BatteryPoweredBricks

Thanks for the kind words! Well 2022 technically, but the DACTA Control Lab still makes it's way into most of my projects. Bit of a spoiler alert but my video that releases tomorrow will feature a GBC layout controlled with the DACTA Control Lab It's always been so much fun to me to combine old and new Lego electronics in creative ways. I stood on the shoulders of geniuses to be able to make something like this. Decades of Lego fans reverse engineering and tinkering with these devices and sharing their exploits online. Not to mention the third party sensor developers. Glad to be part of a community that plays so well

Thanks, I was glad to finally find a transmitter that worked. The main downside is cost, and the additional buttons still don't work with BrickController. Still, it is my preferred method for controlling Lego RC vehicles

No worries, I posted it during the holidays so I wasn't expecting anything right away. If there's anything I can do to help let me know, I already have a few people waiting to hear from me if the buttons are implemented

That was how the search started, looking for a transmitter with BT. A friend reminded me that BC2 works with wired controllers so I went that route. I was hoping that a wired connection would help some with the lag but in my testing it doesn't seem to help any. There are some PC gamers using transmitters as controllers for an RC game. I tried a DumboRC transmitter with the Flysky USB harness but the calibration was waaaay off. Eventually landed with this controller which works perfectly besides the additional buttons. It's a bit pricey (I paid $80) but it was well worth it for me.

It's the Flysky G7P. It has an onboard USB-C port which outputs like a gamepad. I've made videos about it and posted the tutorial here on the forum (altough no one seemed to notice ). The 5 additional buttons do not work with BC2 (I posted about it on the Github page a few weeks ago), so it only works for throttle and steering currently. A USB-C to USB-C cable doesn't seem to work. I used a USB-C to USB-A cable with an OTG adapter. I'd love for the additional buttons to work for additional functions such as locking differentials or turning lights on and off. I probably should have just posted about it here, I forgot this thread existed.

It's nowhere near as responsive as a real RC vehicle, where you can flick the wheel and the steering will bounce back and forth perfectly along with the wheel (with good enough components). It's always going to have that bit of lag from the BT protocol. I'm slowly getting used to it, I need to take some faster models outside and practice compensating for BT lag. But using the Flysky controller makes it a LOT easier for me than a dual analog controller. Yes, for steering I'm just using the default settings and auto-calibrating in BC2. All my hubs "should" be running the latest firmware since I tested each model with the Control + app.

I recently purchased an SBrick and SBrick Plus on Amazon for $55 and $50 respectively (Yes I paid $5 more for a non-plus version). They still have them in stock but not sure about shipping to Canada. IIRC the only difference is the plus version can use the WeDo 1.0 sensors. You'll need one of the PF extension cables to power it unless you want to make your own cables.

Ok I'm kind of baffled by an issue I'm having with steering. I built the BuWizz 3.0 conversion for the Ford Raptor, I was sad to see that BC2 didn't support Servo control with BuWizz, and then happy when someone pointed out the app had been updated a day before . It works absolutely great! So great in fact I wanted to compare it to the PU hubs. I tried a City Hub as well as a Technic hub, calibrating several times. The steering is very jerky. I grabbed another RC model (4x4 X treme Off Roader 42099) and it doesn't have this issue. Am I missing something? I was just doing some tests but I'd like to know what is happening here in case I see it again. PU steering BuWizz Steering

I've meant to do this for a LONG time, but I wanted to make a video showcasing some of the third party software options for using the DACTA serial interface (four are shown in the video). Better late than never! A huge thanks to @diegobaca for his software contributions and for allowing use of his footage in the video!

It took a while but I finally found a solution for Lego RC that I am happy with. I was never going to use touch controls in the official Lego apps or BuWizz app. I drive real hobby grade RC vehicles so a big part of the "fun" is the feeling of control. I've seen mods where Lego fans are using RC transmitters and hacking together the electronics and while this is something I want to do eventually, I wanted a plug and play solution I could share with others. The breakthrough happened when a friend in Discord reminded me that the BrickController app supports wired controllers. This sent me down a rabbit hole looking for solutions. Eventually I found where people were using RC transmitters with a Flysky USB adapter to play the VRC PRO PC game. I tried this but the calibration was way off and I couldn't find a way to calibrate a gamepad on Android. Enter the Flysky G7P. This is a "budget" RC controller (I paid about $80, I've seen them listed for far less but it seemed kind of fishy). The killer feature for me is this controller has a dedicated USB-C port onboard, and outputs just like a gamepad. On that front I have good news and bad news. The throttle and steering work in the BrickController app without any modification! The bad news? The extra buttons (the controller has 5) are not picked up by the app. I've posted on the Github to see if anyone is interested in helping. I can't be the only one that wants a proper "pistol grip" controller for Lego RC. The extra buttons would be awesome to have working for controlling extra features such as locking differentials or multi-speed transmissions. I have a couple other discussion videos that go into a bit more detail (linked in the description of the video below) but this is the "short" version. I hope some people on this forum find this useful, for me this is an absolute game changer. I was at the point of giving up on Lego RC but this has changed that 100%. I have several RC sets coming in the mail so I can stock up on parts . Play well!

