47137

The Arduino has had a pretty profound effect on me. My desktop computer (Windows 10) is in my office, some distance from the layout. This is ok for starting to write sketches and build prototypes, but hopeless for testing and fine-tuning on the layout. The latest updates of Windows 10 have ruined my Panasonic laptop, so I borrowed a newer laptop from my partner. She hardly ever uses this but it was still a pain to me - Windows kept on losing track of the COM port for uploads to the Arduinos. I spent more time in Device Manager than in my code. So, in desperation I installed Ubuntu on my own laptop, alongside Windows. Ubuntu is quite simply *fabulous* and the laptop is restored to something probably better than new. My only regret is doing the installation as a dual boot - I might as well remove Windows altogether. This success has prompted me to put Ubuntu onto my desktop PC as well, and I am trying out "Shotwell" here as a photo manager to replace iPhoto on my Macbook (2008 vintage), this blew its battery pack apart a week ago. All this has taken most of a week but I do now have a working barrier on the layout, and here are the photos to go with it - my usual Fuji camera but processed by a PC running Ubuntu/Shotwell instead of OS X 10.5/iPhoto. This is my second animation after the "man having a pee": I don't know who made this barrier? I bought two at a show, the first one went onto "Fairport" layout. I am using hot glue to hold the servo into place. This seems to be ok for a lightweight load like this: The linkage here is a thin piano wire - 0.4 mm diameter. This has a fair amount of "give" in it and maybe the barrier will survive if the servo ever runs amok. The trick here was to set up the software to hold the barrier at its mid-point, and then adjust the end stops in the software to suit the barrier. The barrier has its own Arduino, so it can run when required and I don't have to learn how to create multi-tasking code: There are more notes on the Arduino here. My task now is to work my way back through the diversions and distractions over the last few weeks. I think it will be best to try to make some more animations and connect up an LED display to an Arduino; and use these to learn more about coding. Then use the experience gained from these to have another shot at a "self driving car" on my Magnorail. Ubuntu 20.04.1, full install with all the trimmings. - Richard.

I am really looking forward to this. I've had odds and ends in Amateur Photography some years ago, but this BRM has my first paid article. I can't help noticing Phil's cutting mat looks pristine (though not his fingers!), but mine is over a year old. - Richard.

I suppose, its main feature is two timers running at the same time. If the part where I move the servo looks a bit laborious, I'm afraid I wrote this myself, a week or so before I discovered a "sweep servo" demo installed with the IDE :-) - Richard. BarrierController.ino

My own rabbit hole has been to add a strobe light. So after the control input changes, a yellow LED flashes four times before the barrier starts to move. The LED continues to flash until the barrier completes its movement. I only want one of these so I built it without preset pots: The wire links look a bit industrial! There is only one break in the copper strips, this is under the resistor. Connectors from the right: power in, servo, strobe LED, control input. Happy to share the sketch if anyone would like to see it. A peer review might do me good, this is my first completed Arduino project. - Richard.

I have realised, every servo will need different end stops. So for me, I will make one dedicated "controller module" to drive one servo (my barrier). Conceivably, I could use this Arduino to also run a few features not needing critical timing. I'll try to remember this if I find myself running out of pins on my original "scenics processor" Arduino. Thank you for your encouragement. - Richard.

Thank you Simon, Dave, Don and Andy. I am going to provide a dedicated Arduino for one of my animations. This one will be a self-contained operation, a lifting barrier acting as a points repeater. I will carry on with my blocking code on the "main processor" for my other animations and lighting, and see what the finished effect looks like. After all, the human brain can only track up to four actions at the same time; and if the layout has a moving train, a Magnorail car (I'm really pleased with this so far), a barrier and one other thing, this may well be plenty. I'd like to create a bit of interest for a viewer, but not overwhelm them :-) I could build my self-contained Arduino as a stand-alone project on a bit of Veroboard, with a potentiometer to adjust servo speed and a link to choose the direction of motion. Then if I need more, I can make duplicates of this, all with the same sketch. So, I have a fresh project to try too. I think this will work out nicely for me. (There are some notes on the car project on my layout topic). - Richard.

