What is LEGO Powered Up?

LEGO Powered Up is an interface for next-generation electronic and programmable products. It was introduced in 2016 with #45300 WeDo 2.0 Core Set, a simple education-focused product for younger builders (which includes just one motor and two sensors).

In the years since, they have expanded their offering to include the consumer facing #17101 Boost Creative Toolbox (2017) and #75253 Droid Commander (2019) sets, both aimed at younger ages (7+ and 8+ respectively). For older audiences (Ages 10+) they offer the #45678 LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set (2020) and the new #51515 LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor.

#51515 LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor

In recent years, they have also introduced simpler Bluetooth-connected products as part of their LEGO Technic and LEGO System product lines, which allow you to control motors and lights using a Phone or Tablet.

Lastly, a simple battery box without bluetooth functionality has been discussed in previous presentations about the LPF2 platform, but has not been released yet. (This would allow them to completely replace their previous-generation “Power Functions” interface.)

LEGO Brick Labels (for Powered Up)

LEGO Brick Labels is a collection of well over 1000 Labels for the most common LEGO parts. It includes labels for most LEGO Technic pieces, but I’ve avoided electronic components until now…

Beta version of LEGO Brick Labels for Powered Up components.

To celebrate the near-complete transition to the new Powered Up system, I’ve released a Beta Version (β) containing labels for all of the current Powered Up components. (They will be added to the next update to LEGO Brick Labels.)

• Download Now: Powered_Up_Labels-Beta2.zip
  Download the ‘zip’ file if you already have a compatible Brother Label Printer. (You will need to install the ‘P-touch Editor’ application on your PC/Mac.)

As always, if you have feedback about the new labels, email me at tom@tomalphin.com or leave a comment below!

Powered Up Motors

There are seven standalone motors offered so far, plus the two motors that are “built in” to the Boost Hub. It would be reasonable to assume that the motors only differ by shape and power, but the truth is more complicated.

Powered Up motors differ in several important ways:

• Physical Size – The smallest motor is 3×3×6 and the largest is 5×5×8.
• Motor Strength – Smaller motors have less power.
• Connections – The Boost, WeDo 2.0, and Train motors have traditional LEGO System ‘stud’ connections, whereas the other motors have LEGO Technic ‘pin’ connections.
• Motor Orientation – Some motors connect at the end, and others connect along the side.
• Speed Control – The “Simple” motors rotate more slowly as the batteries become depleted, whereas Speed Control motors try to adjust for the decrease in voltage.
• Rotation Sensor – Relative position is communicated back to the hub as the motor rotates.
• Absolute Position – The motor can rotate to a specific angle, and the current angle is communicated to the hub
• Zero Position Indicator – 0° direction is labeled on the motor.

Motors:

Part Number	Part Name (Year)	Size	Conn.	Orient.	Spd. Ctrl.	Rot. Sensor	Abs. Pos.	0° Ind.
21980	(WeDo 2.0) Simple Med. Motor (2016)	3×3×6	System	End	No	No	n/a	n/a
bb0893c01 / 26913	(Boost) Med. Motor (2017)	4×3×6	System	End	Yes	Yes	No	n/a
bb0959c01 / 22169	Technic Lg. Motor (2019)	3×4×8	Technic	End	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
bb0960c01 / 22172	Technic XL. Motor (2019)	5×5×8	Technic	End	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
54696	Med. Angular Motor (2020)	3×4×9	Technic	Side	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
54675	Lg. Angular Motor (2020)	5×4×9	Technic	Side	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
bb0896c01 / 28740	Simple Train Motor (2018)	4×2½×10	System	Sides	No	No	n/a	n/a

Powered Up Hubs

All of the motors and sensors in this guide require a Powered-up hub to get things moving (and to write custom programs).

Powered Up hubs vary in some important ways:

• Physical Size – The smallest hub is 3×3×6 and the largest is 5×5×8.
• Number of ports – With more ports, you can connect more sensors and motors.
• Power Source – What type of battery does it use, and how many.
• Voltage – This depends on the number of batteries used, or the design of the rechargeable battery pack.
• Bluetooth (BT) – You can connect to the hub using the appropriate app on your Phone, Tablet, or PC.
• USB – You can connect the hub to your PC using USB.
• Autonomous – Programs can be uploaded to the Hub, allowing it to take actions without being connected to another device.

