A review of circuit cubes without mentioning the elephant in the room

[UltraViolet]

  I just ordered a couple of these kits so that I'd have enough motors for all three ports on one battery if I want it.  My interest in this is primarily with the small motors, but I like the fact that the app control setup is so simple.  This makes it great for young kids, as well as us big kids!  I'm very interested in seeing if I can take the guts from the bluetooth cube and put them into a smaller footprint housing, as well as investigating a smaller connector/wiring scheme.  They built these things to withstand being handled by a child, so unfortunately that made everything bulkier than it needed to be for the rest of us.  I'm also considering the possibility of taking advantage of WeDo's lower voltage (old PF or new PU version) to drive these motors via adapters, opening further channels for experimentation and basic coding.

  It's really unfortunate they don't offer these motors separately (yet).  They probably have no idea who all these kits are selling to all of a sudden and why.  I'd buy more of these motors if they were offered separately.  Fitting PF into 4-wide trains loses it's charm quickly.

  The webpage for the product has only a link to the iOS app, but there is an Android version.  What I really appreciate about the Android version is that it only requires Android 5.0 as a minimum.  This app is so simple, for the most part an older phone would be perfect for it.  (Another fine example of this is the JMRI-related apps for DCC model train throttles on a phone - they're fantastic for supporting old phones that everyone has laying around doing nothing.)  Plus I'd much rather hand a child a decade-plus old phone than anything current, for obvious reasons.  This app makes for a simple to set up, and great basic remote control, without the need for a specific build for it to work.  I'm hoping though, as some of you as well, that they eventually expand on the block coding feature.

  BTW, what do you think are the chances of the CiruitCubes Bluetooth Battery ever making it into BrickController2?

[cptkent]

I am so “on the fence” about this. I love the idea, and especially the motor.... but I have: 9v / RC / PF / PU and fxbrick. It’a already bad enough!

But that tram is sooo cute!

[Phil B]

4 hours ago, UltraViolet said:

 <snip>

  It's really unfortunate they don't offer these motors separately (yet).  They probably have no idea who all these kits are selling to all of a sudden and why.  I'd buy more of these motors if they were offered separately.  Fitting PF into 4-wide trains loses it's charm quickly.
 

<snip>

I happened to get in touch with one of the founders of Circuit Cubes when I had a small issue with my order. Fantastic guy, called me back twice. He is definitely (now) aware of the fact that there is interest in the AFOL Train community. I am going to ask the question above on Monday - will keep you all posted!

[dr_spock]

Are they using small pager vibrator motors of 5 volts?

 

[UltraViolet]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

I happened to get in touch with one of the founders of Circuit Cubes when I had a small issue with my order. Fantastic guy, called me back twice. He is definitely (now) aware of the fact that there is interest in the AFOL Train community. I am going to ask the question above on Monday - will keep you all posted!

  Okay, that's very cool!  I wonder if they could provide a specification sheet for the actual motor from the motor manufacturer.  I'd be interested in the true electrical properties and tolerances, if they are available.  When I receive my order, I'll dig into these and see if I can learn anything, including if there is a simple fix for the axle depth/protrusion issue.

[zephyr1934]

17 hours ago, cptkent said:

I am so “on the fence” about this. I love the idea, and especially the motor.... but I have: 9v / RC / PF / PU and fxbrick. It’a already bad enough!

But that tram is sooo cute!

Oh yes, the main attraction of the circuitcubes system is its small size, good for tiny MOCs (e.g., that tram). If you able to fit the normal control systems in your build you probably do not need this system. Also, the small size comes with lower power.

[CMF-1138]

On 3/14/2021 at 10:42 AM, Asper said:

It would be great to drive two motors with one slider of the app.

The app does not provide this functionality, but you can chain two motors together but plugging a second motor into one of the spare ports of the first. I can't speak intelligently as to whether this is advisable, but the company did use this technique in the Mars Rover build on their blog (which had five motors driven by a single Bluetooth Battery Cube).

When I inquired in early-February, the company indicated that they plan to start selling the Cubit motors separately later this year.

[Asper]

58 minutes ago, CMF-1138 said:

The app does not provide this functionality, but you can chain two motors together but plugging a second motor into one of the spare ports of the first.

Thank you for this hint.

This is was I got so far - two motors integrated into my narrow gauge V-52:

 

[ivanlan9]

That V52 & train is tots adorbs, dude.

Metta,

Ivan

[ColletArrow]

This set does look very interesting, doesn't it. I'm already thinking of uses - powered hi-rail vehicles, a Ruston 48DS shunter, and generally much less intrusive power in basically any small loco...

It's probably not worth me buying a set until I'm near my bricks again for a decent amount of time, so probably over summer - but for such a useful product at such a reasonable price I don't think I can pass these by. Out of interest, if anyone in the UK has bought them yet, what was shipping/customs like?

@Asper, that mini V-52 is a perfect use for these!

[Dr Snotson]

These circuit cubes are that kind of "seductive relief" most of us have been longing for for quite an aeon of time... 

