# The Hauntington Hotel - Home-built Dark Ride



## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Many home haunters look at garage dark rides as the ultimate extension of what we can do.

I have collected a list of similar rides over the years. I'll have to post it later since it's at home. Terror on the Butte is the first one that ever got me thinking about the possibility of building one in the distant future.


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## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

HauntingtonHotel said:


> In the 80's, the owners of Six Flags begun work on a Ghostbusters-themed Interactive Dark Ride that was never built. The ride would have been well ahead of its time, as it was prepared to incorporate IR "laser guns" into the ride itself, essentially combining a Dark Ride (similar to The Haunted Mansion) with an interactive shooting gallery. You can read more about the ride here: slashfilm.com


Wow. So much denial. There was no way Bally was going to install any sort of haunted attraction or dark ride after the 1984 Haunted Castle fire at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. That Ghostbusters dark ride was dead years before Bally sold Six Flags.

Good luck with your home haunt interpretation.


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

I love the notion, and will be pulling for you to have tremendous success with this!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Blarghity said:


> Wow. So much denial. There was no way Bally was going to install any sort of haunted attraction or dark ride after the 1984 Haunted Castle fire at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. That Ghostbusters dark ride was dead years before Bally sold Six Flags.


Sadly, the original link I posted was merely a photo gallery of the concept art. I've updated the link. All the detail I was able to obtain on the original ride came from an interview with Roger Hector from 2600connection.com (http://www.2600connection.com/interviews/roger_hector/interview_roger_hector.html). He may very well be in denial, because in the interview, he clearly places blame on Bally's sale of Six Flags. It's curious why they would even allow that project to be greenlit to begin with given the events of 1984.

I just read up on the Haunted Castle fire. It's a good reminder that safety always needs to come first.


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## DarkhavenManor (Sep 27, 2014)

Such a shame, I love the rough sketches of the façade. Really looking forward to following your journey!


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

The conclusion I've come to from reading about the ventures into home made dark rides are:
1 - It costs ALOT more than they originally budgeted for because 
2 - There is ALOT of trial and error
Those 2 points alone are why most don't succeed that have tried......Something else to take into consideration is the amount of storage space you'll need to house all the track, car, props, etc in the off season.... I'm glad to see you plan to use the center rail for power....Some of the home made designs I've seen scare me at the thought of the car coming off the track and still having power to keep powering away into who knows what?!.....BTW, I don't know if you've ever seen or heard about it but Kennywood Amusement park has a shooting gallery haunted house called Ghostwood Manor....You can see it here 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duhObAQpFeU
Like a lot of people, I LOVE dark rides and it's one of my favorite things to do in the summer.....Another great place to read about dark rides is laff in the dark http://laffinthedark.com/ They just uploaded some great footage of a dark ride in NJ called Gillian's Haunted House...Here's the article
http://laffinthedark.com/articles/gillians/ghh_P1.html 
They uploaded 4 great videos here
In the dark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbGRUStY_c
In the light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3l6LpWApmg
Wayne talks about the Haunted House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypA0pYcDv-c
Gillian's Haunted House Stunt Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwSpWsjW_YQ

Anyway Good Luck on your venture, keep us posted on the progress and welcome to the forum!....ZR


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## Saruman of Many Colours (Sep 8, 2010)

ZombieRaider said:


> Another great place to read about dark rides is laff in the dark http://laffinthedark.com/ They just uploaded some great footage of a dark ride in NJ called Gillian's Haunted House...Here's the article
> http://laffinthedark.com/articles/gillians/ghh_P1.html
> They uploaded 4 great videos here
> In the dark
> ...


Thanks for the link. A nice write-up on Gilllian's Haunted House in Ocean City, NJ. Went through the ride two summers ago. It was fun and very well done.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

If I ever do this, I'm going to start with a mobility scooter (probably a six-wheeler) with the finger controls. Then I'd program a laptop or tablet underneath to tell it when to run, stop and turn. It might need a track to keep it in place but I'm hoping not. There would still be some trial and error involved, but I would never attempt some of the intensive builds that some of the home haunters have done. Seems my idea would take care of a lot of the problems they face.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

ZombieRaider said:


> The conclusion I've come to from reading about the ventures into home made dark rides are:
> 1 - It costs ALOT more than they originally budgeted for because
> 2 - There is ALOT of trial and error
> Those 2 points alone are why most don't succeed that have tried......Something else to take into consideration is the amount of storage space you'll need to house all the track, car, props, etc in the off season....


