Remote control for Control+ sets without an app or smartphone – Pybricks

Update 9/3/2022 – please use the code below in the standard environment of Pybricks, not in the beta one.

One of the most frequent complaints about the Powered Up system is the need to have a smart device constantly for control, and you can only use touch controls with the official Control+ app. Even if you change touch control for the remote, you still need to run the Powered Up app all the time.

Here comes Pybricks – a custom coding environment for Powered Up devices that allows you to run code on the hub itself. Sounds complicated? It isn’t, no coding required to give it a try! Here are all the details in my video:

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LEGO 10277 Crocodile Locomotive review & motorization with Powered Up, Power Functions and BuWizz

The LEGO 10277 Crocodile Locomotive is inspired by the Class Ce 6/8 II locomotive, first built for the Swiss Federal Railways between 1919 and 1927. This train model measures over 6” (16cm) high, 20.5” (52cm) long and 3.5” (8cm) wide. The recommended price is – 99.99 EUR – 899DKK – 99.99USD. Here is my review of the set:

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New LEGO Technic 2020 Summer sets and the new Simple Technic hub

Back in January after the Nuremberg Toy Fair we already knew some details about the 2020 summer wave of the LEGO Technic sets. We had to wait another 6 months to have official images about them, they first appeared in the LEGO 2HY catalog and a few days later additional official images were posted by some retailers. Here is the video I made about the sets based on the photos in the catalog:

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LEGO Powered Up – interview with the product owner

In the past 2 years I followed the development of the Powered Up system very closely, and I published a lot of content about it. There were many questions raised about the system itself, why it is developed this way, and what will be the development path in the future.

I’m happy to say that you’ll get answers to a lot of questions today, because I had the chance to do this interview with Mr. Flemming Bjørn Jessen, who is the product owner of the Powered Up app at LEGO.

Here is the video version of the interview:

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Cheapest smartphone for LEGO – Xiaomi Redmi 7A

Since the introduction of the Boost system, the Powered Up and Control+ sets I read a lot of complaints about the smartphone requirement. People usually does not want their kids to use the parents’ expensive devices to play with LEGO. I decided to find the best option for a phone that meets the requirements of these applications but still reasonably priced and easy to get.

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