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Future hardware addons

  • February 9, 2015 7:03 PM CET
    Built in Cabel . Thats most important.
    And RFID for Train control
  • February 8, 2015 6:35 PM CET

    [blockquote]Jorge Pereira said:

    [blockquote]jean-christian rey said:

    an electrical outlet,for  last electrical system, i have these mini red motors,and another grey motors,it will be nice if we can make them fonctionnal

    [/blockquote]

    You already can... use a Power Functions extention cable and an old 9V electrical cable or electrical plate to connect to the motors. The PF dark grey plug connects to the SBrick output, the light grey plug to the 9V plug/plate.

    Some of my videos show the micro (red) motors working (sometimes I make my own cables by cutting a PF cable and a 9V cable and soldering it but thats just because I want short cables). This one uses 2 9V-micro and 1 PF-M.

    [/blockquote] thank you

    • 87 posts
    February 8, 2015 3:25 PM CET

    [blockquote]jean-christian rey said:

    an electrical outlet,for  last electrical system, i have these mini red motors,and another grey motors,it will be nice if we can make them fonctionnal

    [/blockquote]

    You already can... use a Power Functions extention cable and an old 9V electrical cable or electrical plate to connect to the motors. The PF dark grey plug connects to the SBrick output, the light grey plug to the 9V plug/plate.

    Some of my videos show the micro (red) motors working (sometimes I make my own cables by cutting a PF cable and a 9V cable and soldering it but thats just because I want short cables). This one uses 2 9V-micro and 1 PF-M.

  • February 8, 2015 3:09 PM CET

    an electrical outlet,for  last electrical system, i have these mini red motors,and another grey motors,it will be nice if we can make them fonctionnal

    • 87 posts
    January 28, 2015 11:37 AM CET

    We could create a flock of small «social robot» around the SBrick with 2 motors, a light and a buzzer. When a sBrickBug senses another one it can make blink and sound accordingly to some rules - dance synchronized, runaway, etc.

    • 87 posts
    January 28, 2015 11:29 AM CET

    Tamás, that's fine for me. I wasn't considering using the SBrick for detecting beacons, would give that role to a Mindstorms EV3 or something more powerfull. But as it can be interesting for other people/purposes you can count with me for testing/helping/whatever. If we can use the SBrick small internal program area [still waiting for the firmware] we can put the SBrick in beacon mode for short and repeated periods (like 10 ms each 1 second) so we can access the SBrick in-between (to suspend the beacon mode or to run other small programs or...).

    My (small) experience with other BLE beacons teached me that "proximity" is a vague term. I'm still interested in SBrick for the "capture the flag tank game" but for small distances (like over the table) RFID is much better [I'm finishing a very small train railway with very small SBricked trains and Sbricked/WeDo switched tracks, RFID for detecting/identifying the trains, a Mindstorms EV3 controlling everything]

    • 178 posts
    January 28, 2015 9:39 AM CET

    Jorge, one of our members came up with the idea of using an SBrick to detect the proximity of an other, possibly achieving NFC tag-like functionality. To achieve this we "only" need to include a "beacon mode". Unfortunately since SBricks are slave devices, they can't be connected to a phone while they are listening to beacons or transmitting beacon signals, so this is only useful for automated setups, or automated parts of interactive setups.

    • 8 posts
    January 28, 2015 9:00 AM CET

    An NFC initiator sensor. This might allow NFC tags attached to trains to be detected by an Sbrick powered NFC initiator sensor. Allows each train to be uniquely identified when it passes over the sensor. I'm thinking automated train control e.g. combine the NFC initiator with a signal allowing identification of which train is told to stop/go when the signal turns red/green.

     

    David

  • January 28, 2015 5:02 AM CET

    electro-air valves

     

     

  • January 28, 2015 4:55 AM CET

    [blockquote]jean-christian rey said:

    [blockquote]Lénárd Pásztor said:

    We have a development module for it. It needs more work to create the first working prototype. Now we are focusing to take SBrick into production. So CamBrick comes in 2015.

    [/blockquote]

    :)

    [/blockquote]

    the possibility to see  by the camera in real time with a tablet ;or a computer (a old dream) with skins addons.

    another thing coming in my spirit ,tonight,possibility to combine some motors together with time;create our designs for specials actions

  • January 28, 2015 1:18 AM CET

    a simple lazer red or green

  • January 28, 2015 1:17 AM CET

    [blockquote]Lénárd Pásztor said:

    We have a development module for it. It needs more work to create the first working prototype. Now we are focusing to take SBrick into production. So CamBrick comes in 2015.

