Would it be possible to combine the LayoutController and the MTC4PU controller?

[Joos Buijs]

Hi Mattzo and friends!

After lurking on the website for quite some days I have just finally ordered my hardware to try and automate my Lego track 🙂

I’m loving the LayoutController, as it is a nice combination of the different controllers for that ‘area’ of the track. However, I was wondering whether theoretically it would be possible to also integrate the MTC4PU controller into the LayoutController. This would save 1 more board (which are cheap, I know), but would also make the track look less cluttered. Would this be possible or would this ask too much of the ESP32 board CPU wise?

Keep up the good work!!!

[Matthias Runte]

Hi Joos,
thanks for your comment and your interest in our technology. I am happy to hear that you are going to build a layout with MattzoControllers.

To your question: the issue is that the MattzoLayoutController has been developed for an ESP-8266, while the MTC4PU is designed for the ESP32 board. It would be possible to integrate both firmwares into one and base it all on an ESP-32, but this is complicated, takes a lot of time and testing. This is why we do not have plans to allocate our time on this matter at the moment.

So, my recommendation is for buy a couple of ESP-8266s and one or two ESP-32 for a start. It is useful not to centralize the layout control too much. When your layout grows, you should rather allocate a couple of MattzoLayoutControllers on different parts on your layout. Especially switches do not react too well when the cable lengths become too long.

I wish you good success with your automation. It’s big fun!

And stay tuned for the latest MattzoController which we are (hopefully) going to release very soon. It will be called MattzoController for Bluetooth (MTC4BT), and controls both LEGO Powered Up devices and SBricks.

Cheers,
Mattze

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