Ron1

Thanks for the review Egor! Your tracked snow speeder is, well, speedy Runs great! We are working on Android issues (ah, so many combinations of different hardware + Android versions), testing on several new devices. Updated iOS & Android apps (with new features) coming soon

Hi all, We see first users are reporting problems with FW update on Android. We tested BuWizz with all Android devices we could lay our hands on, found several issues and corrected them. Since there is almost an infinite number of combinations of Android device, OS version, BT chipset, drivers, etc., we can not possibly test all of them. We will do continuous improvements, but need your help. What you can try: 1. Charge BuWizz for 2-3 hours; you can do the FW update while charging 2. Your Android device needs internet connection enabled 3. If FW update fails (RED LED blinking on BuWizz), restart your Android device and the app and try again 4. Please try with a different Android device (borrow it if you can; newer devices from Samsung, Motorola, Sony, etc. should work OK) 5. Report the issues, Android version and device type to support@buwizz.com Thanks

Hi all, shipping is real close now, new update posted on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/973645257/buwizz-remote-control-for-lego-models/posts/1775338 We will ask all backers to provide/update their address soon. Thanks for your patience :-)

I guess the 2 ports can take a motor (WeDo 2.0 M?), a sensor (included color sensor, WeDo 2.0 tilt sensor?) or the motor+sensor combo (the included blocky motor). Voltage (&power) is higher than WeDo 2.0 though (that one outputs 5 V with boost switcher from either 2x AA batteries or a Li-Ion cell).

Glad to inform you production of BuWizz is starting :-) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/973645257/buwizz-remote-control-for-lego-models/posts/1743618

Short update published, more to follow soon :-) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/973645257/buwizz-remote-control-for-lego-models/posts/1720006

Hi all, You are right, BuWizz status update is in order :-) We are super busy, busy busy; gearing up for production. Plastic molding tools are almost ready - we are waiting for housing samples. We were working on finalizing electronics, firmware,... We still have to do some testing and we are waiting for all components to arrive to start production. We are also upgrading iOS and Android apps. And we did some changes to make BuWizz more future safe - more about this later, let's keep it a surprise for now ;-) Right now we are on track for first shipments in November, but this depends on a chain of tasks/milestones that need to happen as predicted. No promises until we have all the parts/components delivered (this is one of our worries - possible delays in obtaining any critical component might delay our shipping date). Will post a more detailed update later. Thanks for your patience, we are doing our best to deliver what we promised!

Last 15 minutes; who will be the last supporter? http://kck.st/29Eb94p

Thank you all for supporting BuWizz - we made it to the goal with your support! Now the "real" work begins for us - making BuWizz a product. We'll do our best! PS: campaign is not over yet; there are still the stretch goals ;-)

Almost there :-) Thanks to all for your support!

Hi all, we just posted an update on our Kickstarter page, announcing following news: Android App: We developed the first version of the Android App, which is undergoing testing as we speak. Please see ZeroBrick's race car drifting on sand & paved road! .Stand alone mode: A lot of people have asked for this and now it is official: BuWizz will have a stand alone mode. It will be able to act as battery, even without app connection. The power button will be used to cycle between modes (Slow - Normal - Fast - Off), LED will be used to indicate selected mode. Game pad support: BuWizz will support gamepad controls from the start. We will implement the universal Android gamepad (Android phone/tablet will be needed for this to work). Direct gamepad to BuWizz connection might follow later, but we can't promise this just yet. We are getting close to reaching the $50.000 goal! Please help make BuWizz a real product and keep spreading the word about BuWizz to your friends. Thanks for your support and thank you Jim for the review!

@Lion1984: BuWizz will have the features as described in KS, i.e.: slow-normal-fast mode, single color option, 4 channels, 4 pin holes, etc.. Timeline is also clear: delivery in November for early birds, December for the rest. Advanced features (transparent upper housing, Ludicrous speed mode, color options, USB connectivity) are stretch goals. I think this is defined in KS clearly - if not, please let me know. Since at this moment it is not even clear we will reach the basic goal, we can not really commit to any of the additional features - we need your support for additional development as hinted many times ;-) Regarding price: Žiga was a bit unclear. He was referring to pre-order phase (which we are thinking about doing). When BuWizz becomes a product, the planned retail price is higher than Kickstarter pledges, but retail won't happen until the product is ready to be sold, which is planned to be 5 months down the line.