I completely agree with these points. The money portion is a big reason why I'm saying this will take me (at least) 2 years... this way, I can spread the cost out. 

As for the trial and error, I would say this is the primary reason I haven't tried this sooner. If it wasn't for the three home haunters I mentioned, there's no way I would be trying this. I feel like they've documented proven methods, and if I use those methods as my base, my trial and error time should be much less than what it would be if I had nothing to start with.

Also, my parents live 10 minutes away from me, and they have a giant barn where I can store as much of my Haunt supplies as I need, so that won't be a problem either.

And thanks for the links!! I'll be sure to read up.


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

Screaming Demons said:


> If I ever do this, I'm going to start with a mobility scooter (probably a six-wheeler) with the finger controls. Then I'd program a laptop or tablet underneath to tell it when to run, stop and turn. It might need a track to keep it in place but I'm hoping not. There would still be some trial and error involved, but I would never attempt some of the intensive builds that some of the home haunters have done. Seems my idea would take care of a lot of the problems they face.


I'm not 100% sure because it was years ago I read the article, but I believe the cars in the Ghostwood Manor link I posted is a trackless system.....They have a wire imbedded in the floor that it follows....The cars can literally turn in a 360 and go in any direction from there making first time riders completely unaware of the path.....There are definitely ways to make a trackless system work but it's still an expensive venture no matter how you do it.....Kudos to those that try and to the few that succeed.....ZR


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

Saruman of Many Colours said:


> Thanks for the link. A nice write-up on Gilllian's Haunted House in Ocean City, NJ. Went through the ride two summers ago. It was fun and very well done.


Your welcome....That article was the first time I ever heard of Gillian's so it was a nice read.....I especially liked the behind the scenes video that shows how the stunts work....The clock Wayne is working on looks like it's going to be a great addition!.....ZR


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

ZombieRaider said:


> That article was the first time I ever heard of Gillian's so it was a nice read.....I especially liked the behind the scenes video that shows how the stunts work....The clock Wayne is working on looks like it's going to be a great addition!.....ZR


It's awesome to see owners of a professional ride like that so dedicated to it and its continued improvement. Most times, a pro dark ride is just supposed to be a money maker, and once it's built, it exists merely to see how many riders you can charge to go through it.


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

HauntingtonHotel said:


> I completely agree with these points. The money portion is a big reason why I'm saying this will take me (at least) 2 years... this way, I can spread the cost out.
> 
> As for the trial and error, I would say this is the primary reason I haven't tried this sooner. If it wasn't for the three home haunters I mentioned, there's no way I would be trying this. I feel like they've documented proven methods, and if I use those methods as my base, my trial and error time should be much less than what it would be if I had nothing to start with.
> 
> ...


Sounds like you have plenty of storage space and a 2 year plan for budgeting the project...I'm glad you understand upfront that there could be extensive trial and error....Just remember if this project becomes extremely frustrating that you can 100% do this, it will just take persistence.....ZR


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Here is a variety of parts I've purchased thus far...

PRIDE JAZZY SELECT POWERCHAIR WHEELCHAIR 24-VDC MOTOR SET WITH TIRES
This is for power wheelchair left and right 24-vdc motors, that are in still in great shape.. 
They are off from a working wheelchair, Jazzy select. 
The tires are foam filled solid/has tiny cracks on the sides.
*$100 + $45 shipping*









