kvp's layout ideas and attempts

[kvp]

Testing with two servos and some peco code 55 turnouts:

[kvp]

Another idea, that might turn into an actual build is a t-trak corner branch module using standard geometry modules only. The two base modules are the green straight and the blue corner, forming a standard geometry branch with a corner. This could be extended with the red module to allow branching from inner and joining to the outer tracks. (using left hand running rules) The yellow optional module is for bringing the branch back to double track.

 

Controls could be digital (DCC) or analog with route control based power routing, using morse relays connected parallel to the capacitor discharge turnout drivers for selecting between the outer joiner isolated tracks. This allows isolation of the curve from the left main on branching and isolation of the outer main (both left and curve) in case of branching crossover and branching. The yellow module allows selection between up and down lines on right and allows using double isolators on the branch line between the green and blue modules for a total of 4 separate districts: main inner, main outer, branch up and branch down) Turnout and relay interlocking using the single wire common ground control is easy and allows the use of both mechanical and light signals. (capacitor discharge for mechanical signals and dpdt morse relay for bipolar light signals)

 

By leaving out the red module, the result is a branch or yard access for the outer main only and by leaving out the yellow module, the result is a single track branchline. This allows the interconnection of a double track main loop with a single or double track branchline with yard or full bidirectional access while using only two types of modules (mainline narrow straight and mainline curve) and keeping the standard geometry.

[kvp]

Another variant of an industrial dockside passenger and freight operation designed for short emu or dmu sets:

(a passenger station on the top right, a freight station in the middle and a combined larger one at the bottom with a storage siding that could be used as a hidden fiddle yard for shows if the top side is facing the visitors)

[JR 500系]

Very cool, compact, neat, little layout! Great for those Tomytec 2 car sets!

[kvp]

Trying to fit buildings around the tracks on my still in progress traction layout:

 

Does anyone know a good source of non rectangular or very small buildings?

Edited October 23, 2016 by kvp

[cteno4]

There are a few tomytec and sankei triangular buildings but they are 2 story. For small stuff you will need to scratch build. But good news doing small scratch builds are much easier as few things like Windows and such that are usually on their own so don notice if not in a perfect line or even alignment! Small structures and out buildings are something that's missing in the current structures available out there. But I'm hoping these area great things to do with a plotter or laser cutter and 3D printed detail bits in the future from smaller companies with little startup and manufacturing costs and lower volumes.

 

Fitting rectangular buildings on small layouts like this is a challenge! Might play with some small scenery bits like shrubs, garden plots, storage area, car parking, small out buildings etc to fit in the odd little corner spaces. Mock some up quickly in cardboard with paint and some lichen and ground foam on small triangle bits if cardboard and try playing fitting the am in and around the current buildings to see if it's helps faring them in together.

 

Also many on micro dioramas and layouts will chop off a bit of scene (and even buildings) right at the edge if the base, especially if the item/scene is at an angle to the base. By doing this you give just enough info to the mind's eye of something bigger that you don't have the space for and the mind's eye just fills in the rest off the edge of the scene to end up making the mental picture bigger than it was. I've seen buildings done like this and then left open with scenes inside the building that folks can look at when they get close but from w distance it's just the cut off building. Others just use a neutral colored cardboard to seal up the cutoff consistently that matches the base edge color. If using finished wood on the base then veneer pieces can work well.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[kvp]

My problem is mostly not on the edges, but on the inner curves. One parking lot is already marked, but i would like to fill up all the small triangular plots. The Tomix corner buildings are fine, but i can't fit two of them between the inner side of the loop and the S curve. The idea is that the tracks alternate between street running and separate row in the old town. I'm planning to run mostly 12-16 meter stock, but allow 20 meter cars in the loading gauge, even on the streets.

 

One more question: Is it possible to make a curved high platform (outside edge) that allows 20 meter cars but reduces the gap to realistic sizes for smaller ones? Is there an alternative?

[cteno4]

Those bits work well next to the track in the triangular spaces as well and help cut the view of the track some which is important in the micro layouts to not make the eye see the whole loop of track at first glance. Actually lots of odd stiff like this along the rr row that I see all the time in Japanese rr cab videos. I always look at this stuff as it's usually has what's in the usual Ttrak row. Watch a few with and look for it.

