Success: Ingenious App Controlled LEGO® Technic™ Contraption Gets One of the Biggest Excavators in the World Moving

Proof that with LEGO® Technic™ you can build for real, and marking the launch of the brand-new LEGO® Technic™ Liebherr R 9800 set, our LEGO designers solved a tough, but fun challenge: controlling one of the world’s largest excavators, the Liebherr R 9800, only using LEGO Technic elements and the LEGO CONTROL+ app.

Powered by the new intuitive LEGO® TECHNIC™ CONTROL+ app, the brand-new replica model of one of the world’s most impressive hydraulic excavators will give you a colossal LEGO build and play experience. With the app, you can explore groundbreaking digital control of the brand-new LEGO® Technic™ Liebherr R 9800 excavator set.

Niels Henrik Horsted, Marketing Director at the LEGO Group said:
“We wanted to give ourselves a tough challenge and put the CONTROL+ app to a real-life test and see if we can remote control the huge Liebherr excavator, just like we do with the new LEGO Technic set. Our design and engineering team came up with an impressive solution building movable mechanical arms and legs, mounted on the controls and pedals inside the excavator cabin, using the app to move the huge machine. Once again, proving that with LEGO Technic you can build for real.”

Grégory Schuh, Marketing Manager at Liebherr-Mining Equipment Colmar said:
“When the LEGO Technic team came up with this idea, we were immediately excited by this incredible project. We already have developed our own concepts for remote control our machines, but to control a R 9800 through a LEGO Technic solution, we were not so sure that this was achievable. At Liebherr we are used to facing great challenges but this was a very special one… We quickly realized that the creativity of the LEGO engineers, paired with the friendly and professional Liebherr teams, would make the project a great success. To summarize this partnership, I would say that both companies share a core value: ‘passion in everything we do.’ And that makes everything possible.”

Discover the new LEGO® Technic™ Liebherr R 9800 set
Developed in partnership with Liebherr, this 4,108-piece model of the R 9800 Excavator comes with an array of true-to-life features and functions, introducing LEGO builders to advanced elements of engineering, while the LEGO TECHNIC CONTROL+ App puts the builder in complete control.
The sophisticated app technology enables super-precise movement and amazing functionality, while delivering endless authentic digital play combinations via four different control screens: multi-function, one-touch, custom-built and challenges & achievements.
The Multi-function control screen on the app enables users to drive the excavator in all directions, rotate the superstructure, extend and raise the boom, open and tilt the bucket, play realistic sound effects and get real-time feedback, such as boom position, power usage and drive distance.
With the One-touch screen, LEGO fans can use drag patterns to control the boom, arm and bucket, while the Custom-built movements screen enables them to choose pre-set commands or record the model’s actions to create complex sequences of movements. Finally, with the Challenges & achievements screen, users can complete challenges to unlock reward badges.

Groundbreaking Digital Control
First launched in August 2019, the CONTROL+ app is the new smart device connected platform that delivers a richer and more immersive LEGO play and building experience for LEGO Technic fans, regardless of age, replacing the Power Function system.
“We wanted to give fans an even more authentic experience when they build for real with LEGO Technic elements. This new way of controlling your LEGO Technic set bridges the physical and digital world and gets you even closer to the real-life model replicas that you build,” said Niels.
CONTROL+ uses new electronic components and a free, linked app, which is tailor-made for the set you build, giving fans an even more authentic and high fidelity play experience.
The app also displays data feedback from the model.

ENDS

Factsheets:

LEGO Technic contraption factsheet:

• First LEGO Technic based contraption to remote control and operate a large excavator
• 2763 LEGO elements used in total
• 12 types of LEGO Technic elements used
• 427 LEGO Technic connectors used (connectors included in total element count number)
• Purely LEGO built without use of any kind of glue in the assembly
• Majority designed and built from existing elements present in 42100 Technic model
• 207 hours used on design, build and test
• 3 XL, 4 L motors and 2 smart hubs used – same power configuration as in the LEGO Technic Liebherr R9800 set
• LEGO Technic Control+ app used to control

LEGO® Technic™ Liebherr R9800 set

Facts and product features:

• Includes 3 XL Motors, 4 L Motors and 2 Bluetooth-controlled Smart Hubs.
• Operated via a smart device with 4 alternative control screens:
  • Multi-function control: Drive forward, reverse, steer, rotate the superstructure, extend, raise and lower the boom, open and tilt the bucket and get model feedback, such as boom and superstructure position, power usage and drive distance.
  • One-touch control: Select an on-screen drag pattern and see the excavator respond to your command.
  • Custom-built movements: Use pre-set commands or record the model’s actions to create complex sequences of movements.
  • Challenges & achievements: Complete challenges to unlock badges
• Smart Hub features Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, activation button, 6 axis sensor (3 gyro and 3 accelerometer sensors) and 4 connectivity ports.
• The app allows users to connect to multiple hubs, ensuring precise and true-to-life movements
• Not compatible with the Power Functions systems.
• Liebherr R 9800 Excavator measures over 15”(39cm) high, 25” (65cm) long and 10” (27cm) wide.
• The LEGO® TECHNIC™ CONTROL+ app can be downloaded from the App Store or GooglePlay. Ask your parents’ permission before going online.
• 4,108 pieces
• Price: 449,99 €
• The product is available globally starting October 1, 2019

The Liebherr R 9800 Product Fact Sheet:

• 810 tonnes, approx. 3 times more than a large passenger aircraft
• 4,000 HP (2x V16 diesel engine – 60L each – 2,000 HP each)
• Bucket size is 42m3 = 80 tonnes of material in one bucket or 300 bathtubs
• Max travel speed = 2,6 km/h
• 10 meters high – 25 meters long – 9 meters wide
• Designed to work from -50° to +50°
• 1 track pad weighs more than a small passenger car
• 12 weeks are required to assemble a R 9800
• 28 trucks are required for the shipment of one R 9800
• The R 9800 is manufactured in the Liebherr mining equipment production site in Colmar, France

About the Liebherr group
Hans Liebherr established the company that bears his name in 1949. Since then it has grown into a Group of more than 130 companies on all continents, employing 46,169 people at the latest count. Today, Liebherr is not only among the world’s largest manufacturers of construction machinery, but is an ac-knowledged supplier of technically advanced, user orient¬ed products and services in many other fields of activity as well. The Group’s holding company is wholly owned by members of the Liebherr family.
Liebherr shapes technological progress and aims to re¬tain its position at the leading edge of future technology. All its activities have top quality as their central element. For more information: www.liebherr.com

About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine.
The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words LEg GOdt, which mean “Play Well”.
Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. Its products are now sold in more than 140 countries worldwide. For more information: www.LEGO.com