4 Pcs 8" Air Tire Caster Wheel Swivel Base w/Ball Bearing 4-1/2" x 4" Base Tires
Base and Wheel with Ball Bearings
Wheel Capacity: 255LB (each)
Wheel Size 8" Dia.
Wheel Width: 2-1/4"
5/8" Axle Bore
Tire With Steel Ball Bearings
Top Base Is 4-1/2'' X 4”
Bolt Hole Spacing: 3-5/8" x 2-5/8"
Top Vase Swivel with Steel Ball Bearings
Overall Height: 10”
*$50 - Free Shipping*









Universal 24V 30A Switch Power Supply Driver LED Strip
*$73 + Free Shipping*









DC10V-50V Motor Speed Control RC Controller PWM 15khz HHO 2000W 40A MAX
working voltage: DC10v- DC 50V 
Rated current: 40A（Maximum output current） 
Control Motor Power : 0.01-2000W,
working voltage 12V: 12V*40A=480W(max)
working voltage 24V: 24V*40A=960W(max) 
working voltage 36V: 36V*40A=1440W(max) 
working voltage 50V: 50V*40A=2000W(max)
quiescent current:0.025A
PWM Regulation range:5-100% 
PWN Frequency : 12khz
PCB Size:90x51mm(inch:3.5"x2") 
Case size:105x55x40mm(inch:4"x2.2"x1.6") 
operating temperature: -20℃~40℃
*$12 + $2 Shipping*









Mini DC 5-120V Voltmeter Blue LED Panel 3-Digital Display Voltage Meter 2-wire
Measuring range: DC 5V--120V
Display: Three 0.56 "digital tube
Display Color: Blue
Measurement accuracy: 2%
Refresh rate: about 300mS / times
Input impedance: About 100K
Dimensions:48mm*29mm*22mm
Operation Temp: -10℃-+65℃
*$5*









Proton Pack Shell (slightly damaged)
*$50 + $16 shipping*









Total Spent to Date: $353


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## SouthWestPayDay (Nov 18, 2014)

That's very cool


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

I wish you success HH--hope you're able to make it happen. This has me wondering... I'm in the process of trying to establish a non-profit Haunted Attraction in the Raleigh, NC area with all proceeds going to charity.

Some Disney History here... many Haunted Mansion fans know that Walt and Rolly Crump wanted the HM to be a walk-thru attraction. But the Operations folks ultimately declared the HM would be a ride-thru attraction to boost guest capacity rates / throughput. 

Now, with a charity haunt, getting guests through quicker / more efficiently, could increase the Take for the charity. So I wonder if you, me, or anyone else interested, might consider doing an annual dark ride haunted attraction for charity. Taking the best bits of how we know these can be assembled today, e.g. potentially trackless. 

Anyway HH, best wishes on your project. Sounds exciting!


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

Morning DJs from the Quad-cities, Dwyer & Micheals once went to ride on a home made roller coaster, it went from ground level then the tracks went up and over the garage roof, it was a very old shacky-looking "Garage".
One of them got sick on this ride and vomited! (To Never hear the end of that! )
To me, it looked Very Scary and much real injury can happen from just 12 or so feet above the ground!
I hope you have the best of luck in your amazing project!
I would have a "Go! button for the riders to push, and when they pushed it a fart machine under the seat would make it's sound, butt that's just my idea of "Fun"!


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

I love love love that someone else is trying this as well...

I wish you the best of luck and hope that you don't pull out too many hairs working on it!

I wish I had more time to work on my dark ride this year since I postponed it from last year. Didn't happen. Way too busy in the months leading up to October and now with a kid on the way.... who knows....

Best of luck and I'll be watching your progress!!

-=CoasterBP


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

mikeerdas said:


> I wish you success HH--hope you're able to make it happen. This has me wondering... I'm in the process of trying to establish a non-profit Haunted Attraction in the Raleigh, NC area with all proceeds going to charity.
> 
> Some Disney History here... many Haunted Mansion fans know that Walt and Rolly Crump wanted the HM to be a walk-thru attraction. But the Operations folks ultimately declared the HM would be a ride-thru attraction to boost guest capacity rates / throughput.
> 
> ...


