaneously to all devices. A BLE central device (your phone) can connect to many peripheral devices at the same time. Imagine you having a phone in your pocket, wearing a smart watch, a cordless headset, and a step counter in you shoe, and a thermometer on your body. Wearables would be impossuble without this. The whole BLE phisical and link layer were designed with coexistance, interference, and multiplexing in mind. Many SBrick <-> one phone is definitely works, we tried it already. Take a look at our video at . This is a model with 2 SBricks in it. 8-)When I talk about latency, I mean a few dozens of milliseconds. 1 second, or even half a second latency with a racing car is quite deadly. By the way, if you need consulting with your commercial BLE projects, Vengit is here to help you. ;) Our solution supports OTA too with our SBrick application. ;)
  5. pasztorl
    First of all, SBrick is much better than the IR. Not just because it has two more ports, but you can run many SBrick device in the same room (we used more than ten in an office environment (wifi networks, other bluetooth devices) simultaneously without any problems). Also IR receivers MUST be visible since they are controlled by (infrared) light. We do plan automation features (see the FAQ and the fact sheet at kickstarter). If you have any more thoughts about it, please share them with us.
  6. pasztorl
    It's very much possible to control many SBrick devices from the same phone and the same app. A mesh network on the other hand would be complicated to set up, and latency issues would show as more hops would be added.
  7. pasztorl
    if you have any question feel free to ask here! :)
  8. pasztorl
    Yes. It is a good example! :) Support us on our kickstarter page (you can preorder SBricks on it) if you like our new receiver/controller solution. Thank you! I trying to build a motorized track switch also for the demonstration video. Someone made like this with 88004 Servo motor?
  9. pasztorl
    Yes, but with custom controls and profiles you can do much more with it. For example you can create a custom remote controller which running full screen on a tablet. On the screen you can place controls for trains, switches for tracks or on/off switch for semaphores. The complexity depends on how many SBrick you have. You can control up to 16 SBrick with one tablet simultaneously. One SBrick has 4 ports. If you place it into the train, you can drive a motor, switch on/off of the train or the cabin lights. In general you can drive 4 PF device with one SBrick. I working on a video and also a custom remote control profile to show an example implementation using SBrick with trains.
  10. pasztorl
    Hi! This is the SBrick team. We currently are in the first week of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a device that replaces the IR remote with a next level remote control for LEGO. With SBrick, you LEGO Train enthusiasts, will be able to overcome the channel limitations from off-the-shelf LEGO PF IR Receiver. You can control up to 16 SBrick receivers from your smartphone, tablet or PC, which makes it perfect for large train layouts at home or your LUG events. You can use SBrick to control your trains (drive, lights and more) or to control other stuff from your train layout off the train, like track switch points, semaphores, etc. With SBrick you will never get lost again, trying to understand which remote is controlling which train. Control up to 16 trains (SBrick has 4 ports but can only go inside one train at once), or split between trains and of train devices. You can control: - N trains - (16-N)*4 layout devices (track switches and semaphores) Here is a train test video on our youtube channel: Read more and Support us @ kickstarter!
  11. pasztorl
    Thank you very much for your support! I have 3D model file of the SBrick. Maybe it is easily importable to LDraw. Please spread the world about this project!
  12. pasztorl
    Hi, we will add opensource client for desktop pc. It will support linux so you can run in raspberry.
  13. pasztorl
    Yes, of course. It will be open source. :)
  14. pasztorl
    Good new is that the flat-top version will be much slimmer than the stair-top, and therefore easier to hide. We have at least two different design for the flat-top, we'll have to ask the pledgers and the community wich one is better (a thicker with the technics holes, or an even slimmer without them). The stair-top design was born because we really wanted to come up with something that is a drop-in replacement for the IR receiver. Unfortunately this version is much more expensive regarding the starting costs, and a bit harder to assemble the casing and the PCB. The stair-top design is cheper, smaller, but is less like the IR receiver. We were afraid to lose many borderline-purist fans if we were to start with something as alien-looking as the flat-top version. We also wanted to avoid the uncanny resemblance to the Upcore G1 too. Yes, we a re "fully committed", in terms we definitely WANT the stair-top version. It looks better, less alien, and integrates better. We will "do our best" to find additional financial resources, so we can make the star-top SBrick happen even if the kickstarter barely makes it. Nor "fully commited", neither "do our best" implies any level of certainty. They simply imply that we really want the stair top, and won't give up simply because the stretch goal won't met. However we cannot guarantee anything at this point, only hope for the best, and preparing the B (C, D, ...) plans. You are guys the A plan, the stair-top is the A plan. Let's do our best and get this stuff done. If the campaing will be unsuccessful, we'll look for an investor, or we'll use the technology for something else (and look for an investor :) ). Absolutely awesome! I will update our kickstarter page to link your translation! If anyone here speak other foreign language please translate a little about our big kickstarter page. Thanks!
