SBrick General Discussion

[zux]

He meant an MFi Bluetooth controller..

Correct.

Sorry for misspelling...

I meant MFi not MiFi

I knew there was something wrong. Good to know about MFi - that's a cool feature for Apple product owners

Short answer: no.

Long answer: one day perhaps. SBrick has a microcontroller inside (not much power, i think is just a variant of the old 8051) and it is possible to upgrade the firmware, even with a custom (non-Vengit) one. So perhaps.

There is always the possibility to use the phone/tablet/pc as a gateway/router/proxy/whatever. BT 4.0 has a long range (100 meter open air) so you can leave your phone/tablet/pc almost anyhwere and use just the gamepad. I believe future SBrick app versions (but not 1.0, there is no time for that) will have that feature, gamepad is much better than touch screen for precise control.

Thanks for explanation, this is exactly the answer I was looking for. Looking forward future app upgrades to include "gamepad controller" feature.

[codefox421]

I knew there was something wrong. Good to know about MFi - that's a cool feature for Apple product owners

And a terrible feature for developers. It basically meant small-time groups like the SBrick devs couldn't build hardware for Apple devices. (Or at least doing so was very cost prohibitive) Thankfully Apple didn't make the same mistake with BT 4.0

[imajor]

Got mine today, great present for xmas. My question: how can I use more than two channels? It seems to me that the available five profiles all control only two channels. Ideally I would like to create custom profiles (I can already see many like that on the internet, for example

), is there a way to do that?

[DickesC]

Got my first three SBricks today

A nice little Christmas gift :-)

Many thanks to the SBrick Team and Merry Christmas to everybody

[Conchas]

Got mine today, great present for xmas. My question: how can I use more than two channels? It seems to me that the available five profiles all control only two channels. Ideally I would like to create custom profiles (I can already see many like that on the internet, for example

), is there a way to do that?

I've done this video.

You must wait for SBrick Team to release their online Profile Designer service, to be able to create your own profiles.

According to them this should happen still this year, despite still in a very preliminary stage.

[imajor]

I've done this video.

You must wait for SBrick Team to release their online Profile Designer service, to be able to create your own profiles.

According to them this should happen still this year, despite still in a very preliminary stage.

Thanks, great news. But meanwhile is it possible to control more than two channels? Or I am correct that I can only control two at the moment? Can't wait for the profile editor!

[aol000xw]

A few weeks ago I saw a video of someone using a ¿PSX? remote to control an SBrick.

Can anyone confirm this and if so what remote is necessary for that?

[MajorAlvega]

Thanks, great news. But meanwhile is it possible to control more than two channels? Or I am correct that I can only control two at the moment? Can't wait for the profile editor!

[Android only] It was possible to control the 4 channels with the first versions, something happened and now my Test2 profile only has 2 slides (it had 4). Version 0.20 was pushed a few minutes ago, more one hour or two and it will be available, lets hope the 4 slides are back.

A few weeks ago I saw a video of someone using a ¿PSX? remote to control an SBrick.

Can anyone confirm this and if so what remote is necessary for that?

You mean

? I'm using a Playstation/PC wireless gamepad (radio, not BT) connected to my laptop. I'm using the laptop as a gateway between the Gamepad and the SBrick. At the moment you can do it with anything that runs Linux and has a recent version of the BlueZ stack. Not Apple nor Windows unfortunately.

You can use anything on you laptop - the keyboard, the Wii Nunchuck, a Joystick, a mouse... you just need to know how to read it (python has been great for that) and how to invoke BlueZ "gatttool" command (python has been great also but anythin that can call a command from the operating system should work).

[Android only] It was possible to control the 4 channels with the first versions, something happened and now my Test2 profile only has 2 slides (it had 4). Version 0.20 was pushed a few minutes ago, more one hour or two and it will be available, lets hope the 4 slides are back.

Yes, 0.0.20 Test2 profile has the 4 slides back.

If you don't see the 4 slides, go to Market, delete all profiles and download them all again. Worked for me.

Edited December 23, 2014 by MajorAlvega

[Conchas]

You can control a lot, regardless what you mean with channels. The channels concept doesn't apply here in the same way as with PF IR receivers where you can use 4 IR channels.

With one compatible BT Smart Ready smartphone, you can control up to 16 SBricks simultaneously with 4 ports each. Thus meaning up to 64 ports. Such high number of devices may cause some interference and limit operating range a bit.

