Rob Klingberg

@idlemarvel wow, what great work-- I can only imagine the amount of time and effort that went into making this great resource. Thank you for this very useful contribution to the community!

Very interesting development! It's always great to see official LEGO outreach and partnership with standards bearers like the Pi. Personally I'd also like to see a partnership with Arduino as well, as I never got into Linux or the Pi but have put more than 10 years into the Arduino ecosystem. And getting a little too old now to try new things. It's quite an exciting time when the ecosystem of motors, sensors, and other pieces that use the LPF2 connector merge with the power and reach of the Pi ecosystem. Most interesting to me from the news release is that this new HAT has a RP2040 chip on the bottom side-- this is the same chip that works as the main processor on the new, smaller Pi boards like the Feather RP2040 from Adafruit that are more Arduino- or Micro:bit like. Does that mean it can also be programmed directly and work via MicroPython or CircuitPython, without needing a Pi at all? Now that would be cool. According to the Adafruit page, the RP2040 chip is quite a little powerhouse: That's a lot of power, and a lot more than just a motor driver. Will be interesting to see what projects come out of this!

Absolutely stunning work. Your creations are such an inspiration. I have been a lifelong collector of LGB trains in 1:22.5 scale, and being in the USA I have always had a fondness for European narrow gauge and similar prototypes, so your engine and coaches very much appeal to me. I have thought more than once about buying the bricks needed to make one of your engines so I could run it with our annual Christmas layout (see here for a much earlier example). Someday I may just do it-- it would be amazing to see such beautiful LEGO machines in motion. Keep up the great work, and thank you again for sharing your amazing creations with the community!

Based on the fact that the description says it will have motor feedback into the phone app, I'm assuming the plugs have to be the new BOOST-type plugs (6-wire vs. 4-wire). So say goodbye to the Power Functions connectors, everyone! It is a shame that they are moving toward 100% smartphone-based interfaces. I just don't like moving sliders on glass, I don't like having to give my phone to others when at a show so they can control the model, I don't like having to stop controlling the model when someone calls me, and I don't like that the "sounds" stop as soon as your phone goes to sleep. I am already close to having speed-dependent sound for SBrick and LEGO IR/PF receivers, more details on that soon. Seems I should also start working on a soundsystem for this new architecture as well.

I'm glad you like it. We made a small quantity for Brickworld Chicago back in June, but as I mentioned earlier, the drawback is that the price was high due to using original 9V parts. We're still looking into another solution that's less expensive, but it requires purchasing a high-end 3D printer, which we still haven't quite been able to justify (yet!).

Good that you're doing your research. LittleBits has many patents, most of which seem to deal with the connector. If I'm recalling correctly, not all of them are design patents. They're really broad, which means they might not be defensible, but LittleBits has tens of millions in VC funding, and they have been litigating aggressively. Don't get me wrong-- I'd love to see advancement on this front. Or maybe I've just been watching too much "Silicon Valley" on HBO...

Yes, Steve and I have spoken about this. Unfortunately his manufacturer destroyed the molds they used to make his last batch of couplers several years ago. That would have been a great option. Thankfully I've found another supplier and already have a bunch of housings and clips in-house. On the topic of slip rings, we will soon be selling the ones we use on our site-- not mounted into a kit, but individually. Just right for any DIY LEGO project! :-) You will need to be careful-- that design is already patented by LittleBits. They have an ideal connector that they use in their products, but sadly they have been unwilling in my discussions with their leadership team to offer the connectors in bulk at a reasonable price. As it turns out, Apple owns most of the patents for magnetic connectors that pass power and signal (Oh the patents I've read!), because of their MagSafe connectors from earlier MacBook models. Any company seriously considering making their own custom connector and selling it at scale would be wise to keep the IP issues in mind. The great thing about this design is that you don't need to think about polarity at all. As @pirzykmentioned, "innies" all have the same orientation. The magnets in the male connectors are polarized to attract only female connectors, so as long as you use a standard in your consist (males at the front, females at the rear, etc.) the couplers will naturally attract/repel. It's almost impossible to get a bad connection. That was another key design consideration for us-- it had to be 99% automatic.

