HectorMB

I agree. Otherwise, as you just said, there is a huge waste of torque ;)

I wrote that i made the deal for a CAT D11 for 200 CHF... but at the end, i though it carefully and I decide not to get it. 200 bucks is still a lot of money and I still have a lot of stuff in my collection to play with ;)

I was hesitating about geting the CAT for such price. At the end, I did not because it is still a lot of money and, for making MOCs and so on, I do not need it by now. I may regret that, but, honestly, I have very little space for display (4-5 models max) and i bought few months ago a second hand second unit of the Liebherr 9800 for 120 CHF (=USD), so have no issues with motors. I hope that the models ahead keep including the large angular motor, which have a lot of potential.

The offer in Lego.fr didn't last long. a couple of hours ago it was already gone and, as in the danish shop, the set just vanished.

Yes, it definitely delivers a ton of power. It's true that I have to charge it after 15 min of use, but, well, is not possible to have long lasting batteries, high power, and a compact size, isn't it? I made MOC that is well with a single BW3.0 unit, and now I'm working on a version with a sequential gearbox, that's why I was wondering about the "gearbox mode".

I have no experience with the BW 2.0, but what I know is that cold and batteries don't go along well... After a lot of testing with the BW3.0 and the app, I have to say that I'm happy with it. The app is now working properly in my opinion, and in my hands, the settings for both, calibration and steering go fine. Now I'm wondering if there's any idea about the implementations for fine control (like a gearbox mode or similar), the control via a gamepad controller (brick controller is really nice, but the combination of both ideas -merging the features as calibration and returning-to-center function with a gamepad use- would be just amazing-, and speed (and not just power output) control. Is any calendar for this update?

Thanks for the feedback. Indeed, the truck goes que smooth, with no cracking and really powerful in steps. And yes, the differential lock really makes a difference, which makes me happy 😊. The truck goes fine with the Lego tractor big tires as well as with other RC tires; the performance is, I would say, comparable. Also, your right, and some extra pictures will help. I'll update the post accordingly. Thanks for the suggestion!

I would like to present my Heavy trial truck. It is indeed the result of many attempts that began with a 6x6 heavy truck to this version, with one less axle. But in the middle, there was two additional versions that, maybe, I would refine and finish for a functional MOC. For the truck, I wanted a functional “Dynamic automatic gearbox”-driven heavy vehicle, featuring a significant body resistance, differential locks (at least, front and rear axles) and a good geometry for climbing obstacles (including front and rear attacking angles, big ground clearance, and low gravity center). And this is the result. More images at Bricksafe: https://bricksafe.com/pages/HectorMB/heavy-trial-truck-public Features (motorized and powered by a BuWizz 3.0 unit): Dynamic automatic gearbox (powered by 2 L PU motors) Differential locks (front and rear axle) (1 L PU Motor) Steering (1 L PU motor) and moving steering wheel Features (manual): Linked suspension with centering system Opening doors, openable roof window (which also serves for an easy access to ON/OFF switch), and 3 openable engine doors Effective ground clearance of 7 studs Detailed cabin Gear ratio from (continuous) 10:1 (177 Ncm) to 90:1 (1600 Ncm) (Calculated by Sariel's app) Video 01 Video 02 Features (video) Features description: Dynamic automatic gearbox: It was the starting point of this MOC. Since I found them, I was very interested in the potential of the differential-based automatic gearboxes. I found that for heavy models, it was not very easy to use. In this case, I opted for doubling the gearbox to avoid any cracking when stepping up obstacles as well as increasing the resistance of the “high torque/low speed” pathway. After the two gearboxes, all the power is driven through a common central axle. After several testing, I found that the resistance should be proportional to the difference between the max and the low gearing; the bigger the difference, the bigger the resistance. The problem is that increasing the resistance, obviously, decreases the efficiency of the system… but, by now, I did not find any other solution. With this gearing, and the vehicle geometry, the truck can climb up to 42º steps. Suspension: Although not motor-driven, this was an aspect that gave me several headaches. The starting idea was to have a suspension on which when a wheel is elevated because and obstacle, it benefits from the suspension of the opposite wheel, increasing the ground adherence. In practical terms, this means that you can rise one wheel up to 10 studs keeping all other three wheels still touching the ground. An issue with this system (and having only 2 axles) is that the body of the vehicle tends to stay tilted after overcoming obstacles. To solve that, I included an extra pair of shock absorbers that, instead of being supported in the opposite wheel, they are attached to the body of the truck. Differential lock: Because of the geometry of the vehicle, front and rear differential locks were not indeed and option but obligatory. Indeed, the turning radius turns from 90 cm (diff lock closed) to 47cm (diff lock open). Although it is driven by a single motor, thanks to two clunch 24 gears, it is ensured that, despite a significant different backlash, both locks perform perfectly fine. Steering: About this feature, the major challenge was to minimize as much as possible the backlash of the steering rack. I even considered including an actuator-based steering system. Unfortunately, for this model, I could not manage to make it happen. In exchange, the steering rack is designed to reduce the backlash in any direction. Openable doors: In total, the model has 6 openable doors. 2 that access the pilot and co-pilot positions, 2 laterals that allow to see part of the gearboxes (and how they work in flat and step terrain), 1 rear door that access the rear differential lock and 1 last roof door that, besides the appearance, it allows an easy access to the On/Off switch. The instructions are available in Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-100386/HectorMB/heavy-trial-truck/#parts Many thanks for the reading and please, leave your comments and feedbacks! :)