Keep in mind throughput is faster not only because the ride paces how fast patrons are moved through the attraction but also HOW MANY cars are doing it.....Most home haunters are going to have 1 car with a capacity of 2 adults max.....That's going to severely limit the throughput per hour if your trying to move large numbers......Unless you have a bigger budget to build multiple cars and a system control to operate multiple cars (keep them from bumping into each other) it's probably faster to do a walk through if your moving large numbers....... ZR


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## mikeerdas (Jan 30, 2010)

ZombieRaider said:


> Keep in mind throughput is faster not only because the ride paces how fast patrons are moved through the attraction but also HOW MANY cars are doing it.....Most home haunters are going to have 1 car with a capacity of 2 adults max.....That's going to severely limit the throughput per hour if your trying to move large numbers......Unless you have a bigger budget to build multiple cars and a system control to operate multiple cars (keep them from bumping into each other) it's probably faster to do a walk through if your moving large numbers....... ZR


Thanks ZR. Good point(s).


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## Joseph Baggs (Sep 8, 2014)

can't wait to see this


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

mikeerdas said:


> Thanks ZR. Good point(s).


I agree with ZR's points. 

Keep in mind that one problem you won't have with a Dark Ride is congestion. A haunt tends to fail at scaring completely when groups start bumping into each other. Not all groups are going to walk through at the same pace, and no matter how much effort you put into spacing them apart, there will always be a less than optimal outcome. Optimizing a Dark Ride for throughput can be accomplished, but absolutely will need multiple cars. 

For me, I don't care "too" much about throughput since I'm not for profit, and I'm not located in a very populated neighborhood. 

Additionally, you have complete control of when the scare happens and where the patrons are in relation to that scare. It gives the haunt designer a certain flexibility and control that normally isn't had with walk-through haunts.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> I love love love that someone else is trying this as well...
> 
> I wish you the best of luck and hope that you don't pull out too many hairs working on it!
> 
> ...


Thanks! Your YouTube videos were a big inspiration to me, and were definitely one of the contributing factors that pushed me to give this a try. I hope you get around to finishing yours up, as I'd love to see how you overcome some of the initial obstacles you faced.

I'm definitely going to try to not over-complicate my first try at this, and will keep it as simple as possible. After I get it all working, then hopefully I can work to advance it with multiple cars, track sensors, etc. But my first version will definitely keep it simple.


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## thenightmarefamily (Nov 20, 2014)

That is such a cool idea, i'm also going to attempt a dark ride this year (not as advanced as your idea) but more of a haunted mansion doom buggie concept. Good luck, a dark ride is every home haunters dream.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Quick update... it's been a long winter here in Buffalo, but now that it's starting to thaw, I've spent some time on this project. I prototyped the ride car with foam-board and a lot of duct tape to ensure my dimensions would work. The only thing I had to change was the car length. 30" wasn't enough and had to tack on an extra 5" for leg room and the front barrier. The 10" opening I planned just wasn't big enough for an adult to fit through. Other than that, it's just about perfect and I'll hopefully start fabricating it soon. My plan is to use high quality plywood, with a thin skim coat of bondo, sanded baby-smooth. I'm hoping 1/2" plywood will do the trick.

In the meantime my dad is welding some angle iron for me that will serve as the frame.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Just finished the main construction of the car.. Next up, sanding and bondo, followed by paint.

I also switched the orientation of the front panel, so that the front angle faces the rider. I'll get into it more in a future post, but I have a really cool idea for what I intend to do with it.

Cost of materials (Plywood, MDF & Screws): About $100.


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## DarkhavenManor (Sep 27, 2014)

Looks awesome! Happy to see you're making some good progress


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Got the chassis dry fit, and it's probably not going to work... While I'm super happy with how it looks, the 8" casters I chose are so large that they don't leave enough inner clearance for a 90 degree turning radius. I won't know 100% until I make my first piece of curved track and try it out, but I'm not feeling too great about it. Oh well. I knew there would be trial and error! Ha.


