Yet another Arduino based track timer...

DIY timing systems
Indy
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

rcrit wrote:My question is: how do you protect the IR receiver?
What type of track do you have?

For a BestTrack track and I'm assuming most metal tracks the method shown on the PDT construction page should work pretty well (scroll down to the emitters/detectors section):

http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/pg_pdt_info1.html

Basically the detectors (receivers) are mounted in a LED holder and a hole slightly smaller then the holder is drilled into the track. The holder is then pushed up thru the hole from underneath (it won't go though because of the smaller hole) and a piece of foam can be used to keep it in place. There are pictures of this method at the link above. (Clicking on the pictures should zoom them and some have additional detail in the zoom.)

Let me know if you have any questions.
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by rcrit »

I have a wooden track but otherwise configured the same way (e.g. I'm using LED holders, push from the bottom, etc).

The problem I have is that the wires for the receivers (+ the wire to the timer) are bent into 90's and weaken over time and break. What I wonder is if there is some sort of shield I can wrap to keep this from flexing too much and breaking.
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Vitamin K »

rcrit wrote:I have a wooden track but otherwise configured the same way (e.g. I'm using LED holders, push from the bottom, etc).

The problem I have is that the wires for the receivers (+ the wire to the timer) are bent into 90's and weaken over time and break. What I wonder is if there is some sort of shield I can wrap to keep this from flexing too much and breaking.
What if you snipped the leads for the photodiodes down short and soldered flexible wires to them?
Indy
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

Hello all,

Over the last couple of months I've been doing a major update of the PDT website's content, specifically on the following sections:

Construction - covers timer bridge, circuits, displays, etc.
Software setup - covers configuring & upload of timer software, interfacing to PC software, etc.

I've tried to address the main issues builders have come across while building the timer. There are still a few areas I'm working on (solenoid start gate circuit, updating the schematics, etc.) so it will be an ongoing process.

There are a couple of custom configurations that I've helped people with and I'm working to make them a general configuration option for everyone, these should be done in the next week or so:
  • option for the timer to drive two displays per lane (front & back of finish line) for up to 4 lanes
  • option for the timer to drive the Adafruit 1.2" displays (they have to be used upside down because of the decimal point location)
A few examples of recent PDTs built are shown below, you can see more on the Timer Builds page of the website.

Image
Image
Image

Let me know if you have any questions.
David
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by gpraceman »

Glad to see that you are keeping your site going. I know that your site have been a great resource for many people.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

Hello all,

It took longer than expected but I've finally finished a huge update to the PDT - I'm calling it the Halloween update. :D

Over the last couple of years there have been numerous custom configurations that I've helped people with and I've finally added the best of them as general configuration options on the PDT.

Version 3.00 of the PDT firmware adds the following features:
  • capability to resend race results (when queried by GrandPrix Race Manager)
  • option for the timer to drive two displays per lane (front & back of finish line) for up to 4 lanes
  • option for the timer to drive the Adafruit 1.2" displays (mounted upside down because of the decimal point location, also requires modifying display library)
  • a hardware test mode to help test and verify the PDT construction. If the PDT utilizes displays the HW test mode will let you test lane detector and start gate operation and set the display brightness level
The updated firmware (Arduino sketch) and instructions are now available on the website: http://www.miscjunk.org/pdt

Let me know if you have any questions.
David
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Vitamin K
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Vitamin K »

Very cool! I also heard you were onhand to help with the Guinness Book world record attempt, so props for that too!
Indy
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

Vitamin K wrote:Very cool! I also heard you were onhand to help with the Guinness Book world record attempt, so props for that too!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to be involved in that effort. Here's a picture of the timer I built for them:

Image

A few interesting notes of the build:
  • the timer could measure up to 9 minutes, 59.99 seconds
  • a filtering circuit was added to the start gate input to handle spikes induced by the 1,800 feet of wire
  • a 1x4 matrix of displays was utilized on both sides to show times as 1:16.7, unused portions of displays were masked by enclosure
  • building the enclosure took the most time (by far)
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by ironband »

jzarvey wrote:
Hi all. Thought I would give an update on this project. I was able to "splice in" to our Pack's Fast Lane P2XL timer. Note that this "timer" only displays finish order and for this year we were looking to be able to interface it with a computer to use with Grand Prix Race Manager. With the help of Indy's Arduino timer, some help from Indy himself, and some reverse engineering of the Fast Lane timer I was able to accomplish our goal and save some money for the pack.

Our derby was today and everything worked the way we wanted.

I will be putting together an outline of what I did and posting it in the near future. For now, it is time to recover from the Derby. :D
Hi all,

I our pack also has the P2XL timer, and I'm interested in "splicing" in an Arduino to facilitate serial communication to a computer running Derby Day software. Did the outline referenced above ever get put together?

Andre
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by gpraceman »

Indy,

Had a GPRM user that was running into trouble using the software with your timer. I did notice that the GPRM settings on your website list a Retrieve Data command. That command is not necessary if the timer will send the results to the computer automatically after the heat is over. I had the user remove that command and the interface started working for him. If you could update your settings, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Randy
Randy Lisano
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

gpraceman wrote:Had a GPRM user that was running into trouble using the software with your timer. I did notice that the GPRM settings on your website list a Retrieve Data command. That command is not necessary if the timer will send the results to the computer automatically after the heat is over. I had the user remove that command and the interface started working for him. If you could update your settings, I would appreciate it.
HI Randy - thanks for the heads up on this issue. I've corrected the website to indicate that the field needs to remain blank. I also cleaned-up the wording of that section to match the labels, etc. of the latest version of GPRM.

Thanks again,
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by gpraceman »

Thanks for those updates.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
Indy
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer....

Post by Indy »

Hello all,

I've moved all of the timer resources to my new website: https://www.dfgtec.com/pdt

The main benefit of the new website is that it is mobile ready - basically it is usable on phones or tablets. (If you ever tried using the old site on a phone you will know what an improvement this is.) All of the old links should redirect to the new site but I will attempt to get them all updated.

Here's a picture of a recent build (Pleasant Hill Baptist Church - Ohio) with a clever track design - it has two sets of (selectable) lights & detectors which allows for either Pinewood Derby (on the rails) or Hot Wheels (between the rails) racing.
Image
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by gpraceman »

Not sure why I didn't do this before, but I posted interface instructions for use of this timer with GrandPrix Race Manager software.

Interface instructions - https://grandprix-software-central.com/ ... tom-timers
Randy Lisano
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Re: Yet another Arduino based track timer...

Post by Indy »

Thanks Randy for adding the interface instructions for the PDT Timer.

Better late than never update
About a year ago the PDT Timer code was updated (to version 3.10) and can now use the small Adafruit 8x8 matrix displays to show finish order in conjunction with the normal displays showing finish time - for up to 4 lanes. Here is a build using this feature:

Image

Cool display update
The Adafruit 0.56" 7 segment displays utilized by the PDT timer were recently updated to include (in addition to the original 0.1" 4 pin header) two new 4 pin JST SH connectors. This greatly simplifies the wiring of the displays and allows them to be easily daisy-chained together. Here is a picture of the updated board/display:

Image

Current activites
There has been a bit of development activity on the PDT Timer recently and I will add another post in the next few days with more information.

Thanks,
David
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