I am a newbie to servos and Arduino, and as such I seem to be thinking of applications for them faster than I can work out how to do them. I particular, I am adding a few simple animations to my layout, barriers, gates, this sort of thing. I have a bit of a stumbling block: writing non-blocking software. Supposing I have a function to sweep a servo, and this takes four seconds to do its action, I have no idea whether it is possible to use the same function concurrently (if this is the right word), to move another servo. In fact, right now I don't even know how to make such a function non-blocking and let me still call a duplicate function part-way through its activity to move the additional servo. Could anyone suggest how to tackle this? I am happy to accept the Arduino can do anything I want, but is restricted by the abilities (and capabilities) of its programmer. At the end of the day, if the animations are blocking, I am sure I can still work out a nice display. So this isn't a critical thing to me. But I'd still like to have a go, or at least decide it is just too difficult. Many thanks, - Richard.

I have added my tenth servo to the layout. This one is for an animation: a man hidden behind a bulk storage tank and coming into view to take a pee: I have used this report to try to make the timings prototypical: https://www.livescience.com/46625-most-mammals-take-21-seconds-to-pee.html I'm assuming a half bladder to keep viewer interest. The servo takes about four seconds to make its sweep each way. The other nine servos are eight for the points and one for the Magnorail. I want to add more animations: a mini digger, a barrier, maybe some gates. I want to use these as point repeaters when the layout is at home, and to make an animated display when the layout is at a show. There will also be a semaphore signal, for the exit to the fiddle yard. With growing complexity I have added a second Arduino to the layout, this is a "scenics processor" and it leaves the first Arduino to support the Magnorail. As a newbie to servos, Magnorail, and now Arduino, I am thinking of new ideas faster than I can work out how to do them. I haven't forgotten about "roads and fences". These set up the overall balance and define how the whole layout will look. Somehow, I want to sort out my mini digger and my barrier; and rewire the Magnorail system; before I move on to the physical side of the scenics. I am incredibly pleased with Clyde's second Magnorail video (link above about a week ago). I like his production, and the use of video fills a gap where forums like RMweb can contain masses of narrative and ideas but it is really hard to show things actually working. - Richard.

I now have Wago blocks in most every place under the layout where I want to connect three or more wires together, and they seem to be perfect. They are good for track feeds and for power distribution to accessories. They are so much easier to use than a screw terminal block, and you can detach individual wires for fault-finding. I have some 40 x 25 mm cable trunking to hold the bulk of the wiring, and I have many of the Wago blocks inside this. I fixed them down with some self-adhesive foam strip. So the installation looks quite tidy too. - Richard.

I have had some correspondence with Clyde Humphries, the proprietor of Magnorail-Oz. He is producing and curating videos of all kinds of Magnorail models on YouTube. His channel is called 'klatcho56': https://www.youtube.com/c/klatchco56/videos. - Richard.

I think the main thing is to not be too ambitious. I was thinking of a young mother with her pram waiting to cross the road and jumping back (using another servo) to get out of the way of the understeering car. But really, this part of the layout is getting pretty congested underneath the baseboard. The cable trunking is almost full of wires and it is time to stop adding electrical features. I want to refine the software (quite a lot!) but no more animations near here. - Richard.

Yesterday evening I sent some fresh video clips and photos across to Clyde Humphries in Australia and he has produced a marvellous new video: https://youtu.be/R2t9kOa41GY This shows how my mini roundabout works far better than I could describe in words. - Richard.

I have pulled the plug on my Arduino project as I conceived it to be. The trouble was, I found myself making a project where the hardware (the Magnorail) depended on the software to make it run; and the software could not run properly without the hardware. I could of course attach a spare motor to the Arduino and connect some push buttons to emulate the reed switches, but success depended too much on timing as the motor drove the chain around the system, accelerating and decelerating and stopping on the way. The sketch did run for a while but with the fluidity of one of those clockwork programmers they used to put on washing machines. To be honest, I think I made a major error of judgement by dismantling the prototype and rebuilding it on the layout before I built the control system. I could not tip the layout on its back to alter connections to the Arduino, because the chain then dropped too far from the reed switches to let them trip. With the layout horizontal, I had to have the road surface removed (to see where the chain was) but every mistake sent the chain spooling out of the channel and coming apart into its individual links. It was all "too difficult", at least for someone who is new to both Magnorail and Arduino. To move forward, I have installed a manual controller for the Arduino, this is a PWM drill speed controller. It works fine from a 12V supply. With the Magnorail running I have stripped down my software so the Arduino can sense and respond to the reed switches, but it isn’t controlling the motor any more. Here is a photo of my Arduino installation, this is underneath the site of the mini roundabout on the model. The three pairs of white and grey wires are for the reed switches, only one is in use as I rework the software and decide what it should best do: The motor shield here is now unpowered; I am simply using it as a breakout board to connect wires to the Arduino underneath it. - Richard.

