Mr Hobbles

Hello folks, Does anyone know if anyone has uploaded a scan of the teaching materials for the DACTA Intelligent House 9707? I believe the teaching materials were set 9708. I think it came with some software on a floppy as well. Thanks!

Yep definitely, MQTT is a complex beast, and running into a browser means you're limited to websockets or HTTP fetch. That's the reason I chose websockets for BrickLogo's pipe between nodes, as browsers can join too. I haven't bothered with wss (yet) - I figure most people are gonna run locally rather than over the internet, and wss setup comes with headaches for end users (certificates, needing to launch HTML files from a server instead of from disk, etc). End user friendliness definitely the end goal. Though, its nice to have some more complex functionality for those who need it! Great project, I look forward to playing with it more. :)

Yes, from a product perspective, the range is branded as Powered Up, but the devices are officially called LPF2 (and Powered UP as a product range name was introduced later!) You can see LEGO using the terminology in various places. I remember when Lego changed it, we were discussing it in the thread in the train forum on here back in 2017 and there was lots of confusion lol. https://assets.education.lego.com/v3/assets/blt293eea581807678a/blt23df304b05e587b2/5f8801ba721f8178f2e5e626/techspecs_technicforcesensor.pdf?locale=en-us https://education.lego.com/en-us/product-resources/wedo-2/troubleshooting/faqs/ But I digress! @Bliss Thanks for the kind words. I wanted to try to make docs as clear as possible, as not many people remember Logo I'm sure. :D I intentionally kept networking simple - replicated global variables. So you can set a variable based on sensor readings on one machine, and waituntil it becomes a certain value on another machine. I'm trying to keep it as OG Logo-like as possible. But it also means you can build other clients, ie. browser applications with websockets, and read/write those variables, to build UI's etc - it is quite a simple JSON based protocol. It would be awesome if Blockly could interact with the outside world too! MQTT publishes or something? Or allow websocket client connections to a server? You could even have Blockly and BrickLogo talking to each other.

* Powered UP, Control+, and SPIKE are LEGO product ranges * Powered UP, Control+, and SPIKE are also the names of apps of those respective product ranges * The hardware family for all this is most commonly known by the community as Powered UP, however LEGO calls it LEGO Power Functions 2.0 * The hubs all speak LEGO Wireless Protocol 3.0 (except the WeDo 2.0 hub, which speaks it's own dialect LEGO made it confusing for sure. You may be over thinking it though. It's just all one big homogeneous blob of devices. :D Yes, this is very true, Pybricks muddied the water by giving all those previous interfaces a "brain". But, as LEGO intended them, they are dumb interface devices, using a computer (a phone or tablet with an app) to interface with motors or sensors. But really, any microcontroller with a bit of storage is a brain with the right firmware! Well, if that's so and you don't mind, I've been working on BrickLogo - https://github.com/openbrickproject/BrickLogo/ It's an attempt to bring LEGO/Logo (LEGO TC Logo/LEGO DACTA Control Lab Logo) kicking and screaming onto modern computers, and supporting LEGO hardware both new and old, but with all the fun of Logo! And hopefully it's familiar to those who've played with Logo for those devices in the past. You can either type directly into the REPL and execute line by line (similarly to the original), or write .logo files in your IDE of choice (ie. VS Code) and execute them through the bricklogo CLI. It's compatible with Control Lab, RCX, WeDo 1.0, WeDo 2.0, Powered UP/Control+/SPIKE, Education Science, and the Raspberry Pi Build HAT. It's built in Rust and intended to be a single compiled binary/exe that you can run in the command line or terminal without any dependencies needing installed. Windows, macOS, or Linux (Raspberry Pi). https://github.com/openbrickproject/BrickLogo/releases There's some docs here - a small tutorial, a language reference guide, and a start at some info on some of the more advanced parts - networking, using multiple devices/hubs/interfaces, executing scripts, etc. https://github.com/openbrickproject/BrickLogo/tree/main/docs Maybe we can take inspiration from each other for Blockly and BrickLogo!

