Subject:
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Re: New Press Release about Power Function Trains
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:11:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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11371 times
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In lugnet.trains, Tim David wrote:
> simply have a loop (i.e. a double ended siding) and
> have another train bypass the charging train.
Sure - but then it's not automated. You have to get the first train onto the
siding, or (if it was running around the track through the siding in the first
place) you have to throw the switch so any other train bypasses the siding on
the main line. the problem is while a train recharges, that piece of track is
out of commission, and either has to be manually switched around or the line
goes down while the train recharges.
Understand I can already think of at least one solution (& I'm sure there are
others) - an NXT-controlled point with the recharging station on the side loop
(double-ended siding). By timing the train you can determine when it is loosing
power (slowing down). If it's going too slow, the NXT throws the point & parks
the train, and could start a different train out of the same point just prior to
that (I was doing this with the RCX before, just not the recharging). Then you
can completely automate this using a charging station, an NXT, and maybe two
sensors (one to detect/time the trains, one to run the IRLink to control the
trains) and one motor (to throw the point). Actually that means on NXT could
shuttle something like three trains (one motor per point), with one or two being
in the charging station. Now even if the train takes twice as long to charge up
as it does to run down, you can have continuous train traffic, and you still
have a lot of automation left over. since the NXT is sensing that a train is
"low battery" by the speed, it even gives you an easy way to swap trains - use
the handheld remote to set the current train to "low speed", which the engineer
NXT will interpret as "time to swap the low-power train out".
--
Brian Davis
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: New Press Release about Power Function Trains
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| (...) I just want to say that there are some REALLY innovative ideas being thrown around here. All this talk of automated recharging on sidings and automated points is just making me giddy. Keep the ideas coming!!! -Dave (17 years ago, 28-Mar-08, to lugnet.trains)
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