HOWTO Control a LEGO Powered Up Hub for the ARNEIS Project

Introduction

This document illustrates the available options to control a LEGO® Powered Up Hub (LEGO Item No bb0961c01).

The LEGO Powered Up Hub is an embedded device based on a small microcontroller which can control up to four LEGO Powered Up devices, such as motors, lights and sensors. In addition to a button and a multicolor programmable LED, the Hub is provided with a Bluetooth Low Energy interface which allows the Hub to act as a BLE Peripheral device and to communicate with a BLE Central device such as a mobile phone, a laptop or a Raspberry Pi.

The LEGO Group has released a few official apps for the iOS™ and Android™ operating systems. Those apps can be downloaded and installed from their respective app stores (App Store for iOS devices, Google Play for Android devices) and provide a seamless user experience for controlling official LEGO sets and MOCs.

Additionally, a few open source projects such as Pybricks have been developed to simplify programming the LEGO Powered Up Hubs.

Each of the following chapters will analyze in more details the possible options which may be used to program and control the Hubs.

Using the “LEGO® Powered Up” App

This app may be used to control official LEGO sets based on Powered Up hubs using a mobile device such as a phone or a tablet.

Tutorials

LEGO Powered Up basic tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpcyS4xzsw

Installing the app

Install the “LEGO® POWERED UP” app from

Predefined controller modes

After launching the app, you can choose an official set to play with.

Create your own program

Beyond using the app for controlling the official LEGO sets, the “LEGO® Powered Up” app has also a “Create” mode which can be used to develop a custom HMI to control original constructions and MOCs.

Create mode

After selecting the “Create” mode, you must provide a name for your project, then select the aspect you want to configure:

  • Controller: Place buttons and widgets on the controller

  • Coding: Place the elements to control the flow of your program

After tapping “Controller” you will be asked to choose a theme, then you will be able to place buttons and other widgets of your virtual controller.

In the “Coding” view you may stack the elements to create the correct execution flow.

Using the “LEGO® Technic® Control+” App

This app provides an out-of-the box experience for official LEGO sets, most notably the LEGO Set 42100 (Leibherr R 9800 Excavator), which include LEGO Powered Up Bluetooth Hubs.

NOTE: This app is very intuitive and user-friendly, although its goal is only to act as a remote control for official LEGO designs. For much higher flexibility we recommend other options, such as the “LEGO® Powered Up” App described in the previous chapter.

Install the “LEGO® TECHNIC® CONTROL+” app from

Launch the app and select set “Liebherr R 9800”.

Connect 2x XL motor and 1x L motor to the Hub.

Follow the instructions displayed by the app to make sure that all the motors are wired to the correct port of the Hub.

The app will also check the version of the firmware on the Hub, and propose the update the firmware if needed.

Repeat the steps for the second hub in the set.

After all the checks are succesful, the app is ready and can be used to control the excavator and have hours of entertainment with the LEGO set.

Using Pybricks

Pybricks is Python coding for smart LEGO® hubs. Run MicroPython scripts directly on the hub, and get full control of your motors and sensors.

Pybricks is used by students, teachers, and hobbyists all around the world. It’s free, open source, and supported by a community of robotics experts.

Install the Pybricks firmware

Instructions at https://pybricks.com/install/technic-boost-city/

Before you begin, turn the hub off. The update works best with fresh batteries. If you use the City Hub, you must unplug all motors and sensors. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Pybricks Code.

  2. Press and hold the hub button. Wait for a blinking pink light.

  3. While you hold it, click the firmware update button.

  4. Select the LEGO Bootloader and click Pair.

  5. Wait until the light turns off, and then blinks red/green/blue.

  6. Release the button and wait for the installation to finish.

Load some Python program

From the Pybricks Code web interface, create or open a MicroPython source file and upload it to the LEGO Technics BT Hub. You may find some examples under the /code folder of the ARNEIS repository on GitHub.

