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On board brains

Started by cabbage, Jun 12 2018 20:13

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cabbage

I am constructing a kit loco, (my first!). But I am getting old... So, I have decided to mount primitive robotics inside my loco to deal with things I cannot see. This will be based on an Arduibo board coupled to a Dimension Engineering Syren25 ESC and the Kangaroo X2 daughter board. The Arduino will have a number of preprogrammed functions that I will be able to cue from my tx-23 controller. The range of .my tx-23 is 10m, which is about how far I can now see! What other options should I add? A proximity sensor to stop it running into other things is one thing I have thought of, I have some extremely stupid cats locally...

What else should I add?

Regards

Ralph

Gavin_B

Well with arduinos the world is your oyster!

You could add traction control,  RFID sensing, sound, smoke, working brakes! decoupling etc


Peaky 556

With your lush, subtropical paradise Ralph, a coconut on the track sensor? 🤗

cabbage

Tim,
I can vouch from personal experience that falling cocoanuts are almost impossible to detect! The one that fell in front of me as a small boy on Biara beach my gather carved into a money box for me. It is in the "family museum".

Regards

Ralph

Peaky 556

Fancy a challenge Ralph?  I'd love to see someone successfully provide telemetry from a train, such as speed and live footage displayed on the drivers R/C unit, and then explain how to do it.
Tim

cabbage

Traction control is a good one. Steam and smoke generators I had not thought of?

Live TV and feedback I will have to let you know Tim...

Regards

Ralph

cabbage

Live TV with camera and 700 line and 2.4ghz is £29.99. Not sure yet how you would interface that to an iPad, but still working... I can give you a ten channel serial link using two wires for £30.

Regards

Ralph

blagdon

Ralph, why not link the proximity sensor to a looped recording of a loud dog barking.  Naturally, the speaker (s) would need to be trackside mounted for maximum volume.

Ian the Gauge '3' Pirate

cabbage

The only problem with this is the fact that I would never be sure if it was working(?) The neighbours cat next door is as deaf as I am... The local teenager can no longer be persuaded to shoot the cats with his super soaker -although I do use it for spraying my trees with.

Proximity detectors and traction control will be what I will go with.

Regards

Ralph

John Candy

Solution.... a missile wagon ( a large scale version of the Triang model from the 1950's)....fires an Exocet upon detecting a cat on the line! That should give the moggy a shock it won't forget.

Regards,
John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

cabbage

You could have something there... I have always intended to build a Soviet Era R7 launcher transporter. I thought weeds might be the first victim -but possibly not!!!

Regards

Ralph

Doddy

PIKO has brains! Or least a very small portion of them that we require in the hobby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP-efQgx2Uk Available in HO scale, the software has been developed to accomodate PIKO's G scale trains as well. I think the features are extremely basic on this model.



ROCO's Z21 camera system on the other hand!  8) This system allows iPads, Smartphones and similar to load a DCC control panel which shows the interior of the locomotive type being controlled, allows speed ontrol of the locomotive with the visual aspects taken from a CCTV camera fitted within the locomotive displayed in the window apertures of the cab graphics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvwvgkkW2G4



As of yet, I only seen ROCO's technology sold as part of European model locomotives and also not sold as seperate items from what I can see.

For myself, I do have a 2.4G HD 1080p wireless camera on order which has P2P support allowing direct connection to iPads and Smartphones without the hassle of having to use intermediate wireless routers, although it can connect that way if required.



Hmn... The integrated controller/camera solution is not quite there yet as the camera system and RC controller are two distinct pieces of hardware!  ???
"You don't know what you don't know"

cabbage

Robert,
I have just ordered the quadrature encoder from RS. This should enable the Kangaroo card to establish speed , torque ,  rotation count and distance travelled.

The Evil Daemon inside me wonders if I can program it to do automatic slow down and waiting... Thus the loco leaves Brassica, saunters up to Holmes Halt and then makes its way to Lowe Point. All without human thinking!!!

Regards

Ralph

Doddy

Quote from: cabbage on Jun 23 2018 12:23
I have just ordered the quadrature encoder from RS. This should enable the Kangaroo card to establish speed , torque ,  rotation count and distance travelled.
I would be interested in dynamic inertia control. That is to set both the acceleration and decelleration profiles for a selection of different traffic typers and dynamically alter them in response to throttle and brake controls.
In monitoring the acceleration, different sound banks can be activated for slow shunting, slow or fast passenger or goods traffic. For braking, a general coasting profile each of a range of different traffic types allows different braking distances to be set and dynamically altered when the brakes are activated along with the appropriate sounds to be produced.
Associating the profiles with smoke generators would make sense as well. For the GCR 0-8-2 I had planned on making the smoke loco produce smoke from where it would normally be expected. I.e. Chimney, Cylinder Draincocks, Safety Valves and Whistle.
I had considered a wheel rotation counter to achieve the automation you described, but ruled it out due to the possibility of wheelslip countering the accuracy of positioning from a mechanically derived system.
Perhaps interfacing the Kangeroo board with a GPS location sensor would be more appropriate?


"You don't know what you don't know"

Doddy

Quote from: cabbage on Jun 18 2018 12:34
I have always intended to build a Soviet Era R7 launcher transporter.
Like this one?










"You don't know what you don't know"