  15. pasztorl
    The battery charge show on the video & images is measured by the brick. The battery voltage can be read by the app and can be interpreted as battery charge level. This can show the charge level of your stock battery or prevent deep discharge if you're using your own LiPo battery pack. The brick can measure the temperature of the BLE chip too (I think it's not on any pictures or videos right now). It was an important tool for us to verify that the electronics will not overheat, and can be a valuable tool for extreme experimenters :) so we will release that feature to the general public too.
  16. pasztorl
    This idea is really good, we have to further look into it and see how we could leave this option open for the expert users, who don't mind a little hacking with electronics.
  17. pasztorl
    Hi, we just posted a new update to our kickstarter page about that. I paste here: " International flat rate shipping is 3 GBP! We've made a little mistake regarding the postage and packing. At start rather than to include them with the pledges, we had an asterisk that asked you to add another 3GBP to your pledges to cover the postage and packing. Many supporters didn't glance that far down. By the time we noticed, it was too late because our campaign had already gone live. This is our mistake and one we accept full responsibility for. Several of you have noticed our mistake and gotten in touch with us about it, to the point where we've even mentioned it in our FAQ. We have no intention of asking anyone who has pledged until now to raise their pledge by 3GBP. We will cover the p&p costs ourselves. But if any of you feel like giving us a mulligan re: pledges and raising it by 3 GBP, it would be greatly appreciated. For those that do or already did, we will send you a set of SBrick stickers by way of a thank you! Of course, the more you pledge the greater the likelihood that this campaign will be a success! Thank you for your understanding! " You are right. There is no compatibility between them via bluetooth. I wondering about how can we use NXT cable connections between NXT/EV3 and SBrick, but I can't guarantee anything at this time. Research work (like this) often results in hardware modifications, which is an expensive task for us and highly depends on how kickstarter funding will work.
  18. pasztorl
    We have chosen the stare top design and we are fully committed to bring it to you. We will do our best to deliver you this as it is much-much better to build with than the first version. Our future is this as we want to give you the best possible SBrick. You can be confident that you will be really pleased at the end!
  19. pasztorl
    The stair top design is in the strech goal. If we don't reach the 100k we will have to go with the simpler (and cheaper) fat top design. Or we should talk about it with an investor, to make it real..
  20. pasztorl
    Yes, It is no problem. We can easily create crontrols on the app that emulates what you need, and more... I can imagine an user created profile which actually based on a real photo from the sand table. You can use switches change the lines and you have sliders to control the trains on it. :) About pledges: yes, I see your problem, but don't miss the building instructions that we also included in the bulk pledges. Because of you are not only the one who messaged about it we will do an annoucement about this topic on our Kickstarter page. BLE: yes, it is pretty new, but there are older phones supporting it like iPhone 4s which released in 2011. It is a good idea to check your phone's BLE compatibility before starting to play with your SBricks.
  21. pasztorl
    You can share this project with your friends. Popularity is a big help on funding! The minimal pledge is 1 BGP. Every pledge is important because of the pledges engage the popularity on kickstarter. We running on BLE4 so if your phone has Bluetooth 4.0 in the spec it will be fine! We have chosen BLE4, because of it's power saving features.
  22. pasztorl
    Hmm.. I think it's possible. I need a PS3 controller to test it.
  23. pasztorl
    To demonstrate the compatibility we replaced the electronics of a standard LEGO 8885 IR remote, to work with SBrick. It's working, but it has "some" limitations compared with a flat screen. But.. I think the ultimate solution is exists. We can support easily hardware gamepads which designed for using with mobile like these: So you can use the hardware buttons/joypad, and you also can use the screen for extra functions like streaming video from our CamBrick.. ;) Yes, we playing with stuff like this, but we only have an early stage development version now. Can you show me what is your favourite BT gamepad? I'll check out how can we support it.
  24. pasztorl
    Yes, you can do that, but a much simpler way. The app already supports several modes to control lights. Working turn signals is a good example. :)
  25. pasztorl
    Some basic programmability will be included, but the lack of input devices and the limitations of the BLE module we use don't allow for a fully user programmable device. The Mindstorms is a big, complex, and of course very expensive system. SBrick aims to be small, simple and cheap. Motor development is not exactly where our experties lie. We like simple electronics and software development better. However we did play with a few ideas, such as a small camera device. ;) The app will be fully customizable. You will be able to create custom profiles for any concievable MOC with pixel-perfect graphics - or at least this is what we're aiming for. The BLE protocol will be open, so you'll be able to build a hardware remote conrtoller with a simple programmable BLE module if that's your thing :) Yes. Exactly!
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