Xlot's new digital track in progress....

(sorry for the delay)

These are pictures from the 3rd (and hopefully final) prototype - it's a 19.5 m track + pit lane, on a 6 x 1.6 m area

Happily it's a vast improvement, being cheaper and faster to build - I like a lot the new track material (3 mm thick HP laminate) which is extremely tough and comes with a surface finish fairly similar to Ninco - in fact, it was recommended by Italy's top track router who uses it in the more customary 0.9 mm incarnation
BTW, on my first experience with a CNC router, I chickened out and designed a slot width of 2.5 mm in the Xwitch area (as opposed to 2 mm elsewhere). Turns out accuracy is even higher than with a laser cutter, I'll keep that in mind for the future

You also see the LC actuator, which came out very simple - just an electromagnet and an L shaped rocker

I'll start the next series of running tests at the end of the month - I have selected a Scalextric Porsche 911GT3 (but a Slot.it 956 would do just as well) - I hardly need to touch the chassis at all, I'll just use the front body retaining screw post to install the new guide (you may remember it's 1.6 mm stainless steel tubing)

Actually, the toughest part will be waiting until year end for Scalextric to issue their electronics package - unless I somehow managed to get an advance copy - fat chance !! - or is there anybody who might intercede with Adrian on my behalf ??

Beppe

PS : Narcis, your idea (installing the LC LED directly atop the guide, so that the sensor in the slot will pick it up even if the car fishtails) is very good for a conventional slot track - for Xlot, however, it doesn't really matter because the decoder etc. ride in the guide pod, travelling in the channel below the slot - so they do not rotate

Well, I finally got hold of the guide parts

What you see in the first picture is the guide, as installed in a Scalextric Porsche 911GT3. The tip is electrically insulated from the rest, that's where the internal copper wire is connected

The second picture shows the complete assembly - the flat ring is part of the pod and rotates freely, there's a set screw collar to hold it in place and the spin return cam will be soldered to it

Ciao
Beppe

Hola Narcis,

having the car run in the opposite direction before it re-spins (a la Carrera Universal) with other cars on the same lane would have spectacular - but perhaps undesirable - consequences !!

What happens is that as soon as the car rotates beyond 60 degrees (with respect to the pod, which runs inside the channel and therefore does not rotate) a spring starts intervening. For rotations beyond 90 degrees this effectively jams the pod against the channel, and the car stops.
If you then give full power, the car wheelspins in place, rotates back to the correct direction and then takes off

As I said before, the new feature I'll be testing now is a cam action on the spring : so, if the car stops between 90 and 180 degrees, it will rotate back - but between 180 and 270 degrees it will do a full 360 - from what I've seen so far, this should be the most frequent occasion

Do let me know if you have time available - when the time comes to adapt the Scalex Digital electronics package, I'll need help !!

Ciao
Beppe

An update

I've completed the latest series of running tests on the 10 m half track, and I can say I'm pleased

- Track surface. Grip is satisfactory even with stock Scalex tires - probably slightly less than Ninco
There's a clickety noise as the pin guide goes from one piece to the next - I've put a 0.5 mm swage on slot entrance which seems to be the culprit, it's not needed and the next track will have far fewer discrete pieces

- LC. Silky smooth in one direction, a small bump in the other - can fix that, no problem

- Spin recovery. The new cam/spring action is a real beauty !!
I can keep the trigger fully pressed all the time and (depending on accumulated speed) the car will either do a 150 degree spin, stop, rotate back with wheels spinning and restart or do a full pirouette [ er, to be totally honest this works when the car's on the inside lane and spins on the track - the green Forex "lawn" is too slippery and I'll have to paint it with anti-skid - but again, for the next track I'll use HP laminate for the lawn as well] Of course this must look rather weird to a traditional slot racer !

Well, I'll take a rest in August. Come September, I'll rent additional space in the car park and proceed at a leisurely pace with the other track half.
When Scalextric Digital finally becomes available, things will get serious !!

Ciao
Beppe

Julian/slik is a real master : he worked wonders with the crude "movie mode" (??) camera material I gave him

What you see is the spin recovery mechanism in action, and of course it can be modulated - right now it's very quick, which is good for not holding up following cars and minimizing the "window of vulnerability" with the other lane - but perhaps a bit slower would be nicer (thoughts of putting in a shock absorber from RC cars )

I've noticed that as the track gains traction, the car doesn't seem to make 360 degree spins any more - so maybe I'll shelve the cam concept and go back to spring/lever, I can modulate return torque better this way

I'd like to seek advice on one thing : I'm not quite happy with the 2 mm slot still being visible. I selected a dark gray track (a lighter gray is also available), and I tried painting the bottom of the channel black (no, even more marked), white (no, it shows) before settling for medium gray - at some viewing angles the slot disappears, but mostly it's still there
I wonder if lighting the track from below would help

Other than that, SSD's arrival is suddenly imminent and the rent for the adjoining space in the car park runs from today ! I've already bought the wood for the track's second half, and you'll be relieved to know that I'll be rather busy for the next two months

Ciao
Beppe

From the moment I saw PDL's concept for a Cox motorbike track in the seventies, I knew this question would come up !

