The Rambling Brick recently attended the LEGO Fan Media Days with our Extra Pieces Collaborator, Jay’s Brick Blog. As part of the event, Fleming Bjørn Jessen, product manager for Powered Up provided an update on the current roadmap for the platform.
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Announced on May the 4th this year, the ‘official’ launch date for the Droid commander has arrived. The inverted commas have been provided for the benefit of the set becoming available a couple of months ago on LEGO.com.
To celebrate the launch, LEGO have released a video, presented here in widescreen glory.
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I have not been so excited about seeing a software upgrade delivered as I have been this weekend. The LEGO Powered Up app has just been given a substantial bump up in its functionality.
Long time readers of the blog will know how I feel about LEGO Boost: a great set, and a simple way to automate any models that you might make. Since it was released 18 months ago, we have seen all sorts of creations, as well as ideas through the primary models in the set. But there are a few challenges: you need to work through the models to gain all functionality; and the hub itself is a little bulky for some applications, but certainly adds a lot of fun to some sets. In some ways, I see it as the natural successor to the early motor kits, used in the 60’s and 70’s to automate wheels models, and see them propelled under there own power. Unfortunately, despite sharing a plug system, it has not been compatible with other similarly plugged devices…until now.
Continue readingFeeling overwhelmed after a barrage of press releases and new sets being announced by LEGO in New York this week, I attempt to put together what is known about the new Powered Up platform, previously referred to as Power Functions 2.0
This week, at the Fall Preview for the (Northern) Summer 2018 LEGO® releases, there have been a number of exciting announcements, some of which have been vigorously speculated about for most of the year, plus a couple of surprises!
Given that this year respresents (amongst other things) the twentieth anniversary of the LEGO Mindstorms range, and also represents 10 years since we first saw the arrival of Power Functions, it should come as no surprise that we have seen a number of sets featuring the new “Powered Up” platform – previously referred to as Power Functions 2.0.
“For 20 years, we have been creating new ways for children to combine technology and LEGO building, starting with the introduction of LEGO MINDSTORMS®, a robotics toolkit that pioneered the idea of a ‘smart toy,” said Michael McNally, senior director brand relations for the LEGO Group. “With Powered Up, we’ve established a flexible connected platform to enable innovative new play experiences that merge digital and physical play in natural ways that will delight and inspire the builders of today and tomorrow – while still focusing on the core physical play proposition of our System of Play – the LEGO brick.”
We have also seen some exciting announcements to go with LEGO Boost.
Back in February, we presented information about the new power functions platform. We were aware that we have a new combined Bluetooth receiver and Battery Box, as well as a motor unit suitable for trains. We knew that the new cables featured the same connections as the WeDo 2.0 platform, as well as Boost.We also knew there would be a new remote and that the platform could also be App Powered.
This new platform, and all of the other Motorised LEGO Elements now fall under the broader banner of “Powered up,” and includes CITY Trains, app driven vehicles, Boost and the DUPLO Cargo Train.
Since it was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, LEGO® Boost has been anticipated as an easy to use robotics platform. Designed for use by children aged 7 and up, the tablet based system was released in most of the world at the start of August, and made its way into the Australian retail Channels in October 2017. With a retail price of $AU250, and 845 elements, including a mixture of System and Technic elements, as well as a new integrated Move Hub, I was intrigued by what it might have to offer for easy MOC automation. At the LEGO® Fan Media Days in Billund this year, I had the opportunity to meet with Carl Merriam, one of the model designers who has been involved with LEGO Boost. We had a talk about some of the features of the Boost system, and looked at what some of the included models have to offer.
Thanks for your time Carl, could you perhaps start by explaining a little about the basics of LEGO Boost? Continue reading
The Rambling Brick 
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