[Scot Reeves]

Knobs and buttons , sounds like X box controllers , I've been looking into the open sauce code also  .

[Dr_C]

The new wireless digital system is being tested with two types of car… 

1/ Scalextric C-X75s and 
2/ NSR AMG GT3s.

Please follow the link below to see a video which shows a C-X75 chassis under test to check out the brake lights function.

The lower part of the video shows one of the NSR AMGs alongside the C-X75. Both cars are programmed to ID7 i.e. they are both controlled by the same throttle controller.

First, the video shows the testing of the brake lights function on the C-X75 followed by two short activations of the throttle trigger. The NSR is more sensitive to trigger movement and takes off first. The second trigger press is stronger and launches both cars.

All testing of the new wireless decoder hardware and firmware is positive so far :)

Here is the link to the video;

https://youtube.com/shorts/gs535GvTWfM?s...7OP1Wo15Zv

Thanks for your interest,

c

[Dr_C]

   

Here is the underside of the Jaguar C-X75 which has the new wireless decoder fitted.

The decoder currently drives the IR LED on the centre-line i.e. the position used for Scalextric Digital. 

As you will see there is a second IR LED in the off-set position as used for Carrera Digital. For now, only the centre-line LED is used and this is for both lap counting and lane changing.

c

[slotspeed]

This is all very exciting to follow Dr_C, I can't wait to hear how your trial with 12 drivers goes and what the controllers look like. Best of luck with the next steps :D

[Dr_C]

Thanks Slotspeed for your kind interest and encouragement. 

Yes, hoping the first 12 car trial goes well. Until we try, we won’t know where to focus the next phase of our ongoing development activity  ;)

c

[Dr_C]

   

Here is an 8 Channel Sensor Hub together with a two lane track sensor designed for Policar/Ninco lane pitch.

The Sensor Hub is configured for up to four start/finish lanes and two pairs of pit entry/exit sensors.

The Sensor Hub reads up to 36 unique IDs and sends ID detections to PC Lapcounter via USB at 115200 bps. Currently PC Lapcounter has a limit of 32 cars - still more than plenty!

Some very kind friends have been testing the firmware used in this Sensor Hub over many months - big thanks!

c

[Dr_C]

   

And, here is one of the dual lane S/F sensor boards which has been hot-glued into position on the underside of a Ninco track piece. As mentioned previously these are high speed sensors.

c

[woodingboys]

Great work Dr C and good luck for the 24th.

[Dr_C]

Big thanks to the Rockingham Slot Car Club for providing a great test track for day 1 of testing of the components of the new digital system.

On the day, we operated in ‘test’ mode rather than ‘race’ mode which was always the most likely scenario.

We started by testing the radio link from the new throttle controllers to the wireless hub. These use a frequency/channel hopping method which appeared reliable and responsive across the throttle IDs tested (IDs 7-12). It was good to see this functioning correctly in a building with a metal roof (i.e. one which is highly reflective to radio waves at 2.4GHz).

We similarly tested the radio link between the wireless hub and the NSR AMG GT3 cars. This link uses the same frequency/channel hopping method and with a high power radio frequency output (100mW). Here we learned that more firmware development effort is required i.e. the system was clearly not yet ready for high speed racing.

Finally we tested the Ninco trackpiece which has the 4-in-a-row IR phototransistors for high speed 36 ID detection. We tested, on the day using IDs 7-12 but only at low speeds. These tests were positive although full race speed testing will need to wait until next time.

As a final positive, we now have hardware readied which includes a twelve car race pack of NSR AMG GT3s with decoders fitted. It also includes twelve matching throttle controllers, a high power wireless hub and of course the Ninco trackpiece with S/F sensors and associated 8 channel sensor hub. It’s a full system development platform.

Next up will be a targetted firmware development effort followed by more testing.

Thanks again to the Rockingham club and all who assisted on 24th.

c

[Dr_C]

   

IDs 7-12