Dave;
RFID is the way to go, the tags do NOT have a power source, they are powered by the radio frequency query signal. This is the same technology put in cats and dogs to identify them, aka "chips". Do a Google search on RFID. RFID is used in pallets on automate assembly lines identify the particular model on the pallet, record test data and other purposes.
Thank-you all for your interest.
The layout is at the Medina Railroad Museum. I thought that the barcode reader idea would be a solution on three levels.
1) We need to inventory all items in the museum - thousands of items - barcode them and enter them into the museum catalouge.
2) We have a hump yard on the layout with 26 tracks and hope to have it working soon. (Have 130 switch motors to wire up first). The barcode could be used to sort incoming cars and select proper staging track for outgoing trains.
3)Track train progress on the track. For actual train tracking we would probably only flag engine and last car/caboose.
We already have software to script trains, control blocks for signaling and control engines The biggest problem for the moment is the scanner - just haven't found the right unit. Most are way more complicated(expensive) than is necessary. The wand type is the right level of technology but most are for contact reading. I may try to hack one and see if I can increase the read distance. I figgered that I would probably have to change the light source to infared so it would not be seen by visitors looking at the layout.
Again thank-you,
Dave Moore
(Gaundyboss)
If one was going to try this I think RFID is the way to go. There are tint RFID tags, no battery needed. Expense is another matter, but that is coming down all the time. Do some googleing.
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
^ isn't that a micro chip thingy? But if my memory serves me correctly that stands for Radio Frequency IDenification. The only bad thing about it is that since the battery takes up space and isn't exactly pretty or to scale you'll need to put inside the car and that's not about to happen on flat cars and empty well cars, unless you don't expect anybody to look inside them when they lack container that poses a problem also.
So the barcode idea might be a better idea unless you don't have any of the cars metioned above and won't get any ever. Then the rfid is an equally good idea. But with the rfid you only need spare batteries and one reciever. With the barcode you need multiple scanners as mentioned earlier with rfid you will be buying batteries.
I think that they will cost the same but one might be more expensive than the the other but then theres the computer programming wich I have no idea about.
All the above is written as well my memory serves me.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
A suggestion, for what it's worth. Instead of trying to track every car in a train, if you are only concerned with whether or not there has been a derailment you need bar codes only on the engine and last car in the consist. If the engine passes the scanner and the last car doesn't, something's wrong!
All Electronics Corp., www.allelectronics.com, sells bar code reading wands for $5.00 (cat # BCW-2) and $6.50 (cat # BCW-3). They are about 1/2" diameter by 6" long, perfect for mounting beneath the track pointing up. From the illustration and from what I've seen used in stiores, most of the diameter is housing. Only 14" or less would have to be visible between the ties. The laser light seems to always be red so it would't be as noticible as a white penlight beam shining on car undersides.
Please do keep us posted on your progress! My operators would rather have printed switch lists than use car cards with pockets for smaller destination cards. But none of them want to keep track of the necessary information by hand or by keyboarding.
RedGrey62 wrote: There are many hand held scanners that you should be able to disassemble and get the reader from. They should fit well between the rails anywhere you like. Scanners do not need to operate in light, many use laser technology and provide their own light source.http://www.semicron.com/scannertips.htmlNow that you started this topic, it would be interesting to see if this could be used similar to real RRs. Track cars, make up trains, and decide what destination they need to go to. With the use of computers and DCC it would open up some interesting possibilities.Rick
There are many hand held scanners that you should be able to disassemble and get the reader from. They should fit well between the rails anywhere you like. Scanners do not need to operate in light, many use laser technology and provide their own light source.
http://www.semicron.com/scannertips.html
Now that you started this topic, it would be interesting to see if this could be used similar to real RRs. Track cars, make up trains, and decide what destination they need to go to. With the use of computers and DCC it would open up some interesting possibilities.
Rick
They some what do. They have these tower on the side of the right of way. These work almost work just like a barcode scanner.Tthey recieve the info from a plate on the side of a car.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
I used to build retail systems with barcode scanners. I think the biggest problem you wil have is the scanner itself. If you use small economical ones, it works by a trigger control to activate the scanner and so you will have to find a way to do that. Otherwise the more expensive constant-on or controlled by some kind of fuzzy logic ones will cost you considerably more per unit. And of coure, the bigger the unit, the larger the opening you will need. Just think about the ones you see in supermarket, that's a pretty big glass surface to have a reliable high speed read.
BTW, wow! That's a huge layout! Gives me a headache just to think about the amount of wires involved! LOL
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:You will need a white light to illuminate the bottom of the cars as they go over the scanner. Many people are of the mistaken idea that the scanner reads the black bars. Uh-uh! The scanner reads the white area between the black lines by the amount of light reflected back to the scanner. White reflects light, black doesn't.
I knew I should of listened in science class.
Wow, that's a BIG layout.
I guess you could do somthing like stores do. You could get a cheap bar code scanner, and make some bar coad lables. You could put the scanner in a place where no one can notice it (like in a tunnel, in between a rock cut, etc.) under you tracks. Then attach the bar code lables to the bottom of you cars or locomotives.
I would like to scan a barcode on the bottom of a moving HO car. This will allow a computer to track train progress on a large layout (14' x 204'). This layout is a demonstration layout that is usually watched over by one person. It is desired to run multiple trains in a script coordinated by a computer.
I thought that rather than re-wiring tracks into blocks with multiple occupancy sensors - all the commonly used ones have limitations - I would scan all the cars as they passed over a reader and if the next reader did not register all the train I would know that there was a problem (Derailment, uncouple, stall) and could alert operator and/or DCC Control to shut down.
I haven't been able locate a sensor/reader that would fit under the tracks and be able to read the barcodes. If anyone knows if this method has been inplemented before or of a sensor like a scanning wand with a .75" read range please let me know.
Thank-you for your kind consideration and assistance.