SBrick General Discussion

[mattman]

Alrighty silly question time. Most of my stuff is for trains and buildings with motors running for effect. NOT the technic vehicle remote control stuff that's been pushed so far.

Are there any control faces planned to emulate the lego train IR controller? Just so I can set a speed, stop, start etc without having to hold the control all day at a given speed. For now it'd just be basic control replacing multiple IR boxes, but down the road it may just inspire some fancier MOC's that make full use of it :)

M.

[pasztorl]

Alrighty silly question time. Most of my stuff is for trains and buildings with motors running for effect. NOT the technic vehicle remote control stuff that's been pushed so far.

Are there any control faces planned to emulate the lego train IR controller? Just so I can set a speed, stop, start etc without having to hold the control all day at a given speed. For now it'd just be basic control replacing multiple IR boxes, but down the road it may just inspire some fancier MOC's that make full use of it :)

M.

Yes, It is no problem. We can easily create crontrols on the app that emulates what you need, and more...

I can imagine an user created profile which actually based on a real photo from the sand table. You can use switches change the lines and you have sliders to control the trains on it. :)

I'm keen. I'm also bugging Mark about options for multiple units. I'd like more than 1, obviously, because I'm multiplexing channels with the IR controllers already. Being able to power 8 motors from the space used by two IR receivers is a great step forward. But to do that... you need two of the SBricks. Maybe I should get four rather than two. Hmm. The problem is that prices go up as you order more, rather than down. Buy one for 29, two for 35 each, three for 40 each... should I expect to pay 45 each if I buy four?

It's an excellent choice even though it means I'll have to upgrade my phone. BLE4 is pretty new, so phones more than a year or two old are very unlikely to support it.

About pledges: yes, I see your problem, but don't miss the building instructions that we also included in the bulk pledges.

Because of you are not only the one who messaged about it we will do an annoucement about this topic on our Kickstarter page.

BLE: yes, it is pretty new, but there are older phones supporting it like iPhone 4s which released in 2011.

It is a good idea to check your phone's BLE compatibility before starting to play with your SBricks.

[rollermonkey]

Backed! Kicked! Funded! Whatever you want to call it, I'm in for a pair of them!

Question:

All the images show the staircase layout, but the first stretch goal says 'stair top design', which is correct? Will they be like the pictures from day one, or only if the 100.000GBP mark is reached?

For those asking about lights, buried in the text on the Kickstarter page it says you can control the intensity of lights, so I'd bet that means off, too.

bump for question.

:)

[pasztorl]

bump for question.

:)

The stair top design is in the strech goal. If we don't reach the 100k we will have to go with the simpler (and cheaper) fat top design. Or we should talk about it with an investor, to make it real..

[Conchas]

The stair top design is in the strech goal. If we don't reach the 100k we will have to go with the simpler (and cheaper) fat top design. Or we should talk about it with an investor, to make it real..

Although from the pictures it looks you already have the mold for the stair case design.

Is that it is not suitable for large production runs or the higher costs arise from additional tooling for the electrical contacts?

[MAB]

Alrighty silly question time. Most of my stuff is for trains and buildings with motors running for effect. NOT the technic vehicle remote control stuff that's been pushed so far.

Are there any control faces planned to emulate the lego train IR controller? Just so I can set a speed, stop, start etc without having to hold the control all day at a given speed. For now it'd just be basic control replacing multiple IR boxes, but down the road it may just inspire some fancier MOC's that make full use of it :)

M.

That's fairly similar to what I hope to use it for. Backed this morning. Good luck.

[wangym]

It looks amazing, just a silly question, is the 3 GBP shipping fee also valid for Chinese ppl ?

Keep up the great work.

YM

[Captainowie]

The stair top design is in the strech goal. If we don't reach the 100k we will have to go with the simpler (and cheaper) fat top design. Or we should talk about it with an investor, to make it real..

So what you're saying is that if you get more than 60k but less than 100k, I get something that looks like the "First SBrick" rather than something that looks like all the pictures you have that you name the "current design"? That is very concerning.

I guess that's what you mean when you say "there's a chance we have to redesign the brick to employ uniform electrical contacts in order to cut the costs", but you could have made it clearer that the "chance" was based on the amount of kickstarter funding your get, rather than being able to order large numbers of units. Yes more funding translates to more orders, but they are not the same thing.

Owen.

[pasztorl]

So what you're saying is that if you get more than 60k but less than 100k, I get something that looks like the "First SBrick" rather than something that looks like all the pictures you have that you name the "current design"? That is very concerning.

I guess that's what you mean when you say "there's a chance we have to redesign the brick to employ uniform electrical contacts in order to cut the costs", but you could have made it clearer that the "chance" was based on the amount of kickstarter funding your get, rather than being able to order large numbers of units. Yes more funding translates to more orders, but they are not the same thing.

Owen.

We have chosen the stare top design and we are fully committed to bring it to you. We will do our best to deliver you this as it is much-much better to build with than the first version. Our future is this as we want to give you the best possible SBrick. You can be confident that you will be really pleased at the end!

Edited July 17, 2014 by pasztorl

[OzShan]

On the mindstorms integration, is the BT in the NXT (or EV3 for that matter) not compatible with the module you are using in Sbrick? Would it be possible to offer a library so that Sbrick/s could be slaved to a mindstorms controller?

Edited July 17, 2014 by OzShan

[pasztorl]

It looks amazing, just a silly question, is the 3 GBP shipping fee also valid for Chinese ppl ?

Keep up the great work.

YM

Hi, we just posted a new update to our kickstarter page about that.

I paste here:

"

International flat rate shipping is 3 GBP!

