Roboteer

Which parts are the "Custom parts"? Are all 51515 parts (lift arms, pins, wheels, hub, motors, sensors etc.) included in the antonsmindstorms.com link you mentioned above? So that if I do what you suggested, then I'll have one group that has all the parts in the 51515 set, and not the other million parts Lego has made over the years?

Thank you, ninoguba! I already imported the parts as the "Robot Inventor Prime Lessons" suggest (from Github), that pretty much worked. But they weren't all the parts in the 51515 set, just the new ones (Hub, motor, sensors) that haven't been in any set until recently. I believe they all wound up in a "Custom Parts" group. If I get the parts as you suggest, will they wind up in a separate "Robot Inventor 51515" set? And are they ALL of the parts in the 51515 set, including common ones like lift arms, pins, wheels etc., plus the Hub and the rest? I appreciate your help!

I've been using Studio 2.0 to document a simple robot using the Robot Inventor 51515 set. Imported the parts as the "Robot Inventor Prime Lessons" suggest, that pretty much worked. My question is: Is it possible to group all the parts that exist in the RI 51515 set, separately from all the other zillion parts Lego has designed over the years? So that when I want to select, say, a 5-hole lift arm, I don't have to wade through every part in the universe, to find it? I've used Studio's Search function, which helps a little, cuts down the possible parts search to only one million parts to of the three zillion Lego has made. LDD used to group its parts for, say, the EV3 31313 set, and every time you used one, there was one fewer remaining. Can we do something like that in Studio 2.0? The simple robot after rendering: Hub, two drive motors, two large wheels, one small pivoting front wheel

Coder Shah, thank you again for all your help! You always come through with the right guidance. After many mistakes, false starts, and funny behavior from my Robot Inventor set, I finally got this PS4 controller to hook up reliably with several different PCs scattered around my house. Desktops and laptops. Managed to write down the correct sequence of steps that has worked several times. And from that I wrote up what (I hope) are complete instructions on how to do it. Step by step, illustrated with screenshots for nearly every step. For PC only, I don't have a Mac or Macbook. Can I ask you one more favor? If I can somehow email or download this to you, could you briefly look it over and let me know if it seems coherent and/or useable by a relative Robot-Inventor beginner? Experienced people probably would not need a document like this - they already know how to do this kind of thing. But given the conflicting sources out there, and the major differences in computers, something like this could come in very handy for a relative beginner in RI. (I am in a position to know! :) )

Using a PC. ON EDIT: I just stepped through the video's instructions. He describes (and demonstrates) how to connect the hub to the computer by Bluetooth. I did that, and it worked. But, he shows his hub in the video with many icons along the top right edge. My screen has no such icons. Can you give me any hints on how to make them appear?

Coder Shah, thank you! Looks very good. I've just started the video you provided, and started my Mindstorms system on my desktop PC again. Went into the Tricky project as he suggested. First thing I noticed, is when the narrator starts connecting his PS4 controller, he says that he has to get his Bluetooth preferences set, to help pair the controller with his system. He goes to the top of his screen, where it says MINDSTORMS on the left with several other menus, and also has a dozen or so icons on the right, level with the MINDSTORMS logo. He clicks on one of the icons and get a list of Bluetooth devices, one of which is the controller. And that's a problem. I have the MINDSTORMS at the top on the left with a few other menu headings. But on the right, I have nothing. No icons. Maybe I have to connect the system to the hub first, I've done that before, using either the cable or a Bluetooth connection. Haven't done it this morning yet. And/or maybe I need to turn on the controller. I think I did that yesterday, I may or may not have used the right button sequence on it. Well, time to fiddle with it some more.

A while ago I got a 51515 Robot Inventor set, built several robots out of it, programmed and got them to run, a good time was had by all. Was even able to download programs from the desktop PC to the robot, using EITHER of two systems: wired USB cable, or Bluetooth with no cable. Today I just got a PS4 DualShock remote control, supposedly attachable by Bluetooth, and able to control a robot (supposedly) by a Bluetooth connection. Charged the battery in the controller and the 51515 hub. But I can't seem to get them to talk to each other. The controller came with the usual miniature sheet of instructions, but I couldn't quite figure out how to control the robot from that. Loaded the M.V.P robot instructions, fiddled around with its instructions for using the remote control, but I kept getting pictures of a smartphone on the Mindstorms screen instead of a two-hand controller. I believe I did successfully load all the extensions for these remote controls, into my desktop PC's "Mindstorms" system. Does anyone have a step-by-step instruction screen for connecting and using a PS4 DualShock controller with this 51515 Mindstorms system on a PC, with a robot built from it? Thanx all!

Thank you, David, you are right! I plugged it in all night. Next morning, I ran several programs on it, powered up and down a few times, never saw a single orange flash.

