Designed a model railroad car that holds a Raspberry Pi Zero and camera module for first person view in real time from a model train. My dad and I have been working on this concept for a while and my latest idea was to put a micro servo on it to steer the camera. We 3D printed a mount with swivel for the camera that holds a servo and bent some stiff wire to make linkages.
My most recent improvement to the design was learning how to use Blender enough to model a 3-part power supply box to house a series of electrical modules to convert the track power into a stable 5V for the Pi and condensed it into a small box that fits on the car alongside the Pi and camera system. The box contains a rectifier, switching regulator module, lithium battery charger module, and battery.
I also modified a model railroad truck (wheel assembly) model I found on Thingiverse to add DIY power pickups, bent a bare copper wire into a makeshift spring that contacts the wheels and a place for the wires to attach that feed the power box.
I haven’t posted anything about my new design though, as I made my own flatbed car model while that one was a model I found on Thingiverse. The power circuitry was also on a separate car in that test which is why I made my power box design. The model railroad layout is at my parents’ house so I have a short loop of test track I’ve been using to test my new design at my house which is absolutely not as interesting.
Designed a model railroad car that holds a Raspberry Pi Zero and camera module for first person view in real time from a model train. My dad and I have been working on this concept for a while and my latest idea was to put a micro servo on it to steer the camera. We 3D printed a mount with swivel for the camera that holds a servo and bent some stiff wire to make linkages.
My most recent improvement to the design was learning how to use Blender enough to model a 3-part power supply box to house a series of electrical modules to convert the track power into a stable 5V for the Pi and condensed it into a small box that fits on the car alongside the Pi and camera system. The box contains a rectifier, switching regulator module, lithium battery charger module, and battery.
I also modified a model railroad truck (wheel assembly) model I found on Thingiverse to add DIY power pickups, bent a bare copper wire into a makeshift spring that contacts the wheels and a place for the wires to attach that feed the power box.
Wow, that’s really cool! You should totally post pictures or a video.
I made a post a few weeks back for our original design:
https://mastodon.social/@CalcProgrammer1/110456485998532640
I haven’t posted anything about my new design though, as I made my own flatbed car model while that one was a model I found on Thingiverse. The power circuitry was also on a separate car in that test which is why I made my power box design. The model railroad layout is at my parents’ house so I have a short loop of test track I’ve been using to test my new design at my house which is absolutely not as interesting.