On 3/14/2021 at 6:42 PM, Asper said:

Thank you for the review. I also ordered a set after seeing the suspended monorail of JKBrickworks. There is nothing to add to your review. It would be great to drive two motors with one slider of the app.

I plan to built a narrow gauge engine without the need to pull the battery (and IR receiver) in a separate coach. This is what I got so far:

(The bogie design is from "Space2310" - I do not know if he es still active on eurobricks.)

The motors are quite strong:

 

 

Asper, this is serious stuff... awesome and extraordinary work!

Edited March 31, 2021 by Dr Snotson

[ritztoys]

Hello @Asper where did you find the 'narrow gauge track' in your video? (and those points too!)

[Asper]

On 4/1/2021 at 5:01 PM, ritztoys said:

where did you find the 'narrow gauge track' in your video? (and those points too!)

trixbrix

[ritztoys]

@Asper Thank-you for your reply. Now where can I/should I build a layout?     hint:........ ask wife first! 

@Asper Can you share any details of the bogie, maybe picture or half dis-assembled or upside down? TIA

[UltraViolet]

  I don't think there is a complete detail image of the "Space2310 Bogie" remaining anywhere online now.  Perhaps someone using this design could show it with the wheels and side-frame removed from one side.  (I understand how to build it now, but it took some time to figure it out.  I don't have one assembled at the moment though.)

  It would be nice to see a dedicated bogie thread, whether for 4-wide or everything else combined.  The examples are so scattered all over the place, and many images are no longer available.  I'd love to have such a thread even just as a place to throw around ideas for inspiration and discussion.  Some people are better at bogies/mechanisms, while some are better at the rest of the model building.  Put the two together and it will likely help many people out.  I myself have created some compact bogie test designs with no specific model in mind to put them in, done simply as a technical challenge and a foundation to expand on.  I'd happily share them to see what others might do with them, and how they might be improved upon.

[cptkent]

L-gauge seems to be a repository of sorts"

http://l-gauge.org/wiki/index.php?title=Reference_Instructions#Bogies_.2F_Trucks_.2F_Wheels

Probably not entirely what you're looking for, but a start.

[Asper]

20 hours ago, ritztoys said:

@Asper Thank-you for your reply. Now where can I/should I build a layout?     hint:........ ask wife first! 

@Asper Can you share any details of the bogie, maybe picture or half dis-assembled or upside down? TIA

@ritztoys in order to stay focused on the circuit cubes in this thread I created a new one for the 4wide bogie: 4wide narrow gauge bogie design by space2310

[ritztoys]

@Asper Thank-you so much for this and sharing with the community!

[Asper]

Tenka kindly shared details about the Bluetooth protocol. Based on the information and code from the Legoino project I was able to create a "Bluetooth hub" running on a "M5 Atom" . This connects to a LEGO Powered Up remote and to the Circuit Cubes Bluetooth module. Now I can control it without my phone:

 

I'm currently cleaning up the code and working on a "train mode" - two trains and one LEGO remote, the buttons will increase/decrease the velocity.

[Lok24]

Hi,

this is really a nice solution, hope to see more of your "tiny train" project!
 

 

[zephyr1934]

10 hours ago, Asper said:

Tenka kindly shared details about the Bluetooth protocol. Based on the information and code from the Legoino project I was able to create a "Bluetooth hub" running on a "M5 Atom" . This connects to a LEGO Powered Up remote and to the Circuit Cubes Bluetooth module. Now I can control it without my phone:

Cool!

[zephyr1934]

The elephant is finished and has been set free in its own thread.

[Redimus]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:31 PM, zephyr1934 said:

Glad the review was helpful, I tried to share what I've learned so far. As long as you know about the clearance issues you can work around them, but it would totally suck to build to size and then discover it wont fit (which actually happened to me while prototyping, but since it was a prototype I shifted and worked around).

There is another, even smaller system that is a little less plug and play by lifelites, and they probably do international shipping. I have only seen the web page but here's the all-in-one set, and full line. Neat thing with these is that it is PF controlled.

They do ship internationally. I've bought one (before I started bulk buying circuit cubes, lol) was was overall, pretty damn impressed with it (despite it's rough edges).
My recomendation would be to go Circuit Cubes, but some builds are just *too small* to hide the batterybox, and in this case the Tiny Motor coes shine, and offers comparable power (it's the same basic motor).

https://fb.watch/5EvkMLmcTQ/ <-- My generic 0-4-0 Pug running with the Lifelites system (video on my FB page).

[Vilhelm22]

Just asking is there a stud.io download for these parts?  I'm considering buying for a model of a the DB E69 02, but would like to try and build it digitally first.

[zephyr1934]

Highly unlikely that there is. When I built with it in cad I just used normal bricks as place holders. The power block is 4x4x2, but it needs a gap on the side with the pair of metal contacts at the bottom. If you were looking down on the cube from the top as if it were a compass: the switch is north, charging port is east, and the power contacts that need the gap are south. The motor blocks are 2x4x2, The technic hole is offset by one plate. You can see a lot of the dimensions in the first post of this thread. Here's another shot giving you some idea of the dimensions.