Plumber

Hardware - software - doesn't really matter which bit is incompatible, the point is it was all made/marketed to look the same with the same (new) connector but motor/hub combinations were a minefield of incompatibility, control+was (albeit subtle difference) not the same as PU and my limited perception of the proliferation of different incompatible softwares in the 'robotics' sets was mind boggling, all of which was seemingly undocumented for years by Lego or hidden behind the high paywall of the Education theme , I would not agree that situation was anything close to perfect! I have no skin in the game regards complex control, not my area of interest ( in spite of, or maybe because of, a career in process control for heavy industry), I have plenty of 9v and PF hardware, am quite happy to buy more from third parties and am quite able to design and fabricate dumb motor packages in any form I might want, just makes me giggle how Lego thought they were going to keep up half a dozen different control programming environments in the crazy world of smart phones and tablets etc without it becoming all consuming but a bit sad for those who do enjoy the 'robotics' type product because PU hardware seems to be gone and the software for the earlier systems seems to be being withdrawn (not just unsupported) and I guess PU apps will follow in medium term I do get that the real hardcore users will do there own thing but then one has to ask why bother with the lego aspect at all? Since this is all getting somewhat off topic I'm gonna shut up now and wait to see what '27 brings us

Thanks for the info and the link - my bad - never owned one (8878) and only ever seen it described as rechargeable and assumed was NiCad or metal hydride like an 88000 with rechargeable AAA cells - every day a school day To clarify the general thrust of my suggestion, I meant a battery box of high capacity and high current capability as seen in RC world since afaik a frequent complaint/observation re PF is the battery box is current limiting which in today's world is a design choice at the power levels /loads we are discussing More generally, we agree that almost all the negative aspects of the PF system could be solved by updating with mature off shelf components/tech, why they didn't??? Anyone's guess! I reckon it's bitten them on the big behind though and played into the hands of the third party generic PF manufacturers

All a very interesting debate but I think it misses the point, Lego have had a solution to this dilemma for decades by running basic motors for lego modellers and the 'education' theme hardware and software for those inclined in that direction Dumb motors and battery boxes for those who just want simple motorisation of mechanical function eg 9V, PF Programmable motors/controllers and sensors for those more interested in automation/coding RCX,NXT,Mindstorms, Spike,Prime or whatever the latest fad is The intermediate ground for RC vehicle models seems to be comprehensively covered by some excellent third party products already The issue I see with PU was that it attempted (unsuccessfully) to standardise hardware across all use cases and forces screens and coding onto the masses that have no interest in this aspect and object to needing a smart device Compound this with the rat race (huge resource) to keep up with (maintain compatibility/functionality) the ultra consumerism that smart phones embody, the lack of timely/adequate documentation, and the (relative) high cost hardware and I think it was always doomed in current form My suggestion is that PF concept should be updated to offer Lipo battery boxes (as well as traditional replaceable cell type), radio (not BT) receivers based on standard RC technology that can offer longer distance control, proportional control of the PF servo (maybe make the servo continuously proportional rather than just 7 steps) via either a basic Lego control or function with third party RC world controllers for those that want more facility It seems to me that all the above is mature tech sold at consumer price and availability meaning it could be accomplished with off the shelf hardware/designs packaged in a Lego housing with ease! As far as a new family of the 'robotics' coding/programmable hardware goes I can't really comment byond saying that I suspect the answer lies in a similar pattern of adopting currently circulating technology that already does what people want, I have words like Ardiuno and Raspberry Pi floating in my mind :-)

The torque convertor in an auto box is extremely poor at transferring energy into the engine from the wheels (it is after all been designed to maximise efficiency in the other direction) as a result there is very little engine braking in an automatic which increases the necessity to use brakes under all driving conditions

Being a confirmed biker I only ever owned one car, it was my dad's first car and it's repainting featured large in my parents courtship. Its a manual, a newfangled four speed (cf 3 speed on prior models) and it even has lazy driver syncromesh on top which is nice as there's no space to heel and toe if you have bigger feet than a child. Just by way of confirming my bonafides as a luddite, earlier this year I bought a 2004 BMWK1200RS and was horrified to find the brakes were electrically operated it was sent straight back to the dealer in favour of a '98 model with rider operated hydraulics that work without relying on decades old electronics! The day I can't wind my own windows, adjust my own seat, turn on my own lights, stay in a lane and read a map let alone change gear for myself at the appropriate time is the day it's time to stop driving.

22 or 32?

Thanks very much for the explanation of the naming

Some exciting new parts coming with this set and interesting mechanisms, that said one thing that puzzles me, what is the purpose of 'ghost mode' IRL? And why is it called that, seems a car waving all its doors, bonnet and boot in the air is anything but ghostly ?

