Next Model Railroaing Tech Breakthrough...

[eric220]

....The WiFi thing again?  Sigh...

To reiterate what I've said several times now on the subject, keep WiFi away from my locomotive control systems. It's not reliable enough. I've debated this back and forth and my assessment of the situation remains unchanged: What happens when the WiFi signal from the locomotive is lost and it doesn't automatically reconnect? What's the backup? I have enough networking experience to know that it's not just an idle concern. I also have enough experience running across the room to plug in a wireless controller after it lost its connection to know how little time there can be in an "oh crap" situation. Admittedly, I've warmed a bit to the idea of a large data channel to the locomotive. It would provide a conduit (physical layer for the networking peoples) over which video, lighting controls, or just about anything could be pushed. The possibilities are titilating. Still, until someone demonstrates its "killer application", a low cost solution, a power affordable solution, and stops trying to integrate the motor control, I'm convinced the idea is doomed to an academic exercise.

On the more positive side, I'd love to see work done in NFC tags and readers for cars. With the volume of traffic that I'm planning to push through my yard, it would be a big help. Really, I think that's the best potential for new technology: operations support. I'm working on a FileMaker solution to support operations on my layout, but it's going to be a lot of work to get it up and running. It would be nice to see some OTS software and hardware to support car routing and tracking.

[railnerd]

NFC would work fine, but don't forget RFID.  My friend Seth generates switch lists for every train being pulled out of staging on his Niles Canyon layout.

Here's a link to his clinic:

http://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/content/RFID%20in%20Model%20Railroading%2020130629.pdf

and a link to their product page— they sell a Raspberry Pi box loaded with their software.

http://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/radio-frequency-identification/

-Dave

[OHCR 4218]

I know from talking to the people at the WGH Bachman is investing in Blue tooth control for smart phone compatibility. they had the prototype there with a Bluetooth interface plunged into the track. The interface was still a DCC command station but using their app you could see each locomotive in a window and see sound, speed, and lighting functions as buttons or slide bars.

[Chris333]

What about decoders that don't get fried?

[peteski]

What about decoders that don't get fried?

They can be consumed raw - like sushi or steak tartar.  Just don't leave them out at a room temperature for too long.

[Ken Rice]

NFC would work fine, but don't forget RFID.  My friend Seth generates switch lists for every train being pulled out of staging on his Niles Canyon layout.
...
-Dave

This sort of thing is very cool, and may eventually make more prototypical "paperwork" easy and practical.  Paperwork in quotes because some modern systems on real railroads use essentially a tablet computer.  Ideally I'd like it to know the exact location of every car on the layout at all times, so standing order for any industry track, storage track, runaround, etc. was available.  Obviously that's either a lot of sensors and some clever software, or possibly more of a "blast and calculate" approach that one of my EE friends was discussing a while back - using the different timing and strength of reports from various sensors to triangulate where all the cars are (would require even fancier software, fancier hardware, and more setup to map where the tracks are).

Replacing DCC is not particularly interesting to me - it already works just fine.  Getting some keep alive device (super duper cap, or battery) that fits nicely in N scale switches (like an MP15) without sacrificing weight would be cool, but I can't see it happening anytime soon.  The weight aspect is the killer.

[GaryHinshaw]

Clean, reliable, abundant fine-scale turnouts.

[thomasjmdavis]

The weight aspect is the killer.

Unfortunately, we are probably the only people on the planet who want our electronics to be heavier.  But maybe when graphene circuitry comes along, the decoder will be a 2 micron thick layer inside the shell, and there will be plenty of room for whatever heavy stuff they let us put in when they ban lead.

I would love to see tool and die technology advance to the point that we can have an N scale single window heavyweight coach.  While I accept that MT put in a lot of effort on this and to date it hasn't panned out, it would seem like something within the grasp of modern tooling.  The alternative seems to be to raise a million bucks, hire Roberto Martari away from his day job, and have sides made.

[Albert in N]

I would like to see constant-intensity locomotive headlights on DCC-ready units for those preferring direct current layouts.  The main beef that I have with Kato diesels is that their headlights barely show when running at slower prototype speeds (especially on the GE C30-7 and U30C units).  Atlas seems to keep headlights bright, even at very slow speeds.  The same technology could be used for rear marker lighting on cabooses and passenger cars. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

What about decoders that don't get fried?

+1

[peteski]

and there will be plenty of room for whatever heavy stuff they let us put in when they ban lead.

What do you mean by "when"?  It has been banned for around 20 years. Not sure iif it is an official ban, but the last loco which used some sort of high-content lead alloy for the frame was IIRC Kato GP38-2.

[peteski]

I would like to see constant-intensity locomotive headlights on DCC-ready units for those preferring direct current layouts.  The main beef that I have with Kato diesels is that their headlights barely show when running at slower prototype speeds (especially on the GE C30-7 and U30C units).  Atlas seems to keep headlights bright, even at very slow speeds.  The same technology could be used for rear marker lighting on cabooses and passenger cars.

I suspect that is because Kato headlights use yellow LEDs where Atlas uses white LEDs.  White LEDs have much wider voltage/current range for producing usable light output.  Simply replacing the yellow LEDs with white ones should give you the desired result.  That is not much of a breakthrough though. 

[nkalanaga]

If mine were any indication, the Kato GP38-2 didn't get much benefit from the lead.  I tested mine against my narrow gauge boxcab diesel, kitbashed from a MT Z F7 and Atlas "Santa Fe" caboose bodies.  The boxcab could outpull the Kato...

[up1950s]

I suspect that is because Kato headlights use yellow LEDs where Atlas uses white LEDs.  White LEDs have much wider voltage/current range for producing usable light output.  Simply replacing the yellow LEDs with white ones should give you the desired result.  That is not much of a breakthrough though. 

I would like to change from using resistors to CLD's for LED's . Anybody know of a good variety , source , and reasonably priced .

[peteski]

I would like to change from using resistors to CLD's for LED's . Anybody know of a good variety , source , and reasonably priced .

Constant current diodes?  I have never found one with the current of less than 10mA which is way too much for white LEDs.  While safe for the LED itself, it makes them glow way too brightly.  Plus they introduce additional voltage drop (with 3V already needed across the white LED) so the DC voltage needed to illuminate the LED will be quite high.  CLDs are also very sensitive to reverse voltage (as are white LEDs), so you need to add another diode in series with the resto of the circuit. That addy yet another 0.5-0.7V of voltage needed to illuminate the LED.