Ah, I was expecting it to be longer than that! Well RCX has two way communication (IR sensor readings, command replies, etc), but I assume latency via RF is a lot better than IR latency... or at least, I'd hope so...

This is such a cool thread to find, a really cool project you're working on @Bliss! Kind of an alternative to the https://code.legoeducation.com/ canvas but for supporting as many devices as possible. I've been working on my own project in a similar vein, but based around reviving Logo, not doing visual/block programming (but I won't talk about it in this thread, this is about your project!). It's great to see a revival of old hardware - I think there's been a great effort lately with regards to bringing back obsolete devices. Also, I just learned about Cybermaster. :) I mean, I knew about it previously, about 20 years ago, but it skipped my mind, and I completely forgot about it. Such a cool device, and a big improvement over the IR communication of the tower<>RCX. But, a different usecase I suppose. @Toastie Yes, exactly this. :) The WeDo 1.0, WeDo 2.0, Powered UP, Control+, SPIKE Essential, and even SPIKE Prime (after the firmware update that enabled LWP3) can also be considered Interface's, since they have no brain, and use computer control. Though, I consider the Raspberry Pi BuildHAT to be the true official Interface C. :D https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-build-hat-lego-education/

Just to point out, in this context share of the market is in terms of revenue, not in terms of number of participants. It could be that only 1% of the audience is kidults and 99% are children, but the kidults are spending a lot more. This is to say that there's an argument to be made that by just focusing on where the money is, we risk forgetting our core (and arguably most morally important) demographic. Thankfully I haven't noticed this too mucg yet with regards to Lego's products. For every $700 6,000 piece set there's an excellent looking $20 set for kids. See the latest Lego City wave. But it's a slippery slope.

The Pikachu looks a lot like the smart brick Mario. I dunno, I expected it to look different. Since I’ve heard they’re using the brick inside an X-Wing I thought it’d be shaped less like a character and more like a large normal brick. But, as has already been mentioned, that is clearly not the 18+ Pikachu. That’s a different set, a play set.

Lego has been experimenting with 3D printed elements for a few years now, specifically for elements that have motion built into them. I have a few of them. This particular 3D printed train has moving wheels, wheel linkages, and the smoke goes up and down when the train is pushed along and the wheels turn. This isn't multiple pieces that were put together, it was _printed_ together. I do agreed it's an odd choice to include in this set though - it seems like something a more hardcore Lego fan would appreciate than the mass market Lego Christmas set purchaser. I can't help but think how many of these they've printed, they must have dozens of printers going 24/7!

My theory is that at extremely low speeds the PWM duty cycle isn't long enough to actually move the motor. It then realises this (by virtue of the fact that it hasn't detected rotation) and applies a longer duty cycle, which makes it move, but at a higher speed than desired. It then detects it's moving too fast (again, through rotation having moved to far) and reduces the PWM again, causing it to not move once again. Repeat this cycle - leading to jerky motion. I'm thinking that both my motors have slightly different properties (ie. manufacturing variance?) that means that the required PWM duty cycle to start rotating differs between the two.

Thanks for that! Our code is similar, though my button mapping acts a little differently. Interesting that you have 45 as your minimum speed. Perhaps the video was playing tricks but I thought your locomotive was running slower than that. Incidentally, I tried with a second motor of mine. With the original motor, around 30 is the point where movement isn't "jerky". With the second motor, 20 is doable without jerkiness. I wonder if I run-in in the motors for 15-30 mins then slow speed performance will improve. Ps. I was wondering how the heck you fit front glass in with the wire going through the frame, but then I realised, you'd tucked it under. Great little design!

Love the performance. Can I ask what your code for Pybricks looks like? I've attempted similar with motor.run() but movement is incredibly jerky for me below 70. It looks like you've managed to get yours smoother. Great design!