Using the software provided by LEGO, you can write programs using a Phone, Tablet or PC and run the program while connected to the Hub via Bluetooth.

Most of these hubs also allow you to send your program to the hub and have it continue to run autonomously after disconnecting from Bluetooth, but this is only officially supported by LEGO when using the Large Intelligent Hub. (After the program is sent to the hub, your robot can take actions in response to information received by one or more sensors.)

Hubs:

Part Number	Name (Year)	Size	Conn.	# Ports	Power / Voltage	Bluetooth	USB	Autonomous	Additional Features
19071c01 / 19071	WeDo 2.0 Hub (2016)	6×8×3	System	2-ports	2x AA (or Rechargeable) / 3V	Yes	No	No
bb0892c01 / 28738	(Small) Hub (2018)	4×8×4	System	2-ports	6x AAA / 9V	Yes	No	Yes[1]
bb0961c01 / 22127	Technic (Medium) Hub (2017)	9×9×5	Technic	4-ports	6x AA / 9V	Yes	No	Yes[1]	Tilt sensor[2].
bb0894c01 / 26910	Move Hub (2017)	6×16×4	System	2-ports	6x AAA / 9V	Yes	No	Yes[1]	Two motors[4], Tilt sensor[4].
45601 + 45610	Large Intelligent Hub (2020)	7×11×4	Technic	6-ports	2100 mAH Li-ion Rechargeable / 7.3V	Yes	Micro USB	Yes	5×5 LED Display[3], Gyro Sensor[3], Speaker[3].

1. This hub can only be programmed to run your app autonomously using custom firmware provided by the open-source Pybricks project. (The current Beta version only supports the 4-port Technic Medium Hub.)
2. Technic Hub Specifications, LEGO.com, Retrieved June 13, 2020.
3. Technic Large Hub Technical Specifications, LEGO.com, Retrieved June 13, 2020.
4. Powered Up Move Hub, LEGO.com, Retrieved June 13, 2020.

Powered Up Sensors & Accessories

You will need some sensors when designing and building programmable robots. The LEGO System-based sensors were introduced with WeDo 2.0 (2016) and Boost (2017), whereas the Technic sensors were introduced with the Spike Prime Set (2020).

Sensors:

	Part Number	Name (Year)	Size	Conn.
	20844	Motion Sensor (2016)	2×4	System
	20841	Tilt Sensor (2016)	2×4	System
	bb0891c01 / 26912	Color amp; Distance Sensor (2017)	2×4×2	System
	37308	Color Sensor (2020)	3×3×3	Technic
	37316	Distance Sensor (2020)	3×7×4	Technic
	37312	Force Sensor (2020)	3×3×5	Technic

In addition to sensors, you might want these accessories to complement your build.

Other Accessories:

	Part Number	Name (Year)	Size	Conn.	Additional Details
	22168c01 / 22168	Powered Up Light (2018)	2x 2×1×2	System	Accessory designed for LEGO System Trains.
	bb0895c01 / 28739	Bluetooth Speed Remote (2018)	6×12×3	System + Technic	Standalone alternative to using your phone.

Note: Ideas to make this resource even better? Please e-mail me at tom@tomalphin.com or leaving a comment below!

Version History

In future updates to this article, I’m planning to add a compatibility column to these tables explaining which sensors/accessories are compatible with each hub and their associated software apps (including 3rd party apps and firmware).

• June 23, 2020 Fixed bugs, added year that each part was introduced, and fixed tables to render properly on small displays (such as phones).
• June 14, 2020 Updated page to reflect that most of these hubs will support autonomous mode using 3rd party firmware (provided by Pybricks). Also posted an updated Beta 2 of Powered Up Labels updated to include more consistent part names.
• June 12, 2020 Initial version of this page coinciding with announcement of new 51515 LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor set. Included Beta 1 of Powered Up Labels.