Hi! Look at this! Did you ever build a marble track when you were younger? Well, this marble track is next level. This isn’t just any ordinary marble track; this Marblelous Marble track can be fully integrated into your Smart Home. How? I’m going to show you in this video!
⭐You can sign up for the Marblelous sale here: https://www.marblelous.tech/al/?ref=1465306 ⭐
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Ed
Introduction
When Marblelous reached out to me to show me their marble track, I was immediately excited. As a child, I already loved marble tracks, and now Marblelous has a marble track that you can fully automate and connect to your Smart Home. You can start with a simple track and gradually expand it, allowing you to link it to all your smart devices in your home. Let’s take a look at what’s in the box.
What’s in the box?
The starter set includes everything you need to set up a marble run. In total, the box contains more than 500 parts. What’s cleverly designed by Marblelous is that you can use standard straws to build your track. To support this, Marblelous provides a box of 100 paper straws, ensuring the marble run is as eco-friendly as possible. You can order new straws directly from Marblelous or purchase them at a store near you.
All components are secured with suction cups, allowing you to build the marble run on a smooth door or, for example, a window, mirror, whiteboard, or kitchen cabinet. This is super convenient as the marble run takes up very little space in your home and easily lets you create height for your track. The parts are equipped with Brick-connectors, so you can attach them to a Lego base plate or pillars and build a track using Lego. With the included connectors, you can let your imagination run wild and create any track you can think of.
The box also contains several cool larger control items, such as 1 decision maker, 4 alligators, 8 funnels, and 4 piranhas.
Optionally, you can purchase a vortex, which allows the marbles to spin around for a while.
Oh, by the way, I have some nice giveaways, so make sure to watch this video until the end!
What can you do with it?
The Decision Maker allows you to construct a ‘random pattern’ using the standard connectors. This will cause the marble to follow an unpredictable path, exiting either left or right. The alligator and piranha components can alter the marble’s trajectory. The funnels can capture marbles and then redirect them onto a new section of the track.
The Smart Tricks
In addition to this starter pack, you can purchase several add-on packs featuring Smart Tricks to automate your marble run. That’s when the real fun begins, especially for smart home enthusiasts!
First, the “Marble Dropper” allows you to load and release several marbles remotely. With the Marblelous App, you can drop a marble when you open your oven door, press a smart button, or when someone rings your doorbell, or via your own javascript. The possibilities are endless. For instance, I swipe over a few Nanoleaf wall panels to drop a marble.
Sometimes, you’ll want to send your marbles back up. You can get the Marble Spiral Lift, which allows you to create a loop by lifting the marbles back up. You can stack more spiral elements to elevate the marbles to a higher level. This lift can elevate marbles up to 60 cm in total.
In addition to the Spiral Lift, there’s the Marble Wheel Lift, which can also move marbles upward. This lift includes child safety features, ensuring fingers won’t get hurt if inserted into the openings.
The Marble Lane Switch also lets you switch the marbles from one track to another based on automation. For example, it can distinguish two colors, so you could send blue marbles left and red ones right. Alternatively, you can switch lanes with the Marblelous App randomly or after each marble passes through.
Next, we have the Marble Detector. For now, it can detect two colors and measure the speed of the marbles. In combination with the dropper, you can integrate this with your smart home devices to calculate the time it takes for a marble to complete the track. You could also track scores by color or use a specific color to control another Smart Trick.
And last but definitely not least, Marblelous has developed the Portal. When a marble disappears into the input module, it can be teleported to an output module, where it reappears and continues on the same or a different track, even in a completely different location. This means you could start a marble run at your home, have a marble disappear into the teleporter, then have it continue at a friend’s house, and so on. This way, you can create an infinitely long marble run spanning the globe. How cool is that?
The technical specs
Marblelous is STEM certified, making it an official educational product. 3 AAA batteries power the Smart Tricks, but they can also be powered via USB, so you can use a main power adapter or a power bank. The Smart tricks feature a “keep-alive” mode, preventing power banks from shutting off if a low-power device is connected. Each Smart Trick also includes an additional port, the Open Creator Interface, allowing you to connect your DIY devices. This lets you control a servo, motor, or LED strip so you can create your own “Smart Trick” which you can control within the Marblelous ecosystem!
Marblelous operates entirely locally. You don’t need to create an account; it doesn’t connect to external servers. You can control it using the Marblelous app; each Smart Trick has its own web server. This allows you to control them via webhooks, for instance, using Home Assistant. The app lets you create smart automations, control the Marble Dropper and all the other Smart tricks, and adjust device colors, sounds, timing, speeds, and more. Through the dropper’s web server, you can generate a QR code to control the dropper via MQTT. You can even create a button with the dropper to embed on a website, enabling you to start your marble run from a webpage. Everything is under your control, with no involvement of the Cloud—Marblelous has thought this through exceptionally well.
I’m proud to say that Marblelous is a Dutch company. I visited the creators of Marblelous to see the marble runs they had already built. I also interviewed the founder, Stephan van Lumig, about this project. You can watch that interview at the end of this video.
Marble run showcase
Let’s take a look at a few marble runs created by Marblelous themselves.
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Interview
During my visit to Marblelous, it became clear that there are still so many new ideas in the works, so this marble run will continue to evolve! The founder of Marblelous, Stephan van Lumig, is an enthusiastic tech addict who loves discussing his invention.
<Interview>
Pricing and Where to get Marblelous
Marblelous was not yet available for direct purchase when I made this video. The price of the starter pack is expected to be around €70. Marblelous will soon launch on Kickstarter, and you can already sign up to stay informed. You’ll find the link in the description of this video. When signing up, you can become a VIP member for €10, with free extra Marblelous parts and other fun extras. That €10 will be deducted back to you on the Kickstarter site. I’ll add those links to the description once they become available through the crowdfunding campaign and later via the webshop.
And… I’m giving away three free starter packs, each worth €70! To win a free Marblelous starter pack, subscribe to my channel, like this video, and leave a comment below the video. I’ll announce the winners via a YouTube post and my Discord channel in a few weeks.
My conclusion
And now, my conclusion. I’ve always loved marble runs and even considered 3D printing one myself. And now, there’s Marblelous. I think it’s a fun piece of toy that, thanks to its smart features, is suitable for both kids and adults. Do you need it? Not really. Do you want it? Absolutely!
It’s a fantastic STEM-certified product that lets you spend hours of fun with your kids while introducing them to technology and smart automations. Marblelous is a product that encourages you to tinker with your children and housemates, providing quality time with them. My verdict: go for it!
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Bye Bye.
⭐You can sign up for the Marblelous sale here: https://www.marblelous.tech/al/?ref=1465306 ⭐