After many months of work and a wad of cash, me and my pal b_gravedigger proudly present you the Automated Slot Car Intersection.
A brief descripton: During this year's class Digital System Lab at the N.T.U.A. we were given the option to develop a constructional project in lieu of an examination at the end of the semester. The project had to contain at about 30 Integrated Circuits, preferably of the 74XX series, as they were used during the year. We decided to extend the project to include a physical, analog part as a single PCB with digital outputs would be very boring.
So the idea is as follows: An infinity-shaped slot car track, which includes an intersection, will regulate the traffic on it automaticaly using a set of sensors and a control board. Traffic lights visualise the regulating actions executed by the control board. The sensors are located under each track piece and inform the control board whether a slot car is standing on top of it or not. The control board uses this information to count the cars waiting at the lights and give more circulation time to the direction with the most traffic. The actual slot car control is done by transistors under the track pieces that cut or give power to the rails of the track.
Ingredients:
A view from above
Yes, wiring was a pain
The intersection from up close
The control center
The car from the underside. Notice the brush coming out from the side to ground the sensor when above it
A brief descripton: During this year's class Digital System Lab at the N.T.U.A. we were given the option to develop a constructional project in lieu of an examination at the end of the semester. The project had to contain at about 30 Integrated Circuits, preferably of the 74XX series, as they were used during the year. We decided to extend the project to include a physical, analog part as a single PCB with digital outputs would be very boring.
So the idea is as follows: An infinity-shaped slot car track, which includes an intersection, will regulate the traffic on it automaticaly using a set of sensors and a control board. Traffic lights visualise the regulating actions executed by the control board. The sensors are located under each track piece and inform the control board whether a slot car is standing on top of it or not. The control board uses this information to count the cars waiting at the lights and give more circulation time to the direction with the most traffic. The actual slot car control is done by transistors under the track pieces that cut or give power to the rails of the track.
Ingredients:
- Four cheap slot car sets, for 20 euros each. We actually needed only 2 sets for their tracks but we also needed more cars. Sold-alone cars of known brands were actually more expensive than the whole set.
- 74XX series IC's. We used at about 30 of them, a detailed list will follow. The circuit was designed on Mulitsim 11 and was sent away to be printed on a dual layer PCB. That was another 80 euros.
- 80 transistors for the actuation of the track rails. They were soldered on two separate perforated boards, situated in the center of each track loop.
- Components for a 7-segment display system from a 4-bit input.
- Big LED's and 4 straws for the traffic lights.Diorama carton paper for the base of the project and some details
A view from above
Yes, wiring was a pain
The intersection from up close
The control center
The car from the underside. Notice the brush coming out from the side to ground the sensor when above it