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  • Author Author: colporteur
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Raising the Bridge...Automation with Arduino

colporteur

image

This design challenge presented itself at an opportune time. The model railroaders are putting the finishing touches on a bridge that requires some automation.

On the other side of the bridge is a turn-about that the tug (A) needs to reach in order to change direction. I have been asked to create the following automation sequence.

Tug triggers sensor (A) to indicate the bridge needs to raise.

Gate (B) lowers indicate no traffic to enter bridge

Bus (C) stops.

Ramp (D) re-aligns to make room for bridge movement

Bridge (E) raises.

I suspect a button (no letter on the image) on the turn-about side will be required to indicate when the tug has completed it transition and the bridge can be restored.

My initial assessment is two inputs and four outputs.

Inputs

Tug Trigger

Operations Trigger

Outputs

Motor control bridge gate

Power interruption bus

Motor control bridge ramp

Motor control bridge

I am hoping to use a Arduino Uno for the project. If you have an extra to spare you can throw it my way.

  • in reply to colporteur

    I suspect that a lot have now moved into the 3D virtual world where they can build and simulate virtually infinite railways from the comfort of the laptop.

    However for some it will probably be the craft of the physical modelling that will be of interest which the virtual world won't satisfy. With the access to 3D printing and laser cutting I suspect the physical modelling side keeps on getting more adventurous.

    Then there will always be some who will want to create models in miniature of real life railways, or at least small sections of them, in highly accurate detail. However one of the problems there I guess is in the real world there usually are long lengths of track between the 'interesting bits' which you don't have space for in the model world so you have to try and condense it. Also there are few oval layouts in the real world and linear layouts are more tricky for continuous running.

    I'm guessing that with a large dedicated space you could have multiple stacked layers that could be raised or lowered to table height allowing you to work on multiple designs without having to start over.

  • in reply to colporteur

    Guided Backstage Tours - A Look behind the Scenes:

    https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/visiting/at-the-wunderland/guided-tours/

    Looks like a 1h tour of the North and 1 hour tour of the South is available but unfortunately not of the workshops.

    There is a bit about spouses here: Slight smile

    https://youtu.be/lmK3zC4CvRg?t=119

    But I suspect most will prefer to go shopping and spend lots of money in the process, and then of course remind you about how you are more interested in your toy trains than in them, and before you know it you are outside a jewellers shop... 

    I thought that the animated building façade projection onto one of the model buildings was quite a nice touch.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    I watched some show, can't recall from where, that examined some of the back end stuff. Like all greener grass I thought man wouldn't that be a cool job? There is a person responsible for just air planes. If they offered technical tours, I would visit Germany just to attend. I don't know what my spouse would do there:)

    It was fascinating to learn how  the banks agreed to fund the startup project and what it has morphed into. I would carry a personal sense of pride if I was part of the support team. I worked in aviation system design and implementation for a number of years. Taking people behind the scenes to watch planes move across a country on the voices of air traffic controllers was cool and something I miss.

    The layout in rural Manitoba has some neat animations. When you wow model railroaders it is another notch in my wire-wrap gun. It has been my sanctuary since retiring. My regular technology fix so to speak.

  • in reply to dougw

    You are correct in saying it may never be finished.

    I became involved in the project after a courtship. The owner of the building is the father of my now son-in-law. We estimate that in 2016 during a family get together when the kids were dating, Larry introduced me to the empty building. He was a year from retirement and wanted to create a model railroad layout in the vacant space that would carry him into retirement and beyond.

    His confidence that my background in electronics and passion for computers would fit such a project was mistaken. I'm not into model railroading. Over the years I've had numerous railroading opportunities I avoided. Digital Command and Control piqued my interest so I agreed to offer some advice.

    My electronic equipment installation background came in handy as we met with railroader to discuss requirements for such an undertaking. I was focused on infrastructure to support the layout. Power requirements and network cabling after railroad layout frame construction became my focus. The 100 year old former barn was getting wired for Internet. An extender from the house 300 feet away provided a drop to feed my laptop searches.

    At last count there are 42 Microcontrollers and eight raspberry Pi's networked to support animations. Many of the animation projects I have discussed here. Over beers we have pondered what next. The possibility of finished always comes up but never gets finalized.