I have always felt the class 81 is a 1:87 scale model, simply by measuring the width and the bogies really, but it does look a little underscale next to a Lima coach. This doesn't trouble me much as I am modelling a freight operation at the moment. It's nice to see these models can still be had. I converted one to a working model, and wrote it up on my blog, if this is of interest: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/21589-aei-class-81/ - Richard.

There are drawings in the book on the Night Ferry by Behrend and Buchanan. This is one of those occasions when I've posted something I thought would be useful to people, got my facts wrong, and wish I'd never mentioned it! - Richard.

Thanks Joseph. I thought it was too good to be true. - Richard.

Pierre Dominique are offering the REE Fourgon again: https://www.pierredominique.com/art-77895-fourgon-dev-49240-sud-ouest-sncf-avec-feux-fin-convoi.html I am not an expert on these, but I have a feeling one some new foot boards and an anchor symbol would convert one of these into the baggage wagon used for the Night Ferry? - Richard.

This probably looks like a staged photograph but it isn't: The Magnorail installation now has three reed switches, some wiring and an Arduino. The switches trip the Arduino to slow the car as it approaches the mini RA, speed up the car as it leaves the RA, and stop the car in its garage. The car starts its journey on a random timer, and also when tripped by a PIR sensor I can bury somewhere in the layout. The software for all of this is working but I seem to have blown up the motor driver hardware attached to the Arduino so at the moment the chain won't run. I have been reminding myself why I never took up programming as a profession. I can do quite a lot of what I want, but from time to time I get really stuck. This is my first go at "C", but fortunately I did some Object Pascal years ago and the two have quite a lot in common. I have a new motor shield on order. - Richard.

For those who haven't seen the Roco model, its tender has a rigid chassis with the four outer wheels driven. So the tender runs as a 0-2-4-2-0 or a A-2-A depending on your preferred notation. Photo here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/22962-usatc-s160-roco/ I would like to think the same technique would work in a larger scale. - Richard.

I am sorry I don't know anything about this kit. A few years ago I bought one of the loco builder boxes by Poppy's Woodtech. About half way down the page: http://217.199.187.193/poppyswoodtech.co.uk/4mm.html You want the "medium 00" size for most H0 projects. The box helps chassis assembly enormously, you cannot really fail to get the frames out of true. Well worth buying (usual disclaimer). - Richard.

The model comes in a display case, inside the box. So you could still have it on show all the time ... - Richard.

You could buy the S160 and enjoy it as a model, and then do the research later. It really is a fabulous thing. - Richard.

At the start of last week I realised the servo I had set aside for the Magnorail project was unusable because I had cut off the two mounting lugs for another project. So I ordered up some more servos and diverted myself to put a coat of paint on the backscene: This has rather transformed the look of the layout and it should make photography a lot easier - bare plywood takes the life out of everything. I painted both sides of the backscene to try to avoid warping, only time will tell whether I have succeeded. For the record, the primer is "Leyland Trade", this is a sort of high-build primer for wood. It has the consistency of treacle (maybe I should have thinned it a bit?) and it is the most evil-smelling paint I've ever used, so it must be good! On top of this there is a coat of Dulux Trade undercoat, and the top coat is Rust-Oleum satin white. I chose the Rust-Oleum because it is a long-established brand and maybe it won't yellow too soon. It has a very fine pigment. I used a foam roller for the undercoat and the satin and really I couldn't ask for a better finish. I know I ought to have a scenic background but I really do like the plain white and I'd like to keep this for a while. I painted the framing around the backscene in Rust-Oleum dark grey and this seems to define the edges of the model and make a frame for it. The servos arrived on Friday. - Richard.

It is difficult to know how to best follow a sad post but we went to Green Island Gardens near Colchester yesterday. Fairy house, walls built between tree stumps: Autumn colours: Neither of us had been before and we took care to look at only a part, so there is more to see for another trip. At the moment, the tea room is closed but the gardens and toilets are open. https://www.greenislandgardens.co.uk - Richard.

Hang on. I was thinking of Peco code 75 turnouts, these have a gap of about 2.3 mm. The gap on a code 100 turnout is about 3 mm, for Setrack and Streamline. Sorry for confusing you. I ended up with a total roadbed thickness of about 17 mm (6.3 + 6.3 + 4 mm) to get my Setrack turnout to throw using the default end stops on the Megapoints servo controller. Having made all this effort, I still went back and adjusted the end stops to add a smidgen of extra tension onto the piano wire. - Richard.