One thing I didn’t realize when I set about grafting the ARC ONE system onto my Carrera Go!!! track was that the controllers only had two wires, and thus no motor braking would be possible. The track is so short, and the turns so tight, you really do need the brakes, especially if the car has no magnets.
After a little searching, I found that these controllers could be purchased new for about 6 bucks. Cracking one open to see what it would take to add a braking contact and wire seemed pretty low risk.
Behold, a pretty basic wire wound resistor controller.
When the trigger is in the released position, it is held against a plastic stop that contacts the copper wiper. This is exactly what I was hoping for. Adding the brake contact could be accomplished by adding a piece of metal between the wiper and the stop, and running the wire out.
A quick measurement of the stop indicated a piece of 5mm OD brass tube could be cut to length and put into place.
In order to get a good bond via super glue, I crushed the tube down a bit.
Slip over stopper and add glue:
I opened up the exit from the handle to make sure the wires weren’t being crushed.
Reassemble, and add whatever connector to the new wire you are comfortable with. I like Anderson PowerPole connectors, although I haven’t totally decided how I’m going to implement these extra connections. This wire just needs to be connected to the ground on the low voltage DC side of the track set.
The only hang up I hit was that the two controllers I received were wired opposite of one another. In normal operation, it doesn’t matter where the two wires connect to inside the controller. One just needs to be on the wiper and the other on the resistor. However, once you want to ground the wiper, it suddenly matters which has 15Volts and which is just running out to the motor. You want the 15 Volt wire going to the resistor, and you want the other wire on the trigger/wiper. By luck, the first controller was wired as desired, and everything worked. I didn’t bother checking the second controller, and of course it was different. When I hooked everything up, the ARC ONE browned out, as the power supply was shorted to ground. So, I had to open the second controller back up and swap the wires in the handle. They are just attached with screws through eyelets, so this isn’t difficult.
I now have a completely functioning analog system with brakes along with computer timing and scoring for $40.
The original build of the End Raceway utilized a scratch built Arduino based timing system that I had constructed for a previous track. The initial build used stock Carrera Go thumb style controllers, which meant that the track was still set up for the “boost” feature. I was also still using the stock power supply and power base, which meant the current to the cars was limited to a very tiny amount (less than 0.1 Amps).
I began looking for solutions, and hatched a plan to scratch build a track power box, with independent lane voltages, drivers stations with call buttons, and TruSpeed PWM controllers. I even started acquiring some of the odds and ends. The plan was to have this box hang off the side of the track, and it would just be unplugged from the track and carried separately for transport. I had also continued to improve the software in my timing system box, and had a list of additional features to add (start lights, louder buzzer, etc).
For different reasons, I started looking at the Scalextric ARC offerings, and stumbled across the ARC ONE system. Adjustable sensitivity wired controllers, two sets of in slot IR sensors per lane, and of course Bluetooth connectivity and an app for timing and scoring seemed like a pretty incredible feature list for under $40. The only hurdle would be grafting that hardware onto a piece of Carrera Go track. What could go wrong?
The track and track table weren’t designed with this in mind. In order to fit the control box inside the frame of the table, it will have to be mounted separately from the track piece. Removing the screws from the bottom of the ARC ONE base separates the control from the track. There were also a few pieces of tape in there holding the wires in place.
I want to be able to connect and disconnect the control box from the track, so I cut out a pretty large access opening in the back of the housing:
Of course, the lane spacing is narrower on Carrera Go track than Scalextric 1/32 track. So, the PCBs holding the sensors had to be modified. I took a few measurements and concluded I needed to remove a little over 0.813″ of width. I used a metal cutting disc on a Dremel to make the cuts.
In order to reconnect the two halves, first I used a piece of duct tape to hold the two parts in the correct position relative to each other. Then, I flipped the board to have the green side up. I had to put some cocktail toothpicks underneath to support the board (instead of the IR sensors).
I used a small bit of sandpaper to remove the “green” coating on that side of the board, in just the areas I wanted to solder jumper wires. The copper layer is very thin so don’t get to heavy handed here. For the pieces of wire, I used individual strands from some stranded 22 gauge wire I had on hand.
One side is complete in the picture above. The other side complete in the picture below:
From here, I put a layer of thin CA glue all over the exposed PCB and the wires/soldering. This should provide a basic level of moisture protection. Then, I mixed up some two part epoxy and encased the whole area.
Because I intended to mount the control box a bit separated from the sensors, I spliced in 6″ extensions into all of the wires. The picture below shows one sensor wire completed with the loose wires ready to go into the other.
Next, I chose to do the cutting on the plastic track pieces. I went ahead and removed the metal rails and made the cuts on the plastic first. Then, made the cuts on the rails with them loose. I don’t know if this was necessary, but it made all of the cutting feel more controlled. I just used a drill to make some starting holes, then used a spiral upcut bit on the Dremel to hog out the rest. Not terribly pretty, but it came out okay in the end.
A reference view of the backside shown below:
Loose rails ready to be cut:
I checked the fit a few times as I was cutting.
Sensors in Place:
Sensors in place, another view. My handywork with the Dremel wasn’t great, but hopefully I’ll be able to fill/hide some of this later.
I had to extend the power wires as well. I just soldered them directly to the track. I’ve done this several times and never had an issue.
