New Module Rise and Run

Today I'm sharing one of my latest modules I call Rise and Run.  This module uses two mechanisms to move the balls along.  The first mechanism is a small step, which raises up to 3 balls to an awaiting ramp of steps.  The second mechanism (the ramp) then tilts upwards allowing the balls to tumble down the stairs and out of the module.

It is powered with a Lego Power Functions L-Motor, because I needed the speed of the M-Motor along with some more torque.  It is not clutched and I found the M-motor would sound strained when pushing up one of the ramps.

This was a fairly quick module to build, it was finished in 2 days.  It's using a fairly common power train that has been used in many other modules by other builders.  There is a long axle that runs along the bottom of the module and power is branched off once for the tilting ramps, and again for the steppers.  Using worm gears to take power off the driveline increases the torque and keeps things running smooth.  The downside being that it really slows things down, and that's why I went with an L-Motor instead of an XL-Motor.

If you have any questions about this module feel free to drop a comment below or on the YouTube video page.

Lego GBC Observer 👁 Week 23, 2019

Welcome to Week 23 of 2019.  The Lego GBC community chat members have been building quite a bit, here are some videos they've posted over the last week.

Brian Bell has created a pleasant looking stepper module using some of the new parts that debuted with the Lego Education Spike Prime announcement.  He uses the new 3x3 biscuit piece as well as the 2x4 bricks with axle hole.



Pinwheel has shared his new "High Stepper" module which brings the balls up quite high.  It's a clean looking module that seems fairly straightforward in its construction.




Ryk shares a video of the GBC layout @ one of the BrisBrick events in Australia.  There is a long return train in front which surprisingly seems to be able to keep up with the amount of balls passing through the layout.



Have a great week everyone!

Lego Powered Up! Part 3

This is a follow up to Part 1 and Part 2 of the discussion of the next generation of Lego motorized and programmable products.

Last Week Lego hosted a Fan Media event and a talk was given about the roll out of the Lego Powered Up! line of products.   They showed several slides, and then did some interviews taking questions from AFOL media.

So far this is what falls under the "Powered Up!" umbrella of products:

• Lego Education WeDo 2.0
• Lego Education Spike Prime
• Lego Boost
• Lego Technic Control+
• Lego Duplo Train
• Lego City Powered Up

This video from the "Assembled" YouTube channel shows all of the above products and has the program designers answering some questions on the products.

The Good News

• There will be a "Technic Simple Battery Box" that should be able to turn motors on and off without needing a bluetooth connected device.
• They are working on rechargeable packs for some of the PU hubs, probably the Powered Up HUB and maybe the Boost HUB.
• There is still talks of a Powered Up <-> Power Functions compatibility cable.  What we need for the Lego GBC community is a cable that will allow us to connect the new motors to our older 9v Train Controllers.
• They talked about a possible firmware update to allow the bluetooth hubs to offer basic functionality when not connected to a bluetooth controller.

The Bad News

• No release date for the simple Technic battery box.
• Prices for all of this new stuff is much higher than the current power functions.
• No mention of a Mindstorms EV3 successor

Powered Up GBC Modules in the wild?

Has anyone else publicly displayed a Lego GBC from any of these components?  As far as I know, I have been the first and only person in the world to display a Lego Powered Up Lego GBC module at a public layout.  That was my Lego Boost Pachinko @ BrickCon 2018 which was surprisingly very reliable.  The only drawback was needing my phone to be used for the Boost App whenever the module was turned on.

Technic Control+

The first Technic Control+ sets should be shipping sometime in the second half of 2019.  The massive Liebherr Bucket Excavator (42100) has been delayed until October.  Following that should be the Rock Crawler set that was shown to attendee's at BrickCan 2019 which also used the Control+ system.