Controlling from a Raspberry Pi

Install undera/pylgbst on the Raspberry Pi

Logged in as pi@rpi4gm35

mkdir -p ~/github/undera
cd ~/github/undera
git clone https://github.com/undera/pylgbst

Create a Python virtual environment

cd ~/github/undera/pylgbst
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

TODO: Install prerequisites:

sudo apt -y install libbluetooth-dev
sudo apt -y install libboost-python-dev
sudo apt -y install libboost-thread-dev
sudo apt -y install libglib2.0-dev
# pip install -U boost
# pip install -U gattlib
pip install -U bluepy
pip install -U pylgbst

Launch pylgbst demo:

cd ~/github/undera/pylgbst
source .venv/bin/activate
cd examples
python3 demo.py

Result:

(.venv) pi@rpird102:~/github/undera/pylgbst/examples $ python3 demo.py
42      INFO    root    Trying get_connection_bluepy
74      INFO    comms-bluepy    Discovering devices...
88      INFO    root    Trying get_connection_bluegiga
90      INFO    root    Trying get_connection_gatt
92      INFO    root    Trying get_connection_bleak
148     INFO    root    Trying get_connection_gattool
150     INFO    root    Trying get_connection_gattlib
165     INFO    comms-gattlib   Discovering devices using hci0...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "demo.py", line 259, in <module>
    hub = MoveHub(**parameters)
  File "/home/pi/github/undera/pylgbst/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylgbst/hub.py", line 231, in __init__
    connection = get_connection_auto(hub_name=self.DEFAULT_NAME)
  File "/home/pi/github/undera/pylgbst/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylgbst/__init__.py", line 75, in get_connection_auto
    raise Exception("Failed to autodetect connection, make sure you have installed prerequisites")
Exception: Failed to autodetect connection, make sure you have installed prerequisites
Exception ignored in: <function Hub.__del__ at 0xb64d15d0>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/pi/github/undera/pylgbst/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylgbst/hub.py", line 76, in __del__
    if self.connection and self.connection.is_alive():
AttributeError: 'MoveHub' object has no attribute 'connection'
(.venv) pi@rpird102:~/github/undera/pylgbst/examples $

Troubleshooting

(.venv) pi@rpird102:~/github/undera/pylgbst/examples $ hciconfig
hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: UART
        BD Address: E4:5F:01:35:8F:98  ACL MTU: 1021:8  SCO MTU: 64:1
        UP RUNNING
        RX bytes:1611 acl:0 sco:0 events:103 errors:0
        TX bytes:3575 acl:0 sco:0 commands:103 errors:0

(.venv) pi@rpird102:~/github/undera/pylgbst/examples $

Interfacing an input sensor

This chapter discusses several alternatives we have in case we need to interface one or more input sensors to the Edge Controller of ARNEIS. The alternatives presented here are the following:

  • Direct GPIO input pin of the Raspberry Pi

  • Input sensors connected to the LEGO Powered Up Hub

  • Input sensors connected to the SBrick Plus

  • etc.

Direct GPIO input pin of the Raspberry Pi

This is probably the most flexible option in terms of sensor interfacing.

In the internet there is abundance of tutorials, videos and blog posts which explain how to interface an input sensor to the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi and write a program to check the sensor state. Google is your friend.

Some quick links:

On the other hand, this option has the disadvantage that the feedback loop sensor/actuator will be slower since a longer path (Sensor –> Raspberry Pi –> BLE –> Technics Hub –> Actuator) should be followed.

Input sensors connected to the LEGO® Powered Up Hub

At the moment only few types of input sensors with Powered Up interface are available:

Those sensors are directly usable with LEGO® Technics BT Hub using different languages, including Pybricks:

As an added bonus, the ColorDistanceSensor can send infrared signals to control Power Functions infrared receivers. You can use this technique to control medium, large, extra large, and train motors. You can find more details at https://docs.pybricks.com/en/stable/pupdevices/pfmotor.html.

Provided that the available sensors are good enough for the use case, this option is probably the one which guarantees the quickest feedback loop (Sensor –> Technics Hub –> Actuator)

Input sensors connected to the SBrick Plus

Another possible option is to connect and interface LEGO® Power Functions sensors.

The LEGO® Power Functions family provides a richer set of input sensors with respect to the relatively newer Powered Up family:

  • TODO

To interface Power Functions components including input sensors and control them from either a mobile app or a Python scripts running on a Raspberry Pi the SBrick Plus brick can be used.

Additionally, we may use the RXTX mode of the Powered Up Color Sensor which allows to communicate with a Power Functions infrared receiver and thus control motors of the Power Functions family. Unfortunately this solution only works for actuators, not for sensors.

You may find more details at the following links: