kbalage

@Gimmick I might be overthinking, but I still see a difference and a tendency that I don't like. If we check the top 4 Technic sets this is how I see them: 42055 is huge, but the original is huge as well and I don't think the conveyor belt and other elements could be made with similar functionality in a smaller scale. 42082 is big and tall, but for a crane size actually matters a lot It did not feel either unnecessarily big with empty unused spaces inside. 42100 is already different as it has tons of empty space inside, but I felt kind of compensated with the amount of electronics that came with it, it's a real PU starter pack. 42131 is again big, but what is the point? Does a bigger blade add much to the playing experience? The amount of electronics does not require this size, I don't think it works any better due to the size, it's big because it wants to look big and expensive to justify the price tag. And with this we arrive to the price question. From 42055 to 42100 the price was increasing significantly, but at least we could say that we got more (electronics) for the money while the overall piece count was similar. Then came 42131 with significantly less PU parts, same price as 42100 and a 18+ tag that underpins the emphasis on the look and not on the play experience. I assume next year the 1:8 supercar will steal the show and we get a sub-3000 piece flagship, but I'm a bit afraid what 2023 brings

@Gimmick big machines are cool when the size makes sense and it has a purpose. Here it is clearly visible that even more functions/electronics can be squeezed in a much smaller design, and the size does not have any added value as it only causes problems. If the CAT had the size of the Liebherr MOC with ~3k parts then it could have been more agile, and even if they used the same amount of electronics the price could have been around $350-375. That'd make it more acceptable compared to the Liebherr, even if that set with that amount of electronics and parts is actually cheap compared to TLG's average.

@Gimmick I'm a fan of huge off-road trucks instead @Zerobricks I assume the expectations were like: Should be a bulldozer 4k parts 1 hub & 4 motors maximum yellow

3rd part of the review with another take on the controls (makes more sense now), a closer look at the reasons behind the 4 second function swap (seems to be necessary), and my final verdict about the set (Liebherr still wins for the same price):

It's all about the amount of tension and the length of the reverse movement. A short (1 sec) reverse movement might not remove the tension completely so the driving ring might be still stuck, but 2-3 quick forward reverse changes together with the slight rotation of the wave selector can make the driving ring free. You might as well do a longer reverse movement, but you will end up with a similar procedure length and I guess it's more simple to do the wiggle than to verify every time what is the proper reverse direction :)

@Gimmick well it sounds more like a philosophical question, what is really stuck there? At that point the driving ring meshes with the red gear, the red gear drives a 16T gear that is connected to the output. The output is under tension, the 16T gear holds the red gear and the whole axle is bent slightly, it's enough for the driving ring to become stuck under the red gear and the orange wave selector is not powerful enough to move the driving ring, so it rather jumps out of the groove and slides below it.

Yes I understood what you mean thank you In the case of the CAT the tension seems to be between the red gear and the driving ring, as the driving ring can become stuck in the gear and the orange wave selector slides out of the driving ring. Simply reversing the output for a second might help, but there are cases when it is not enough. I did a few tests and apparently the slight rotation of the orange wave selector and the wiggly movement together is definitely more effective then a simple short opposite movement of the output. A video will come this afternoon. Since we are talking about Powered Up, how would the system know in all cases what was the previous direction to drive it the opposite way? :) Btw as I tested, this simple opposite movement does not remove the tension in all cases. In some cases it helps, but apparently the movement performed by the Control+ app is more effective.

If there is tension in the system then the orange wave selector might not be able to move all DBG drive rings. Simple backwards rotation might be not be enough as the situation might happen and both ends or the movement range, so it's either slight backward or forward rotation. If we do both, then we get the Control+ profile's shaking as a result :) Of course you might cut half a second here and there in the PU app, but I assume the folks at TLG did some testing to see how much shaking is required to avoid most of the jams.

@Gimmick I'm doing the tests right now and the shaking seems to make sense in certain scenarios :) The hauler is different, as it had a single function where it was moving the actuators and unless you pushed the bed against something there wasn't much resistance. Here you can push the blade below "surface level" with both functions operating it so there can be potentially a much higher load on the driven axle.

@gyenesvi the 45 degree rotation helps to move the driving rings to an intermediate position meanwhile the shaking happens. All this helps to avoid tension building up in the gearbox before actually switching it to a new position. I'll demonstrate it in a video soon.

@Gimmick here is the function switching sequence. The motor driving the function does the shaking, meanwhile the gear selector rotates by ~45 degrees, then the shaking stops and the position according to the function is selected on the gearbox. A lot of extra stuff going on for safety before that actual gearbox switch :)

If nothing stresses the LAs then theoretically the difference should not be significant even after a long time. But as my tests showed with the Liebherr and some custom code, if the LAs are under load (heavy lifting) then the calibration can get off very quickly. This might explain why the set is designed to avoid potential impacts, e.g. the ripper not touching the ground, as that could affect the calibration.

You mean once it is calibrated, how it stores the endpoints for the different functions? That is an interesting question. Theoretically it can save the endpoints corresponding to each function and the last used position, so anytime it returns to a function it knows what the position is relative to the endpoints. I wonder how reliable it will be after a few dozen of switches.

I wouldn't expect miracles from the final release. The problem is with the whole concept - whenever you touch a controller, the gearbox needs to switch the function while you are already expecting to be operating that function. Even if some fine tuning manages to bring it down to 2 seconds, you'll be waiting there, pushing e.g. the blade tilt joystick and nothing happens for 2 seconds. I think adding a function selector could have been way better, you select your function, the gearbox does its job, you see e.g. a green light showing that the function is active and then you can start to operate the function. More steps, but shows much better what is going on. Luckily it can be relatively easily implemented with Powered Up or Pybricks :)

It's very similar to the gearbox of 42114. There's a physical endpoint and the gearbox have 4 positions for the 4 functions, you can see it in action here.

Thanks @Jim, looking forward to read about your experience! The basic setup is really awkward for me, the alternative controller works better. But all in all the official profile did not make me like the set much more :D

It's actually easier :) You can find the details here.

Here is the second part of my review with the detailed demonstration of the Control+ profile, and also a comparison with the other $450 Control+ set, the 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator:

Interesting. Maybe it's a design choice to increase friction as the majority of the people won't care about pin orientation and use them randomly? :)

After this year's Zetros and CAT leaks that turned out to be very different from the real products I start to think TLG now plays a misinformation game with the leakers to track their sources and also to confuse them :)

I don't think there should be necessarily a flagship for the first half year, that's always the time for smaller sets.

I think so far only the 1:8 supercars were handled separately from the "normal" Technic lineup, this makes the CAT the flagship of 2021. At least in 2019 the Liebherr was considered the flagship model and not the Defender (brickset.com tags also agree ).

Since 42109 is rumored to be retiring this year it will be more a replacement for that - smaller wheels, no suspension. Race truck maybe? :)

So no 1:10 car for 1HY, I guess they'll be alternating the releases with the 1:8 sets. I really wonder what will be the "Technic hub on wheels" minimalistic Control+ set this year :D

The Control+ profile refuses to work if anything else is connected to the hub or the layout is not according to the instructions. You need to replicate the functionality in the Powered Up app, and you can also add controls for lights or anything else there.