Model Making miniatures publications

We introduce an inexpensive, low complexity power surface system capable of simultaneously providing wireless power and bidirectional communication from a surface to mul- tiple mobile robots. This system enables continuous operation of a swarm-sized population of battery-less robots. Our first prototype consists of a 60cm x 60cm power surface that provides power and bidirectional communication to an initial evaluation group of five test robots, each one consuming 200mW. Unlike typical non-resonant inductive (transformer) coupling, power transmission in this system is achieved through magnetic flux coupling between a high Q L-C resonator placed beneath the operating surface and a non-resonant pickup coil on each robot. We explore the design of the pickup coil and conditioning circuitry, and we characterize the position-dependent power density of a static load representative of a small autonomous robot operating on the surface. We demonstrate a continuous power density averaging 4.1mW/cm 2 for a static load, and develop much greater peak power for dynamic loads via capacitor storage and power conditioning circuitry. We also demonstrate simultaneous broadcast communication between the surface and all robots via amplitude modulation of the magnetic field, and communication between individual robots and the surface via load modulation.

Paper circuits are becoming more and more popular in the hobby electronics world. The easy availability of craft-like materials and increasing abundance of new products has created a really unique ecosystem for crafters looking to make the leap to electronics projects. This guide is an overview of materials and techniques available to paper circuit crafters.

Incorporating scads of LEDs into an electronic project used to be a hairy prospect, a veritable rat’s nest of wires and code. The arrival of dedicated LED driver chips brought welcome relief, offloading grunt work from the microcontroller and allowing one to focus on the application. Much simpler, but still not “Christmas light” simple.

Cardboard is awesome. This ubiquitous material is inexpensive (or free if you keep your old shipping boxes), sturdy, and easy to work with. It can be much faster to build with than wood, metal, or plastic, and the tools needed are a lot cheaper!

EL Wire, also known as Electroluminescent wire, is a stiff wire core coated with phosphor and then covered with a protective PVC sheath. When an AC signal is applied to it, it glows an aqua (blue green) color. Sometimes its covered with a colored plastic shell to make it appear another color. It looks a little like thin neon. Very bendable, it keeps its shape and you can curl it around your finger. Its an easy way to add some glow to a project, not as bright as LEDs but uses a lot less power!

This tutorial will cover those wonderful blinky things, LEDs. We’re going to cover how to calculate the current going through an LED and in the mean time introduce two important laws of electronics, Kirchho ff’s Vo ltage Law and Ohm’s Law. We’ll begin by performing experiments that will demonstrate how voltage and resistance affects current and then prove those results with a little math.

Using inexpensive fiber optics for super-small lights

Add lights, sound, and movement to your scenery

More advanced DCC-compatible Arduino uses

Achieving amazing structure realism

Light up your buildings at night!

Trinket may be small, but do not be fooled by its size! It’s a tiny microcontroller board, built around the Atmel ATtiny85, a little chip with a lot of power. We wanted to design a microcontroller board that was small enough to fit into any project, and low cost enough to use without hesitation. Perfect for when you don’t want to give up your expensive dev- board and you aren’t willing to take apart the project you worked so hard to design. It’s our lowest-cost arduino-IDE programmable board!

LED candles are very common these days. It’s easy to see the attraction – there’s no fire danger and they never need to be replaced (just batteries). But there’s such a wide variation in price and quality that it’s hard to know what to purchase. Some store-bought candles flicker very realistically, others just seem to blink. Some use plain white LEDs, some look like real flames. And there’s no way to know how good a candle will look without buying it.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use eight large red LEDs with an Arduino without needing to give up 8 output pins!

The purpose of this book is to show basic animation examples and detailed how-to instructions to get the new animator started. The book explains the basics and how to use the powerful standard Arduino board. It has 135 pages full of figures that show how to construct many different animation model railroad projects. Also easy to read schematics to help build the systems. The authors encourage the model railroader to dream, research, build, and explore other unique ways of using the tools outlined in this book.