The only physical controllers I have to compare would be the train controller and a PS4 controller. The goal would be to compare touch controls on a phone as well. Side by side comparisons wouldn't be recorded real time but synced up in the edit. You basically look at the video for when the button is pressed or slider is moved and then count the frames until the motor responds. You can then calculate the lag time in ms. I'll see if I can get something done for this Sunday, if I do I'll make a separate thread to discuss since we're getting a bit off topic in this thread. Maybe I'll try some MK stuff too, but that would be a later followup. For now I do have BuWizz to compare as well.

I was already thinking of doing a video comparing the different options for RC. I have the off road buggy set and I've tried the Lego app, Pybricks with a train controller, BrickController with the Technic Hub and with BuWizz. For me none of these solutions are satisfying. I'm pretty sure the end result would be doing a PF conversion that I would like best . Too bad it wouldn't have proportional control. While the Pybricks solution did have the least amount of lag IIRC, the train controller is not a good solution for driving a model with traditional steering. At least PF has a return to center controller and a wheel can be attached to the side. I'll see what I can do for a side by side comparison. I can rig something up to activate the controllers at the same time and then count the frames in the video to get a fairly accurate measurement of the lag for each solution. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me

Just my 2 cents but I avoid phones at all cost. The lag is unbearable for RC applications and touchscreen controls just doesn't feel right (actually there's no feeling at all). I don't have any old phones with BLE anyway, just my primary phone that I use for filming. What I'd really like to see is a pistol grip remote (like hobby RC vehicles) with BLE, even then I'm sure there would be a lot of lag. I'll never understand why everything is moving to such a slow protocol. I have tons of issues with audio BT devices as well. After driving real RC vehicles everything else just feels like garbage. Will we ever have an RC solution for Lego without BT lag or IR interference? As many third party companies are out there I'd really like to see some kind of solution to this.

Ohh I'll have to check that out Evan! I know @hypertalking uploaded one to his channel a while back but unfortunately it was badly damaged (basically audio only for the first half) hopefully we can find a copy of that video in better condition. With any of this kind of stuff remember to drop a comment for anyone who does contribute. Without any encouragement they may not take the time to archive or share what they find in the future. I think you guys know the work involved in transferring from VHS. I don't have anything super rare like these but I do want to find a good solution for digitizing VHS tapes. In other news, I've hard at work trying to collect / piece together complete Lego DACTA sets with the boxes and everything. Guess which one I just completed tonight?

Hello fellow Lego DACTA fans! I just received a comment on one of my videos with a link to this. I imagine some of you would already know most of the information in the video, but I found it interesting to watch, there's a certain nostalgia with old media like this. I have more things I want to share on the Control Lab soon when I find the time. For now enjoy this window into the past!

Wow those interface cards are pure unobtainium! I've had my eye out for quite some time for one, but seeing what folks on this forum like yourself do with them (Or @evank's v8 engine) maybe I'll just stick to the 9v DACTA era . That sounds like quite the project! I've been meaning to get caught up with this thread for quite a while, maybe even contribute something of my own, but for now I'm excited to see what you come up with @Toastie!!

For me it was the fact that one or two motors took substantially longer than the other 2 when I recently had to do this. Like 2 were already up to date and just needed calibration. These days I wouldn't expect to buy a toothbrush without having to update firmware

Just a quick update on my wire tester. I was asked to make a how-to video for it so I thought I'd share it here as well. It's kind of interesting what you can come up with, stacking the connectors in creative ways. The final version is quite efficient requiring 6 9v wires, still curious if I could get it any lower. I know I could do the short circuit test with 3 connectors and a 3 way wire but I think it would be a pain to get the individual wires in, it's much easier as a pair. Anyway if there is anyone out there making dozens of wires at a time, like me, this saves a ton of time!

