Color & Distance Sensor

Reviews

• September 18th, 2020
  Average rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0
  Reset button?
  KnightInArmour | 14-18
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  I bought this sensor to go with my LEGO Powered Up vending machine. It worked excellently, but my machine can feature more than just one gumball! A reset block on the app(if there is, ignore this review) is not featured, so even if I trigger the distance sensor again, it will not function. I have to reset my iPad again manually, which is slightly annoying. The sensor also sometimes triggers when the coin has not passed through the machine, it just doesn’t sense the coin. Please add a reset block on the Powered Up app if there isn’t already, and please steady the sensor detection!

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating2out of 5 stars

  2.0

  Build Time: 1 hrs

  Building Experience: Intermediate LEGO builder
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  35Color & Distance Sensor
• February 4th, 2020
  Average rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0
  Sensor works great, interface a challenge
  CrouchEndDad | 45-54
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Son

  Bought this (as many do) to make an automatic train (that will stop and wait at stations etc), by placing coloured tiles on the track bed. It is easy to fit to the underside of the passenger train (60197), through the square hold in the baseplate with just a single bracket and the sensor sitting at the same height as the bottom of the bogie. Once I fought the iPad app into submission, the colour sensor (I haven't used the distance feature) worked with a range of coloured tiles, eg red (stop & wait), green (speed up) and yellow (slow down). I had the track on a black tablecloth and have not, so far had any issues with unexpected colour detection. The coding was something of a challenge as you have to handle the idiosyncracies of the sensor with very little guidance (eg the polling frequency of the sensor: once you have detected a colour and performed the action, put in a loop that only exits when that colour changes. Otherwise you can have multiple detections of the same colour leading to unexpected results). Also, in the Mindstorms coding you can have one block to handle multiple possibilities (ie a switch statement) … I haven't found this in the Powered Up interface, and instead have a succession of nested binary "if" blocks.

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Level of DifficultyAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0

  Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder
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  55Color & Distance Sensor
• June 28th, 2019
  Average rating5out of 5 stars

  5.0
  Works 100% with the right colours
  Monkeysout | 35-44
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  Purchased for: Self

  Note : Powered Up app needed to use. I have purchased 2 of these from Lego.com and I have fitted one of them to my passenger train 60197, it's in the middle of the loco pointing down at the track, set roughly 5-10mm from the track sleepers. I had to experiment with different colours, red and white were good but yellow was also detected when track went over my laminate flooring. > I use red 4x2 plates on my track in stations stop the train e.g. to load/unload passengers. > I use white 4x2 plates on my track to call sounds and change speed, e.g. horn at tunnel entrance or slow down for a curve With my room/flooring/lighting, all plates are recognised 100% of the time, at hi and low speed, when using red and white plates. I use studded plates as i think the smooth ones are too reflective/shiny. Andy.

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  Play ExperienceAverage rating4out of 5 stars

  4.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Build Time: 5 mins

  Building Experience: Intermediate LEGO builder
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  55Color & Distance Sensor
• May 10th, 2019
  Average rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0
  Distance sensor works great, color sensor iffy
  organista014 | 45-54
  I would recommend this to a friend!
  I'm using this with the Powered Up hub (88009) to control forward and backward movement of my trains and so far it has been buggy, a combination of both software and hardware issues. The distance sensor function works very well, and you can control the distance of the sensor from an approaching object to kick off a trigger. However, the color sensor has sensitivity issues and is a hit-and-miss (i would say 75% hit 25% miss). It also suffers from sensing a color that is not there. I placed it to read color tiles on a train track and it registers a trigger even if there is no color there. And in order to read a color, the sensor has to be within millimeters of the colored object. Also, not sure if it is with the Powered Up software, but after a few passes of the sensor with colors, it will ignore subsequent color reads and will stop working. I would recommend this for distance sensor control but it needs major improvement with the range and sensitivity of the color sensor. Eventually I would like to make this work on a linear train track on my holiday village to make the train move back and forth controlled by colored tiles.

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  Response from LEGO SHOP

  15 May 2019

  Callie, Customer Service

  Thank you so much for your review! I'm sorry to hear you're having some issues with the Color Sensor. For tip top performance, make sure the sensor is tested in an area with bright and steady lighting while using bricks with varied color values. Black, Brown, Red, Blue and Yellow work the best! Still having trouble tracking the colors? Get in touch with our friendly giving us a shout at LEGO.com/service for some support for your sensor.

  Play ExperienceAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Value for MoneyAverage rating3out of 5 stars

  3.0

  Building Experience: Expert LEGO builder
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  35Color & Distance Sensor