Powered Up: 5 ⚡ Multi-Hub control
This is part 5 in an ongoing series of articles about Powered Up.
In previous entries we discussed What is Powered Up, how Powered Up uses Networks, how the Powered Up app functionality is evolving and what Control+ adds to the Powered Up Platform.
It should be clear by now that Powered Up can refer to 3 different things:
1) The hub and motors used in the 76112 Batmobile, the 60197 and 60198 City Trains and the recently released 71044 Disney Train and Station.
2) The Powered Up app, available for iOS and Android
3) The Powered Up platform, which includes Powered Up, Boost, WeDo, Control+ and the upcoming SPIKE Prime.
Each of the currently available expressions of the Powered Up platform has its own control interface. In addition, the Powered Up app has a coding canvass that can be used to control both the Powered Up hub (LEGO name: "Hub") and the Boost hub (LEGO name: "Move Hub"). In addition, the Powered Up hub already supports the new Control+ motors.
What the app can not yet do is connect to the Control+ hub nor connect to more than one hub at the same time. However, the Powered Up team has explained that both these things will be included in future updates of the Powered Up app.
To give you a taste of what they are working on, I have received a video from a reliable source, showing how 2 Boost hubs are controlled at the same time from a test build of the Powered Up app.
In the video you can see how 2 Boost hubs have been connected together and move in a synchronised way. When the colour and distance sensor connected to the right Boost hub detects an obstacle it reverses direction. So does the left Boost hub, moving the internal motors in the opposite direction, as well as turning the external Boost motor (LEGO name: "medium linear motor") with the lime coloured pulley attached.
This update is programmed to be released in late November/early December and I expect it to also include the possibility to connect to the Control+ hub from the Powered Up app, providing a way for AFOLs to create and program MOCs using the Control+ hub and motors.
It remains to be seen how many hubs can be controlled by a single device. This is largely dependent on the hardware restrictions of the smart device you use. It has been reported that even with custom made apps (based on the documentation provided by LEGO on GitHub) some smartphones will only allow up to 3 connections, whereas other allow up to 5. However, in part 2 of this series we had a look at how you can create a network of hubs with 1 or more remote controls. It may become possible to (re)program remotes with the Powered Up app or use them as a bridge to control additional hubs, allowing you to control more hubs at the same time from a single smart device.
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