I’ve been a programmer for a long time, but never dabbled much into electronics.
Our kart club is currently undergoing a major track upgrade, which will require at least 2 extra remote controlled caution lights (ie Yellow flags, blue flags and red flags)
So this is a good time to replace the system with modern tech instead of extending the old one.
There are commercial options out there, but I’m thinking a DIY system will be way cheaper and more flexible.
So I am wanting to make an Arduino prototype of what might be possible.
Are there any coverings that would boost the reflection/intensity?
Run on a 12v battery all weekend (Solar might come in stage 2 if this is successful)
170m RF range
There is lots of interference at a kart track between kart engine electronics and timing device wifis (Each kart has a timing system that can connect to wifi)
Will this need a decoder?
What kind of aerials?
Central control unit
Located in control tower (Can be powered)
Touch screen display for control primary functions
Could also be remote button controlled
Connect to wifi/network for timing system data
Control all remote units via RF at same time.
Control separate instructions to tower /scoreboard units
Eg: Black+ orange flag/kart number
Chequered flag
Remote control unit
Located outdoors at flag points 1 to 5
Battery powered
Individually controlled yellow light
Individually controlled blue light
Centrally controlled red light (ie All red)
Large LED display
Secondary RGB indicator on back of light so tower knows light is operational
Scoreboard
Similar to remote control units
Large LED display
Will act independently of the caution lights and use a feed from the timing system
eg: The kart numbers of the top 3 on track
Other options
Animations for fun (Club logo, moving arrows, sprites etc)
This may need some more CPU/memory
I am assuming I could use the power and connections of the Giga, but being unavailable maybe the Mega is the best option?
LED Display: The 32 x 16 RGB LED Matrix Display you mentioned should work fine for displaying caution lights and other information. However, keep in mind that these displays can consume a lot of power, especially if you’re driving them at full brightness. To maximize battery life, you may need to adjust the brightness or duty cycle of the display based on ambient lighting conditions.
Weatherproofing: You will need to find a suitable enclosure for the LED display and the Arduino board that is weatherproof and can withstand outdoor conditions. You could use a commercial weatherproof enclosure or build your own using waterproof materials like PVC or polycarbonate.
Power: You mentioned that you want to run the system on a 12V battery. Make sure you choose a battery with enough capacity to power the system for an entire weekend. You could also consider using multiple batteries or a solar panel to recharge the battery during the day.
RF Range: The 170m range requirement may be challenging depending on the terrain and interference in the area. You could use a higher power transmitter or a directional antenna to improve range. Alternatively, you could consider using a different wireless technology like LoRa or Zigbee that are designed for longer range communication.
Decoding: You will need to encode the messages sent over the RF link to ensure that the remote units can correctly interpret the commands. You could use a simple protocol like Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) or Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) to transmit the commands.
Central Control Unit: A touchscreen display like you suggested would be a good way to control the system. You could use a Raspberry Pi or other single-board computer to run the control software and communicate with the remote units over the RF link.
Remote Control Unit: Battery-powered remote control units with individually controlled lights and a secondary RGB indicator are feasible. You could use a low-power wireless module like the nRF24L01+ or the HC-12 to communicate with the central control unit.
Scoreboard: A separate scoreboard unit that uses data from the timing system is a good idea. You could use a similar LED display and wireless module as the remote control units.
Animations: Adding animations may be possible, but it will depend on the processing power and memory of the Arduino board you choose. The Mega may be a better choice than the Uno or Nano if you need more resources.
Testing: Be sure to thoroughly test the system in a controlled environment before using it on the track. Check that the system is reliable and can withstand outdoor conditions. It may also be a good idea to have a backup system in case of failures.
Hi Paul
Boy, some project. All of Rooppoor’s statements need to be considered. Plus a few more suggestions I have which are not necessarily electronic in nature.
The above statement re higher power RF transmitter will have to be watched. There are severe limitations on this depending on the category of the network. Directional (higher gain) antennas are a good option for point to point use. Interference depends on whether you use one of the public frequency bands or a licensed system. Public means what it says, everybody can use it hence the power limitations. Directional antennas can minimise this.
This has all the earmarks of a much larger project than the usual home build so there are a few important things to consider before starting.
Does the Go Kart club own the premises or do you have to dismantle this gear every time it is used. I would assume that as there is an existing system it can be permanent.
This is going to involve a lot of physical building and making expertise. Do you have the people with these skills. I assume everything is going to be voluntary among the members and possibly friends.
It would be good if not essential if you have someone with the necessary skills to act as Project Manager.
