BuWizz was first unveiled to the public in the summer of 2016 as a Kickstarter project. Back then, we had many ideas about what features BuWizz should have, what the form factor should be, the size of battery, performance, controls, etc. In short, we did a lot of brainstorming about what benefits would appeal to BuWizz users.
We created several different prototypes and tested everything out. We sent the prototypes to different people to try them out. We also asked them about their preferences regarding size, form factor, position of pinholes, battery capacity, power, number of channels, etc. What we got back was many different opinions, which differed quite a lot. Some people would prefer more channels, others an even smaller form factor or different size. One suggestion, for instance, was BuWizz should be seven bricks long and studless to be more in-line with the current studless trend in LEGO Technic.
We also had many ideas how the app and especially user interface should look, what features to include. We came up with an extensive list of features. We wanted to create a great user experience. The app should be simple and intuitive yet packed with features. As it turned out, this is easy to imagine but quite hard materializing. It would take many hours for programmers and user interface experts to create what we envisioned. The reality, as it turned out, was, that we were not able to include all the features we wanted from the get go. We had to create a list of wanted features and prioritize it. We are now adding the features form the list with each new app release. Also, since we support two platforms in parallel (Android and iOS – iPhone), we wanted to create exactly the same user experience on both platforms, which is not always easy due to differences in the underlying hardware and software layers.
During the Kickstarter campaign, we set a stretch goal: LUDICROUS mode, with even more power and performance than fast mode. Unfortunately, the stretch goal was not reached and we had to release BuWizz without LUDICROUS mode, but we tried to find a way to include it later. We went back to the drawing mode and did some improvements to BuWizz, including adding the LUDICROUS mode. This was not easy though, since BuWizz was already packed to the brim with highly efficient electronics. We did however manage to make it even better and more efficient, hence enabling an even higher power mode in the new BuWizz 2.0 – LUDICROUS mode.
The new BuWizz 2.0 has following improvements over BuWizz 1.0
- 4 speed modes instead of 3
- LUDICROUS speed mode (11.2 Volts vs. 9.2 Volts FAST mode)
- 3x more power per channel compared to LEGO battery powered solutions vs. 2x more power
- Increased Bluetooth range: 60 m vs 50 m
- A surprise feature – to be announced at a later date
During the Kickstarter campaign, we set a stretch goal: LUDICROUS mode, with even more power and performance than fast mode. Unfortunately, the stretch goal was not reached and we had to release BuWizz without LUDICROUS mode, but we tried to find a way to include it later. We went back to the drawing mode and did some improvements to BuWizz, including adding the LUDICROUS mode. This was not easy though, since BuWizz was already packed to the brim with highly efficient electronics. We did however manage to make it even better and more efficient, hence enabling an even higher power mode in the new BuWizz 2.0 – LUDICROUS mode.
But the improvements do not stop here: BuWizz 2.0 has another cool feature, a surprise we will reveal at a later date.
SUPRISE FEATURE
But the improvements do not stop here: BuWizz 2.0 has another cool feature, a surprise we will reveal at a later date.