 

I would just experiment on the curved platforms by cutting some cardboard to fit and seeing what will work with your cars, just keep carving out more and more until the cars pass -- #11 scalple blade works well for this. Then use this as a template to make a new one with smooth curve and then do another loop of carving finer. Then cut that down into a rough platform and see how it and the gap looks to you. A roof and or rear wall may help hide the gap from some view and cut out folks noticing the gap as much.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

Edited October 23, 2016 by cteno4

[kvp]

I made a couple of interesting discoveries in the past few days. My first was an attempt to determine the loading gauge of a 20 meter car on an R140 curve. Turns out it's 18mm, around the half of the 37mm track to track distance of Tomix. This explains why is it possible to run 20 meter cars next to each other on R140/R177 and not on R150/R183. Of course this info is rather bad news for any attempt to make an R140 outer curve platform as the gap would be quite large and not just at the middle of the car, but above the bogies too. (thanks to the overhang of the car ends) And on a japanese layout, a railhead high 'platform', that is common in europe at older country stations is out of the question thanks to the high platform standard. Any ideas?

 

About high platforms: I tested the Tomix mini platform kit as a simple way to add narrow platforms to a british prototype shelf 'layout' (more like a working diorama), but managed to miscalculate a few things. The curved ends are made for R140 curves and turnouts, but british models need the normal turnouts as they can only travel through R280 or larger curves, especially S curves. So far this is ok, as there are some nice ramp pieces in the kit, that allow a british like platform end (slightly steeper, but that's ok). Now i found out that one kit has straight platforms only for two cars, which means i need more than two kits. That's fine and i tested my idea with 5 car trains. That is 5 cars plus loco which fits nicely with only half of the locomotive hanging off the longer platform. That is until the train is in arrival position with loco in the front, where the platform gets a bit too short. Making it longer would mean an even longer module that was already oversized in the first place. Resizing down to 4 cars is a possibility as the longer track would still fit my 5 car brighton belle. The shorter platform would be 3 cars and a loco or a 4 car multiple unit which is barely enough for a 4sub but without a baggage motor. For mk2 push-pull sets, i could still allow the loco to miss the platform as long as the trains are always propelled into the station with loco at the back. (the station being a terminus) It seems i will have a tough time to get the size/space requirement right. One extra problem is that it has to remain portable to allow me to take it to shows once in a while.

[cteno4]

Did you try cutting a test curved platform and then see if you could block or obfuscate some of the sight lines of the gap while a train is in the station with strategic wall, roof, buildings, and or trees? Even a detailed scene on the platform may distract from the gap. I would try a quick mockup with cardboard to see how it looks and what could distract from or hide the gap. What are the sight lines to the gap, is it to be viewed from all sides or any back or sideboards?

 

Jeff

[kvp]

Since the platform was meant to be in a 90 degree curve, it would be visible from all sides including staight on and top down (45 degrees). I mocked it up with an R177 street curve next to it with the road plate raised to platform height. This looks really bad. 15 and 12 meter stock could use a more realistic platform, but the main aim is to allow 20 meter sets too, at least on the loop route. (the oval being served by trams and the two loops by inter/suburban sets and the two sharing one stop with a mixed low and high platform)

[velotrain]

One more question: Is it possible to make a curved high platform (outside edge) that allows 20 meter cars but reduces the gap to realistic sizes for smaller ones? Is there an alternative?

 

Sounds like you need a TN platform ;-)

[kvp]

Yes, that was used in New York at the old South Ferry loop station. There is no japanese prototype for it though, at least none i know about.

 

Edited October 31, 2016 by cteno4
Fixed YouTube embed

[Kiha66]

Apparently the Tokyo metro is installing them at some stations, at least according to this article.  It seem to be a part of their platform door initiative to reduce accidents.  Their homepage even has a picture explaining the platform doors, with a photo of one of the gap fillers.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/01/17/reference/platform-doors/

http://www.tokyometro.jp/susumetro/en/

[bill937ca]

Tobu Asakusa Station is uses gap jumpers in places.

