42158 - NASA Mars Rover Perseverance

[Lipko]

17 minutes ago, allanp said:

MUUUURPH!!!! Sorry, got mixed up with the other space movie starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain  

One of my favorite scifis with all that drool and syrup.

[aeh5040]

The more I see the more I like! This looks like a great set.

It's clear from the labels that the two steering modes are indeed controlled from the same lever, by pushing it back and forward and by rotating it. I can't tell whether there is some mechanism to lock the rotation into the central position when in turn on the spot mode (which would be cool).

It also looks as if the two axes of movement of the arm are both controlled remotely via some mechanism.

And finally the suspension looks very interesting. The bar on the top seems to link the two sides, while two of the three wheels on each side have their own additional pivot.

And nice wheels, and lots of new or rare parts in white as well!

Edited May 14, 2023 by aeh5040

[AVCampos]

13 hours ago, aeh5040 said:

And finally the suspension looks very interesting. The bar on the top seems to link the two sides, while two of the three wheels on each side have their own additional pivot.

That's exactly how the real Perseverance's suspension works. The only difference is that it has a dedicated steering motor for each front and rear wheel, instead of having a mechanism going all the way into the main body.

[EricZhou]

As this set has no motor function, I want to know how the AR APP work, after AR calibration, what then?

On 5/14/2023 at 11:07 PM, HydroWorld Outlook said:

If TLG wants to incorporate augmented reality functionality into their Technic sets that badly, they should at least use their power for a good cause and embrace this technology to extend the models' educational values and provide genuine learning opportunities for kids who buy the set and download the app, especially if they're going to primarily market these sets towards children. And besides, parents are usually far more willing to purchase a toy for their children if they see it has considerable educational in return for sacrificing such large amounts of money that they otherwise could have just as easily used in far more productive ways, like saving into their child's college fund or donating to those in need. I mean, once this set is released, it will cost a whopping $90 in the United States. That's a lot of money to spend on toys for many American families, especially those without electronic components. In fact, this set costs so much that I won't be too surprised if some simply cannot afford it altogether. And remember, this set isn't even motorized. Parents of these families would want considerable reasons to buy this set for such a high price, and its educational value would be a very important decision factor in these cases.

Very agree! Lego is expensive toy in china，this set cost 899 RMB in china，equals to 130 US dollars, I wish TLG can provide more.

[HydroWorld Outlook]

On 5/15/2023 at 10:40 PM, EricZhou said:

As this set has no motor function, I want to know how the AR APP work, after AR calibration, what then?

Unfortunately, according to the last photo on this topic's previous page, and as I explained in my prior post, TLG has let us down again with another silly implementation of the Augmented Reality app similar to those of the 42137 and 42138 licensed pullback racer sets from last year. Rather than an informative, interactive demonstration of how the real rover works, TLG instead chose to compromise educational value in favor of a pointless rock sample collection game that by itself will fail to provide an engaging, educational experience for children, parents, and adult fans who will eventually be spending money to buy this set. The model looks good and the functions seem to work good (even though none of us will know this for sure until the video reviews post), but the biggest critiques I have in regards to the 42158 set definitely fall on its AR app profile.

Although I can only judge this app profile based on the one snapshot we have so far for the time being, and although there may be additional app features for this set that just haven't been displayed to us yet, I can't really imagine that there will be much more functionality in store for us beyond the game, especially considering where the profiles of last year's licensed pulback cars fell short. So again, I consider this set as a massive missed opportunity for the TLG and a huge disappointment, especially considering the set's ridiculously high $90 price point.

As far as I'm concerned, if TLG really wants the extra money from their sets, then their designers must travel the extra mile and consider both the financial and educational value of products they release in order to deliver the best possible results with their available resources. But all we can hope at this point is that TLG openly takes any negative consequences that result from their app design choices as learning opportunities to improve future Technic sets.

Edited May 17, 2023 by HydroWorld Outlook

[Maaboo the Witch]

9 hours ago, HydroWorld Outlook said:

Rather than an informative, interactive demonstration of how the real rover works, TLG instead chose to compromise educational value in favor of a pointless rock sample collection game that by itself will fail to provide an engaging, educational experience for children, parents, and adult fans who will eventually be spending money to buy this set. The model looks good and the functions seem to work good (even though none of us will know this for sure until the video reviews post), but the biggest critiques I have in regards to the 42158 set definitely fall on its AR app profile.

Features in the app apparently include "Engineering", "Environment", and "Exploration", so I think it'll be a little more in-depth than that.

[HydroWorld Outlook]

5 hours ago, Maaboo35 said:

Features in the app apparently include "Engineering", "Environment", and "Exploration", so I think it'll be a little more in-depth than that.

