Hi,
I want to make a finish line for those Pinewood Derby Races except I'm using Hot Wheel cars. There is only 1 company that makes one that uses photo sensors that isn't adversely affected by sunlight and it cost around $300.
So I want to make a mechanical one using tilt switches. As the car passes under the Finish Line it hits a loosely hanging tab that is centered in the middle of the lane. On top of the tab is a tilt switch which is activated from the cars impact.
There would be 4 lanes each one with a light above it. The first one to trigger flashes thus indicating the winner. Something along these lines:
The electrical theory behind most of the circuits in this class of is pretty simple. An LED, SCR and even Neon lamps are current devices. That is, they trigger at some specific voltage level and go into conduction and will remain in conduction until the current source is removed. Where there are multiple branches in a circuit sharing a limited current source only one device will have enough current to function. The first device to 'fire' uses the current and subsequent triggers to devices on other branches have no effect. In this way the first car to trigger the respective lane circuit gets the win.
I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with the electronic part of this project. I simply don't have $300 to spend on new one.
Thanks,
Wendell
I want to make a finish line for those Pinewood Derby Races except I'm using Hot Wheel cars. There is only 1 company that makes one that uses photo sensors that isn't adversely affected by sunlight and it cost around $300.
So I want to make a mechanical one using tilt switches. As the car passes under the Finish Line it hits a loosely hanging tab that is centered in the middle of the lane. On top of the tab is a tilt switch which is activated from the cars impact.
There would be 4 lanes each one with a light above it. The first one to trigger flashes thus indicating the winner. Something along these lines:
The electrical theory behind most of the circuits in this class of is pretty simple. An LED, SCR and even Neon lamps are current devices. That is, they trigger at some specific voltage level and go into conduction and will remain in conduction until the current source is removed. Where there are multiple branches in a circuit sharing a limited current source only one device will have enough current to function. The first device to 'fire' uses the current and subsequent triggers to devices on other branches have no effect. In this way the first car to trigger the respective lane circuit gets the win.
I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with the electronic part of this project. I simply don't have $300 to spend on new one.
Thanks,
Wendell