[APP] BrickController2

[DiscoV8]

Hi, I'm new in this forum, looking for advice for pad solution for my 7yo son. We have sBrick Plus and IOS mobile phone (7 and SE). He would like to have a possibility of steering Lego PF motors/servomotor with game pad. We don't have any pad as we don't play computer games but play with LEGO:) What pad device would you recommend for sBrick Plus and IOS? I'd like to buy him one as Christmas gift - something that would be easy to configure, no connectivity problems, easy to steer e.g. Lego Crawler. Please share your experience, thanks in advance:) 

[AVCampos]

Any "universal" Bluetooth controller should work. Amongst those with phone holders, I'd recommend those that stretch to fit the phone in the middle, rather than holding it above: the weight distribution will be much better.

For tablets, the iPega 9023 appears to be quite popular. Since I use a phone instead, which as expected is smaller, I have an iPega 9055.

[imurvai]

2 hours ago, DiscoV8 said:

Hi, I'm new in this forum, looking for advice for pad solution for my 7yo son. We have sBrick Plus and IOS mobile phone (7 and SE). He would like to have a possibility of steering Lego PF motors/servomotor with game pad. We don't have any pad as we don't play computer games but play with LEGO:) What pad device would you recommend for sBrick Plus and IOS? I'd like to buy him one as Christmas gift - something that would be easy to configure, no connectivity problems, easy to steer e.g. Lego Crawler. Please share your experience, thanks in advance:) 

Hi, it depends on the iOS version which one will work: prior iOS version 13 only the MFi compatible controllers work (like my Mad Catz CTRLi controller). From iOS version 13 all MFi controllers are OK and also the Sony PS4 and XBox One controllers are supported. I'm not sure about the latest PS5 and XBox Series controllers though.

[DiscoV8]

Thanks for your comments!

[Roehrich]

On 9/13/2020 at 1:19 PM, exanders said:

Hi, 

I’m having a problem with BrickController and the control+ motors in servo mode. They work fine in normal mode, and stepper mode, but they seem to jam on when used in servo mode, and I have to disconnect the hub from the phone in order to stop the motor from running. Is this a known problem?

Hi,

I have the same problem using the app for a 42099. The steering jams from time to time. I could not figure out when it jams. It seems to happen very randomly. In order to "unjam" it's enough to restart the "creation" in my case. I'm using a DS4 controller in conjunction with IOS14.2.

Besides that jamming the app is really great. So any hint or help would be very much apprechiated...

[kbalage]

1 hour ago, Roehrich said:

Hi,

I have the same problem using the app for a 42099. The steering jams from time to time. I could not figure out when it jams. It seems to happen very randomly. In order to "unjam" it's enough to restart the "creation" in my case. I'm using a DS4 controller in conjunction with IOS14.2.

Besides that jamming the app is really great. So any hint or help would be very much apprechiated...

What does it do exactly when it is jammed? If it turns to left ot right by itself and stays there then it's not related to the app directly, does the same with Control+ as well.

[Roehrich]

Yes, it turns to the left or right, stops there and makes a blocked noise. It never does it with the control+ app in my case. It seems to happen more often on full batteries... 

[imurvai]

3 hours ago, Roehrich said:

Hi,

I have the same problem using the app for a 42099. The steering jams from time to time. I could not figure out when it jams. It seems to happen very randomly. In order to "unjam" it's enough to restart the "creation" in my case. I'm using a DS4 controller in conjunction with IOS14.2.

Besides that jamming the app is really great. So any hint or help would be very much apprechiated...

Hi, not sure if it is the case (as I could not reproduce the issue) but please try reducing the max turn angle for the servo to like 80 degrees instead of the default 90. I'm curious if the servo still gets stuck that way.

[Roehrich]

On the control+ app the steering seems to be more damped/ less sensitive with less occilations. Perhaps there is an over-current protection triggered with the BrickController2? That would explain why it happens more often on full batteries but it would not explain the humming sound after it jammed, so the motor ist still under current. Or it is running out of bounds somehow? I tried it with less amplitude setting on the steering but that dis not help either.

The max turn angle was all the time on 75degree as I already suspected that the issue could be related to this.

[TuffTuffTuff]

Are there any plans to support PFX brick in the future?

The app is not so good for playing.

The API is available at https://fxbricks.com/resources/howto/

[imurvai]

On 12/25/2020 at 6:13 PM, TuffTuffTuff said:

Are there any plans to support PFX brick in the future?

The app is not so good for playing.

The API is available at https://fxbricks.com/resources/howto/

Hi, I'll check the API and see what I can do...

[pdw]

On 10/13/2020 at 8:07 PM, Oldlegonerd said:

If you are wanting to power the sbrick from the buwizz to find the sbrick, you need to connect to the buwizz using the buwizz app so that the buwizz is supplying power, then you can switch to the brick controller 2 app and search for the sbrick and buwizz, once found you wount need to use the buwizz app again. You can provide power to the sbrick and still use the same output to drive a motor, so with 4 sbricks and 1 buwizz you could control 20 separate outputs.

