Grinkle

Sorry guys for butting in but there is a thread about point control under non dcc that might be of interest to you

I need help with python Update I have buttons on screen this is only a picture I can attach the html file but not the css If anyone is interested I will post the html as a file and the css as plain text then you can create your own file In the screen shot buttons 2,6,7,8 have been pressed It does not actually do anything yet except change the text from main to branch I need a variable which each button will add a number to or subtract the number from The number is then sent to the python script and if it has changed the servos move this is the simplest form of control If you want your own layout plan with routes changing colours keep watching

feeling like I am getting there with python I will still do it even if you guys cant give me a short cut so long as you keep this thread going I will let you know how I get on look a bit like I am relying on the guys down under thats not a problem I intend buying in southern QLD in the next few years I might bump into you guys down the mens shed

For connecting between boards I stripped out patch panels It's not really bent thats just the photo the connectors come in big bags because they are so cheap and you can get coloured covers Here is what they look like fitted to the board

thats the sort of thing that is useful for most modelers also cables from the £ shop just put new ends on

sell the bit you don't use at your local model club do someone a favour

my advice is ebay look for things from china to extend my servo cables i bought ready made extensions 600mm cost about £11 but that was for 50 for heavy cable try C.E.F. (bus wires etc) when i order from china I order small quantities so if i want 16 servos I order 8 one day and another 8 after they have been dispatched also try car boots I got 2 rolls of telephone cable 200 meters each one was £2 the other was £2.50 striped out it is ok for signaling, sensors, leds,etc postage from china is usually a lot quicker than they claim a lot of stuff is 6-9 days

Just a quick pic showing a mock up of how the frog switching connects It was mentioned in a post on the previous page there are only 8 servos shown by using servo boards from china adding the extra hardware does not increase the price from when i stared the thread I have both merg and megapoint controllers myself I use code55 electrofrog points (with the springs removed) They are also slightly modified with live blades

thanks guys for the interest I have no doubt that the arduino will do a similar job to the RPi I already have several RPi's for another job so I will use what I have If someone else is working on something similar using the arduino the code should be very similar I will get there I have talked to a couple of people about help with the code just have not spoken to the right one yet I want to keep it so anyone can reproduce it easily People with more experience can complicate it as far as there imagination can take them It does not just have to control points

I am capable of in computer languages Unfortunately Python (the language of the servo boards) is not one of them I understand what these tings are capable of and what I would like to do What I need is an interpretor someone who understands both of us

hi Stan keep watching this space I think what I need is a clever kid or his teacher to put me on the right track I have just ordered (from China) 3 more servo controllers @ £1.53 each the intention is to connect them to relay boards for frog polarity switching

great and thanks that servo control board is the same thing at a fraction of the price only difference being it confects to a RPi with a few wires as for the arduino pro-mini I dont think I can give a good comment as I have never used one Does the arduino have WiFi? I think some people might be ok putting files on an SD card where as they might be put off by having to send the code to the hardware perhaps its easy I have never done it the problem still remains it needs a bit of code the code is probably already on the internet If any one can find it or write it please let us all know

only thin stopping me is I need some help with the python

I have listed the cost of the parts in a previous post the reason i used a RPi is because i needed a few for another project so my investment is small in this trial Just a some pre soldered pins on one of the Pi zeros and the Adafruit board someone pointed out that the Pi is over kill for this project but they are cheap and have WiFi (so no wires) since a RPi can be an access point it could host a GUI making it available to lots of different devices or you could run the GUI on a laptop, RPi, tablet, smart phone, etc (this would be better if you need to interface with multiple controllers each with its own ip address) I would like to create a system that anyone can plug together, copy an image to SD card, plug in power and be up and running A GUI can be as complicated as you wish to make it (see my earlier post about satellite imagery) the problems with RPi hard reset and twitchy servos have been addressed so many times and there are solutions

I still have an analog one i bought back in 1975 I sometimes still use it for bike electrics etc

ok another pic all the parts layed out on the floor a closer look the parts explained a thing that looks like a laptop power supply = This is the power supply for the servos a thing that looks like a mobile phone power supply = This is the power supply for the ic's (plugs in the Pi board supplies power for the chips on the servo board) a thing that looks like an micro SD card = This is a micro SD card where the operating system and programs are stored there are two circuit boards one is a raspberry Pi zero (with pre soldered male headers) this is the brain the other circuit board is an Adafruit PWM/servo bonnet This can control the movement of up to 16 servos (when the Pi tels it to) the Pi can control up to 62 bonnets as well as act as an access point,dhcp server dns server and host apache all at the same time any more questions

people want me to be spesific ok first I have a .py file that I think is a couple of DEF statements short of being a module once i have fixed that in the main file i can do the import but i think it needs a couple of lines like speed - servo_limits.speed min0 = servo_0_min max0 = servo_0_max min1 = servo_1_min etc etc max15 = servo_15_max ok help lets get past this first bit

here is the pic of the system If you already have spare laptops use them this is a more portable system (not everybody has spare laptops) you still need some form of pwm even for a laptop to control servos the control I have so far is cli I intend to write a gui when i have the code to control the servos the way that would be good to control points

so far I have a functioning system I could use the sample code 16 times renaming it and changing the channel number I could make it work for me but thats not the whole point I would like a system that everybody can use I need a bit of help to do that I am not trying to tell you this is the only way but it means you will not be tied to some propriety system and if you want to integrate with JRMI you still can

a web solution hosted on the Pi its self is one solution this would be generic just some buttons any one with the correct login and password could change the points or you write an html file with your own layout and control from there lets hope in the future it will be as easy as getting a pick of your layout and dragging and dropping a few buttons on top of the points the RPi zero is a cheap option available now I have named the boards if you want more info just ask a lot of library's are available from arduino, raspberry pi and adafruit once we create a library just for this purpose things will be easy everyone will benifit that is what I would like help with

I think I forgot something since the servo controller can dim LEDS it can switch them on and off so half the channels could be used to switch opto couplers like those on cheap relay boards BTW I only mention price to get interest I will gladly give up half the channels for better control there is probably another way (like using another I2C channel with a piggyback board)

great to here from you Keith Looks like we are on the same track I am just having a little trouble putting things together I have been watching the adafruit vids with tony dcola

You have some good points there first there is a library that allows the Pi to talk to the bonnet there is also a sample file so i can get servos moving It just needs tweaking (by someone who can do python) I dont mind learning but help would be appriciated I did not use noobs I used raspbain lite which only takes a couple of minuets to download the set up is headless and it will be run headless so you could probably get away with an old phone charger for the power supply what I am looking for on here is help with the code that anyone can then just load onto there SD card and have something running of course that will not give a gui of there layout but then NCE does not either

if i knew how to do the program i would not be here or I would be but telling you how this is not commercial, I am getting nothing out of it on your phone it could just be in your browser (just a web page with buttons on) BTW I know how to do that bit (I can even do it fancy with real time satellite imagery of your layout (model sat image (ok an overhead camera)) JRMI will be able to interface with it easily (hopefully one of those guys will see this and help) the commercial alt you mentioned is for only 8 points and does not include servos power supplies wiring switches etc etc The whole system is in the pic if you want I can take it apart and rephotograph it with captions of what each part does and list where you can buy all the parts on line and where to get help setting it up or post a video of the servos moving what i can not do is to get the servos moving the way that would be best for point control (slowly) It needs a short bit of python code I have problems getting my head around the syntax in python (I struggle with mobile phones too) but i could design and build a computer net work for a company (each to his own) so its a work in progress many hands make light work

The simplest control would probably be 16 buttons on your smart phone with main or branch next to each one to tell you which way the points are facing