Model railway enthusiast Ken Shores decided to add a small tram line to his model railway layout to add realism for a region of his layout, and has a twin line with three stations, two of which are single-platforms before slip points. As part of operating fun it would be simple to add manual controllers, however Ken instead is developing an automated system based around an Arduino Mega-style board that allows to trams to operate automatically while observing the station stops. With the use of a motor shield for power delivery and directional control and several infrared/phototransistor combinations the Arduino can control the direction of the trams and also detect their position on the layout.
Although a work in progress, it's a fascinating project and we hope Ken moves forward with his documentation. Check out the project site for this and other interesting readings. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
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