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Lowa

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Everything posted by Lowa

  1. Lowa
    I happy to hear you like our switches. I'm not sure what the 'sanding' is about; the track should connect just fine. We do sometimes have like grains of plastic that get stuck in the connect. We remove those but I cannot guarantee we never miss one... but they should be easy to remove.
  2. Lowa
    Well, that's not too bad... but eventually they will start showing up in searches. I sent you an PM...
  3. Lowa
    Sounds great! Thanks for sharing this, I really appreciate that.
  4. Lowa
    They made a few post on Eurobricks but don't seem very active here, however, I have no idea how closely the follow the conversations. I guess they picked up the concept from the Kickstarter campaign; it seems to be a general problem with kickstarter campaigns at the moment... The vast majority of Kickstarter campaigns are posted by start-ups; and typically they don't have to resource to patent their ideas. Concerning the impact on our activities. We're working on finalizing two types of track that are closely related to automation, the decoupler being one of them. Automation was and still is our 'ultimate goal', and I assume that's harder to copy as well. One of the issues with automation is that it appears to have a higher threshold for people to get involved with it than new types of track. Any feedback on what that might be or on how we can overcome that would be very helpful! Thank you! We're currently fulfilling the pledges of our kickstarter backers, so we don't have them in our shop yet. You can place a pre-order with the following web page: https://www.4dbrix.com/contact/preorder.php I agree, a 3-way switch would be cool...
  5. Lowa
    I'm not sure that I want to go that way as this can backfire and bring more damage than anything. In private conversations, they already seems to start defending themselves by claiming they released their modular switches before us... A claim that doesn't make any sense as on their own website they have an announcement of the release of their modular switches that was posted July 9, while our Kickstarter campaign was launched April 1st. But who will take the effort to verify that... I guess it's just a matter of time, they seems to be very active at approaching AFOLs with youtube channels to start promoting their products...
  6. Lowa
    I would prefer not to give them additional media exposure in my threads. I'll send you a private message... Thank you. I appreciate the moral support...
  7. Lowa
    Dear Eurobrickers, With 4DBrix we have always tried to keep an open communication with the AFOL community. (Although I have to admit that for the last few months, due to our kickstarter campaign, I didn’t have enough time to do this as much as I would have liked). I really enjoy the conversions on this forum and appreciate your feedback and input which has had a significant impact on what we do. Unfortunately, I have to revise the ‘openness’ on that level. A few months ago we introduced the concept of ‘modular track switches’ we developed for LEGO PF train track. It was brought to my attention that our concept has already been copied… in a rather shameless way, they didn’t even bother the find another name and also use the term ‘modular’. Developing a concept like the ‘modular track switch’ system takes a significant amount of time and effort, however, copying the final concept only takes a fraction of that. We have no problem with fair competition but stealing ideas straight out of kickstarter/forums is a serious issue for innovation… We have been working on other concepts to extend the track selection for LEGO trains and would have liked to discus them with you. Unfortunately, we’re no longer able to do that unless we’re willing to risk that our ideas are being stolen before we can even release the product. We have to evaluate what the implications of this are long term. But for now, I truly regret we can no longer have these open, public discussions. You’re however very welcome to contact me directly at info@4dbrix.com. As usual, all your feedback is welcome...
  8. Lowa
    Indeed, a system with a start/slope/stop configuration would be the most flexible system. I'm just not sure about the 1 plate per straight slope. What applications are you thinking about ? To me, one of the more obvious applications would be to make a bridge. If you want a train to be able to pass under it you need a least a clearance of 12 bricks. With a 1 plate per straight slope that give: 12 bricks = 36 plates => 36 x 16 studs = 4.6 m or 15ft, on one side so you're talking about 9m / 30 ft for the complete bridge. I would think that's too long for most situations, no ? Another issue would be price, 3D printing sloped track would not be cheap: a) you would need to print with a low layer thickness (more layers to print) to improve the approximation of the lope with print layers and b) you need to print more support material than for a 'flat' track segment. So the lower the slope the pricier the system becomes. I did a quick search and found this interesting article on the topic. http://thetechnicgear.com/2014/02/howto-create-lego-train-inclines/
  9. Lowa
    No, it's not an optical illusion. This track is designed to overcome a difference in height of 1 plate, both ends of the track segment are horizontal so you can connect it to standard PF track. So if you connect them you will indeed have a 'bumpy' track. If you want to create a steady slope you need a set of tracks, like for the LEGO monorail: a lower ramp: starts off horizontally and then gradually increases the slope an upper ramp: starts with a slope that gradually decreases to a horizontal track ramp: has a steady slope and is used in between the lower and upper ramp It's feasible to make that, but I guess you would want to do that with a slope that is steeper than 1 plate / 16 stud segment...
