Lego crams an ASIC in a brick to keep kids interested
- Reference: 1767721166
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/06/lego_crams_an_asic_in/
- Source link:
Lego brick sets based around [1]Smart Bricks will be packed with things like light and motion sensors, a speaker, lights, a wirelessly rechargeable battery and other components. [2]According to Lego, that means builds that include a four-by-two Smart Brick are able to "react uniquely depending on how it's moved, twisted, and turned."
"You might hear our SMART Brick roaring like a jet plane or flushing like a toilet," Lego explained in a rundown of how the [3]system could work.
[4]
There's a catch, though: Smart Bricks don't do a darn thing unless they're placed close to an accompanying Smart Minifigure or flat 2-by-2 sized Smart Tag, both of which appear, based on an image shared by Lego, to have some form of NFC chip in them.
[5]
The internal components of a Lego Smart Play Brick, Minifigure, and Tags - Click to enlarge
Lego explained that it chose to design its own internal hardware for the Smart Play system instead of relying on an existing design, resulting in a "bespoke, silicon ASIC chip" for Smart Play that is "smaller than just one standard Lego stud and highly specialized to the task."
As explained in Lego's blog posts, tags can do things like tell a Smart Brick that it's now part of an aircraft, boat, or other vehicle, or that it's attached to the back of a dinosaur or animal. They're also embedding the chips into Smart Minifigures, which are like the standard Lego people and characters, but programmed with their own personalities.
[6]
[7]
"Each Smart Minifigure reacts differently to the world around them," Lego explained, "through their own sounds, moods and reactions, which are played back to you via the SMART Brick."
Put a nervous minifigure on a spaceship, and they might freak out, Lego said.
[8]
"Every SMART Play Minifigure reacts uniquely to any given play scenario," the company added.
Of course, this being the modern era of Lego, a new product launch wouldn't be complete without licensing it out to a brand, and what Lego-licensed IP is more recognizable than Star Wars?
Sure, kids will eventually be able to build Smart Brick-enabled cars, airplanes, and dinosaurs. For now, however, they'll be exclusively able to play with Smart Legos in a galaxy far, far away.
[9]
Three Smart Play sets were announced at CES: Darth Vader's TIE Fighter, Luke Skywalker's X-Wing, and Emperor Palpatine's Throne Room, which also comes with an A-Wing. Smart tags in the trio of kits include the aforementioned craft, along with lightsaber duel sounds, an Imperial laser turret, transport ship, R2-D2, and the like. Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine, and Princess Leia Smart Minifigures all feature, too, naturally.
[10]
Luke's X-Wing in Lego Smart Bricks form - Click to enlarge
The sets will be available for preorder beginning January 9, and will start shipping in March.
Lego bricks with onboard custom ASICs seem like a builder's dream come true – especially with Lego's professed goal of encouraging open-ended play. Given that, it would seem natural for Lego to release some kind of development kit for the Smart Play system to enable advanced Lego lovers to design their own Smart Tags and Minifigures.
Alas, nothing like that has been announced so far.
[11]Retro nerd hacks LEGO's Game Boy into the real deal
[12]LegoGPT is here to make your blocky dreams come true
[13]ESA's meteorite bricks hit Lego stores, but don't get your wallet out just yet
[14]MIT, Autodesk develop AI that can figure out confusing Lego instructions
For now, Lego is foregoing unlimited user creativity in favor of releasing Star Wars-branded sets – when I was a kid I had nothing but a bunch of random multi-colored bricks and the imagination to build my own starships, this aging Vulture screams while shaking his fist.
The only clue to the future of what DIY enthusiasts can expect from Lego Smart Play comes in the form of a cryptic statement at the end of a press release. "LEGO SMART Play™ will continue to expand through new updates, launches and technology – with the LEGO Group set to reveal more additions in the future." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2026/december/lego-smart-play-announcement
[2] https://www.lego.com/en-us/smart-play/article/innovation
[3] https://www.lego.com/en-us/smart-play?CMP=AFC-AffiliateUS-TnL5HPStwNw-2116208-1606623-10
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aV2UDBS2mA8mNB1FVvCq6wAAApc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/06/lego-smart-play-internals.jpg
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aV2UDBS2mA8mNB1FVvCq6wAAApc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aV2UDBS2mA8mNB1FVvCq6wAAApc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aV2UDBS2mA8mNB1FVvCq6wAAApc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aV2UDBS2mA8mNB1FVvCq6wAAApc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/06/lego-smart-bricks-star-wars.jpg
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/03/lego_game_boy/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/legogpt/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/23/esa_lego_space_brick/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/27/lego_machine_learning_ai_framework/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Nah...
Bring back mindstorms! That stuff was flexible, and now I have an excuse to buy it.
This stuff? Seems not very flexible in the sense of allowing us to do our own stuff with it. It's the ongoing playmobilification of Lego: bigger stupid parts, lots of oh-so-special parts. No, it's not a new trend, but I'm still annoyed.
Re: Nah...
I will join you there.
I used to have a litteral barrel-full of LEGO bricks of all sorts. I could build planes, spaceships, warehouses, police cars, motorbikes, castles, fire stations, moon bases (yes, I had six moonbase tiles in addition to the dozen regular road tiles) - you name I could do it.