We've made a little mistake regarding the postage and packing. At start rather than to include them with the pledges, we had an asterisk that asked you to add another 3GBP to your pledges to cover the postage and packing. Many supporters didn't glance that far down. By the time we noticed, it was too late because our campaign had already gone live. This is our mistake and one we accept full responsibility for. Several of you have noticed our mistake and gotten in touch with us about it, to the point where we've even mentioned it in our FAQ. We have no intention of asking anyone who has pledged until now to raise their pledge by 3GBP. We will cover the p&p costs ourselves. But if any of you feel like giving us a mulligan re: pledges and raising it by 3 GBP, it would be greatly appreciated. For those that do or already did, we will send you a set of SBrick stickers by way of a thank you! Of course, the more you pledge the greater the likelihood that this campaign will be a success!

Thank you for your understanding!

"

On the mindstorms integration, is the BT in the NXT (or EV3 for that matter) not compatible with the module you are using in Sbrick? Would it be possible to offer a library so that Sbrick/s could be slaved to a mindstorms controller?

You are right. There is no compatibility between them via bluetooth. I wondering about how can we use NXT cable connections between NXT/EV3 and SBrick, but I can't guarantee anything at this time.

Research work (like this) often results in hardware modifications, which is an expensive task for us and highly depends on how kickstarter funding will work.

[OzShan]

That is a real shame that you guys can't aim to make a clean sweep of the different platforms, but I do understand that in the hardware/firmware/comms interoperability battle you have to make certain concessions.

Just accidentally leave the SDA and SCL lines marked on the PCB silkscreen and let the end user worry about those costly hardware modifications :)

[pasztorl]

That is a real shame that you guys can't aim to make a clean sweep of the different platforms, but I do understand that in the hardware/firmware/comms interoperability battle you have to make certain concessions.

Just accidentally leave the SDA and SCL lines marked on the PCB silkscreen and let the end user worry about those costly hardware modifications :)

This idea is really good, we have to further look into it and see how we could leave this option open for the expert users, who don't mind a little hacking with electronics.

[Nofer89]

It looks amazing, just a silly question, is the 3 GBP shipping fee also valid for Chinese ppl ?

Keep up the great work.

YM

We release the shipping costs, so you don't have to worry about it!

Tamás show you, how to use your SBrick :

Edited July 17, 2014 by Nofer89

[Doc_Brown]

So only newish phones or devices supporting the newest version of bluetooth will be compatible?

For example my trusty old phone with Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR wont work?

Thanks for the reply.

[camaudio]

BT Device list supporting LE

http://www.bluetooth...List.aspx#Smart

for Samsung, galaxy s3 and newer and Motorola Droid 4

Other thoughts

This project needs to be posted on Reddit, G+, etc

Edited July 17, 2014 by camaudio

[codefox421]

That is a real shame that you guys can't aim to make a clean sweep of the different platforms, but I do understand that in the hardware/firmware/comms interoperability battle you have to make certain concessions.

Just accidentally leave the SDA and SCL lines marked on the PCB silkscreen and let the end user worry about those costly hardware modifications :)

Since you seem to have some electronics experience, you could put together some Mindstorms NXT/EV3 compatible Bluetooth receivers in just a couple weeks (mostly waiting for orders to arrive) for about $26 a piece: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87340

Granted it wouldn't have a flashy plastic box.

[OzShan]

That is also a good project codefox. More discussion to happen over there :)

[Zerobricks]

As i noticed there are some pictures where the abttery charge is shown. Is that for the mode or phone? Can the brick measure the voltage of the power supply and communicate back?

Edited July 17, 2014 by Zblj

[pasztorl]

As i noticed there are some pictures where the abttery charge is shown. Is that for the mode or phone? Can the brick measure the voltage of the power supply and communicate back?

The battery charge show on the video & images is measured by the brick. The battery voltage can be read by the app and can be interpreted as battery charge level. This can show the charge level of your stock battery or prevent deep discharge if you're using your own LiPo battery pack.

The brick can measure the temperature of the BLE chip too (I think it's not on any pictures or videos right now). It was an important tool for us to verify that the electronics will not overheat, and can be a valuable tool for extreme experimenters :) so we will release that feature to the general public too.

[Lighti]

after reading the questions from the lego train guys, you should put the info you gave in your reply more visible on the first page/kickstarter page as well.

at the moment it looks like its only for technic and remote controling cars and stuff.

but from what I understand it can follow some "recorded patterns" as well, with light blinking and motors(trains) moving...

that sounds like an enormous benefit for the lego train community, which I reckon is quite big. and with its design it easily fits in the trains.

and being able to control more than 4 receivers with one remote should open a lot more possibilities for them as well.

[TinkerBrick]

I just sent an email to the RailBricks magazine.

@pasztorl

Have you spread the word the HispaBricks (magazine), From Bricks to Bothans (fbtb.net), The Brothers Brick, 1000Steine?

I started a thread at Doktor Brick.

[Moz]

that sounds like an enormous benefit for the lego train community, ... being able to control more than 4 receivers with one remote should open a lot more possibilities for them as well.

The train guys in Melbourne are most excited about this. Exhibitions are a bit of a struggle ATM because with more than a few trains running it becomes a contest to see which remote operates which train. Having 16 channels with 4 motors on each channel should mean that they don't have to worry about it. Especially if each remote can uniquely identify the receiver it's supposed to talk to, which would mean that the 16 channels is per phone, and you could have a whole hall full of phones each controlling a couple of receivers (limited by the bluetooth hardware's ability to deal with congestion)

Edited July 18, 2014 by Moz

[gerkenz]

I really look forward to test this SBrick. Have so much ideas for using it.

[bjorkan]

Bravo x 100, must support this project!