Cool project Kim! Hurry up and light this one up! I can't wait to see it lit! Is this the truck that runs by itself from a battery, and follows a wire under a road?
Yep this is the smart Truck I have been talking about. All you need to do is hide a wire under the road, over a bridge, around a mountain or where ever and it will follow it. It has 4 sensors for Auto headlight, Stop/RR crossing, Slow/Turns and Traffic in front/Tailgate. I was reluctant to post details since I was not sure if it would work but I think it will so here are some more pics I have on my computer. First made a PCB to fit in Started to add components Just realized it is a mirror image when the second chip did not fit!!!!! I had to re do the PCB... Found a good Li-Polimer battery to fit in the truck I will post all details after I finish and if it works. Kim
This is the website we purchased the motors from. In my opinion, they are toooooooo slow. The motor itself, without the planetary gear attached is slow at 3 volts. It is not like any other small pager motor that whines at 23,000,000 RPM. :teeth: I connected 3 volts of power and using a flat jewelers file, I slowly filed down the pulley end into a shaft that snugly fits the Marklin worm gear on it. This is the first mechaniZm I have tried for this MOW truck. I fabricated a second version that used a Marklin shaft with a worm and regular gear on it. I fashioned a small gear, with counterweight to a small 9volt, 4mm, pager motor and this version operated somewhat similar to the first version. The third mechaniZm I now have, and like, utilyZes a Marklin worm gear directly attached to the 4mm pager. This makes the mechaniZm run super slow and at 7,85 volts, it would zip by your fastest 0-6-0 Marklin loco. Very good speed range. I'll post photos later of the third mechaniZm. This version will completely hide the motor inside of the truck shell where as the first and second would have protruded out of the back. Hobo Tim
MOW Mechanizm Test Beds Here are the photos of the MOW MechaniZm test frames!!! The left shows the first version, the center shows the parts used to power the second version, and the right shows the third version!!! The motor on the third version is a 3 pole, 4mm, 9volt, pager motor made by Motorola. Small but powerful!!!!!!!! Here is a side photo! I will probably put a similar counterweight on the third version as is on the second, except between the worm and the motor. Again, the third version can operate super slow or super Zipping fast!!! Hobo Tim
Tim, Where did you find a 9 volt 4mm pager motor? All of my pager motors are between 1.5 and 5 volts. Thanks. Dan S.
WOW! Those are the same than the trucks I saw in the Hamburg miniatur wunderland layout, and they were in HO scale, OMG! and now it can be done in Z scale!!? Kim Did you create your own the electronics design or did you copied a HO models component? What's next? Putting one of those in a z scale car?mg: I'm realy curious to see those in movement. Great job. Ben
9 volt motors This post is dedicated to the memory of Bill Kronenberger, for without his constant contribution in helping Z scale grow, I would have never found out about these tiny 9 volt motors!!! Thanks Bill! Here is the web address to the site!!!!! http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G13566&variation=&aitem=1&mitem=1 Will take you to the right page!!! Hobo Tim p.s. This site has other goodies too!!!!
Thanks, Tim. Funny thing is that I placed an order with them last week. I'm glad you put the link in directly to the motor, since I must have overlooked it a hundred times. Another question. How did you get the little vibrator weight off? I have about a 30% success rate at best. Thanks again. Dan S.
Ben, The ones in Hamburg is a slightly different concept than mine in the sense the hamburg vehicles are controlled to go where it has to and back and I did not like the looks of a magnet scraping the road that is seen in the front of the vehicle. I wanted my trucks to be as autonomous as possible, if there is one truck on the road you can predict its path as per its program and road signs but if you put more than one in the same or crossing paths then it is random to some extent and will be interesting to watch like what will happen if two trucks come to a all way stop sign who has the right of way, if one truck is slower than the other then what?, there are many things that makes its path random if there are more than one truck on the road. I made my own circuit and program quite some time back and put it away since I could not effectively control the speed of the motor. Lately I figured out how to get good speed control and also promised to finish it for the NMRA meet next weekend. So I am hoping to have it running by Wednesday, that will give me some time to make the roads. I am also curious to see if it will work, because there is no way for me to do a test run without putting everything in place. Kim
Dremel Dan, I use a diamond disk with my Dremel to CAREFULLY remove the "Crimped" section of the vibrator weight. This relieves the crimp pressure and makes removing the weight easy. I have taken on of these motors apart to find a 3 pole DC motor inside. When you remove the rubber boot from around the motor you will see the motor is made for higher than 1.5-3 volts. Strong inners! It's got GUTZ! Hobo Tim
Tim, Thanks a lot for the Pager-motor Link, unfortunately they dont ship to Europe.:unlove: I was long time searching for such engine for small parkway train. And I would be happy to buy a bundle. Could there be another source for this little juwel ? Kim, I am sitting on hot charcoal to see forward your crazy projects. Just amazing.
That would be great, If somebody think to order 100, I would be happy to take 10 :w20z6q: and pay him directly by paypal.
Tim, Thanks for the info. That is actually pretty close to my final method (after i gave up on trying to drive it off). I use a file to remove the narrow side of the vibrator weight. The Dremmel is probably substantially faster. Next question: Where do you get your worm gears? Thanks, Dan S.
Marklin Worm Gears Dan, the worm gears are from some 0-6-0 locos. I searched the Marklin database of parts and can find the worm gear listed by itself. They do not sell it separately. Sucks Greatly! Have to strip a cheap Marklin loco if you want the worms. Now, if you find a source, please let me know!!!!! Hobo Tim
If anyone's interested, I made a very short video of my hi-rail in action. It is seen running on Railcraft Code 40 flex about as slow as it will run reliably, although it is capable of running slower under ideal conditions. The clip is the second entry on this page: http://whiteriverandnorthern.net/videos.htm
Tim, The worm gear is a part of the motor but you can get the worm gear which with the toothed gear like in the picture you posted for euro 4.24 at lokshop Here is the part #. Antriebsschnecke mit Welle 261460 Checkout the marklin PDF file which gives the blown up drawings with part numbers and you can order any part you see in that catalog from Lokshop. I once ordered a ton of spare parts to try to make a big boy I am glad I did it was in DM then but after the Euro the exchange rate has gone up so much it is nearly double price now. Kim
How do you find anything on that lokshop site? Even when I switch it to English I still can't understand half of it and there is no search function. I would like the gear that fits to the 2-8-2 motor shaft.
I bought so many stuff from Lokshop I am very familiar with the shop. I even know they update the English database a month or more after the German ones are updated, to get to the lokshop database go to http://www.lokshop.de/e_default.htm on the left click on Prices/Infos/ Stock indication daily update then click on • Märklin on the left Then you can download the complete file with part numbers and cost, remember to get the files without VAT. Kim