With the CAT I already voted (against) with my dollar and honestly, nothing to regret. But let's just think about the price. With the CAT, 1 HUB, 4 motors and 4k pieces, everyone went into panic and fury, and claimed that it was too overpriced. Then, making some -I would say- fair comparisons, it is reasonable the price, compared with other PU sets, excepting the Liebherr 9800. So now, we have in the horizon a 2800 pieces set, 600 dollars that, which I would say that is logical to think will have 2 Hubs and 7-8 motors. Making a very rough comparison: the price of the new crane is about 50% more than the CAT... which, I think is justified by 25% less pieces, but doubling the electronics. Once said that, I am happy to have got my second liebherr 9800 and I am now really expecting the new crane.... to download the instructions ;)

Brilliant! I think it is particullarly awesome because of its "simplicity". And I put the word into brackets because it is a really complex machine brought to life by the simpliest way (I think). CONGRATULATIONS!!!

MANY THANKS FOR THIS! Indeed, I was missing this kind of summary for the release of the testing version. In general, after playing a little with the new app and with loaded motors, i have very good impressions. Thare still few things that I will try to summarize and send as a feddback, but this guideline you mentioned trully helps, thanks.

Thanks a lot, @Zerobricks! I look forward to get the update as tester and see how it performs with the BWs! :)

Although I'm no moderator I'd recommend to stick to the title of this topic and, for those interested, open (another) topic about alternative batteries and controllers.

Really nice model! It is already in my list to be built! :) I like very much the protections all across the body and the final appearance. Really good job!

Well.. i have very little idea about electronics. But what I can say is that the BW3 delivers a sh*t out of power... although you have to recharge it quite often. In my recent set ups, after 20-30 min playing with it (3 PU L motors and 1 L PF motor) the battery is dead. Nevertheless, I am quite hapy with the performance and the customer service. Now is just to wait and hope that the issues with the steering is solved and that we got implemented the features for PU motors (it is a need to efficiently manage gearboxes, among others...)

Hi everyone, I have been struggling with setting up a variable gearbox, based in two differentials, suitable for heavy models (>2 kgs). In these gearboxes, the power coming from the motors is distributed between the two differentials, depending on the resistance found on each differential. With the adequate gearing between the two differentials, one can set the max and min torque and speed at will. The "issue" is that, because the high torque is going to always offer less resistance than the low torque, the power is going to be always through the differential with the highest torque and lowest speed. To solve this, one can add some resistance to the "high torque" differential (as seen, for example in @nico71's model https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-92756/Nico71/truck-with-continuously-variable-transmission/#details). But, obviously, increasing the resistance in this way also increases the power loss of the whole system... but I think this is kind of unavoidable, no?. The question that I have comes to the following: the strength of this resistance will depend on: a) The weight of the model b) The difference in torque between both differentials. Although I though it would depend on both aspects, now I think that it should be only depending on B. What do you think?

Sorry my confusion! But anyway, is even better if you wrote it and you know what you're talking about :). Me, I just know the basics and I just read what others with more experience show.

Well, I think that's a good response. I mean, makes sense from my point of view. Hoping to see that update! :)

Thanks a lot, @Toastie, the info you quoted is quite clear :). Now, the issues that I have experienced with the BW (Fail to steer, absence of connection in one port) are currently under managment with the customer service. The issue with the steering is persistent and I was told that and upgrade of the app should come and solve this. For the issue at the port connection, I may have to send back the unit for replacement/fixing. So, in this regard, I am quite happy and I am still positive that BW will solve the issues that are coming up. Is not a big company and possibly, the release of the BW3 was a big challange. So, although the price is quite high, i am still prone to think that it will worth it :). The other thing is the advertised output. I am happy with the output released in the setups I tested (2 BW3: 7 PU L motors + 1 Buggy motor, and 1BW3: 3 PU L Motors + 1 Large angular PU Motor + 1 L PF Motor). Nevertheless, the thing that was suposed to work well but it might not is to mount 2 BW motors in 1 BW3. It will be good to see if this issue is solved, because I think is an important one. But, I also agree that these kind of issues should be addressed to the customer service (at least).

WOW. No, i didn't yet. Nevertheless, given that both of you guys, @WW Bricks Studio and @amatros, experience the same issue I am a little bit afraid. One of the major aims of the BW3 was to be able to cope with two BW motors, but it seems not only that the maximal output of the motos cannot be reached but also that the unit completly dies, no? None of you were finally able to recover the BW3 from dead? PS: Although it scares me, I will try, as in such case it is something that should not happen and seems to be a serious issue (I bough 2 BW motors just to mount them in a BW3).

You mean that you also killed the BW3 with the 2 BW motors? or that was "only" that it failed to control the steering? Also, the use of the brickcontroller2 is nice, but considering the price of the BW3, they should go pretty smooth. It's already some time after the release and some of us are still experiencing issues with the bricks... :(

I have 2 motors and a buWizz available. What was your setup? I got my two BW motors hoping that they can be supported by y single BW, so it would be good to try your and other setups.

Just got a 42100 for 120 bucks. ;)

I would say that would have been fairer, but not a lot to do with my honesty, I think ;)

Thank you all guys! :D