  10. Lowa
    Small 'ramps' to overcome a 1 or 2 plate height difference is one of the things we thought about for our extended range of 3D printed track segments. This is a track we designed a while ago but we haven't tried printing them. It's a 16 stud long straight track that raises the height by one plate (3.2mm). Is this what you're looking for ? If so, I can make a print in dark bluish gray and post a picture...
  11. Lowa
    Yes, you will be able to control your trains with a phone or tablet. Keep in mind that this WiFi based system is quite different from, for example, bluetooth based systems. This system is based on the message sever of nControl, so you always need a computer (PC, mac or Raspberry Pi) that is on your WiFi network that runs nControl. Once configured, your train automatically connects to the message server of nControl when you switch it on. We will also provide a webbased app that you open in a browser that connects with that message server. This will allow you to pilot the train with your phone. There is no practical limitation on the number of devices that can connect to the message server, so you can use multiple trains and multiple phones. Note that there is no direct pairing between the train and the phone, so you can control multiple trains from the same phone or the same train from multiple phones/tablets. It's a very flexible system... Indeed, we started working on this controller so it would be possible to integrate the trains in the layout automation. Great!
  12. Lowa
    The main priority this summer is to print the switches for our Kickstarter backers and finalizing the design of things we have been working on; the decoupler is one of them. Our first Kickstarter campaign has been working out really well; although we have a very flexible production system with 3D printing, it's quite handy to be able to start of with a substantial volume. So we're considering launching new campaigns for items like the decoupler. Maybe we'll do it in July or August, we'll see... The train controller is a prototype that is still evolving. The thread below gave me an idea for a system to transmit data between cars; the first tests seem very promising. So I'm considering getting the controllers compatible with that so that they can use it when that system become available... Actually, the first set of narrow gauge tracks has been available for a while: we have a full straight (16 studs), half straight (8 studs), quarter straight (4 studs) and a half curve (22.5 degrees). All narrow gauge tracks are available in online store in dark gray and black. Now that we have mastered making switches, the 'long-term' plan for the narrow gauge is switches... Indeed, but I consider decouplers and train controllers part of the train automation. When I wrote that I was mainly talking about the traffic lights and sensors, both items are now available.
  13. Lowa
    That would indeed solve the alignment issues, but I don't see how to make such a connector in practice. I haven't seen any off the shelf 'magnets on springs' (like pogo pins). But when I did the test with the 4 magnet connector, there were always at least 3 magnets that made contact. So most likely 3 plain magnets (no springs) would work fine. Aligning the pins vertically indeed eliminates the polarity issues. The main disadvantage that I see for using a connector above and below the coupling is that it starts looking bulky. But if that's not an issue for you, it should work fine...
  14. Lowa
    That's quite impressive! But if I got it right you'll need a servo motor in each car that you want to be able to decouple ?
  15. Lowa
    Thanks! It supports one motor. There is only one attachment port because it only supports one motor. It does support 2 lights but those uses 0.1" pins (standard breadboard pins, the pins are at the front of the controller). The goal here was to keep the control as small as possible and adding more attachment ports would have increased the size of the controller. The connector shown on the picture will only work with PF style battery boxes. I haven't tried making one for old style 9V connects but I'm planning to give it a try because that would be handy for the monorail. Another option I thought about was to make a variant with a standard 9V battery connector. I found some rechargeable 9V battery that are just 16mm wide (most are slightly thicker...), so they fit in a 2 stud wide space in a MOC, which seems like a very handy option to hide a battery without needing the space for a battery box.
  16. Lowa
    Thanks! The controller is based on the ESP826612E which support Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, support WPA/WPA2 - 802.11 b/g/n. You can found all of it's specifications here: https://mintbox.in/media/esp-12e.pdf The panel has indeed a sound button, but the controller does not support sound; the sound is going to be played by the computer controlling the train... The goal here was to make the controller as compact as possible. The controller does have two 0.1" pins for two sets of LEDs... Thanks for the feedback! It's good to know there is an interest in control buttons...