I sure hope so, or TLG is about to miss out on some huge revenue.

Edited May 18, 2023 by HydroWorld Outlook

[Maaboo the Witch]

1 hour ago, HydroWorld Outlook said:

I sure hope so, or TLG is about to miss out on some huge revenue.

Nah, I can see a good number of collectors and enthusiasts who'd want this 🐕 on their shelves.

[allanp]

14 hours ago, Maaboo35 said:

Nah, I can see a good number of collectors and enthusiasts who'd want this 🐕 on their shelves.

Agreed, I have a hunch this will sell fairy well. But I wonder if the app will get much use, like I never used the extra zetros app features, literally just the screen to drive it. I will likely get the rover but I don't think ill use the app with it to be honest.

[Maaboo the Witch]

Press release is up on Brickset! Luke Cragin is the designer.

[MikeTwo9398]

SteinaufStein has a building video of the Mars rover

https://youtu.be/wbNARImrAeY

[Polarlicht]

How on earth (no pun intended) does this steering mode selector work?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

 

[Cumulonimbus]

17 minutes ago, Polarlicht said:

How on earth (no pun intended) does this steering mode selector work?

I was wondering the same thing. My best guess is that it only possible to apply proportional steering with the HOG knob in the normal drive mode. Once the lever is tilted, the HOG can longer rotate since the gear is blocked by the orange flower thingy. The four steered wheels turn to the zero radius position when the lever is moved from one mode to the other.

EDIT: I was too slow, I didn't know the Sariel review was already online. It is not that easy to see in the video, but I think it confirms my theory.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Cumulonimbus
Addition after seeing the video

[aeh5040]

2 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

How on earth (no pun intended) does this steering mode selector work?

There is a tapered slot on the underside made with two bionicle teeth. When the lever is moved into turn-in-place mode, the slot captures a connector on the bottom of the lever, forcing the knob into its central orientation. It's a beautiful mechanism!

The only other set I'm aware of with such a sophisticated steering mechanism was 42054. I think this one is in some ways even better.

Edited May 26, 2023 by aeh5040

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Wazzup guys, this is a local representative of Racing Brick 

 

[Cumulonimbus]

On 5/26/2023 at 12:11 PM, aeh5040 said:

There is a tapered slot on the underside made with two bionicle teeth. When the lever is moved into turn-in-place mode, the slot captures a connector on the bottom of the lever, forcing the knob into its central orientation.

Aha, you have a good eye sir, I missed that part of the mechanism.

[Bartybum]

Oof, bit of a shame about the slack in the steering and the plastic tyres. I was really hoping they'd be dual moulded rubber with plastic spokes. I reckon I'll still pick it up on sale, if I can find it for $100AUD

Edited May 28, 2023 by Bartybum

[howitzer]

5 hours ago, Bartybum said:

Oof, bit of a shame about the slack in the steering and the plastic tyres. I was really hoping they'd be dual moulded rubber with plastic spokes. I reckon I'll still pick it up on sale, if I can find it for $100AUD

While dual-moulded wheels would've been great, the hard plastic wheels can be thought as kinda-sorta-realistic if you think metal is just replaced with plastic in the model, as the real vehicle has fully metallic wheels. Rubbery surface would've made for better play value though...

[Jundis]

Yesterday I finished the model and have to say I am quite impressed! The building techniques and the parts are really great, especially there are an abundance of rare useful parts (many of these: and )

The main flaw is the steering system, which has to many slag... but it's just unavoidable here as the geometry is just too complex.

[Ondra]

Perfect lego set for me!

Interesting theme, decent size of model and good playability. Nice price even here .

I always wanted that mars rover set from 2002, as Space kid I imagined a lot stuff I can do with it.

This set shine amongst all these cars they are putting on shelves almost every month. I like cars, but I think enough is enough and we need more sets like this 

[Polarlicht]

21 hours ago, Jundis said:

 

The main flaw is the steering system, which has to many slag... but it's just unavoidable here as the geometry is just too complex.

Thats the reason i am not getting it. At least for now, maybe once the price dropped. But the steering wobble and instability in reviews looked ridiculous

[Ondra]

According to our online stores, this set is now in top ten of best selling lego sets.

I see it made it on top before christmas.

[Erik Leppen]

9 hours ago, Polarlicht said:

Thats the reason i am not getting it. At least for now, maybe once the price dropped. But the steering wobble and instability in reviews looked ridiculous

So we're complaining for years how the theme has become slick and smooth and repetitive instead of functional and technically interesting, and now, for once, we're getting an out-of-the-ordinary set with original and novel functions, and people aren't getting it because it's not slick and smooth enough?

Some people are weird...

[Maaboo the Witch]

Nicely priced to boot - £85 for over 1100 parts!