Hello all I am in the middle of a crazy idea! I'm creating a computerized controller for a motorized turntable. i came across this turntable on the internet and when i looked at it i noticed it had a toggle switch to control the position of the turntable. Its a cool table in its self but i thought it might be kinda hard to line up the track just right so im creating this! it has 20 programmable positions that you can set up, Just press the button and the turn table will go to the pre-programed spot. i also made it very easy to setup, all you have to do is select the position of your track in degrees. ie position one is at 20 degrees position 2 is at 36 degrees and so on. if there is another turn table manufacture out there please let me know this turntable is about 1800$ so if you know of a cheaper one tell me also if you think this is a dumb idea tell me i wont be upset lol. let me know what you guys think.
I would like to see this one computerized for sure. There is a much smaller roundhouse set up at the East Coast Large Scale train show that is fully computerized and so is loco. It's only a two stall round house, but the computer controls a loco by current I'm guessing, but the loco comes out onto the turntable and stops, then the turn table then spins to the next stall and the loco backs into the other stall. It's neat to watch.
Is this a hand-built unit? The turntable available now for standard gauge that I'm aware of is by Lotus Lokstation in Austria. Willkommen in der Lotus Lokstation They have had one for many years after both Pola and LGB discontinued their turntables. The LGB one and the Pola one were meant for narrow gauge locomotives, both really only meant for indoor use and they were also very shallow so people could set them up with regular trackwork. Indexing was mechanical, there was a contact at every track position that would open to stop the bridge at the right point. I have also seen a few turntables advertised in Garden Railways, but those were also narrow-gauge turntables but US prototype. And finally, heyn in Germany makes really small turntables for field railways. Lotus Lokstation expanded their turntable offering just recently by offering three different sizes, the largest one with a long enough bridge (120cm or about 4 ft) to handle a Big Boy. They also make transfer tables of different sizes.
the unit itself is designed to communicate with car computers, we designed them at the place i work. i write program code that runs the hardware so it wasn't hard to make it run a single motor. i'm an electrical engineer so this kind of thing is right up my ally. if any of you have any ideas on ways i can make this better please let me know.
Not better but different. Your approach is fine, but when I run the trains outside I use a wireless control and it would be nice to control the turntable that way too. The easiest from a user point of view is just have a left and right button which one pushes to start the turntable moving in that direction. If you want the bridge to line up with the next track, you only give it a short push and the bridge would line up with the next track and stop - if you continue to hold the button, the bridge would continue to turn until the button is released and then stop lined up with the next track after you release the button. Different operation which probably doesn't allow you to use the technology you use now. I would be interested to know which motor you use to turn the bridge. Is it a stepping motor or just an electric motor that drives the bridge through some gears. With a regular electric motor, I was wondering how you ensure that the tracks line up when the turntable is used over a period of time. Is there some position feedback mechanism?
wifi ant+ zigb and bluetooth I will have to have a feedback system of some kind in order to keep my tracks lined up. as far as the motor goes im using a standard electric motor not a stepper. the wireless option is a great idea, it might take a bit more time to develop a wireless system though. This is the unit that will control the motor. it will have to be fitted with a wireless system of some kind...wifi ant+ zigb and blue-tooth its in a waterproof case for outdoor use.
the hardware im using is overkill for this kind of task, the box is designed to pulse 5 nitrous solenoid in a kit that we design. It should make for a very cool project in the end.