I'm sure there are many wire alternatives that would work. For me I'm particular about aesthetics and I want a decent gauge wire for long runs. I've had issues with long runs not getting enough power for PF servos using cheap extensions I bought online (demonstrated in the video).

TLDR video at the bottom of the post In my builds / layouts there is one common theme, needing longer Power Functions cables. At least with this system Lego provided extension cables, but even those are fairly short and getting more and more expensive. Third party extensions are available but still not long enough for me, and they use embarrassingly small gauge for the wire. Sure you can daisy chain them together but each connection and the length of small gauge wire will introduce enough resistance to cause issues (ask me how I know). I was very happy to find the 24gauge BNTechGo wire I had been using for making 9v cables works great with PF connectors. It seems a bit oversized at first but it's good to go as high on the gauge as you can so you can make longer cables without issue. The extension cables are very easy to make, just be sure to reverse the connectors so the 9v supply wires are the correct polarity (ex. studs up on one end of the wire and studs down on the other). Links to the products used are in the description of the video, this way I only have one thing to edit if anything changes in the future. I'm also quite fond of making adapters to be able to power IR receivers and PF servo motors from a 9v source such as an RCX or train speed regulator. This can be done with the official Lego 9v adapter and an empty PF battery box to short the control wires with the 9v supply wires, but making your own adapter cable is a much more elegant solution. I have a standard that I use to make sure I don't reverse the polarity of the 9v supply. This is what the connector looks like internally. And because I just couldn't help myself I went ahead and made another wire tester. The RCX grabs ground from the sensor port and send 9 volts to each output one at a time. These 4 wires are put into a PF connector and then I have another connector that breaks out to three 9v lamps. At least in theory this should show if there is any issue. If any pin is not getting continuity one or more lights will not light up. If there is a short multiple lights may light up at a time or the first lamp will fail to light. pictured next to my 9v wire tester. UPDATE: I've uploaded a new tutorial which fixes a few mistakes in this video and has a lot more information. I should have mentioned the above jumper cable would create a short when used in reverse (powering a 9v motor from a PF source). (old video) And of course here is the video I made, which goes into a bit more detail and I can actually show you how I make these cables and how I use them.

Yep that's me . I've never even attempted a micro motor repair, from what I've seen there isn't a non-destructive way to do it. When it comes to Technic I think I have an affinity for the older sets. One of my favorite projects was adding remote control capability to the old Code Pilot set using an RCX and Power Functions (so much so I did it twice ). Yeah Windows XP is kind of a sweet spot for Lego Mindstorms / DACTA Control Lab. I had trouble with crashes on my physical Windows 98 PC (not as much using a VM) and Vision Command didn't work at all with the camera. With anything that needs a serial port you can always use a USB to serial adapter, and a virtual machine for older software (the serial port can be passed through). There are many options for running the old stuff, "eventually" I will have dedicated tutorials showing the pros and cons of different solutions. If you have any specific questions you can always DM me, just to not get too off topic in threads (I could talk about this stuff forever) Oh and as far as GBC I had some half-hearted attempts years ago (on my other YT channel) but it's something I'm currently working on, it will take quite a while to have anything worth showing off.

Well they are all hidden . It's a fairly simple display, I didn't think it really justified it's own thread. I'll post the video here since it is "on topic", look at what is possible when you make your own cables!

oohhhh I see. Well.... I have quite a bit but at this point I'm holding on to what I have. I recently built a display for my 10497 Galaxy Explorer and alt builds and used 60 9v connectors . I have a lot of builds / videos planned and I don't want to run out of them. I wish there was a good, reliable source for them but I haven't found one yet. Even on Bricklink they can be priced high and not even state the condition they are in.

How much wire are you looking to get? There are several options on the Amazon listing, ex. you can get a 25ft roll of 4p (2 pairs) for like 16$. If you are just looking for a few small scrap pieces I could probably help with that as well. Not sure if something like that could just be sent in an envelope or not.

Yeah skipping that step could cause the wire to pull back and not meet up with the blade contacts. Also make sure the blades are straight up and down, they tend to get bent when pulling the connector apart. The more you do the easier it gets. I've put on a movie and made a couple dozen at a time and only had one or two errors. Good luck!