Wiring Board

I rewired and tidied up the Phidget board and associated electronics that control all the lights and lap timing on the layout.  This hasn't provided any additional functions but valuable to check all the connections and satisfying to make it look neat.  Well, neater than it was.

Waving the chequered flag

I bought a rather shabby looking vintage Scalextric starter some time ago.  I'd given him a quick lick of paint and a simple flag, and he stood, checking his watch, next to the start/finish banner.

Under the rostrum is a piece of string that you can pull to make his arm wave the flag.  This needs automation!

First job was to repaint the starter and his rostrum, and replace his flag.

Next step was to make a jig for a motor to pull the string, and fix it under the layout table.

I fitted a disc on a 12V 60rpm motor that is operated by the Phidget output linked to the Ultimate Racer race management software.  This provides power for a few seconds at the end of the race.

It works a treat.  You can see it in operation in the video below (or follow this link).

Race Status Board

A further project using the Phidget outputs - a race status board.  I'd already made a vintage version of a race board but found it a bit high where the building was located, so had already detached the board to another location.

This left the time keeper's hut looking a bit insignificant.  I had another tatty-looking event board unused so I decided to adapt it.  I cut it up and cut some black plasticard as a backing plate.

I sprayed all the pieces black and printed out the circuit name and some labels.  I then wired up a set of LED indicators for each lane.

Not pretty but out of sight...

The Ultimate Racer software controls the lights, indicating in the relevant column for lane 1 or lane 2 who is in the lead (Green), who has the fastest lap (Blue) and who is Out of Fuel (flashing Orange when low, constant Orange when completely Out of Fuel).

I'm really pleased with the Phidget board and the extra projects it has enabled.  It's looking a bit busy under the table now, but there are still a few pins left for other ideas...

Start Lights

F1 style start lights is the second project using the output pins on the new Phidget board.

I wanted to keep the vintage Scalextric Start-Finish banner so I cut some plasticard to fix underneath.

I got five pre-wired red LEDs and connected them to some network cable which goes down the post, through the table and is wired into the Phidget board.

The five lights follow the F1 sequence of coming on at one second intervals, with the race starting when they all go out.  Here's a short clip of the starting sequence.

Also featured in this video is the latest bargain - a McLaren F1 GTR from Ninco in bright pink - which was on a three hour sale the other night at Hedley's Hobbies.

The McLaren F1 was conceived by Gordon Murray and the exterior of the car was designed by Peter Stevens (who also designed my old Lotus Elan).  In 1998, it set the record for the fastest road car in the world, topping at 243 mph.  The car features numerous proprietary designs and technologies; it is lighter and has a more streamlined structure than many modern sports cars, despite having one seat more than most similar sports cars, with the driver's seat located in the centre (and slightly forward) of two passengers' seating positions

Upgrading the electronics

I've been having increasing problems with the refuelling/pitstop detection getting stuck on.  All the sensors go through a USB gamepad as the switching device, and I'm already on the second of these, so through it was about time for an upgrade.

The race management software I use (Ultimate Racer) is configured for a variety of inputs, including a set of devices made by Phidget.  The board I wanted (the Phidget 1012) is around £100 in the UK but I found a little used one on eBay for half that.

The board is about 3x4 inches with 16 digital inputs, 16 digital outputs and connects to the laptop via USB.

I connected Herman's sensor board to the Phidget as well as the two buttons on the side of the track layout that start/stop and pause/resume the race.  (I'm not actually using any of the components on the sensor board on the right of the picture below - it was just convenient to solder the wires that carry the inputs to the Phidget at the top of the board, and means I can revert to using that board if something goes wrong with the Phidget).

So far in testing, the fuel sensor sticking problem has not recurred, so hopefully that's sorted.

But the added value of the Phidget board are the digital outputs, which allows the powering of other track-related events.  The first project for these was controlling the power to each lane of the race layout.  This is safer done through relays so I wired together a small circuit board (about 3x1 inches) with compact relays (£2 each from Maplin).

The black wire at top-left is a 12V feed.  The two black wires at the bottom go to two different output connectors on the Phidget card.  When the output is switched by the race software, the relay switches the current flow through the red wires.  These are wired through the block on the right to the power supply to each track.  I've wired the relay so by default the red wires are connected (so that the track can be used without having to turn on the laptop or race software).

This affects racing in a couple of ways.  The minor benefit is that pressing pause/resume now switches the power off and on to the track.  But more importantly, when a racer now runs out of fuel, the software switches the power off to their lane, and they have lost the race.

Here's a diagram that shows the wiring (hybrid of a sketch and a circuit diagram - but hope it's clearer this way).  I'm only using power supply but have drawn it twice below to simplify the drawing.

I've got a few other projects in mind for the Phidget outputs - watch this space...