I have been asked by a historical museum where I live to design a signaling system for their miniature railway ride. The system will be push-button controlled and have three different types of signals separated by a considerable distance of at least 50 to 100 feet between signals. The button will be connected to an Arduino Mega. Do I also need to connect a board to each of the signals and if so should I also use wireless communication between the boards?
You nave not described what these "signal" are and what they are signaling, etc.
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Generally speaking, if there’s no problem running wires between the various ppaces, wireless just adds an unnecessary level of complexity over relatively short distances.
A single controller should suffice, but a Mega will offer far greater expansion and connection options for a project like this.
I’d be thinking a small board of your own design at each signalling location with the desired drivers(relays or transistors), connected directly back to the central host controller. Simple parallel wiring, or SPI to reduce the number of wires.
More details will get more suggestions.
How are these RR Signals wired? Are they historic pieces, different?
Wasn't a lot of that telegraph technology?
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Always show us a good schematic of your proposed circuit.
Show us good images of your ‘actual’ wiring.
Give links to components. -
We often use isolated inputs when switches and sensors are at a distance.
Could try CanBus communication and depending on the wires, you could get up to 130ft.
Oops. I forgot to mention that two of the three signals are railroad type as the museum makes an effort to run the miniature railway like a real one. The two railway signals are of the upper quadrant semaphore and position light types. The third signal is off an automobile roadway, except that we at the museum have installed it with the green light on top as that is how railways operate.
The semaphore signal has a pre-wired 110V LED and stepper motor, the position light signal will use 12V automobile LED, and the colored lights are 110V LED with greed/amber/red lens as appropriate for the signal position. The museum is able to convert all of the 110V LED to 12V if needed. I would assume that the position based and colored lights will be switched by electrical relays.
Power is AC or DC? With 60VDC or less (DC) I'd use FETs rather than relays for cost and lower maintenance.
There was a time when you had to know train signals to make First Class Scout.
Check with regulations on this one .
It maybe classified as a safety critical application and come under legal controls if members of the public are involved .
If nothing else you need to look at fail safety , interlocking etc .. and your liability
Members of the public are not involved in operating the railway, which is really an amusement park ride with only one train on the main track at a time.
I meant members of the public riding upon it .
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Making each piece a smart module seems best. A plain cheap Arduino Nano board has pins that jumpers with a socket instead of pin end slides right onto. Nano is small and easy to install. Look up DuPont Cables, they make wiring easier!
I have no idea why you need a Mega2560. Not just for a button!
If you have clear line of sight to a smart RR-signal, a TV remote can be read as commands.
As far as I know, none of the railway or roadway signals are "smart", which is where the button comes in. This whole project was designed to give the average visitor to the museum a history lesson on the evolution of railway signaling.
I mean add a Nano board and IR reader or WIFI or BT or radio module to the exhibit circuits. Make them read signals and make the lights light and arms move on a per-unit basis. Arduino Nano is cheap and capable. Use one to make a remote if need be or make your own minimal boards and save some $.
The museum has strict safety protocols in place, including a minimum requirement of a two-person crew (onboard the train) that the train operator must hold a valid motor vehicle license.
I may try to put an Uno on each signal and use another Uno for the master controller. Shields would provide the signal drivers.
Does your state require an electrician with a low voltage license to install the wiring and equipment?
I'm not too into the New York legal requirements of this project but several of the museum's members are different types of trades people, so we have AV engineers, painters, mechanics, etc. We may have an electrician too, but everyone on staff is a volunteer during the hours we are open to the public.
Uno is a development board. For end products, a Nano or Mini is more suitable as it will fit in less space and make tight connection on the pins.
With expensive shields (compared to modules) you raise height needed and maybe can't hide the works inside the signal at all.
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We would be placing the electronic components (except for those already part of each signal) in a weather resistant box on the outside of each signal pole. Can anyone provide insight as to the code that would be needed for communication between the master controller and the board attached to each signal?