kbalage

@ElGreco I suggest to follow the modification of @Train of Thought Creations, based on further testing my solution was not bulletproof. He posted it a few days ago in this topic.

Give me a hint how you would do that :) In the top view the driving wheel is practically invisible, from the side you can't really see all gears so you cannot put arrows around them.

The header seems to be driven by that small wheel behind it, so it only works when that one touches the ground.

Adults drive, kids go scouting :)

There is a good reason why most RC vehicles today still use dedicated controllers instead of touchscreens. Without tactile feedback, precise motion control isn't possible, and you have to look occasionally at the screen to see where the virtual buttons and sliders are, so you're not watching the vehicle you're controlling. LEGO offers a separate train controller, they could do the same thing with a PS4/Xbox style controller easily. It's one thing to offer advanced features with smart devices, but you also have to cater to the needs of the user. This (or lack thereof) is clear to see with the Control+ profiles - they've released several vehicles over the years, but haven't bothered to add the ability to swap the throttle and steering controls. This is clearly not a cost issue, but an ignorance of user feedback and understanding how people actually use their products.

It will be 6 years soon, as we turn to 2024. The first 2 sets with the PU system (and the app) were the 76112 App-Controlled Batmobile and the 60197 Passenger Train, both introduced in 2018. Actually Boost was released in 2017, and WeDo 2.0 in 2016, both sharing the same connectors, although the WeDo 2.0 hub was never made compatible with the Powered Up app. But I wouldn't expect any sudden changes, certainly not next year. Hopefully the folks at TLG will take the time to release a mature, fully tested and working system so we don't have to participate in an endless beta program next time.

I don't think you need to remove smart features to add simple abilities that doesn't require coding. Even Powered Up had something similar planned, but as far as I know it never happened. A few years ago we talked to the developers about default behaviors that would be hard-coded into the firmware, similar to how the train motor, City hub and the remote work together out of the box. If you add a configuration possibility to these behaviors through an app, but the functionality can be used afterwards without a smart device, then you can have the best of both worlds. Throw in a physical remote, hard switches and buttons, and we're done.

I did a few more tests with different track pieces, tried to put the train on a difficult wave pattern. It went well forwards, but in reverse the resistance was too high and the motor with the whole assembly above it was pushed upwards, even with the 1:1 gearing. This is something that needs to be considered, I think the vertical bracing with the Technic beam that @Train of Thought Creations implemented or something similar will be really necessary for a reliable solution.

Most companies don't do exclusive deals. Mercedes has licensing partnership with Playmobil, Cobi, and a whole bunch of other toy manufacturers.

One can dream... we'll see if the team took the feedback from the McLaren's "success" seriously :) But I fear if the March release is true, we won't see a proper livery again. The best thing would be to actually release the 2023 model.

I tried it later with different couplers, and it was still pushed off the track. One solution could be the combination of a train motor under the wagon and another motor in loco, but that version has cable length issues. Another version could use 2 train motors, one under the wagon, and a second one under the tender. The battery box was actually in the tender when this test was performed :)

Those were the promises in 2022, most of which weren't fulfilled. The Canvas update was planned for 2022, we got it in mid-2023. I haven't seen any of the features promised for 2023 yet, and there's only one month of the year left. TLG released a "big update" for Mindstorms in August 2022 with new features and fan models, then suddenly killed the platform and the product in October 2022. Major roadmap changes happen unfortunately.

Exactly, that was just speculation. I must emphasize that there is no official information or updates on the future of Powered Up. On the other hand, the pattern I mentioned in the video is worrying. Earlier in the year, I really thought that the "retirement" of the XL motor was just another way to mask the lack of stock, but it remained consistently retired in all regions, just like the simple medium linear motor (gosh, those names make no sense at all...). Both were core components in Technic sets, so the retirement raises questions. Especially because other, much older components like the Boost hub or the medium linear motor are still available. Again, I can only speculate, but it seems that these parts are only available because TLG still has old stock. I highly doubt anyone would want to spend $80 on a Boost hub these days. If we then consider the sudden and inexplicable retirement of Mindstorms, the future of the Powered Up hardware platform doesn't seem very bright or secure. In any case, it'll be interesting to see how the number of Control+ sets will evolve over the next year, what components they'll use and whether there will be sets from other themes that use Powered Up parts.

Here is my video with the motorization attempts, and a short summary: Pushing the tender & the loco with the motor under the first wagon is not the best idea, the tender gets pushed off the rails. Might be improved with some tinkering but a simple motor swap is definitely not enough. Installing a Large Powered Up motor in the boiler and adding the Powered Up City hub to the tender works well, with a 1:1 gearing it has a good balance of torque and speed. With this configuration the tender *might* derail in reverse, but it can be a neglieable problem, only happened once during ~20 minutes of testing. Adding the red rubber bands to the locomotive is crucial, otherwise it cannot pull the train. The 60336 City locomotive can pull the Orient Express tender & the 2 cars easily, so it shouldn't be a problem for other locomotives either.

@Mondo-TRON since the set is only released on December 1st, I don't think anyone will have 4 of the OE wagons yet, maybe something similar & custom built. 88013 has approximately double the torque of 88008, so it is definitely more suitable for this purpose. If you want to have exact measurements about the motors, I suggest Philo's excellent article. 88013 can provide a decent speed and torque to run the train, I'll share a video about it soon.

It must be me then, but I don't see anything between the black mudguard piece and the tan gear:

As I mentioned I'm looking for a simple solution with the least amount of modifications, so I'll leave the testing of this one to you. Btw, you might want to look at the empty space above the lower 12T bevel gear in your V2 motorization, I'm afraid it gets pushed up as soon as you turn the motor on. I'm not 100% sure it fits (as I don't have the part to test), but I've seen the 11010 ring piece used as a spacer on other designs when something thinner than a half bush was needed.

Magnets were used in the video and the tender was still pushed off the rails, so I don't see what difference would that make, especially if the magnets are secured. You said yourself that pulling works better than pushing, I will go in that direction.

I used ball joints, no magnets, and did not modify the axles. The point was to test a "simple" motorization, and apparently pushing the tender instead of pulling it won't work without further tinkering. Pulling the tender and the 2 wagons works like a charm with a City locomotive.

It is indeed a simple method, but as you can see in his video as well the tender derails fairly quickly. He added straights between the curves to make it run smoother, if you have a half-circle at both ends then it derails even sooner, I just tested it.

That was a sort of "worst case scenario", intentionally. The City locomotive tried to move the 2 wagons + the locomotive from the rear, and half of the train was on curves already. Already experimented with other configurations and e.g. the City locomotive has zero issues pulling the 2 wagons alone. I also plan to test some of the motorization ideas that were already shared in the topic.

The 2 function selectors might be confusing on this one, make sure to check how they supposed to work:

As far as I know there's no preorder for this set, it'll be available from December 1st

Aaand the embargo is lifted. Here is my review with all the building details and some comparison, motorization tests will come in the next one:

Because they are waiting for the embargo to be lifted :)