Hi all, Thanks for all your support and very positive response to BuWizz. @agrof: Our Android app already has automatic setup: you start the app, if you have just one buWizz everything is setup automatically. you can of course change the setup (=which control for which output, etc.). We will have Gamepad support from the start (Android gamepad for starters, planned dedicated gamepad support later). Incidentally: nobody below 25 who tried BuWizz is missing any sort of "gamepad" (those kids have the smartphone almost as part of their body), it's only us older geezers or the ones used to model airplanes/helicopters/quadcopters who miss physical controls. Regarding Ludicrous mode, color options, etc: we do have stretch goals set up for those options :-) Retail price: we feel Kickstarter price is very favorable considering all benefits BuWizz brings (the two for $199 pledge). Planned retail price is HIGHER than KS price. Please consider again all features and use cases of BuWizz compared to other solutions, especially at $199 for 2 units. Regarding campaign: Yeah, we knew in advance timing was not perfect. We wanted to run the campaign earlier, but were delayed and not keen to start even later... One of the main problems we have is lack of media coverage - not that we did not try very hard for this; makes one consider possibility of a big brother blocking coverage ;-) @Jay Psi: Jul 14 - Aug 13 2014 Now enough of this whining ;-) Project is not dead yet. Only 8k is still missing and 4 days to go. Please help us do one final push! Spread the word (tell your friends, your LuG, share BuWizz on FB, LI, Instagram, Twitter,...) and, well, re-purpose your LEGO budgets a bit - the Porsche and H2 sets will be available for many months to follow, while, sadly, we will not be able to make BuWizz happen without successful Kickstarter...

We are introducing a Double Special reward. Stay tuned for more :-)

We are introducing a Double Special reward. Stay tuned for another update soon :-)

OK, I think I need to "take the reins" USB connectivity: not needed for FW updates, this will be done over BT (from Android or iOS App). USB can be used for connection to PC/Mac/Linux box, but here you can also use Bluetooth Data measurement, etc. can also be done through BT @2LegoOrNot2Lego: simply adding more motors will not drain the battery faster, but actually using them will . OK, joke aside: moving relatively slow models (think Volvo 42030) the battery lasts quite a long time, but driving a superfast 2xRC motor powered beast will drain the battery pretty quickly. Current BuWizz size/power/battery is a compromise. We are thinking about high performance version (as mentioned already) which would also have a larger battery. Gamepads: In theory, BuWizz could work directly with a gamepad, but this would require a - Bluetooth Smart gamepad - considerable effort modifying the firmware accordingly - you would still need to connect a smartphone at least for setup (i.e. setting up which gamepad button controls which BuWizz channel)

@leinaud: please support us and we shall pass I am afraid many people are thinking like you are, which is a bit unfair to people who already made the "leap of faith" and support us

We have future plans & quite a few ideas for follow-up products, but we need to get this one out first. A hint: more videos from Zblj with his awesome models are coming ;-)

@MaxSupercars: unfortunately we have a very limited number of prototypes and loads of interested testers-to-be. We will do our best to accommodate all, but this means you will need to wait a bit. @Mega-l0-maan and all EU supporters: The $25 is not just shipping, it also covers part of VAT for EU supporters (who are not VAT registered entities). From the $189 2x early bird we need to pay $34 VAT at 22% Slovenian rate, leaving us with just $155. Due to KS being in denial VAT even exists, we had to come up with some solution and we decided to cover at least half the VAT costs and "hide" the rest into shipping charge. The other options (shipping from outside EU for instance) would be simple for us, but difficult for supporters - all EU deliveries would need to go through local customs & duties would have to be paid (local VAT + customs + handling fee) - far in excess of the $15 extra we are charging now. Please read the FAQ on KS page, where this is explained.