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## kakugori (Aug 26, 2013)

You might look into the car design from Bell's amusement park's Phantasmagoria ride. It was a Bill Tracy darkride, and they made custom cars for it. Narrow electric track with some extremely tight turns. It's some good inspiration, so I'll post some links here for you:

http://www.billtracy.net/
http://irodephantasmagoria.blogspot.com/
http://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/phatasmagoria.html
http://www.laffinthedark.com/articles/phantasmagoria/phantasmagoria.htm


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

kakugori said:


> You might look into the car design from Bell's amusement park's Phantasmagoria ride. It was a Bill Tracy darkride, and they made custom cars for it. Narrow electric track with some extremely tight turns. It's some good inspiration, so I'll post some links here for you:
> 
> http://www.billtracy.net/
> http://irodephantasmagoria.blogspot.com/
> ...


Excellent stuff! I feel like every time I search for Dark Ride stuff, I come across something new, and this was one that I wasn't yet familiar with. Lots of a good info on the build process and track/mechanics, which is very very scarce.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Over the past month, I moved on from the car body and into prototyping the ride system. I've built about 30 feet of track with 2 turns. 2 more turns to go, and I'll be able to have this thing running in a continuous loop. My prototype consists of the "final" show-ready track, which is 4'x4' squares of OSB with either a 2x4 straight section or laminated plywood to a 1.25" thickness (I tried a 1.5" thickness to match the 2x4s but the motors started binding). I can virtually configure these 4x4 squares into any configuration I want, which is pretty cool.

My car base, which is 100% prototype at this point is a 36"x30" piece of OSB, so I could try a variety of wheel, motor and guide placements. For now, it's powered by two 12v batteries (the same model batteries from the scooter I got the motors from), daisy-chained together for 24V. I connected a PWM that allows me to control the speed of the car. I also rigged up a DPDT 3-way switch so I could put the unit in reverse (reversing the polarity, and therefore the direction of the motors). As I predicted, the 8" casters did not work, so I went down to 4" casters, which are working great. I'm just under 250lbs and its move me down the track with ease.






Going around that corner, even at 1/3 speed is a thrill. It whips you around just like the Dark Rides I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately, since my total track length is going to be so short, I'll need the car to really just crawl down the track to drag out the ride. Not to mention, I'm unsure how the force of the car is going to effect the laminated corners over time. Better to take it easy on them, I think.

Next steps...

I ordered a 3-channel RC controller and an ESC. This *should* allow me to ditch the PWM and control the entire unit via remote control. It'll be some trial and error, but I'm pretty sure this'll work. I found an online community of people who customize PowerWheels, and there are a lot of people who have working RC mods using ESCs, so I'm hopeful.

I'm just waiting for the parts now.


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## jem5236 (Sep 2, 2014)

This looks like an awesome project but my only wonder is do you think your garage will be big enough? You mentioned you have a 2.5 car garage but with the size of the cars and the track it seems like you'll be using up a lot of space for just that alone and you won't have much room for your scenes or props. Have you considered possibly building part of the track into the yard or drive way? Maybe it is something that could be done in the future but I don't think you'll get a long ride out of a 2.5 car garage. 
I did a haunt in my parents barn when I was a teenager for their Halloween parties each year (before they stopped having one :-( ) and I had only a small area to work with and I felt like my options were limited by what little space I had (also by finances because I was a teenager working part time at a fast food joint lol). I wish I had more room for the haunt and I think with your ideas it'd be even cooler if you could expand and get a longer ride time in a bigger area. Just my thoughts.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

jem5236 said:


> This looks like an awesome project but my only wonder is do you think your garage will be big enough? You mentioned you have a 2.5 car garage but with the size of the cars and the track it seems like you'll be using up a lot of space for just that alone and you won't have much room for your scenes or props. Have you considered possibly building part of the track into the yard or drive way? Maybe it is something that could be done in the future but I don't think you'll get a long ride out of a 2.5 car garage.
> I did a haunt in my parents barn when I was a teenager for their Halloween parties each year (before they stopped having one :-( ) and I had only a small area to work with and I felt like my options were limited by what little space I had (also by finances because I was a teenager working part time at a fast food joint lol). I wish I had more room for the haunt and I think with your ideas it'd be even cooler if you could expand and get a longer ride time in a bigger area. Just my thoughts.