Voi Vod! there's a blast (quite literally) from my past!!! Anyone for Bathory? S.O.D.?

@SpacePolice89 Thanks for the heads up, Account created!

@aFrInaTi0n Thanks, I'm pleased with it. Thanks too for help with images and a big shout out to brilliant @Yperio_Bricks who's patience went above and beyond, teaching me what is obvious to most over on the Help topics! There is very definitely an element of 'form over function' but, as for many others, I have to share space with family and SHMBO was not amused when I showed her the labels at Brick Architect's Site.I thought about retaliating with some pointed remarks about the mess on the ( my display!!) shelves but I'm not that brave(stupid) More seriously, I have catalogued every last Lego item on a Brick Store database (another major exercise in IT incompetence , Youtube was my friend) along with drawer and division location. I keep the database open when building and its really easy to lookup where things are, also the drawers pull straight out so can have relevant ones to a particular part of a build sat on desktop. Editing the locations is a bit of a chore if I want to rearrange any drawers as locations are all text in remarks and comments fields - there is probably a better way/system for doing this but with my limited ability/knowledge this was the best I could come up with. I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised that there was not a more formal set of fields/system in these trading databases for stock locations as I imagine it must be a whole lot of work when buying and selling stock routinely (I'm not a trader), maybe it's there in the paid for systems but as we already established, I'm tight as a duck's a..e

Ah - that's quicker than the right click thing - thank you again. I am slightly lacking understanding again though, the link produced by Flickr this way doesn't seem to have the /filename.extension format I thought was required, just some sort of code (to my eyes much like the Google drive link that doesn't work), I'm not doubting you just maybe I should just stop concerning myself! Image size - do you only take/make/upload images of the correct resolution? If not, I assume this method uploads the native resolution which may be too large for EB? Since I can't find what my phone produces and Flickr seems to keep it a secret, I've been hitting Enlarge to right of Share - View all sizes - then choosing a suitable size - right clicking image into new tab then copy and pasting the URL. All of which is soooo much longer than your Share tip. I tried my first post this evening so I wait with baited breath to see if it worked (seemed to at my end).

With this topic surfacing again and having recently finished my workspace thought I would show too! It started as some shelves to replace some manky 50's units in the box room , I thought I was going to display my MOC's here but was far to slow off the mark - all the rubbish will be sorted one day and I'll grab a few shelves back from the chick-lit One thing led to another and I built the desk for general office activities, thinking how to support the desk I decided to build some basic storage for my Lego which was languishing in Ziploc bags in crates, not easy to use. Having already had a fit about the price of the birch ply for the shelves all the trays are from re-sawn shipping pallet - more money for bricks , right? Much better than the crates but I'm not getting any younger and crawling under the desk got old quickly so this area has now been relegated to bulk overspill storage. I'd have loved some large format draws like @allanp just showed us but the room size didn't suit that format (wife said NO!) so these are what I came up with: I was fortunate to happen across an eBay listing for a pallet of birch ply offcuts (nearly a cubic metre all told) for peanuts money but all quite small pieces which kind of dictated the design. This meant the depth of the under desk trays and the drawers doesn't match which does bother me a bit but not enough to alter the trays (yet!!) All the drawers are modular and can be swapped to arrange parts as I wish. one day I might make some double height variants. All the drawers have configurable dividers. The drawers have larger stacking 'bins' on top for bulkier items like PF motors and battery boxes, wheels, tracks etc. The final part was more general storage (flattened boxes, instructions and sticker sheets) as well as stations for our printer scanner and my new toy the P1s 3d printer (lovin' it) Last bit to do is make some pick bins out of the leftover birch for all the pins instead of the loud colour plastic items lurking under the desk but that can wait for next year and no it is never normally this tidy!

Good to know! Thanks again all, for holding my hand through something that turns out to be so simple. Flickr account made and being loaded! Shied away in past as I know less about photography than IT if that's possible

One last query purely out of interest: Back when I first tried posting images in 2021 my brother had previously made my business a very basic website, I really wasn't very interested in it for the business (ungrateful swine that I am) but since I was paying for hosting space got him to load the lego images to the web server. for me. I pasted the following link format into the post: www.companyname.co.uk/filename.jpg It showed fine in the practise forum but when posted for real, some could see it and some not, seemed to depend on the browser the reader was using, did this happen because I had omitted the http(s):// prefix? Bruv couldn't sort it for me as we lost him shortly after and I've been fighting the same illness since 2020, just so you know why I'm asking my dumb questions here!