Arduino rolling road static display


Olie

Olie

Active Member
My wife works at the local library and April is her month for displays. She asked me if I could build a static display that is actuated by a button making the train go forward but without actually moving. So, I started making a list. First purchase was the Proses rolling road (I'll only be using rollers). I found a plastic display case for 1/18th scale cars which will be long and tall enough. Bought a 1X6 pine board for the base. My thought is to place 1" foam board on the pine board, bury the rollers in the foam board and have track under the tender and front end of the loco. She's going to do a little scenery behind the loco like trees on a small incline. Now the hard part. How to trigger the engine for a set period of time and then shut off until the next button press. Here's what I've order and my thoughts. The Arduino Uno board, a 16mm metal LED momentary switch, a relay module, a 16x2 RGB LCD display module and a case to hold it all. The programming of the Arduino is fairly straight forward and the wiring is very simple as well. The relay will be placed along one of the power wires to the track. I'm going to use a spare Bachmann EZ Command controller and have it set at speed step 2 or 3 and powered. When someone presses the button, the Arduino will close the relay for a set time and then open it back up and reset for the next button press. It will also power down everything if no input is detected for an extended period of time.

I've just started messing with the Arduino and I'm sure there is a more advanced programming and controls it can do (sound the whistle, trigger the smoke unit, etc) I just haven't had much time to dig into it. There is a guy out there that controls his entire layout by Arduino technology.

So, please share your thoughts and suggestions are very welcomed. Once all the parts arrive, I will take pics and post up the progress and hopefully, it will all work without any issues.
 
Sounds like a fun project. I see on other forums, that guys are doing some really neat things with Arduino. One member on another forum I'm on is experimenting with Alexa. Keep us posted on how you go about this. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
 
Gerry Leone did a video on MR Video Plus on using the Arduino for random lighting. The effects are interesting.

Greg
 
Here is the beginning assembly of the display. Just rough fitting pieces to see what I'm really getting into.

Here's the case I found at our local craft store:
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The foam will sit on top of the pine board and inside the case. Hopefully the 1" will be deep enough to sink the rollers. Hiding them is going to interesting.
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Plain old flex track.
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Loco will sit something like this.
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A little scenery
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Seems to fit alright. Going to be interesting making all this work.
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Almost complete. Waiting for the glue to dry on the felt then attach the display case. Took quite a while to figure out how to secure the train to the track so if it was picked up or bumped it wouldn't derail. Here's the latest:

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I finally figured out the code for the arduino to work with the push button but it looks like the wife has changed her mind and just wants it static. Needing electricity is the big issue. So I covered the dug out portion where the rollers were and put down some track and ballast. The track is still wired so if in the future........

I'm thinking this would look good on my desk at work. I think it needs a little more scenery but would be cool to push a button and watch the train run for 15 seconds. I'll post up finished pics once I'm done.
 
I haven't figured out the code to actuate the sound but it can be done. I've run my layout with the arduino and the sketch provided by DCC++ so I know it can be done. My setup is simply a momentary push button that triggers the arduino to trip a relay for 15 second and change the LED color on the push button. I had the relay closing a loop from a Bachmann EZ commander. I needed it done by Monday so the coding is simple to get it done. Looks like she won't be using it all except for the static display so I have more time to work on the code.
 
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