 

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ceeda/20100509/1273340620

 

http://kaitokumonsoon.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2008-06-07

 

http://atts60.blogspot.ca/2011/09/blog-post_24.html

 

 

 

A better picture of the action at Asakusa.  It's in Tokyo not far off the Yamanote line.

 

Edited October 31, 2016 by bill937ca

[kvp]

While searching for something at my workplace i stumbled upon a small 128x64 single color oled display in one of the random parts boxes. This is the type that could be bought from China really cheap. It's a 3 to 5V, 4 wire I2C display with an SSD1306 chip. I wired it up and hacked together a simple test to see if it would be usable as departure/arrivals board or as an animated neon sign. What do you think?

(sorry for the bad image quality, this is when you discover your phone has a worse camera than you thought)

 

 

[cteno4]

Nice, there a bunch of those little OLED boards I've seen that look great for smaller electronic signs and schedule boards (but many of these at scale are even tinier!). I saw some that were made to be button sized so a control panel of buttons could be reconfigured.

 

The fact that it's lit gives a nice impression then a few pixels can change now and then for updates. I guess each character will be about a pixel. Also can hide part of it in the roof to make the usual longer aspect ration signs hanging from ceilings.

 

Will be great to see what you hack together! Maybe a product you can market once you've got the software down!

 

Jeff

[kvp]

I guess each character will be about a pixel.

The 4 lines on the top is in a 3x5 pixel font, so readable (much better than on the photo). The bottom text is 8x8 with normal and bold font. So far it looks like you can get various sizes (128-32x32-16) with the same driver chip. For a longer platform sign, i think a 128x32 would look ok with 5 lines of text. It's perfectly readable from about 2 feet, so it might be a good idea to show valid information.

 

For japanese text, i think the 8x8 pixel font would be the smallest readable, but a 5x5 meiryo might work and that would allow 21 characters on each line instead of just 16. Another alternative is to process everything on the computer and upload the images only. Each screen of 128x64x1bpp is exactly 1 kilobyte, so an arduino mega could store up to around 240 full frames uncompressed, more with compression. For a departure/arrival board, it's easy to add keypad or track detector support for automatic sign change. (a simple 240 frame low fps fixed animation would be much easier though) The only pain for the software is the memory map format that scans 8 pixels vertically from left to right horizontally (lsb on top) then switches to the next 8 lines with each 8 lines being on a dedicated display page. (this could be the reason screens are sized in 8 pixel steps)

 

If this gets somewhere, i plan to offer the source code here on the forum for free to everyone. (i don't have a projects site atm and don't see a really big business in it)

[kvp]

This is the basic arduino mega2560 test code for the 128x64 i2c oled display. It has two fixed images and displays the second inverting it every ~500 msec. (pins connected: gnd = gnd, vcc = 5V, scl = scl and sda = sda)

 

Huge code follows:

#include "Arduino.h"
#include <Wire.h>
#include <SPI.h>
 
#define SSD1306_128_64
// #define SSD1306_128_32
// #define SSD1306_96_16
 
// address for 128x32 is 0x3C
// address for 128x64 is 0x3D (default) or 0x3C (if sa0 is grounded)
#define SSD1306_I2C_ADDRESS (0x3c)
//#define SSD1306_I2C_ADDRESS (0x3d)
 
#if defined SSD1306_128_64
  #define SSD1306_LCDWIDTH                  128
  #define SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT                 64
#endif
#if defined SSD1306_128_32
  #define SSD1306_LCDWIDTH                  128
  #define SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT                 32
#endif
#if defined SSD1306_96_16
  #define SSD1306_LCDWIDTH                  96
  #define SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT                 16
#endif
 