  17. Lowa
    Thanks! With the sensors it does take a bit of time to program everything and get it right... But the simulation mode of nControl helps a lot, you can really test the whole configuration before building the layout and putting the trains on the track. This way of working really makes it a lot of fun...
  18. Lowa
    Good point! I sort of overlooked that in my enthusiasm yesterday... I did take a quick look at the little bits patent (US D752,519 S) and it claims: "the ornamental design for a connector for a modular electronic building system, as shown and described". It's a design patent not a utility patent; they don't make any generic claims on magnetic connector technology. To me it seems like the goal is to make sure nobody makes connectors that are compatible with their products. The original patent on magnetic connector technology for electrical devices: Electromagnetic detachable connector, US 6030229A, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd, https://www.google.com/patents/US6030229#legal-events) expired April 17, 2012 'due to failure to pay maintenance fee'. So there shouldn't be any issue making magnetic connectors for LEGO trains, unless I missed something...
  19. Lowa
    Are you talking about those? You would need a 'donut' shaped connector that you can slip over the coupling but that would look strange it guess... Now, If you don't want buffers would a fully 3D printed coupling work for you ? It should be possible to design and print a coupling with integrated connectors.
  20. Lowa
    Indeed, I was thinking the same thing! Two magnets on the outside for the power lines and two pogo pins in the middle for the data lines. I also think we have to add a notch somewhere to make sure you can only connect them in the correct way. Because if you turn the car around, you would connect it with reverse polarity...
  21. Lowa
    I'm actually starting to think about using a mix of magnets and spring loaded contacts: 2 magnets on the outside to hold the connectors together and two spring loaded contacts in the middle. That should eliminate all alignment issues and always provide a good connection. The two magnets could be used for power lines, the 2 spring loaded contacts for data lines. I should to do some tests with the decoupler to see how strong the additional magnets can be before having decoupling issue. But you have a good point that for heavy trains the additional coupling force could actually be helpful...
  22. Lowa
    I gave the 4 wire option a try, see below. As expected it's trickier as the magnets really need to be flush in order to make contract, but it works! Below you see a quick video that I made. The car on the left has an Arduino that 'blinks' on outputs D2, D4 and D6. The car on the right has 3 LEDs: wire-1 = GND, wire-2 = LED1, wire-3 = LED2 and wire-4 = LED3. As you can see the 3 LED blink one by one, so the 4 wire are connected. This was done with the 3mm diameter magnets that I had. For a 4 wire coupling, the 2mm would certainly be a better option as the 4 magnets make the connection between the cars very strong... I'm not sure the locomotive would have power enough to pull the cars apart on a decoupler.
  23. Lowa
    True, and 3 wires would already allow one directional communication with, for example, a SoftwareSerial transmission line. The only thing that would be a bit annoying is the polarity of the central magnet, we would need two versions... but that's not a fundamental issue. I'm first going to give it a try with 4 magnets because that would allow bidirectional serial or I2C communication. I'll first try with the 3mm magnets that I have. If that works fine, I can try to shrink it using 2mm magnets...
  24. Lowa
    Thanks! Yes, putting a second one on top of the coupling seems to be possible. It does start looking quite bulky though... For the power + data connection I was thinking about getting some magnets that are slightly smaller (2mm diameter instead of 3mm) and arranging them like this: That would be a lot more elegant than using 2 connectors with 2 magnets. My only worry is the alignment of the magnets. 2 magnets will always make contact, with 4 they will have to be flush enough to make the electrical connection... I'll give it a try!
  25. Lowa
    When I discovered this thread I couldn't resist giving this a try with 3D printing. The solution of @igordost is very neat but I agree with @TCRR Constitution that ideally it should not require any modification of the original LEGO coupling. Luckily LEGO added a stud at the bottom of the coupling. I had some 3mm magnets in stock so I designed a small brick that you can stick on the stud of the coupling and that can hold 2 magnets. I made a couple of prints to fine tune the dimensions. I added the magnets and wires: and snapped it on the train coupling It seems to work perfectly! I made a little video. The car on the left has the battery, the car on the right has an LED. When you connect the cars, you connect the LED to the battery and it lights up... Any thoughts, comments ?
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