    [/blockquote]

    :)

  • January 28, 2015 1:15 AM CET

    [blockquote]Caoimhin Marsh said:

    A camera which streams real time video to your device and have a button to record it

    [/blockquote]

     

    i say :  YES

    • 1 posts
    January 9, 2015 11:54 PM CET

    A built in power-in line. Silly to ask really, but the rest of the power functions range has a wire in and it's a faff to have to go and buy a seperate one. Note this isn't a deal breaker by a long way, but it would make the first day of tinkering a bit easier for many people, expecially if they immediatley try and swap out the IR receiver brick.

    • 178 posts
    January 5, 2015 5:03 PM CET

    Hubraum 6.8: it's not likely we'll start manufacturing different shapes very soon. A large part of the development time and money went into the PCB and plastic. It would be hard tokeep the prices at sensible levels if we were about start developing a new form. However if there's enough demand... ;)

     

    Maxim Boche: we're already doing experiments with gearboxes, it's on the TODO list ;)

     

    Joachim Jacobsen: this feature was planned from the beginning, everything is inside SBrick measure the battery voltage. The chip can also measure the internal temperature, a thermometer display would be nice for hackers building power tools from LEGO

  • January 3, 2015 10:32 AM CET

    [blockquote]Joachim Jacobsen said: How about a voltage/power meter showing on the app?[/blockquote]

    That is. indeed, a very good idea. Take a  voltage divider for the input power and measure it in one of the analog ports.

    Leg bedre, Christian

  • January 3, 2015 1:56 AM CET
    How about a voltage/power meter showing on the app?
    • 16 posts
    December 28, 2014 5:25 PM CET

    I post a suggestion, 

    Would it be possible with Sbrick in the next version to control a gearbox with 4 servo motors with a small program ? I made ​​a big truck lego that includes a gearbox 12 forward and 2 back and I would like ordering at the touch of more or less.
    • 4 posts
    December 28, 2014 3:00 PM CET

    I would like to see a 3x3 studless size version.The more conection points to attache the Receiver the better.

    All my builds are desigend to fit the new Lego PF engines that are having a 3x3 face.

    The original IR as well as the SBrick will always require some weird tweaking into the models as they are a 4x4 base design. Maybe the next SBrick could me longer but only featuring the 3x3 face (similar like the PF M or L-Motor shapes).

    • 178 posts
    December 11, 2014 11:36 AM CET

    The generic input brick is something that keeps coming up on branstorms. We either manufacture separate BLE input devices, or a generic one, plus a few stuf that can work with it, or possibly be compatible with WeDo.

    If we ever start to actually implement an input system, it will probably look like an SBrick, and work with WeDo input devices. Less work, faster TTM, smarter use of resources already available (mould: done, contacts: done, input devices: done).

    • 17 posts
    December 8, 2014 10:08 AM CET

    I love Jorge suggestion, a generic port for input, like the Lego Wedo USB hub because I have 3 grandchildren with the WeDo robotic set. Looking forward to that day when it is done.

    "SBrick can also draw power from the control lines, so it can be powered by tran/old power supplies" Would that mean if SBrick can connect wirelessly to the computer USB it means we may not need onboard battery because currently the WeDo motor draw power from the computer USB port?

     

    • 87 posts
    November 27, 2014 3:12 PM CET

    I would prefer just a generic port for input, like the LEGO WeDo USB hub, so we can plug our own sensors (including, of course, a switch like a reed switch or a touch switch). Perhaps including a reed switch inside the SBrick is a cheaper solution (no modifications to the case mold) but narrows our options.

  • November 27, 2014 1:38 PM CET

    I suggest one simple add-on for the next generatiion SBrick: A magnetic switch (reed switch). I then could place a magnet under or next to a track/road and determine (and pass back to the contolling application) when the engine/car passes the magnet. Could be used for speed measuring, train layout watchdog (train X has not passed the magnet, go check whether it has derailed somewhere), etc.

    And advanced concept would be a brick with two quantum hall sensors so I could make a model follow a wire under the surface.

    • 178 posts
    October 21, 2014 2:29 PM CEST

    Hi Paolo!

    Yes, we're considering this feature, thank you!

    • 11 posts
    October 21, 2014 11:36 AM CEST
    i re-post this idea in this topic To make It more visibile to The community

    New idea for the app! Taken From normal rc model radio: an EPA (end point adjustment) and a trim for the servo motor, it could be useful in some kind of stering that require 90º rotation instead of 180º