BuWizz - High Performance LEGO Power Functions Controller and Battery

[aFrInaTi0n]

Thanks for the update! ♥

Also a little update from my side: AS I am only working with RC Motorcycles, I had some more occurences of heavier 1:5 models from @amorti to be tested - till now it was working well and the Buwizz not disconnecting due to too much throttle.

Except last weekend the outdoor range was very low again - I am getting the feeling the parking garage I am regulary using is somehow a better isolation for possibly interferencing signals than outdoor scenarios with other disturbing Wifis / BT and other radio frequencies in the wild....

Edit: btw does somebody esle have the bug that the Buwizz Voltage will be shown as 17.something Volts and the Amp-values of the Currentmeters are set to 3.something right at the start of selecting a profile?

Edited May 3, 2023 by aFrInaTi0n

[Zerobricks]

The bug with gauges showing weird values is known and we're working on a fix. Meanwhile we fixed the issue with medium angular motors, so now they can draw the needed current to work properly. Next step is iOS version and a full release.

[HectorMB]

So, I tested one of my units in a que simple model with a four sequential gearbox. It was physically limited at the end and at the beginning of the gears. In first place I didn't manage to use the 4 gears but just 3. Moreover, when I shut down the model, the motor made a couple of turns with a lot of power which, literally, broke down few pieces that we're limiting the motor. I don't know if the motor was damaged itself.  I read somewhere else that someone experienced something similar, but I cannot find it right now. I used the default profile and did not change any parameter.

Any comment/solution?

Edited May 14, 2023 by HectorMB

[Zerobricks]

This is a known issue, but it's not quite known what causes it, it's very random. For me what helps is usually turning the motor by 90 degrees or simply remaking the profile. Also current limits help in such cases, so if you're only using a motor to turn the wave selector you can go as low as some 100 mA.

[HectorMB]

Thanks @Zerobricks!

 

Regarding the 3- or 4-gears... How can I select one or the other? In some cases it doesn't even allow me to change gear, being fixed at gear 1. 

[Zerobricks]

48 minutes ago, HectorMB said:

Thanks @Zerobricks!

 

Regarding the 3- or 4-gears... How can I select one or the other? In some cases it doesn't even allow me to change gear, being fixed at gear 1. 

The module automatically calculates number of gear positions according to the calibration angle. 90 degrees 2 positions 180 3 positions, 270 4 positions. Just make sure that the motor drives the wave selector as direct as possible, any gears and offsets can make it work less accurate.

[Methes]

Is Buwizz 3 capable of charging and running at the same time?

 

My trophy truck runs quite well on our walks with kids and is capable of driving ~2.6km distance at ~1 hour runtime before running out of juice. That's with 2 Buwizz motors.

 

It's possible to create custom LEGO compatible powerbank with around 30Wh capacity and same size/weight as the Buwizz unit.

Question is, can Buwizz 3 run at the same time as being charged, extending the play time? Not every electronic device can do so.

 

When plugged in the diode blinks, it does as well when turning the unit on but stops once you connect to the app, possibly because of override of LED color.

Has anyone tried?

[aFrInaTi0n]

It shoould be capable of running while being loaded through usb3 - at least I can operate it via app when its charging - if I remember correctly this was even listed at the official homepage somewhere.

But remember: Charging times of LiPOs take same time or even longer than releasing the capacity - so with constant throughput of a external powerpack, this may possibly increase thermal output, therefore temperature inside the buwizz, as the BMS (battery management system, the one who takes care of charging the batt) will also heat up additionally to your constand 1h load on the driver ICs.

But as Buwizz has some thermal shutdown safety - I would try. Worst case is it could step out because of getting too warm..

Edited May 19, 2023 by aFrInaTi0n

[Methes]

Nice, good points, thanks for your reply.

Given the terrain we have around our house (mostly flat, no difficult terrain, at most gravel road) and the speed of our walks it's more of a stop and go movement.

With the trophy truck I usually ended up consuming 0.5A at both motors on average, nothing huge. With breaks the battery might even keep almost full charge.

[Methes]

After two Buwizz motors geared down 11 times bent two teeth of my new red diffential (yes, the 12 tooth gear bent two teeth of the differential, it didn't slip) in my 4x4 offroader I've been tinkering with the idea of powering each wheel by separate motor.

I could power rear wheels by two buwizz motors and front wheels by L motors.

Buwizz geared down to 4.167 is slightly slower than L motor.

I assume the L motors will just act like they have constant load due to being slowed down by the slight RPM difference.

Is it a really bad idea?

 

Basically this - with no coupling Buwizz runs at 0.22A, L motor at 0.4A. After coupling Buwizz drops to 0.18A, L motor to 0.7A.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Methes

[EvilEnderman]

Id recommend two of the same type motor. Even if you got the BuWizz motor and the L motor running at exactly the same RPM, the torque the different motors produce vs current applied (Torque constant) will be different, so their performance won't be uniform across different loads. 