Lego just posted this wallpaper on the Lego rewards site, that can only be found through the new legobuilds instagram. It's pretty cool, and features all the lego modular buildings to date, for the 20th anniversary of Lego modulars (I think they're about 2 years too early?!) (Also, further proof that Lego considers Market Street part of the modular buildings line. :D )

Ah yes, right. Yes, it has very basic LWP3 support - mainly for the specific VM commands used by the Control+ app. While the hub reports a suite of motors and sensors, the LWP3 implementation is woefully buggy and incomplete. Actually similar to the Boost Move Hub years ago before they updated the hub. Additionally, TLG made the hub required signed firmware, making it so Pybricks can’t be loaded onto the hub. I hope they push out some updates for the Technic Move Hub, otherwise it can’t really be used as a proper LWP3 hub for scenarios other than an RC car.

For the new Lego Education Science components?! I know Pybricks has LWP3 support, it's had it for a long time. I'm saying I don't know if the new components have LWP3 support. Ps. I'm the author of node-poweredup on GitHub, I'm very familiar with LWP3. :) I just hope the new components are LWP3 compatible.

Unfortunately I'm skeptical that Pybricks will be able to work on these. The most recent hub (The Technic Move Hub, included in the Porsche 42176) requires signed firmware, to which only Lego have the signing keys. The Pybricks team have said they will not be able to support Pybricks on it. If that is the case with these new components, then Pybricks may be out of the question also. I hope for at least LWP3 protocol support, so we can control them remotely. EDIT: I just saw you hope that Pybricks can talk to them remotely. Yes, I hope for this also - but that requires LWP3. Fingers crossed.

A couple of new pictures from an event at Lego HQ, taken from Boone Langston's Instagram. https://imgur.com/a/HRjhk6e What we can see is the pairing light and USB-C charger on the controller, which suggests an internal battery, instead of replaceable batteries like on the existing Powered UP remote. Along with a better view of the dual motor component, which seems to be 10x6x3, not including the sticky outy rotaty bits. Additionally, this picture is weird: https://imgur.com/a/KcKyQ7o Why are they holding the connector card up to the motor? Can it "read" it somehow?

In one of the higher resolution pictures there are regulatory markings on the side of the motor suggesting it has a battery. From the details, the new components are: * Controller * Single motor * Double motor * Color sensor My theory is that every component has its own battery, and components talk wirelessly. So the controller can control the motors, no wires anywhere, and everything is charged via USB-C. They also detail that "connector cards" are included - these seem to be color coded from the pictures. I wonder if these are used to control the color sensor. I wonder if everything uses LPF2 LWP to talk to each other and is therefore technically Powered Up compatible.

Hi @Toastie - I use this version of nqc which comes with USB tower support, without a requirement for a seperate driver install (at least on macOS, which is what I use). You may find it useful. https://github.com/BrickBot/nqc

I agree that the locomotive isn't great, but by and large I love this set. Also, the Crocodile wouldn't look bad hauling the Orient Express. ;)

It's very nice looking, but far too far off minifigure scale for my liking. Also non-standard track gauge and non-motorisability = hard pass. The Harry Potter crowd is sure to love it though.

I ordered the 1950's Diner and the Modular Construction Site at 10:00am on the dot. They were the two I really wanted. Ordered the Chalet later because...why not. I wish Studgate wasn't so ugly, I'd really like to support a train station...

Man, I'm on the fence whether to get this or not. On one hand, I want to support more trains, and I really like the small train that comes with it. On the other hand, I really dislike the station itself. It doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Decisions decisions.

To me the front looks like the Japanese N700 series Shinkansen: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N700_Series_Shinkansen

Speculation on my part, but is it possible the passenger train contains the rumored new Powered Up train headlights? Look at the front - the headlights are a 1x2 slope, with the light coming in from the side. Unless I’m mistaken, the only feasible way for this to work is if it was coming from a new 1x2 light-emitting brick placed alongside it. The existing Powered Up lights wouldn’t allow this angle. The box says lights included. Am I reading too much into it?