I think there will be so many doing different things that someone to oversee the whole thing is a must or you may finish with so much confusion that you (as in Kart club) will dig a hole that will be very difficult to get out of. You need to find someone prepared to put in the time and do this too.
Try to take a modular approach and not try everything at once. That way most problems can be sorted early and fixes applied to subsequent modules.
Have lots of intelligent discussions and get your requirements and plan on paper before you start anything. Everybody has to be on the same page here.
Don’t remove any of the old system before you have something working to replace it with. If you adopt the suggested modular approach you may be able to replace the old system gradually and have bits of both working side by side. With this in mind you may well be able to get the extended extra bits working first. Nothing worse than finishing up with nothing and the next race meeting is to-morrow.
I believe you will get a lot of assistance from this Forum. This is where a project manager is pretty essential. you will need someone who knows everyones capability and have discussions to sort out the relevant and not so relevant information. Remember this is a bit more than a lounge room build and needs to be done properly or you could be disappointed at the end of the day.
If you’re looking to get a range of around 170 meters and use the publicly available bands then one of the RFM69 or RFM9X radio modules may be a good fit. There are quite a few variants of them, running at either 433MHz or 900MHz, they also come available as regular packet radios or LoRa radio variants.
I’ve linked an FAQ comparing the range of each option for consideration. Having an outdoor setting will certainly help, though as you and Bob have already mentioned the possible interference either from your equipment/karts on site, or other users nearby radio systems may impact the range or performance of radios using the public band significantly.
I’d start by deconstructing this project into as many discrete parts as possible and testing each system on its own before attempting a full system integration. Starting with just two radios and doing a few experiments on site to see what kind of range you get and reliability before taking the plunge would go a long way to preventing surprises later on.
We’ve embedded one of the RFM69 units into our PiicoDev transceivers with an emphasis on ease of use and integration, though our testing found they could do up to 100 meters. You will likely need a different variant to get the extra 70 meters of transmission range.
Hi @Paul245602
One aspect of your system which is not directly addressed, but which I think is required - a failsafe mode.
You mention that that you need to be able to indicate various colours to manage track incidents. If based on the Formula 1 colours - i.e. local managed blue for overtaking, local/central managed yellow for marshals on track/slow zone, and central managed red for race stopped … As at least two these are safety related.
Should all displays be monitored via a type of watchdog / answer-back model to ensure display is powered and working, receipt of command, and correct display showing.
What signals have priority - i.e. red > yellow > blue > green ???
What mode should the display go into on loss of signal?
What indication back to the central system for local yellow?
etc
I am thinking along the lines of an Emergency Stop system for the show control systems I used to build, where we had a closed loop E-Stop system (everything stops on break of loop), plus local (central monitored) closed loop Local Stop systems (current area stops on break of loop), that also were all integrated into the general building Evacuation / Warning Indicator System … (building evacuation alert triggers full E-Stop). Break of loop is a simple as the E-Stop button being pressed, OR an actual break in the loop caused by mechanical damage etc.
(We were controlling large hydraulic motion bases carrying 160 people with 800 horsepower (old numbers) drive plants)
Don’t get me wrong - love DIY and all the possibilities you have mentioned - but you may need to think about be potentially dealing with a critical safety system.
The current lights are powered by 12 volt 7ah batteries
They are only only at certain brief periods, they don’t usually flash all day (Unless you are having a very bad day)
RF range is currently achievable with line of sight and our existing remotes
(I don’t have technical details handy of the frequency)
While there is a mesh wifi at connection covering a large area I think we will stick with RF
The current external lights are portable (But we do own the facility; its Ballarat Kart Club BTW)
ie We lock them in the club rooms, and charge the batteries before events.
Long term it wouldn’t be bad to make them permanent and wired/solar, but for this project they can remain portable.
We have good connections with engineers, teachers and others on the committee at the club, so its not like its an entirely solo project.
For the failsafe - The main failsafe is the indicator on the back
ie If the outdoor display is facing away from the tower, there is a small replica light on the back so the person controlling it knows it triggered the right flag point.
Whenever the lights are not working at the moment (Flat battery, remote being tricky etc)- that means we get volunteers to man the flag points the old fashioned way with actual flags
This isn’t the same safety level as a rail crossing.
It should be robust and reliable, but I don’t expect it to never have an issue.
Yes certain signals have priority (Red override all on all devices), but I have enough programming experience to take care of that.
Hi Paul,
All good with the human fallback/failsafe … I haven’t actually counted so I not sure in the Formula 1 arena whether the flag marshals outnumber the light systems they use or vice versus … and whether the lights there are only for ‘doubling down’ on the marshals and/or odd view angles.