#define SSD1306_SETCONTRAST 0x81
#define SSD1306_DISPLAYALLON_RESUME 0xA4
#define SSD1306_DISPLAYALLON 0xA5
#define SSD1306_NORMALDISPLAY 0xA6
#define SSD1306_INVERTDISPLAY 0xA7
#define SSD1306_DISPLAYOFF 0xAE
#define SSD1306_DISPLAYON 0xAF
#define SSD1306_SETDISPLAYOFFSET 0xD3
#define SSD1306_SETCOMPINS 0xDA
#define SSD1306_SETVCOMDETECT 0xDB
#define SSD1306_SETDISPLAYCLOCKDIV 0xD5
#define SSD1306_SETPRECHARGE 0xD9
#define SSD1306_SETMULTIPLEX 0xA8
#define SSD1306_SETLOWCOLUMN 0x00
#define SSD1306_SETHIGHCOLUMN 0x10
#define SSD1306_SETSTARTLINE 0x40
#define SSD1306_MEMORYMODE 0x20
#define SSD1306_COLUMNADDR 0x21
#define SSD1306_PAGEADDR   0x22
#define SSD1306_COMSCANINC 0xC0
#define SSD1306_COMSCANDEC 0xC8
#define SSD1306_SEGREMAP 0xA0
#define SSD1306_CHARGEPUMP 0x8D
#define SSD1306_EXTERNALVCC 0x1
#define SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC 0x2
 
#define SSD1306_ACTIVATE_SCROLL 0x2F
#define SSD1306_DEACTIVATE_SCROLL 0x2E
#define SSD1306_SET_VERTICAL_SCROLL_AREA 0xA3
#define SSD1306_RIGHT_HORIZONTAL_SCROLL 0x26
#define SSD1306_LEFT_HORIZONTAL_SCROLL 0x27
#define SSD1306_VERTICAL_AND_RIGHT_HORIZONTAL_SCROLL 0x29
#define SSD1306_VERTICAL_AND_LEFT_HORIZONTAL_SCROLL 0x2A
 
void ssd1306_command(uint8_t c);
 
void display_begin(uint8_t switchvcc = SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, uint8_t i2caddr = SSD1306_I2C_ADDRESS, bool reset=true);
void display_show(uint8_t *buffer);
 
int8_t _i2caddr;
 
void ssd1306_command(uint8_t c)
{
    uint8_t control = 0x00; // Co = 0, D/C = 0
    Wire.beginTransmission(_i2caddr);
    Wire.write(control);
    Wire.write(c);
    Wire.endTransmission();
}
 
void display_begin(uint8_t vccstate, uint8_t i2caddr, bool reset)
{
  _i2caddr = i2caddr;
  // i2c init
  Wire.begin();
  if (reset)
    delay(12);
  // init sequence
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_DISPLAYOFF);                    // 0xAE
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETDISPLAYCLOCKDIV);            // 0xD5
  ssd1306_command(0x80);                                  // the suggested ratio 0x80
 
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETMULTIPLEX);                  // 0xA8
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT - 1);
 
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETDISPLAYOFFSET);              // 0xD3
  ssd1306_command(0x0);                                   // no offset
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETSTARTLINE | 0x0);            // line #0
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_CHARGEPUMP);                    // 0x8D
  if (vccstate == SSD1306_EXTERNALVCC)
    ssd1306_command(0x10);
  else
    ssd1306_command(0x14);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_MEMORYMODE);                    // 0x20
  ssd1306_command(0x00);                                  // 0x0 act like ks0108
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SEGREMAP | 0x1);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_COMSCANDEC);
 
#if defined SSD1306_128_32
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCOMPINS);                    // 0xDA
  ssd1306_command(0x02);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCONTRAST);                   // 0x81
  ssd1306_command(0x8F);
#elif defined SSD1306_128_64
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCOMPINS);                    // 0xDA
  ssd1306_command(0x12);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCONTRAST);                   // 0x81
  if (vccstate == SSD1306_EXTERNALVCC)
    ssd1306_command(0x9F);
  else
    ssd1306_command(0xCF);
#elif defined SSD1306_96_16
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCOMPINS);                    // 0xDA
  ssd1306_command(0x2);   //ada x12
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETCONTRAST);                   // 0x81
  if (vccstate == SSD1306_EXTERNALVCC)
    ssd1306_command(0x10);
  else
    ssd1306_command(0xAF);
#endif
 