At the moment I've just two SBrick prototypes to test (other two final SBricks on the way, which should arrive shortly). I managed to control them without problems with iOS SBrick app.

So far had problems to control more than one simultaneously with Android app, but this is likely a bug in the software to be solved soon. Android app is in early development stage and still very immature at this point.

[imajor]

Ok, I'm doing something wrong then. I'm using the iOS version of the app. I selected the set 42024 container truck (does it matter which one I select?) then I added all the five available profiles, and I also added my sbrick. Now if I select a profile, I can use that to control my vehicle, but all the four profiles has only two controls, so I cannot control more than four motors at the same time this way. What did I wrong? Can I use multiple profiles simultaneously?

[Conchas]

I've never tried to use the Sets. doesn't make much sense to me.

You can use only one profile at a time and you need to assign functions to each port you intend to use.

Having multiple profiles installed can makes things a bit messy, because it will show the different functions (from each profile) altogether.

I've already commented about that messy behavior at SBrick community. IMO profiles should be managed in a very different way.

So I advise you to start with simple configurations (add one profile at a time) until you understand what do you have in hands.

[MajklSpajkl]

High guys, did anyone successfully conect with Sony Xperia SP on Android? Thx

[Conchas]

If you're experiencing issues using your SBrick, you might have better chances of getting proper support if reporting these at SBrick Community forum.

https://social.sbrick.com/forums

[pasztorl]

Hi Guys!

I have seen you have problems with your SBricks.

The hardware just done, but we have a lot of known bugs and suggestions for features for the app and the SBrick's firmware... We need your bug reports/feature requests to make the application and the SBrick firmware better.

Please write your bug reports and suggestions here: https://social.sbrick.com/forums

Thank you and happy holidays!

[Blakbird]

I hope there is a good way to share profiles. For example, I can imagine a future SBrick enabled MOC for which instructions are available. It would be really cool if those instructions could include a really well thought out control profile for the model everyone could use.

My first SBrick is in the mail so I haven't had a chance to test anything yet. I don't own a smartphone so I'll be using my iPad. I know very little about programming so it will be interesting to see if I can get it to do what I want it to do.

[imajor]

I hope there is a good way to share profiles. For example, I can imagine a future SBrick enabled MOC for which instructions are available. It would be really cool if those instructions could include a really well thought out control profile for the model everyone could use.

There is. I can see the list of all the custom profiles people created, and I can very easily download and use any of them for free. For example I can download and use the profile Conchas created for the ultimate 8043 (

). So this is really great. The only problem is that it is not yet possible to create my own custom profiles, but as I understand that will be possible shortly.

[Conchas]

Take care that the dialpad is tricky to control the tracks.

Weird configuration and then works with 45º rotated offset.

Better if you use Jurgen profile with separate sliders for each track.

I've been suggesting a specific D-pad control for tracked vehicles, at SBrick community.

[Jim]

I hope there is a good way to share profiles. For example, I can imagine a future SBrick enabled MOC for which instructions are available. It would be really cool if those instructions could include a really well thought out control profile for the model everyone could use.

So true! I have been thinking about this as well. Would make the great MOCs even better. If SBrick proves to be reliable, this can be the next big thing.

[pcfw]

I wish Sbrick can be used with the Lego WeDo robotic stuff to enable us to control from the computer in the wireless mode our creations without that cumbersome wire

[AndroTech]

My S-Brick arrived yesterday, .... nice, I like it ... didn't think it was so small.

One question though, I ordered two brick's, with instructions how to install them in the 42009 Mobile crane.

Received two brick's, but no instructions. Did this happened to anyone else?

[nicjasno]

Ordered mine a few days ago. WIll report when it arrives.

[MajklSpajkl]

My S-Brick arrived yesterday, .... nice, I like it ... didn't think it was so small.

One question though, I ordered two brick's, with instructions how to install them in the 42009 Mobile crane.

Received two brick's, but no instructions. Did this happened to anyone else?

Same here - two SBricks - no instructions for 42009... I practically forgot about, since I have trouble even bonding it to my phone...

[Sariel]

Here's my little video review of the final SBrick:

[Boulderer]

Mine arrived yesterday. i'm looking forward to getting an opportunity to try it out.

Incidentally, mine came with a sticker sheet for various technic panels, for that "Sponsored by sBrick" look

[nicjasno]

You totally do drive like an old grandma :)