@allanp: short answer: yes, yes & yes Long answer: 1) 2-way slider: yes, we call this a joystick Gear shifter: yes, we call this multiposition switch. You will be able to define how many positions you want (probably 2..6) and for each position you will be able to assign several output channels and set the output value for each of them. This will all work across several BuWizz bricks. On-screen control will be a multiposition switch (you select positions directly) and/or +/- (paddle) switch. Practical example: 6 gear sequential gearbox, 3 servos: for each switch position and each servo you will be able to select the BuWizz brick, channel and desired servo position (-7..+7) We are using the most basic version of this switch (one servo, 2 positions) in our videos - 8448 convertible roof opening/closing, railroad crossing barrier movement. 2) Some of us come from RC world, where all the options you mentioned were implemented decades ago (first as mechanical/electronic mixers, later with computer controls). We plan to do: servo travel limit (you set both limits of servo travel; servo does not move beyond that point), exponential & dual rate controls (i.e. several non-linear steering options, where servo does not move linearly with input but according to customizable steering curve) "Slack steering" good idea! we will implement this - for instance, software knows current servo position and the last movement. If you move servo in same direction, there is no slack. If you move it into opposite direction, you add a certain number (customizable) of steps. What do you think? The only problem is, the servo only has 15 positions (7 left, 7 right, center) so each step is fairly large - about 13 degrees. Another thing we will add now that we are testing Zblj's superfast cars: speed steering. We will limit maximum steering output depending on speed setting. For instance: 0-1/2 speed servo moves -7..+7, 1/2-3/4 speed: -4..+4, 3/4-full speed: -2..+2 With very fast speeds we are testing now, you do not want maximum steering output - bad things can happen (think broken bricks) Not unlike driving a car on a highway, where you also turn the steering wheel only slightly 3) 4 wheel steering modes with 2 servos: yes, we will implement this. Can be a manual setting or automatic, based on speed - i.e. at low speed rear wheels steer in opposite direction to get smaller turning radius, at high speed they steer in the same direction, but only a small angle (maybe just +/- one position of servo) - think the real Porsche 911 GT3 RS. 4) we are already testing several other options - we will post an update soon! Now the RC motor questions: We are still testing, but we can only claim one BuWizz can drive 2 RC motors for sure in the fastest speed mode. Nothing bad will happen if you drive 3 or 4 motors, but you will not get the maximum performance since one of the internal protections will trip (thermal, maximum current, battery protection,...). We are, however, considering an updated BuWizz version, which could drive up to 4 RC motors! We are eager to hear your feedback on this one!

@dbk: thanks for your concern, the answers to all your questions are very simple: 1: Guilty; we did some page updates & deleted contact page by mistake. Now it works again. You can also contact us through messages & comments on KS or this forum. 2. True. You need a US bank account & social security number to receive funds from KS. We are using a US company for this. We have a business agreement with this person & his company to act as our representative on KS. We are based in Slovenia and KS does not support Slovenia. Other people for instance chose to go through UK, but we prefer USD instead of GBP as currency. 3. What someone else's page? One FB link points to my page (my name is listed on KS as team leader), the other points to my sub-page, dedicated to BuWizz project. My name and names of all other team members are listed on the project page. Please do Linkedin search for our profiles (we do not post direct links since we do not want to receive tons of cooperation offers from dubious vendors). It is my humble opinion Linkedin is a much better way of checking someone's level of professionalism than FB. My Linkedin BuWizz Post.

The most we can do is use the best solutions available - and we are doing that. We use one of the top Bluetooth chips and we cooperate with a company who does only Bluetooth LE for a living (their solution's range is up to 120 m!). With Bluetooth, there are no guarantees. So far we did not have issues you mention and we were running up to 10 BuWizz bricks in parallel (paired to various number of smartphones).

We tested the LEDs at highest voltage & they worked OK (only slightly brighter). That said, we do not know if their lifespan would be shortened. We will add a setting to Light Switch, which will automatically reduce voltage for LEDs in FAST mode just in case.

Nice to hear the questions from train enthusiasts :-) Most of the things you are asking about are App related and therefore we can implement them. Since different behavior is required of trains, I think BuWizz should have a train mode. When you set up & store your model, you will be able to select "train" or "vehicle" mode. In vehicle mode, priority is automatic safety - stop at loss of signal for instance. In train mode, behavior can be different - sliders will not be "spring loaded", speed once set will be maintained - we are thinking about train specific controls - i.e. slider for speed + switch for direction - timeout will be variable - you can sst how long you want the train to run on loss of signal Stop button: already implemented, upon pressing "STOP" all motors receive stop command Toggle option: yes, there will be various controls available - for lights, etc. The toggle button options will include output level for both options (for instance for setting positions of servo motors - see videos of convertible roof opening & railroad crossing barrier on our campaign) Several light effects will also be available & mor will be programmable by the user Fast mode should not be harmful to PF components. We have tested them for over a year in harsh conditions and none of them failed. PF motors are well protected. That said, we can not guarantee none will fail. Please let us know, which features you wold like to have.

1. speed: BuWizz offers roughly 50% speed increase over all other solutions using LEGO batteries 2. certification: yes, we considered it 3. receiver: yes, as Jim said, BuWizz contains a Bluetooth Smart transciever 4. project's native currency is USD