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETPRECHARGE);                  // 0xd9
  if (vccstate == SSD1306_EXTERNALVCC)
    ssd1306_command(0x22);
  else
    ssd1306_command(0xF1);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_SETVCOMDETECT);                 // 0xDB
  ssd1306_command(0x40);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_DISPLAYALLON_RESUME);           // 0xA4
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_NORMALDISPLAY);                 // 0xA6
 
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_DEACTIVATE_SCROLL);
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_DISPLAYON);
}
 
void display_show(uint8_t *buffer)
{
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_COLUMNADDR);
  ssd1306_command(0); // column start address (0 = reset)
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_LCDWIDTH-1); // column end address (127 = reset)
 
  ssd1306_command(SSD1306_PAGEADDR);
  ssd1306_command(0); // page start address (0 = reset)
  #if SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT == 64
    ssd1306_command(7); // page end address
  #elif SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT == 32
    ssd1306_command(3); // page end address
  #elif SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT == 16
    ssd1306_command(1); // page end address
  #endif
 
    // save I2C bitrate
#ifdef TWBR
    uint8_t twbrbackup = TWBR;
    TWBR = 12; // upgrade to 400KHz
#endif
    for (uint16_t i=0; i<(SSD1306_LCDWIDTH*SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT/8); i++)
    {
      Wire.beginTransmission(_i2caddr);
      Wire.write(0x40);
      for (uint8_t x=0; x<16; x++, i++)
        Wire.write(buffer[i]);
      i--;
      Wire.endTransmission();
    }
    // restore I2C bitrate
#ifdef TWBR
    TWBR = twbrbackup;
#endif
}
 
static uint8_t buffer[2][SSD1306_LCDHEIGHT * SSD1306_LCDWIDTH / 8] =
{
 {
  0xff, 0xff-1, 0xff-2, 0xff-4, 0xff-8, 0xff-16, 0xff-32, 0xff-64, 0xff-128, 0xaa, 0x55, 0x00, 0xff, 0xaa, 0xff, 0x55,
 },
 {
  223,68,223,0,31,149,209,0,95,80,208,0,95,80,208,0,206,17,14,0,192,64,64,0,223,72,95,0,78,81,206,0,223,69,218,0,223,80,208,0,223,81,206,0,0,151,192,0,64,64,192,0,64,64,192,0,192,0,0,0,192,64,64,0,192,64,64,0,64,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,0,128,192,0,64,64,192,0,64,64,192,0,192,0,0,0,192,64,64,0,192,64,64,0,64,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,192,64,192,0,0,128,192,0,247,20,247,0,0,32,247,0,215,85,117,0,85,85,247,0,113,199,65,0,117,85,215,0,247,85,215,0,16,16,247,0,247,85,247,0,117,85,247,0,247,20,247,0,0,32,247,0,215,85,117,0,85,85,247,0,113,199,65,0,117,85,215,0,247,85,215,0,16,16,247,0,247,85,247,0,117,85,247,0,247,20,247,0,0,32,247,0,215,85,117,0,85,85,247,0,113,199,65,0,117,85,215,0,247,85,215,0,16,16,247,0,247,85,247,0,117,85,247,0,247,20,247,0,0,32,247,0,5,117,5,252,252,236,5,252,21,85,69,252,85,85,5,252,196,29,220,252,69,85,21,252,5,85,21,252,244,244,5,252,5,85,5,252,69,85,5,252,5,117,5,252,252,236,5,252,21,85,69,252,85,85,5,252,196,29,220,252,69,85,21,252,5,85,21,252,244,244,5,252,5,85,5,252,69,85,5,252,5,117,5,252,252,236,5,252,21,85,69,252,85,85,5,252,196,29,220,252,69,85,21,252,5,85,21,252,244,244,5,252,5,85,5,252,69,85,5,252,5,117,5,252,252,236,5,252,1,1,1,1,33,33,33,97,97,97,97,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,225,97,1,1,129,225,225,193,129,129,1,1,1,1,1,1,129,225,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,49,1,1,129,225,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,241,225,129,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,3,3,3,3,3,7,7,7,247,247,247,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,127,31,15,3,192,240,248,254,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,254,124,24,28,63,63,127,255,255,255,255,255,255,127,31,7,1,192,240,252,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,247,247,247,241,224,224,224,224,224,192,192,192,192,192,128,128,128,128,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,7,7,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,7,3,1,0,0,4,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,7,3,0,0,0,6,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,6,6,6,4,4,4,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,124,18,18,18,18,124,0,0,126,74,74,74,74,52,0,0,60,66,66,66,66,66,0,0,126,66,66,66,66,60,0,0,124,126,18,18,126,124,0,0,126,126,74,74,126,52,0,0,60,126,66,66,66,66,0,0,126,126,66,66,126,60,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
 }
};
 