It'd be a nice enhancement to BrickController2 if it could keep connected to a BuWizz whilst searching for other hubs, so that you don't need to do this dance with the BuWizz app.  Powering SBricks from a BuWizz is a nice way to get a lot of outputs, and the extra power from a BuWizz, but it's tricky to get everything connected (I've been having similar issues using the new SBrick Pro beta with a combined BuWizz/SBrick setup).

[pdw]

On 12/30/2020 at 5:33 PM, pdw said:

It'd be a nice enhancement to BrickController2 if it could keep connected to a BuWizz whilst searching for other hubs

Thanks to BC2 being open source, I was able to take a crack at this myself, and I'm pleased to say I got it working.  With my changes, you can now scan for a BuWizz, then it'll stay connected so you can rescan and find attached SBricks.  I've also changed the "play" connection process so that it always connects BuWizzes first, and gives some progress as it does so. 

I've submitted my changes for inclusion in the app, so hopefully it'll make it into a future release.  I've also got a change to allow you to use full steering at full speed on a single joystick on gamepads where you can't get 100% on both axes simultaneously.

[Oldlegonerd]

8 hours ago, pdw said:

Thanks to BC2 being open source, I was able to take a crack at this myself, and I'm pleased to say I got it working.  With my changes, you can now scan for a BuWizz, then it'll stay connected so you can rescan and find attached SBricks.  I've also changed the "play" connection process so that it always connects BuWizzes first, and gives some progress as it does so. 

I've submitted my changes for inclusion in the app, so hopefully it'll make it into a future release.  I've also got a change to allow you to use full steering at full speed on a single joystick on gamepads where you can't get 100% on both axes simultaneously.

Nice additions pdw.

I've been connecting to the buwizz with the buwizz app then switching to bc2 to get the connections, this seams a lot easier. And great to be able to get 100% from both axis of the joystick at once, even the buwizz & sbrick apps have the same issue, although I have not used the sbrick app for ages so it might have changed by now.

[benovitch]

I have a question about the Axis dead zone in the app. Is it supposed to create a sort of dead zone in the movement of the joystick before the motor reacts? When I set 20% deadzone the motor keeps spinning when the joystick is centered.

I made a little sketch on how I think it should work. For me when controlling 2 functions with the x and y axis of the same stick it's hard to get one centered when the other is applied and so the motor for the second function is powered as well. 

[pdw]

Your expectation is correct.  Unfortunately there's a bug that means that rather than treating the input as zero when in the dead zone, it ignores it completely, leaving the output at its last value.

I submitted a fix for this a few days ago, so it should be fixed in the next release.  

[benovitch]

7 hours ago, pdw said:

Your expectation is correct.  Unfortunately there's a bug that means that rather than treating the input as zero when in the dead zone, it ignores it completely, leaving the output at its last value.

I submitted a fix for this a few days ago, so it should be fixed in the next release.  

Thanks for that. When could we expect the next release?

Is there a possibility to export/save the profiles you created from the different MOC's.

[imurvai]

28 minutes ago, benovitch said:

Thanks for that. When could we expect the next release?

Is there a possibility to export/save the profiles you created from the different MOC's.

Hi, I'll try to release in the next couple of weeks. Recently I haven't had too much time to deal with BC2 unfortunately.

The export/import feature is not ready to be released though :(

[Jobo]

I really appreciate you making this app Imurvai. You are a fantastic person for doing so. Controlling my robot last night with my PS4 controller was the coolest thing ever, so thanks alot.

Does anyone know why LEGO hasn't made something like this yet? Or haven't updated their official app to support custom creations? I'm utterly baffled that they haven't done so, as it entirely contradicts the LEGO ethos of using your imagination to create whatever you want.

And one more thing, if anyone could point me in the direction of some tutorials, or online literature about how to use BrickController2 I would be very grateful. 

[imurvai]

Hi,

BrickController2 version 2.7 went out to the iOS AppStore but unfortunately contains a bug and crashes at some point, so I'm going to update it tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience it might cause.

The Android version is still under review in the PlayStore but it doesn't seem to be affected.

[rm8]

5 hours ago, imurvai said:

Hi,

BrickController2 version 2.7 went out to the iOS AppStore but unfortunately contains a bug and crashes at some point, so I'm going to update it tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience it might cause.

The Android version is still under review in the PlayStore but it doesn't seem to be affected.

Thank you Istvan,

do you have plans to support new Mindstorm block?

[AVCampos]

I don't know if it's really essential, as that hub (which I call "SPIKE" for both 45678 and 51515) can already be programmed on a mobile device to be controlled by a gamepad.

[rm8]

4 minutes ago, AVCampos said:

I don't know if it's really essential, as that hub (which I call "SPIKE" for both 45678 and 51515) can already be programmed on a mobile device to be controlled by a gamepad.

After you try that profile on mindstorms app, you'll never want to try it again))))

Mindstomrs do not support BLE protocol, as I know. Hope this is no a problem for Istvan

[kbalage]

3 minutes ago, AVCampos said:

I don't know if it's really essential, as that hub (which I call "SPIKE" for both 45678 and 51515) can already be programmed on a mobile device to be controlled by a gamepad.

The speed and accuracy of that control is somewhat questionable, and with BC2 we'd have the benefit of controlling multiple devices of different types (e.g. Mindstorms hub + Technic hub) from the same interface.

[AVCampos]

OK guys, I'm convinced.