Subject:
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Re: Hypothetically speaking? the future of IR/RC trains
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Sat, 17 Feb 2007 02:52:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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3742 times
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[Warning: non-train person elbowing into the conversation, so my viewpoint is...
very different perhaps]
In lugnet.trains, Ondrew Hartigan wrote:
> given the current IR RC train line what changes do
> you see necessary for you to convert from 9v track
> to plastic track and why?
There are two issues I see being important for me: control and power (and yes, I
know lots of reasons why it's best to do that through conductive track...
personally, I'd have loved to see LEGO going DCC, but that wasn't the question
Ondrew asked).
For control, IR has some real drawbacks, and I'd love to see it go RF
(Bluetooth? Almost certainly too expensive, but for those of us moving into the
NXT, this could have some... very interesting consequences). But IR is dirt
cheap, so it's probably here to stay. And it works OK line of sight... so can
there be such a thing as IR repeater stations? This gives you the "cheap" IR
system with a long range, out of line-of-sight control system for those who want
more (and as a bonus, you can step into that in small steps; you don't have to
have a long-range system as a persons first purchase).
For power... well, without conductive rails, you need batteries, and batteries
run down. But real trains have this happen as well, and refuel - do it with
batteries. Have a specialized siding that can make conductive contact with an
on-board battery pack to charge it while that train is sitting on a siding. Not
only would this be practical (where does the average train spend most of its
days? Sitting still), but again i could see it being a useful market step
(already with my NXTs the Li-ion battery packs are critical... rechargable
batteries are the way to go, as LEGO has realized at least for the academic end
of the robotics product line).
I admit, I'm coming at it from a different direction... but I strongly suspect
that's where the next generation of trainheads will come from (just like they
did every other time LEGO switched gauges/voltages). Personally, I can't wait to
get my hands on a hobby train and an IR bridge for the NXT from Hi-technic, as I
can think of a lot of both train and non-train uses for this sort of technology.
The NXT is bulkier to hide in a layout, but with the BT communication, I can
have control of at least 12 different motors all around the layout, no line of
sight issue, little or no wiring issue, and with the train under IR control
(perhaps more than one train) as well full-scale loading, unloading, switching,
and dynamic restructuring of the train itself, well... there's a whole new
interesting world of automation, without the need for DCC modding my motors, or
having a crippled LDCC RCX (it can't run programs, or use sensors!), and all
off-the-shelf LEGO.
--
Brian Davis
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