I started off with a full track sensor rail. I had a member suggest it to me...and it worked very well...so I did it to all of them.
Thanks for the feedback, I am going to just use the LC sensor rail to start. I like the idea of having it still be pretty close like 356speedster said.
EDIT 2/28/12 - I ended up revising my layout to ensure I have a 1/3 straight or a 1/30 corner before all my lane changers. After i got the first one hooked up and just had the sensor rail on the lane changer itself I did some testing and saw where there was still going to be a good chance of collisions. I am waiting on a few more 1/30 corners before I can finish it all up and get some test racing in.
Last edited by PTownBandit; 02-28-2012 at 12:38 PM.
I've been thinking about anti-collision for hours and have come up with this:
- An IR sensor before and after the lane change
- A latching relay that disables and then re-enables the lane change
Pretty simple. A latching relay has 2 resting states (on and off) and only changes when current is applied one way or another. This relay will sit between the power supply and the LC's solenoid. When a car passes over the first sensor, the relay opens the circuit. When the car crosses the second sensor, the relay closes the circuit and lane changes are allowed again. Double lane changes would work the same way, except the 2 IR sensors on the back end would be wired to both relays in parallel to account for if a car changes lanes. ie, the lead car in the left lane disables ONLY the right lane's lane change. When he crosses over EITHER IR sensor on the opposite end, current passes through both relays. The parts are dirt cheap ($1ish for relays and IR sensors less than a quarter).
...but the fact that I haven't read such a simple solution yet suggests to me that there is some flaw with it.
I've also been brainstorming a toggling lane change for a 2-lane pit. Rather than relying on drivers to choose the right pit lane, I'd like a simple toggle that makes cars alternate between lanes. Still trying to come up with a mechanism. I'd prefer 100% mechanical.
Ok, I bought a couple IR photo sensors at Radioshack last night but they don't have any latching relays. I'm looking at Digikey and Mouser trying to pick out a relay but I just don't know enough about electronics to choose. Does anyone know what kind of voltage I need for the coil, and for a turnon voltage? I'm assuming it's not the full 14v but testing without a bench (and more knowledge) is going to be tough for me.. Also have no idea what kind of current I'm looking at.
Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but perhaps you guys can start a new thread if your going to try and create a new "anti collision system" since this one is primarily for the already developed one. I had a hard enough time figuring out a couple things on the current system that's available, I would hate for people int he future to come to this post and try to read and decipher between 2 different systems.
I know the system is outdated, but I still have tons of cars and LC's. If it works it would be fantastic, and I can't see any reason it wouldn't based on how it works, but does anyone know for sure if it works on Pro-X?
Just recently got into Carrera and wondered if this is still the latest, greatest system to prevent collisions? Wanted to check with all of you before committing to buy from his site. Thanks for the advice!
I don't know of any other more recent systems for crash prevention.
That said, it took a little to figure out the installation on the first LC, but after that it was a breeze. We have these installed on our LCs and they work great. We haven't had a ghost car cutoff crash since install and we routinely have 5 year-olds racing without collisions.
My only wish would be to have carrera eventually build this right into the "official" track
Linear Mode