Hi All, Just started getting some odd behavior out of my Robot Inventor hub. The big center button never used to flash much at me, but now it is. Flashes orange twice, then bluish-white once. Takes abut one second to do those three flashes. Then does it again, and again etc. If I try to run a program (hub is connected by cable to my computer), it runs the program correctly... while the center button keeps flashing orange as described. If I hold the center button down, it quietly clicks at me three times in the normal shutdown sequence, then shuts down. Except the center button keeps flashing. Now orange twice, off for maybe 1/2 second, then orange twice more etc. Has anybody seen this before? What could be causing it? ----------------------------------- A little more: When I unplug the cable and then long-press the center button, the hub powers down as expected.... and now the center button's light goes out and stays out. At that point the hub looks simply powered down, with no lights on, none flashing etc., perfectly normal. Then when I plug the cable in (computer and hub), the hub powers up as expected... and the center light starts its one-white-two-orange flashing again. The tiny "charge" light is on also, red, meaning the battery needs more charge. I'll let it charge overnight and see if its behavior changes.

We had something like that in the EV3 system called "Myblocks", we could group often-used groups of commands into a small block and insert it into our program again and again. I see "Make a block" at the bottom of the command list for 51515, and tried to make one. My robot has a powered arm it can lift up and down, so I wanted to make a block that would set the arm motor's speed, wait one second, then lift the arm, wait 1 second, lower the arm. It had one variable, which was the number of times it "waved" this way. But... I can't figure out how to put that short string of commands, into the "block". I've googled around for "51515 block", but found nothing. Apparently "block" has more than one meaning in 51515-speak. A single command is a block... and (I'm assuming) it's also something I used to call a macro in older languages, a group of commands. Am I way off the track here? Is there a way to put a series of commands together and have one symbol for them, so I can put the symbol into my program and the program will execute the string of commands each time it hits the symbol? Thanx all!

Thank you, CoderShah and NikosSprocket! Very useful information! Where on Earth do you guys get this stuff? Just by asking other knowledgeable people (as I am doing now)? Then where did THEY get it? Hard to imagine that someone just sat there for hours diddling around with their new Robot Inventors hub, pressing random buttons here and there, and figuring out what the buttons do, what the various numbers on the screen mean, etc. out of the blue sky. Are there ANY coherent list(s) of "51515 Tricks and Tips" style documentation anywhere? I'd love to find some, so I don't have to keep bugging you guys with my incessant questions. ON EDIT: Well, may as well ask a few more Q's. 1.) What's the smaller round button on the hub (in the corner next to Port B) for? Can you read it in a program like you can the large button, right and left etc.? 2.) Is there a way to erase all the programs I put in the hub? And/or, is it possible to reset the hub to original factory condition (except for updates to the hub firmware)? All programs gone except for the default(s) that were in it when I first opened the box?

Here's the simple robot (see picture below). Tried what you said, and found something strange. Pressing the center big button turns the hub on (as I knew). Then when I press the right button, both wheels start turning forward slowly (maybe 25% speed?). Pressing the right button again speeds them up some (50%?). Again, and 75%, again, apparently full speed, further right button presses do nothing more. Press the left button, they slow down somewhat, next left press they slow down more, etc. to Zero. Next press they go slowly in reverse, then more in reverse, etc. A cute program, except... I never wrote that program. Where'd it come from??? First time out of the box, I charged the battery with a USB power cube from an old phone, it took all night before the little light by the USB-C port turned green. Then plugged it into a laptop Windows computer. It made me update the hub and then the motors. And I found (by accident) there was some kind of demo program in there. Could that be it? Is there a manual or list of instructions somewhere, that details what the "default" button sequences are for the 51515 Hub? Well, that took some wrestling to get two leetle pictures into one post. I guess I can't attach more than 96kB into the entire thread? Hmm, now I see the system combined two consecutive posts from me with no intervening post from someone else, into one post from me. Guess I can't attach more than 96k into one post, is all. Live and learn.

This is something probably everybody knows but me. I built a little car - the Hub, two motors, two wheels, small front wheel, that's it. Got it to run almost immediately - run forward for 1 rotation, wait 1 sec, run backward for 1 rotation, wait 1 sec, wash rinse repeat. Simple little car, simple program, and it works. If I then unplug the hub from the USB cable, it keeps the program running, as I expected. If I then power down the hub, carry it someplace else, and power it back on without the computer, the program is still inside the hub, right? How do I get it to start the program back up without the USB cable attached? And can I stop the program without completely powering off the hub? I know the buttons are programmable, of course. But if I haven't programmed them to do any specific action, do they have a "default" action when pressed? The old EV3 had button sequences to do just that. Does the 51515 hub have such button sequences? A more general question is, Is there a manual or list of instructions somewhere, that details what the "default" button sequences are for the 51515 Hub? Turn on, turn off (I know those two), start program, halt program, etc.? Thanx all!

M2m, you referred to a "Unity pack". And elsewhere I have noticed posters mentioning Blender. My son is into designing computer games, and tells me that those two are both design engines on computers, that help a computer-game designer do his thing. Is that what you were referring to? Can the Unity and Blender game-design engines help to design Lego parts models for LDD, possibly for "new" parts such as the Robot Inventor hub, motors, etc.?

Yup. I plugged mine into a USB charging cube (I use it for phones too), took all night before the little light on the battery turned green.