[Dr_C]

   

A set of ten prototype in-car decoders which have been hardware tested and then flashed with prototype 12-car wireless firmware.

The two part device at the top of the photo is a variant of the hardware design where all the normal electronics is on the decoder pcb with the exception of the microcontroller itself. This sits on the larger secondary board, attached by a 16-way FFC ribbon cable.

The two part decoder design is perfect for initial testing of motor/brake pwm function, IR LED function and head/tail lights.

Then, onto the fully integrated decoder boards - these, now, have been connected to slot car chassis - the motors spool up correctly under wireless command, the brakes at 100% are very sharp, the IR LED strobe frequencies are correct for IDs and lane change, and head/tail lights function correctly including brake lights.

Next, the real test… running these new decoders (and their flashed new ‘Decoder Pro’ firmware) on the track. 

As mentioned earlier the wireless approach is built up with up to three groups of 12 cars. Total is 36 cars.

So the trials need to use a group of 12 cars in the first instance.

Ten decoders are ready for these fun trials - and another two need to be built up very soon :)

All of these in-car decoders have been flashed with the channel hopping algorithm and 8 bit throttle control and 8 bit brake control - all running at 100Hz to avoid any driver perception of ‘lag’.

This is system design theory into practice ;)


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