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Hi John! This is something we are working on (aiming to have something ready by the end of the year), but in the meantime, you could look at this board:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2220
You'd need to use amplified speakers, but the rest is fairly straightforward. If you know how to do a little soldering, you could easily make this work. If you don't have soldering tools handy, you could also order it sent to our office and we could wire it up for you for a small servicing charge (probably around $15). We could also make a neat brick-built button housing for you to use as the trigger (or triggers, since the board can have up to 11 triggers!). The button would be included with the setup charge, but if you wanted a brick-built housing, we could just add on the small cost of the bricks.
The one thing we can't do for you is put sound files onto the board, since the sounds you'd be using are likely copyright of Disney. That you'd have to handle yourself, but the board is a plug-and-pay file transfer over USB from your computer, so it looks like a flash drive to your computer.
I hope this answers your questions-- let me know if not, and also if you'd like us to work on setup for you, you can contact us through our website.
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Rob Klingberg
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Thanks Rob. I was going to purchase all the light sets for the Disney castle. Are they difficult to install?
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John Nash Hi John, we're working hard to make the installation as easy as possible. And like with our other kits, we assume people have already built their castle before installing the lights. They can be installed during or after build. The kit will include full, illustrated instructions.
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Dear Rob
I was looking for a possibility of using sounds with an SBrick Plus and the possibility to trigger them remotely without using a physical switch. I know there is the PFxBrick out there, but because I already own some SBrick Plus' I didn't want to switch to a different system.
After some search I found the Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board (2x2W Amp) (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2210). To power it up I am using the 5V main out of your LEGO Power Functions Power Source v2 (Variable Outputs) (https://www.brickstuff.com/store/p96/LEGO_Power_Functions_Power_Source_v2_%28Variable_Outputs%29.html). This does work quite well and the triggering with a physical switch does work as you have described it above. But I did not want to use a physical switch. Therefore I tought of connecting the PF1 out to one ot the corresponding trigger pin (and Ground) of the Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board (2x2W Amp). My idea was to trigger the corresponding pin of the board when the PF1 out has 5V. Unfortunately the sound is even triggered, when there is no voltage on the PF1 out and I do not unterstand why.
Do you have an idea how to trigger the pin correctly via an SBrick Plus or do you have an other idea how to use sound with an SBrick Plus?
Thanks,
Marc -
Hi Marc, thank you for your post and for your very creative idea! The way the PF system is wired, there is an "always on" pair of wires that is active even when both channels on the PF are off. This is what we tap into for our PF power supply, so you won't be able to get it to do what you need for the Adafruit board.
HOWEVER we are working on a new directional PF board that will have three outputs: one for "always on", one for "forward", and one for "reverse". Using this, I believe you would be able to trigger your sounds. In fact you could probably trigger two sounds with one PF channel (one triggered by a "forward" action and the other triggered by a "reverse" action).
We are working on this new board now and should have it available in the next 2 months. This board will also provide effects like turnsignals and directional train headlights.
Keep an eye on the user forum for more details!
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Hi Rob
If you are using an opto coupler in between it does actually work. See my video: https://flic.kr/p/2iF7u1g
Thanks,
Marc -
Marc André Wyss Hi Marc, great job and great approach! Thank you for sharing. And my apologies-- I completely missed the fact that you mentioned you had our V2 adapter, which of course does have the individual outputs. I'm glad the optocoupler solution got everything working for you.
Please keep us posted on whatever you build with this setup!
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Dear Rob
I really need more of those V2 adapters from you. Hope they are ready soon. :-)
Thanks,
Marc -
Marc André Wyss Yes, working on them this week! Still need to tweak the code a bit. Unlike the last version, these will be "smart" and be controlled by a microcontroller, so the outputs will have different "effects" or behaviors you can select. And you shouldn't need to use optoisolators this time.
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Rob Klingberg That's sounds very interesting. If I am not wrong we are going to have some people in the LUG which are trying to do the same as I did now they saw my prototype. If you still have some of your LEGO Power Functions Power Source v2 (Variable Outputs) (https://www.brickstuff.com/store/p96/LEGO_Power_Functions_Power_Source_v2_%28Variable_Outputs%29.html) around somewhere, I'll buy them instantly. :-) Or do you know someone which still have them?
I do not have any hope, but I ask anyway. Would it be possible to get the schema of your LEGO Power Functions Power Source v2 (Variable Outputs)? Many thanks for all your work so far.
Thanks,
Marc