All good points. My calculations are that I'll get about 80ft of track out of my initial configuration, leaving some room for scenes. Going outside of the garage unfortunately isn't feasible since my driveway immediate slants downward, which means I'd have to built a platform, which is out of the question. Not to mention I'd need some kind of shelter, and unless its permanent or semi-permanent, it's going to blow away (the winds here in October are awful, and have haunted me for years). For now, I think I need to suck it up with a short track and maybe look to expand it to another location once I prove out the concept.

Trying to see this situation positively, I think the tight confines of the ride might acually work to my advantage, playing off claustrophobia. That, and the scenes will be RIGHT up on you, not off at a "safe distance". I need to keep in mind safety, though, but it could be a challenge that pays off.

Unlike a walk-through Haunt, where you need lots of space for groups and for people to recoil in fear, etc, you can control the flow, and for the most part control the exact space the riders will be in and when. I won't honestly know until I continue work on the larger track and put up walls, but it's all definitely stuff I'm conscious of.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I didn't wish I had 10,000 sqr/ft to work with, but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Your layout looks good, well thought out with enough twists and turns to make it interesting. There have been other layouts posted here that used their limited space creatively (and successfully). 
Best of luck on your project.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

Looks awesome! Can you post some pics of the underside of your cart please? I'd love to see how you mounted the motor and how it engages your rail. 

So for your straight sections of track, you just used a 2x4? And your corners are laminates 1.25" of plywood, bent and glued? 

Also, can you go into detail about the PWM control of your motor please? 

Keep up the good work!

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> Looks awesome! Can you post some pics of the underside of your cart please? I'd love to see how you mounted the motor and how it engages your rail.
> 
> So for your straight sections of track, you just used a 2x4? And your corners are laminates 1.25" of plywood, bent and glued?
> 
> ...


Thanks. I'm very happy with how this project is progressing. Here are some pics of the undercarriage of the prototype. Once I get placements 100% right, I'll move onto a metal frame. 









I tried to keep the tires centered on the 2x4 rail. The weight of the motors alone causes the OSB to bow a little. It's obviously worse when I'm on it, but hey, it's a prototype.









The tires are probably about an inch from touching each other, so when you force a 2x4 between them, it really hugs it tight. 

















I don't *exactly* know how I'm going to transfer all this to a metal frame, but my Dad's an expert welder, so I'm just gonna lean on him for help.

Yes, the straight track is just 2x4s. Each straight section of track will cost me less then $6. Each curved piece will cost less then $10. The curved pieces are 3 strips of 4'x3.5"x11/32" plywood and 1 strip of 4'x3.5"x1/4" plywood, glued together bent - then I trim off the excess. I temporarily screwed big L brackets to the OSB at the outline of the desired curve, and clamp the first 2 strips directly to it. Works perfectly. I used nearly 8oz of gorilla wood glue per corner!

As for the PWM, let me just say I am a total electronics noob. In Don's thread, I read your back and forth with him about controllers and prox sensors, and I'll be honest, it was totally over my head. Now that said, I did manage to get a PWM working for a period of time until I learned a tough lesson about amps and the need for fuses. Long story short, I tried a placement of the guide wheels that was too far forward, causing the car to get stuck on a corner, and I blew the PWM.

The PWM I bought (shown in page one of this thread) has +/- power in and +/- power out, and basically just converts the DC feed into pulses that control the speed of the motor. I'm sure you know this, but for others who don't, there ya go. Power comes into the project box from the batteries (24V) and goes to the three way switch, and then out to the PWM, and then out to the motors. 









The drive-train circuitry couldn't be much simpler, and you can kind of see it working in this video I just uploaded:


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Here is a pic of a corner in progress... For the first one, I used contact cement but for the second I just used wood glue and that was a lot easier to work with.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

Awesome. Thanks for the vids and pics. I think that the problem that I was running into, was that my guide wheels and drive wheels were too far apart. So during the turns, like you mention, it was binding. So I was trying to come up with a way to have the guide wheels and the drive assembly "float" on a swivel so that it could negotiate the turns correctly. I'm also using 3' squares... so my turns are even tighter.

