howitzer

The general sentiment I've observed in this forum is that most people feel that the set designers are doing their job very well within the constraints imposed. Most sets are designed well while some sets have had shortcomings that can really only be explained by designer being very strictly constrained in a way that leaves the set with perhaps minor but very obvious flaws. The complaints here aren't generally about what the set designers do per se, but they're mostly about the available range of sets (cars, cars and more cars) and also about price not meeting the size and quality of the set (Volvo Excavator).

Of course the senior management instructs set designers on what to design and I doubt they read this forum even if some designers might.

You're not wrong, but sadly it seems that TLG is set in its direction and not at all interested in what we think here in this forum :(

I don't think a Technic build has ever been approved in Ideas. Technic is a niche, and while it certainly enjoys some popularity, it's still not a priority for TLG, and they probably have quite a strict limit on how many Ideas sets to produce and steep expectations for their sales so Technic being niche tends to receive short end of the stick, no matter how good the models are. Also, as we see how narrow and boring Technic is becoming, I don't think there's even that much of a chance of getting Technic set approved, as non-car sets don't fit into TLG's agenda and car sets are already produced en masse so there's little room for anything original and interesting.

The original question was about TLG not making robot sets so yes, it's true that C+/PU can be used for that but TLG never did much with that system to encourage programming - all the sets were provided with preprogrammed movements with no options to make your own adjustments, and no generic model programs nor building instructions or even ideas for alternative builds - contrast this with the universal sets of the '80 and '90s with all kinds of fanciful builds they included. They even failed to provide a comprehensive guide on what the various code blocks do and how to use them properly. Also you had to buy non-motor devices such as sensors separately or get a Mindstorms set would include them, there were no Technic sets with those, except for the tilt sensor built into the hub. And yeah, while Pybricks is great, the lack of official support for standalone operation is also a huge wasted opportunity from TLG's part. Also I should note that the word "robot" can have various meanings here, and I'm not entirely sure what @Satisfied meant with that. Humanoid robots which walk and move around are really, really difficult to make mechanically, and the same goes for other walkers, also those with more than two feet. Other kinds of robots - well there's stuff like robot arms and people have built and presented those even in this forum but they also seem to be quite a difficult things to get right and also tend to become very large, requiring thousands of parts and many motors and hubs, so they'd get far too expensive as an official set. There has also been sets like 17101 Creative toolbox, which included robotics and programmability and many alternative models with instructions but that set was aimed at kids of 7-12 years old, and it showed, the models weren't that impressive and in some cases didn't even work very well. Also it wasn't Technic in branding or building style. Actual robotics is a very difficult thing to do in the context of official Lego sets.

Finally a car set I might actually consider buying! Hopefully they make next Detroit Electric model 1916, perhaps as collaboration with Disney, as Grandma Duck's car has been modelled after that one and it would suit well the TLG's attempt to introduce electric vehicles to the lineup.

Robots need programming, and that's what Mindstorms was all about. Normal Technic sets are designed to be playable without any programming which excludes robotics. But this discussion is more properly suited into another topic:

...or not buy at all.

Dunno, I haven't researched the mechanism. The System brick that mates with the worm gear is loose in the sense that there's no friction beyond that of parts sliding freely against each other.

I don't have that part in hand to test it but what would be the purpose of this new piece if it couldn't slide freely on the worm gear?

I thought it was about parts that exist already but are hard to obtain for some reason, naturally any truly new part would attract a lot of attention, but at the same time it's definitely not going to happen.

What parts would those be?

Yep, same here. I bought the 42209 as I thought it would be good and it was, but I fear that will be my last Technic purchase at least for now, perhaps the trend reverses at some point in the future. Meanwhile I've moved to building System, but instead of buying sets I get my bricks from Bricklink etc. so perhaps there will be exceptions here and there but mostly my days of buying sets seem to be over, at least for now.

Oh, right, I thought that was your photo and you had the part in hand which would imply a part that's released and in circulation.

Are you sure it's Lego and not of some other brand? I couldn't find a wheel like that in Bricklink or Rebrickable as it's definitely not 39367pb02 or 49295pb02.