A few years ago, my (at the time) 9-year old nephew was thrilled when he got the Saturn rocket kit for XMas. He spent XMas morning building it, and I was on-hand to oversee the project.
And once it was done ? Well, there isn't much else you can do with it, now is there ?
Once upon a time, LEGO kits were sold with an included manual that showed you how to build the kit as sold, but also included ideas of what else you could build with the pieces included.
That time is gone. You buy a Star Wars A-Wing and you won't build anything else but an A-Wing. It will take a large collection of Star Wars kits to be able to even start thinking of a new something to do with all those specific, specialised pieces.
That makes me sick. LEGO has become the domain of grown-ups who used to have imagination and are now happy to buy the latest, piece-specific set of their dreams. Never mind that their imagination will server them no more, they're just happy to have an X-Wing, a Tie fighter and a Millenium Falcom on their shelves, never to be used for anything but gathering dust.
Pathetic.
Long term support and/or SDKs
Are rarely, if ever, in LEGO Groups' vision.
They have a history of just forgetting all about products as soon as the new shiny comes along. Various generations of Mindstorms and motor systems are kept alive by hobbyists because the physical objects do actually last, unlike the support.
The current generations are dependent upon mobile phone apps (of course they are) with few, if any, signs to the average builder that they could use the bricks & motors in a new arrangement and still be able to control it. Great way to encourage rebuilding and imagination. Plus the obvious fear that those apps will quietly vanish. Hope you enjoyed your app-enhanced "Hidden Side" or "Vidiyo"; "Dimensions" isn't totally dead yet, as you got a physical DVD for your console.
On the positive side, if you happen to be a computing/electronics hobbyist, you will find some hardware that you can get working; if you can find someone who isn't insisting that theirvstuff is "collectable" and demanding a daft price for it! Probably better off getting "compatible" motors etc from Ali Express - and retailers if you avoid the souk - as they use the older, simpler, connectors and play well with all the normal microcontrollers. Connecting those to dumb plastic pieces gets the creative juices flowing.
Repeat after me...
Lego not Legos
Lego not Legos
Lego not Legos
Lego not Legos
Lego not Legos
...
Re: Repeat after me...
Are you the chief wizard at the defcon in London around 2yrs ago?
Say it again!
So when they come out with a Han Solo figure, and you put it next to Leia, the Tie-fighter pipes up with "I know" ? Cuz Han's been frozen in carbonite, again?
What a descent from Mindstorms which was a full on microcontroller that could do something more useful than make noise
flushing it away
"You might hear our SMART Brick roaring like a jet plane or flushing like a toilet,"
The best thing to do with a Smart Brick is to flush it down the toilet. That way it can't spy on you.
Re: flushing it away
I think the brick is safe enough but there's bound to be a companion 'app' somewhere that ties you to the Lego Mothership and keeps it informed about you and your world. Its also safe to assume that the protocol tying bricks together is likely to be secure and DMCA's so there's no chance that anything you make can (legally) become part of the set. (Your first, and only duty, is that of a consumer.)
May well be quite successful
All of this is my opinion - I have no inside contacts at Lego.
1) These are in no way intended to be replacements for Mindstorms or PowerUp. They are greatly improved replacements for the 2x3 light and sound bricks that Lego has been using for years.
2) If you read the article by Lego (https://www.lego.com/en-ca/smart-play) you can find some history of how these were developed. The "chip" inside the 2x4 brick (*NOTE* Lego pieces are described via (short dimension) X (long dimension) (optional X height), just like lumber, plywood, and other construction materials) is an ASIC, not a fancy CPU with lots of RAM and Flash.
3) They are intended to make kid's play more interesting and exciting. They are *NOT* intended for computer geeks. Lego fans might get some if they are interested. I'll likely buy one set just to play around with, but that'll be it - I'm not the target audience.
4) Geeks might buy some to strip the parts out of the SmartBrick, and sell the Lego pieces.
5) The protocol between the ID tiles (2x2x1/3 with no studs) and active minifigs, and the SmartBrick could be released, or geeks will figure it out. That'll likely allow things like different sounds and light patterns.
6) The choice of initially going with Star Wars makes good sense. That theme has some highly recognizeable sounds - lightsaber, TIE fighters, wookie calls, etc.
7) These are an excellent answer to what Lumibricks does (I have the Ore Factory and love it), but what you could do with this new SmartBrick system is going to raise things to another level.
I wonder...
... If we could re-code the sound effects with snippets from [1]Adult Swim's take on Star Wars?
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90nMDuvHT0M
COOOOL!
I would have loved these when I was a kid!
Had the mixed multi-color bin of Legos as a hand me down, but I also got some space Lego as a kid which I actually reassembled last year from instructions I found online (and after fishing out all the fancy grey, blue and transparent pieces from said bin)
When we were 10 or so we bought LED's, resistors, switches and some wire from Radio Shack and built all kinds of battery operated lighting solutions for our creations.
Space Lego Hack - We used sharpies to color the backs of the space figurine's heads so you could rotate them and have a full tint visor in their helmets.