May I ask, what the distance, would you say, between the center point of your guide wheels and the drive wheels?

Are you getting any "slop" or side to side shimmy because they are closer together?

Your guide wheels and drive wheels are fixed in place, correct?

Also, (sorry for all the questions...) are your drive wheels from a Jazzy? Mine are and what a b*tch they are to mount.... talk about a strange mounting bracket they put on there...

As for your speed, if you are looking to slow it down, why not put your batteries in parallel so that you stay at 12 volts, decreasing your speed? Or just use one battery?

I was only going to use one motor per car as I planned on having 2 cars on mine - a drive wheel and one static wheel to make up the drive assembly...

Ok, enough questions for now. Keep the pics and vids coming, bro. You're doing great work.

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> Awesome. Thanks for the vids and pics. I think that the problem that I was running into, was that my guide wheels and drive wheels were too far apart. So during the turns, like you mention, it was binding. So I was trying to come up with a way to have the guide wheels and the drive assembly "float" on a swivel so that it could negotiate the turns correctly. I'm also using 3' squares... so my turns are even tighter.


I'm not sure if this helps ya, since I know you were doing the slot instead of the raised rail, but when I decreased the thickness of the bend from 1.5" to 1.25", the binding completely went away. Like electronics, I'm also a physics noob, so I can't explain exactly why, but I'm not complaining.



coasterbp said:


> May I ask, what the distance, would you say, between the center point of your guide wheels and the drive wheels?


I'm still in the "playing with the placement" stage, so I'm fairly certain I haven't finalized the placement yet. As of right now, they're 13.5" inches apart, but that's bound to change as I tweak.



coasterbp said:


> Are you getting any "slop" or side to side shimmy because they are closer together?


The slop I'm experiencing is because the guide wheels can't be right up against the rail, not because the guides are too close to the motors. The guides are about 2.75" inches apart from each other, which gives me the extra room I need for navigating the curve without it binding up. Therefore there can be some left/right movement in the front of the car even on a straight away.



coasterbp said:


> Your guide wheels and drive wheels are fixed in place, correct?


Yes, but as you mentioned, I've toyed with the idea of some kind of spring loaded contraption that would spring the unit to center on straight track, but spring to the needed positioning as it rounds a corner. If the slop is too bad, this might be necessary. Time will tell.



coasterbp said:


> ...are your drive wheels from a Jazzy? Mine are and what a b*tch they are to mount.... talk about a strange mounting bracket they put on there...


Yes, the drive motors and tires are from a Jazzy Select, and mine weren't too hard to mount. From what I've seen, there are different orientations of the motors, though. I may have gotten lucky.



coasterbp said:


> As for your speed, if you are looking to slow it down, why not put your batteries in parallel so that you stay at 12 volts, decreasing your speed? Or just use one battery?


You'll notice a theme with me constantly referring to myself as an electronics noob. In this case, I was originally thinking that I needed the 24V for "power". At one point, I believed I needed the full 24V for torque to move the 400-500lbs I'd need to, and that the 12V wouldn't be enough juice. I realize now this was likely incorrect, and could absolutely consider dropping the voltage. However, I also want to power the center rail and ditch the batteries, so I'm not sure if I should stick with 24V for that reason alone. As you can see, I'm still fully in prototype mode. 



coasterbp said:


> Ok, enough questions for now. Keep the pics and vids coming, bro. You're doing great work.


For the record, I love talking about this stuff. It's why I'm here. This project has been encapsulating a majority of my free time, and I have no one to talk to it about in my day-to-day life! To be able to come on here and talk to people working on similar projects with similar interests is absolutely awesome. Ask away!


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

I've thought about doing a dark ride for a few years now (since I bought a building with a long, wide hallway). Has anyone ever thought about using a mobility scooter for a cart and programming it to make the stops, starts and turns? Seems like that would be child's play compared to building track and powering the cart.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

HauntingtonHotel said:


> I'm not sure if this helps ya, since I know you were doing the slot instead of the raised rail, but when I decreased the thickness of the bend from 1.5" to 1.25", the binding completely went away. Like electronics, I'm also a physics noob, so I can't explain exactly why, but I'm not complaining.


