{"id":1032,"date":"2016-12-08T00:02:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T08:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenscaler.com\/?page_id=1032"},"modified":"2017-02-12T23:23:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T07:23:16","slug":"an-intro-to-model-railroading-with-arduino","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thenscaler.com\/?page_id=1032","title":{"rendered":"An Intro to Model Railroading with Arduino"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are looking for basic information and ideas on how to use Arduino boards on your model railroad layout, you’ve come to the right place.<\/p>\n

I happen to model in N scale, but everything I write about in this blog can work in any scale from G to Z. Everything I’m doing is independent of the locomotive control system, so most techniques and technologies work equally well on DC or DCC layouts. This is for all modelers in all scales using any control system.<\/p>\n

What is Arduino?<\/h4>\n

The Arduino Project<\/a> is one of the best known, and by far best developed open source<\/a>\u00a0microcontroller board systems on the planet. In their words<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It\u2019s an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Microcontrollers are integrated circuit chips that have the basic logic and input\/output capabilities that constitute a simple computer. Microcontroller\u00a0boards place that chip with a few essential external components on a board with power and ways to plug things in. Your program (called a “sketch<\/strong>” in the Arduino world) gets loaded into the chip’s permanent memory and runs efficiently with little overhead between your code and the device.<\/p>\n

\"Arduino<\/a>

Arduino Uno R3<\/p><\/div>\n

Arduino boards come in several designs that are broadly useful for model railroading. I recommend that model railroaders stick to the 5 volt boards<\/strong> for general purpose layout applications because the vast majority of sensor and actuator technologies use 5 volt logic. This will keep your life easy, and these are usually the least expensive boards in the family.<\/p>\n

The issue with the 3.3 volt boards is that 3.3 volt peripherals are less common than 5 volt ones. You can use a 3.3 volt board with a 5 volt peripheral, but you have to use a level shifting circuit between the board and the peripheral. Board-to-board serial communication between a 3.3 volt board and a 5 volt board would require level shifting.<\/p>\n

That said, 3.3 volt boards can be used where low power matters and you are not attaching to 5 volt peripherals; lighting applications come to mind. I haven’t gotten my hands on one yet, but I think its worth looking at the new MKR1000, a new 3.3 volt board that includes WiFi<\/a>. With WiFi solving your communication problem, this is a very attractive board for lighting and other 3.3 volt applications in far parts of the layout.<\/p>\n

The 5 volt boards most broadly useful for model railroading are:<\/p>\n