1 hour ago, Methes said:

Basically this - with no coupling Buwizz runs at 0.22A, L motor at 0.4A. After coupling Buwizz drops to 0.18A, L motor to 0.7A.

As it's drawing more current in the coupled state, I see that as a red flag - seems like the motors are fighting eachother - I'd recommend trying two BuWizz motors instead.

[Methes]

49 minutes ago, EvilEnderman said:

Id recommend two of the same type motor. Even if you got the BuWizz motor and the L motor running at exactly the same RPM, the torque the different motors produce vs current applied (Torque constant) will be different, so their performance won't be uniform across different loads. 

As it's drawing more current in the coupled state, I see that as a red flag - seems like the motors are fighting eachother - I'd recommend trying two BuWizz motors instead.

Well, I'd try them if I had 4 Buwizz motors and 2 3.0 units, but I don't ;).

How is two motors with different RPM coupled different from lets say motor hooked to more gears? Basically the slower motor works as additional friction for the faster motor. One motor drives slightly uphill while the other one downhill.

[Zerobricks]

Here's the updated API for the developers in the preparation for next, stable release.

https://buwizz.com/BuWizz_3.0_API_3.22_web.pdf

Edited June 8, 2023 by Zerobricks

[aFrInaTi0n]

Update finally released: https://buwizz.com/new-buwizz-app-update-3-1-8/

Quote

• Gearbox module – allows usage of any PU servo motor to control a wave selector for 2, 3 and 4 positions
• Improved Bluetooth library and connectivity – quicker connect, less disconnects, automatic re-centering of motors after re-connect
• Added support for following PU motors: Mindstorms Robot Inventor Medium Angular motor and Spike Small Angular motor
• Added support for multiple center steer and gearbox configurations on a single BuWizz 3.0 Pro (using the PU ports)
• PU and PF port current limiters – fixing the issue with BuWizz 3.0 Pro shutting down when overloaded, adjustable separately for each PF and PU port

New app also comes with a firmware update for BuWizz 3.0 Pro – your BuWizz bricks will be updated automatically.

Updated user guide can be found here: https://buwizz.com/UserGuide_1_9.pdf

 

[HectorMB]

I have been playing a bit with the new app and a heavy model with 2 buwizz motors and realised that, indeed, the buwizz lasted for 1-2 minutes of play. So I ask here the question: How long your buwizz 3.0 last?

 

[Zerobricks]

1 hour ago, HectorMB said:

I have been playing a bit with the new app and a heavy model with 2 buwizz motors and realised that, indeed, the buwizz lasted for 1-2 minutes of play. So I ask here the question: How long your buwizz 3.0 last?

 

Make sure it's not actually the motors overloading and triggering their thermal protection.

[HectorMB]

Thanks! But indeed I can see the voltage going down quite fast, not like shutting down out of a sudden. I set up the ramps to go up and down a bit gently, to avoid issues...

Edited June 23, 2023 by HectorMB

[shroomzofdoom]

So, 45607 can be used for steering... 

 

But 45603 cannot?

Seems weird. Both go through calibration, but then 45603 doesnt respond to inputs in Drive mode. 

Can anyone else confirm?

I opened a case about this a while back but I don't think I ever got a reply. 

[msk6003]

I don't know why but after update mu model's steering(C+ L motor) is not responce to my control. It work whan calibrating but not in control mode.

[Zerobricks]

21 hours ago, shroomzofdoom said:

So, 45607 can be used for steering... 

But 45603 cannot?

Seems weird. Both go through calibration, but then 45603 doesnt respond to inputs in Drive mode. 

Can anyone else confirm?

I opened a case about this a while back but I don't think I ever got a reply. 

Siike medium one is used for testing, so it should work. I can also confirm the Mindstorms one works in one of my models.

 

8 hours ago, msk6003 said:

I don't know why but after update mu model's steering(C+ L motor) is not responce to my control. It work whan calibrating but not in control mode.

Try recalibrating, or reimporting the profile.

[EvilEnderman]

Could it be a possibility for a feature to use the inbuilt accelerometer as a steering stabilisation tool?

 

[msk6003]

On 6/26/2023 at 1:17 AM, Zerobricks said:

Try recalibrating, or reimporting the profile.

For some strange reason, steering is only work when it's connected to first buwizz only.

[aFrInaTi0n]

@msk6003 have you recreated a complete fresh profile?

At least for me I got some weird outcome of using old profiles in the new app version, recreating them from scratch solved the issue.

[msk6003]

12 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

@msk6003 have you recreated a complete fresh profile?

At least for me I got some weird outcome of using old profiles in the new app version, recreating them from scratch solved the issue.

Yes. In my device it's same even I rebuild profile.

[Zerobricks]

Make sure you don't have a bad contact, or try a different port.