LEGO released the 3.0 update of the Powered Up app yesterday. As we were informed previously this is an important update with long awaited features like the multi-hub support or the support for the Technic hub and the L and XL motors. Check out the features and my opinion about the update in the video:
So here’s my short written summary about the update:
What I liked:
- new cleaner main interface looks good, easy to navigate
- multi hub support really works, 4 hubs can be connected simultaneously and they can be all different kind (Boost, AAA hub, Technic hub)
- sensor data from Technic hub can be accessed and used
- multiple sensors can be used the same time, external and internal as well
- phone/tablet orientation can be used as a controller although the zero position is still a question
What I did not like:
- Biggest frustration – total lack of documentation. The app is getting super complicated, if I were a kid I would not bother trying to figure it out. This should be the number one priority to sort out.
- L & XL motors have proper speed control but steering is still laggy, absolute positioning does not work for steering
- Controller interfaces are still limited, the 2 slider one works only for tracked vehicles or the Batmobile, the joystick interface is not scaled properly on a tablet and cannot be used with the L/XL motors for steering
- The app still needs to be killed to disconnect all hubs or they have to be disconnected manually one by one
- The whole app looks like a tech demo for programmers beyond the set-specific controls. It does a lot but without any documentation and you don’t know what supposed to work and what not. It has a great potential for advanced users but totally misses the point for the ones who’d like to go one step further from the stock builds and want to add a light or a motor to a creation, it’s way too complicated.
So, it is possible to control 4 L motors in 1 Technic hub, good news for moc
Yes it is possible, but at this point it’s more like programming than controlling.
Hello Balazs,
Thank you for the great reviews and thorough coverage of Lego stuff!
I wanted to ask you whether the angular motors from other kits (i.e. Spike or Mindstorms) are compatible with the technic hub 88012 and it’s software?
I see that there are new angular motor products listed on the Lego site i.e. 88017 and 88018, however they state support for only the large technic hub 88016.
The story of the question is that I want to see whether I can make a segway style robot using the new powered-up motors with their absolute positioning, thus I’m eyeing the 42099 4×4 extreme offroader set as a good bunch of parts, however in case this fails miserably due to the inferior control loop of those motors, I wanted to check if a backup strategy of just buying alternate motors would be OK or if I would indeed have to snatch the full Robot Inventor set.
I’m familiar with firmware reflashing etc. for embedded devices, so if I’d need to run some modified software on the hub I could manage, but just wanted to ask whether it might work out of the box.
The angular motors should work with the PU hubs. For a Segway-style robot however the speed of control might not be enough through the Powered Up app, I’d suggest to go with Pybricks. Here’s an example – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muVCJEmVa_M
Much appreciated, thank you!