This is a topic that has occupied hundreds of hours of my time over the past three years, and many more hundreds of $$ in test part ordering. There are some really good ideas here. I won't claim to have solved for the scenario needing more than two wires, but I am working now to bring a 2-wire solution to market to be sold through my company, Brickstuff. The plan is to officially release at Brickworld Chicago coming up in a few weeks. We will have a solution both for train couplings as well as for connecting anything LEGO (floors within buildings as well as buildings themselves, sections of LUG layouts, or just about anything that needs a non-protruding connection that is magnetic). As with the development of any product, the devil has been in the details: need to find a strong magnet, but not too strong, that can adhere to standard LEGO geometry, that is flexible to allow for connections at uneven points, but that is not so strong that it pulls the wires out when you disconnect. I've also tested just about every glue, epoxy, and putty available. Looking at an earlier post in this thread by @igordost, it looks we're using similar connectors (I sourced mine in bulk last year). I'm using 3D printed ABS collets to hold the magnets inside the coupler shell. Attached is a pre-release photo of the beta product aimed at the LEGO train market. All parts are original LEGO. Our solution for buildings and other structures will use 3rd-party injection molded coupler shells and pivots (in LBG color), only because the original LEGO parts are increasingly scarce and very expensive. I have more photos (showing mounted configuration in bogies) here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AgcctLgYvJZfhrwsxUiQQJfmTTMvAg We use very thin (but strong) wire, so the wire will seamlessly fit between bricks, plates, etc. We've worked hard to make the couplers practically invisible once mounted. Down the road, we're also researching 3- and 4-wire solutions, though there have proven to be special challenges there (namely, that the magnets are too strong and don't disconnect easily), but I'm confident we will find something workable soon. We believe magnetic PF couplings for Technic vehicles are a must for the community to have. Feedback is appreciated! You'll be seeing more photos, video, etc. of this product line in the coming weeks. --Rob Klingberg

Agreed, great set once complete, but definitely at least a 2-3 day project.

Glad it works! Correct, the new-style battery boxes have no current limiters. Not sure if this means they will work with the parts you mentioned (I've tested with the PF 2.0 receiver but not an RC motor), but technically yes they should be able to put out as much current as the installed batteries will allow.

The part the arrow points to is called a resettable fuse. It seems to appear in slightly older versions of the battery box. These typically have a dull, yellowish green power indicator LED, while the newer boxes have bright, darker green LEDs. Unfortunately that seems to be the only way to tell them apart from the outside-- they have the exact same part number and look identical from the outside. The job of the resettable fuse is to keep power (current) output from going above a set level. What this means is that, if you are driving a heavy load *OR* (in your case, likely) if you are using batteries that have a lower voltage or lower current capacity than standard Alkalines, the fuse gets tripped earlier and more often than it should. The most common indication of this will be lights flashing many times per second, or motors not operating near capacity. My guess is that LEGO realized the circuit board with the fuse was a design mistake, which is why the fuse is absent from the newer versions of the box. It simply is not needed, and it does much more harm than good by interrupting power flow when it shouldn't. I don't know what can be done about the version of the circuit with the fuse on it-- I've not tried bridging it or removing it. There are other components on this version of the circuit board that are also missing from the newer version, so I can't say what impact bridging the fuse wold have on the overall operation. Best bet is to find a newer box. How to do that? I just buy them 10 at a time from LEGO and check the color of the LEDs. :-) Here is a photo (not the best quality) of the newer version of the circuit board-- you can see the fuse is missing. In the background of the photo is the old version, with the fuse.

That is good news indeed, thank you for sharing. Did you do some sort of bulk purchase of the sensors? :-)

Looks like a good product, and I backed it on Kickstarter. My only question: WeDo 1.0? I can't even find those sensors for sale anywhere, and when I do find a few, they are frightfully expensive. And haven't they been discontinued?

Hi Cale, this is very exciting. As I mentioned on FB in response to your post there, Brickstuff would be willing to sponsor lights for the setup. Contact me when you're ready and if you're interested. Very much looking forward to seeing this take shape! --Rob

Thanks for the added information-- I see now what you used the brass plates for. Very nice and realistic effect. When you say you're working on a 2-4-4-2 Mallet, I dream of the LGB 2085D-- this is perhaps my favorite loco of all time. Can't wait to see your next creation! --Rob