Well, there are a couple of issues :

- Moto GPs are what, 1/18 scale - a 2 lane track looks terribly narrow, if you make it wider you need more space, and floor space is expensive for the revival of commercial tracks that is my ultimate goal

- for the pendulum/counterweight to work, the channel under the slot should be deeper than the 20 mm I've adopted - so I'd need to redesign the track

But I guess that basically, I'm not a bike person (sorry Edo & Thomas) - as much as I like the mechanics, the rare times my sons give me a lift on their maxiscooter in Rome, I kiss my kneecaps goodbye !!

Everybody, thanks for your encouragement - it's very much needed/appreciated - expect an update in a few days

And, once the basic work is done, I think there is a way to introduce actual understeer in the cars - it'll be a scratch builder's hog heaven !!!

Ciao
Beppe

Well, I've assembled the base, pinned down track pieces and cut out lawn parts for the second half of the track - this is roughly 20% progress, and confirms my estimate of 400 man-hours being needed for the entire track. Of course working alone it's a pain in the backside, but for three people it would be actually fun (hint, hint)

I should complete it by mid November - SSD will be on sale in Italy by the end of October, take two weeks for the adaptations.... hey, that's good planning !!
Seriously, I expect to have digital cars running by mid December

One feature of the layout I particularly like : entrance to the pit lane is from the "normal" semi-lane, while exit is on the much less trafficked "overtaking" semi-lane. All the same, there will be an interlock preventing ingress if a car is approaching (actually, it's part of the anti-collision interlock in the LC before) - don't call me a control freak, it's just that with restrained cars collisions are definitely a no-no

getting there, inexorably.....

The first picture shows the track assembly method : quite simple and forgiving, if a bit long

I've also been thinking about Tropi's suggestion that the automatic drive-through penalty on spinning is not needed - it has the additional merit of making my life simpler, so I'll adopt it and see what happens

Further thoughts on track layout : in the present configuration, it's 19.5 m long on two 3 x 1.6 m modules. With SSD, I'll run 6 cars and I figure up to 8 could be accomodated when (not if) higher capacity/ampacity aftermarket electronics packages become available - that should be right for commercial tracks, where floor space is at a premium
But for a club track, the two modules can be expanded like a domino : inserting another module in the middle (and just one more LC) you get a nice 30 m track for 12 cars, add one more in a T and you reach the ultimate 16 car capacity

Hi Cools,

thanks for the tip - I'll keep that in mind (if I ever get to the stage where I can deal with aesthetics ! )

I still think, though, that the solution is "optical" : there's a 2 cm chamber between the base board and the track surface where one could fit some "cold" lighting, the idea being that indirect light would seep out from the slot and hopefully hide it

By the way, you can see from the pictures that wiring for a digital track is very simple : you only need two contacts, as same polarity strips are in parallel - what with the oversize braid I'm using, I figure you could run digital wing cars on it !!
I'm leaving braid pigtails at each junction, and use hi-tech quick release connectors (namely laundry pins)

Ciao

Beppe

Et voila !!!!

So, the track is done - now, as soon as SSD becomes available in Italy, things will get interesting

The other good news is that I've met the owner of a largish CNC shop : he has no less than 5 routers, the smallest being the same as the one that cut my track pieces, the largest a 7 x 3 m, 5 axis monster
He likes my project, and has already sketched out how the track can be made almost entirely on the machines - no tooling required !

Planning is now :

- run tests on the prototype with SSD until February

- make a 2 module, pre-production track in March with 8 cars

- add a third (middle) module in June, and go to 12 cars

- ........

Beppe

Hi Jim,

since you asked....

I don't visualize a glass top, but yes I'm planning to test market the pre-production track to bowling alleys : they have the space/infrastructure, are accustomed to a modicum of maintenance (unlike video arcades) and aren't doing too well generally with their traditional line

And yes, my main functional requirement has always been that it must be suitable for rentals - "conventional" slots aren't, I remember only too well the dire results when this was tried in the sixties

That said, I'm making no bones about the aspiration that this provide the basis for a real revival of slot racing, bringing it back to the status of most popular model hobby bar none - if the two gentlemen in white don't take me away first !!

Ciao

Beppe

P.S. : one limitation I've found is that Xlot doesn't cater to my recently discovered vocation for nerfing - but you'll be much more relaxed when we meet again