The NMRA uses four types of Technical Documents to present technical information. Standard - NMRA Standards are to establish the broadest correlated set of limiting dimensions, electrical parameters and communications parameters within which interchange may be assured. Recommended Practice - NMRA Recommended Practices do not rise to the level of being a Standard, however, they provide details of of various topics that have been found to be the best for interchangability or operation of products. Recommended Practices are not used in determining the qualification of a product when compliance certification is being judged. Comments are generally made if the product is found outside the recommended practice. Technical Note - NMRA Technical Notes supplement the Standards to provide additional guidance on a given subject. Technical Instruction - NMRA Technical Instructions are documents that are used to provide Instructions on the use of a tool or a piece of equipment or software.

Introduction I recently came across an excellent tutorial by Geoff Bunza in the Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine forum. It described how an Arduino Pro Mini (a low cost Arduino board) could be wired and programmed to respond to function keys on a DCC controller. This opens up a wide world of control options for animations, sound and other options on a DCC equipped model railroad. I cobbled together a circuit based on Geoff’s article and plan on using it for a number of things on our club modular layout.

My activities in Scale Model Animation often lead me to use DCC as a control method for sequencing. This could include building and street lights, even sparking welders and twinkling camp fires. Timing can be done with JMRI scripts (Like this: http://youtu.be/RXpvp5mIXvU?list=PL4dHfZjHc9t-pvctGQzSuOXBLG1M42xbS) or with programmatic control (Like this: http://youtu.be/zlcdJKXj_YI?list=PL4dHfZjHc9t-pvctGQzSuOXBLG1M42xbS). Control switches for such projects are a must. Using 4 or 6 function DCC decoders in this regard, can get costly, quickly. But with a little effort, and some low cost components one can build a DCC decoder supporting 17 independent functions for about $5.00, or less, depending what you have on hand. This version has no CV’s, uses no DCC programming, can be set for any short address in CV1, and controls 17 Function Lines (which I am using to drive the green LEDs in the example below). Interested? Read on! (Latest Rev for this work can be found here: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/19446 )

One of my earlier entries: SMA10 – Build a 17-Function DCC Decoder for about 5 ( http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/19070 ) generated a considerable amount of interest regarding the possible enhancement for controlling Servomotors (Servos). This is my next version of a 17 Channel Multifunction DCC Decoder based on a low cost 2.56 Arduino Pro Mini. This version supports configuring each of the 17 function pins for On/Off (LED/TTL) Control, or Configurable Blinking Control, or Configurable Servo Control, or Configurable Pairs Blinking Control. Yes, that does mean it can support 17 servos, each with rate, start point, and end point setting via DCC CV’s, per pin, as well as new LED configurable functions. Read On. Additional doc found here: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/19775 There is another decoder version added herein. Look for "New Decoder Version to Control Lighting Groups" in Page 12 of the Comments: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/19446?page=11 The most recent Update can be found here: SMA20 New Low Cost 17 Channel DCC Decoders with PC Boards & Dual Motor, LED, & Servo Control http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/24316

Because of the interest in this project (Details can be found here: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/19446 ) more example decoder variations have been added and some start up timing problems have been fixed. The new libraries and examples can be downloaded from here (Updated November 26, 2016)

This is the next evolution of the original $5 Mobile/Accessory/Multifunction 17 Channel Configurable DCC Decoder. This edition: 1.expands major functionality to drive a stepper motor, dual motor control with sound, and even triggered sounds (like a driver cam), servos, and LEDs with 17 function pins, 2.implements long DCC addresses for both mobile decoders and accessory decoders, and 3.and now uses the updated NmraDcc library compatible with the ATTiny84/85 and Teensy 3.x processors. As before, the functions per pin are reconfigurable via CV control. The PC Boards described here can also be used as an add-on daughter board, or in Arduino terms a “shield” for the Pro Mini, including non-decoder projects. NEW Library UPDATED: August 7, 2018.