Electronically Guided Model Car Steering - I Think....

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davidwp
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Electronically Guided Model Car Steering - I Think....

Post by davidwp »

As noted last year in my thread in ‘Who Are You’ http://www.magracingforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=70, I have been interested in what I call ‘magnetically steered’ model vehicles for several years. I currently have a 1:24 scale garden railroad and have done some experimenting with adding vehicles in motion. Just last year, I discovered the Madurodam Netherlands 1:25 scale outdoor historical model display with vehicles that are in motion on the streets of the display.

I corresponded with a young lady at Madurodam who answered my request for information about those ‘magnetically steered’ vehicles. Her reply was:

- “We do not work with magnets, but with an induction system. Our vehicles are seeing electronics that the magnetic field creates a thread that has been put on an alternating detect.
The strength of the field is in the electronics compared to a 'eikwaarde' (a friend told me that ‘eikwaarde’ means ‘a fixed setting’), if the field is weaker than the 'eikwaarde' then it controls the steering motor to the wire and the breastplate by the vehicle freshening field of the wire is sent.” (I have no idea what that 'breastplate" comments means!?)

Overall, I assume that their buried wire has a constant voltage applied which creates a constant magnetic field around the wire. When the vehicle tries to leave the wire, an electronic signal in the vehicle detects the weaker magnetic field and actuates an electric steering motor which returns the vehicle to the strongest magnetic path, keeping the vehicle on the road above the wire.

That ‘active’ steering method makes sense for vehicles that run outdoors on very bumpy ‘cobblestone’ roads. It also answers my question about why all the vehicles are large; even the Chrysler sedan is a stretched limousine. Apparently, since there is electrical draw for the steering as well as for the motor to power the vehicle, a lot of room is necessary for batteries. The vehicles stop automatically at plates in the road with raised contacts to recharge the vehicle as seen in this video at 12 seconds. http://youtu.be/e4XKSIpvcyA

Other Madurodam videos:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/SIn4yJ0mPBY[/youtube] - Chrysler Limo

[youtube]http://youtu.be/ctoH3XureMg[/youtube] - Red Delivery Van

[youtube]http://youtu.be/w79JH4weUyQ[/youtube] - Many different vehicles, including a 747!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/D9lojDRcvpQ[/youtube] - Several views and vehicles, including a functioning off-road vehicle at 15:02

I know this is somewhat off topic for the mag racing forum, but it does present insight into how larger scale mag racing cars might be steered.

Any comments?
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