void setup()
{
  // put your setup code here, to run once
  Serial.begin(9600);
  display_begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, SSD1306_I2C_ADDRESS);
  display_show(buffer[0]);
  Serial.print("ok");
}
 
void loop()
{
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly
  for(int t = 0; t < sizeof(buffer[1]); t++) buffer[1][t] ^= 0xff;
  display_show(buffer[1]);
  delay(500);
}

[kvp]

So, is anyone interested in using these displays? If yes, for what purpose (a neon sign, video screen, station board) and what interface would you like (automatic just displays something, manually controllable, train sensing, computer controlled, etc.)? All of these are possible, but i don't really know where to begin after getting the basic operation down.

 

Also, i'm still looking for an easy to use small japanese raster font (preferably in a C header format) and more info on what type of text is in use in Japan for train arrival/depature boards (my guess is hiragana, katakana and latin letters).

 

ps: I would also like to ask how many people would be willing to purchase and assemble the components (actually it's just plug and play without soldering) and how many would prefer a ready made product. (like one Jeff mentioned)

 

ps: small test code attached with everyone's favourite robot cat...

 

 

code.txt

Edited November 15, 2016 by kvp

[cteno4]

Yes I would be interested in one. Right now I've got too much on my plate to dive into ardunio, but it's definitely on my list. I'd buy a premade unit probably to just play with for now! Any idea of total costs?

 

What is the part list for it?

 

Jeff

[Kiha66]

What a great project idea!  I've been inspired to dig my own arduino out of the closet.  I think the departure/arrivals board would be cool, so I ordered some rectangular 128x32 oled displays.  

[JR 500系]

Oh my... any chances for buying one that is already programmed? cause the programming string looks so alien to me....

[kvp]

Any idea of total costs?

What is the part list for it?

Part list:

-1 arduino 2560 or chinese copy (i used a copy): 6-7 usd (free shipping)

-1 oled display board: 4-5 usd (free shipping)

-4 socket+pin wires from a premade wiring kit: 2-3 usd (around 40 wires, i used 4, free shipping)

-1 usb A-B cable for programming (i had one on my desk)

 

Total cost: ~12-15 usd (with free shipping from China)

 

Assembly:

-take 4 wires and plug the ends into the gnd, 5V, sda, scl sockets on the arduino

-plug the 4 ends onto the matching pins on the display (gnd - gnd, 5V - vcc, sda - sda, scl - scl)

-connect with usb (also install the chinese made usb driver for the clones)

-open the arduino editor, select the board from the list (board type and connected port)

-paste the code into the editor and push upload (it will start automatically and then remember the program)

 

ps: if you want to run without a PC, then you have to connect 8-12V DC power into the round plug socket of the Arduino

 

I think the departure/arrivals board would be cool, so I ordered some rectangular 128x32 oled displays.  

 

That's one request then! I could write a software that could do this, but i would like to know how do you plan to operate it? (from a pc, with buttons, etc.)

 

Oh my... any chances for buying one that is already programmed?

Possibly, but shipping from Europe would be really expensive, so imho we should find an alternative route. What kind of functionality would you like?

 

[JR 500系]

 

Possibly, but shipping from Europe would be really expensive, so imho we should find an alternative route. What kind of functionality would you like?

 

HHmmm... probably destination boards on platforms, something like this?

 

 

Though the shinkansen one might be too 'messy' to make with all its wordings and all...

 

Or it would also be very nice to have a large LED screen with advertisements like this:

 

 

or the giant Glico man will be nice!