Here is how things sit right now, I have the control box just sort of hanging, and have been experimenting with the App side of things. I intend to mount the control with the connectors pointing straight up (perpendicular to the race surface) near where the wires are laying across the table top. This way, the module doesn’t overhang the table and will be protected in transit.
Once I finish up the installation, I’ll post some “final” pictures, but this was far enough along I thought I would share.
This is a pretty “low buck” option to upgrade a Carrera Go!!! track with reasonably performing Timing and Scoring. I will say, the hardware is really let down by the software/app side of things. The Scalextric ARC app is completely unusable. The Magic app is functional, but I haven’t figured out some of the quirks yet. It is just a shame that it has to be that way, as I think this system had a lot of potential to engage a younger crowd and perhaps people new to slot car racing in general.Â
A small update on the track build. A little bit of carpentry goes a long way.
Eliminating all of the little plastic risers and giving the track something solid to sit on makes a big difference. Even with the track not secured to the table, it is so much more stable.
I was also able to increase the clearance of the overpass a bit:
That semi tractor just barely clears.
I did discover a small problem with the layout itself that needed addressed. As the track originally sat, the long downhill back stretch was right against the oncoming lane of the inside loop. Wide cars, like the Corvette tended to get wedged under the incline! Not good.
To resolve this, I had to tweak a few pieces and ended up putting more strain into the plastic track than I would have liked (about half a track width). It is tolerable, and once I secure everything to the table shouldn’t be a problem.
Here is what the pieces I used look like in the track planning software:
When I “pull” the start/finish line piece down to the “long” straight it pulls the loops apart and generates the desired clearance.
If I’d made the table 34″ wide instead of 32″ wide, I could have used a different combination of parts that had zero strain and deliberately spaced the loops. Oh well.
My track length comes out to 6.91 meters, and the lanes are equal due to the cross overs.
There were a few issues with the folding table setup. One of them was that it wasn’t wide enough to have any “breathing room”. Another was that with no side skirts or outer walls, cars were hitting the concrete pretty frequently.
I could have chosen to build up from the folding table a small extension, fences, etc. However, I’d prefer something easier to move around. So, with that, I built a simple track table. The main sheet is 1/2″ plywood that is 32″ wide and 72″ long.
The lower framing is just pine 1×3 material. The legs were purchased from “Rural King”, and are made in America! The online reviews for the Chinese legs on Amazon or Home Depot were pretty dismal. FedEx delivered them to my house.
The upper walls are a mix of 1×8 pine and a strip of Plywood. The far corners are tied together with 2×2 cleats. It’s all joined with wood screws.
A little breathing room, but overall a similar layout. In order to even out the lane lengths, I opted for a set of cross overs. My son loves these, and they certainly make racing exciting. If things are too exciting in the long run, I can always remove them.
The size and weight of this are so far quite manageable. I can easily fit it in the back of my SUV, and the weight is light enough I can put it up on end and carry it in and out of the basement alone.
I also cleaned a few things up in this area and hung a new shop light over the table. The lighting makes a huge difference.
I have dabbled off and on with making a basic Arduino based slot car track timing system. I was dabbling with it again, and have it working pretty well. As luck would have it though, I didn’t currently have a track setup at home! This is a problem that must be resolved! As is true for most people, space is always at a premium. The is one reason I prefer 1/43 scale slot cars. As I looked around the basement, I spotted an open area that a folding table could be setup in unobtrusively, and set about doing what I could for a track:
I wanted something fun to drive on, and not too technical. Given the space, all of the turns are R1, with the exception of a single turn on the outer loop that is R2.
The biggest issue with this layout is that it is a double loop, compounding the lane length difference instead of reducing it.
However, this proved to me that I could come up with something interesting to build in this space, which is all I was after.
Emboldened by the initial experiment, I decided to pursue a more complete example. I had read about Single Lane Open Proxy tracks and decided this would be a great testbed.
I use Alibre Design for my CAD work, and I set about modelling a layout that would be interesting. Some eagle eyed readers will figure out what real life track I modeled this after and also immediately spot the mistake I made in the geometry. I printed the layout on 20 some odd sheets of regular paper on my printer, and had to put them together like a puzzle.
Overall sheet size is 27″ x 48″
The tedious bit was going around and cutting the slot out of the pattern, so I could mark it with a permanent marker on the foam.
With everything traced, I removed the pattern, and did my best to freehand the slot with my soldering iron router.
Having built a 4×8 “traditional” construction slot car table (which must weigh over 100 pounds), I have decided there must be a better way to go about constructing a track. Some search of the usual forums led to discussions of routing a track in XPS foam. This is the dense pink or blue foam (depending on which hardware store you go to).
I did some experiments with cutting a slot in this material. I tried a few different bits in my rotary tool, and while this worked, the remaining surface wasn’t great. The material wanted to tear and ball instead of cut.
I did some testing with a few different hot wire cutters, and decided the simplest solution was to just put a custom tip in a soldering iron and use that to burn the slot in. The burned in slot has nice smooth surfaces, with a bit of a hard “face” to them.
To make this process manageable, I designed a fixture to hold the iron perpendicular to the track surface. The whole fixture is 3D printed, and in the end looks a lot like a router.