Yes, my first prototype was with the slot and the drive wheel was mounted vertically and was physically pushing against the floor to drive. But during the turns, because they were so sharp, I was getting a lot of "scrubbing" of the drive wheel. So at that point I knew I needed to so a vertical rail with horizontal drive wheel up against the rail. That when I ran out of time. And now, with a 5 month old at home.... I"m living vicariously through your project now!

I might have to revisit this again now, as I still have everything in the garage, and see if I cant get a working prototype going again. It won't be for this year, maybe next...

-=CoasterBP


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

Screaming Demons said:


> I've thought about doing a dark ride for a few years now (since I bought a building with a long, wide hallway). Has anyone ever thought about using a mobility scooter for a cart and programming it to make the stops, starts and turns? Seems like that would be child's play compared to building track and powering the cart.


I think that might be harder. Unless you are a software wiz.. You would need a lot of sensors to make sure that where you are driving is actually where you want it to go.... could be done, but *I* think it would be harder. Definitely out of my realm of programming with consumer available tech.

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Screaming Demons said:


> I've thought about doing a dark ride for a few years now (since I bought a building with a long, wide hallway). Has anyone ever thought about using a mobility scooter for a cart and programming it to make the stops, starts and turns? Seems like that would be child's play compared to building track and powering the cart.


Trackless Systems seem to be the new hot thing in Dark Ride tech, which you can see in action here (sort of) on the Boo Blasters ride at Kings Dominion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifbV1z9B5Dw

I believe I read somewhere that there is a wire under the floor that the car follows somehow.

If you were, as CoasterBP put it, a software wiz, this could actually be pretty easy. You could put a Wifi-enabled Arduino on the Scooter, and use an ESC for each motor independently to control the wheels. This way the Arduino would control the forward, reverse, brake, steering and speed of the car. You could then run an FM signal though a wire (like an invisible dog fense) and program a reciever to tell the schooer to follow the signal. Add some proximity sensors that communicate with the Scooter via Wifi for Starts/Stops/Scene triggers, and you're set.

Of course that paragraph is a complete over-simplification.

To anyone who is not en electronics wiz nor a software wiz, *I* think the rail version would be easier to pick up and learn. But some someone who knows software well, a trackless version with a scooter could indeed be a walk in the park.

It might be worth putting up on Freelancer.com as a project to see what it would cost to have someone design the ride system for you, and program the software.

If I had unlimited income, that's probably the route I would have taken.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

In case you wanted to explore my Arduino idea further, check this out...
http://www.instructables.com/id/ESC-Programming-on-Arduino-Hobbyking-ESC/?ALLSTEPS


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

I wonder how hard it would be to scale this up....

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Robotics_p023.shtml

Also, I know that the Lego Mindstorms can do the same thing, but with a little more programming, you could run the whole thing with that... if it scales up properly.

-=CoasterBP


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

I'm not a programmer so I have to think much simpler. My thinking is either to time all the stops and turns very carefully, or to put a camera on it and have someone operating the cart by remote. It seems that even the most elaborate tracked system is going to require close monitoring anyway.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

You could get away with doing that way...

Any system that has people riding it must have close monitoring. That's why I was using prox sensors and 2 PLCs to run mine.... sooner or later, I'll get around to finishing it....

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Screaming Demons said:


> I'm not a programmer so I have to think much simpler. My thinking is either to time all the stops and turns very carefully, or to put a camera on it and have someone operating the cart by remote. It seems that even the most elaborate tracked system is going to require close monitoring anyway.


My guess is that no matter how carefully you time the turns and stops, the car will eventually be off its desired path. However, the camera and manual control idea is pretty solid, as long as the camera system gives you a clear enough picture. 

I'm convinced that I'm going to NEED to a full camera system for my ride with 6-8 cameras even with the track. I just can't send the car into the ride blindly without any idea of what's going on in there. It's main purpose will be safety, but it will double as security.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

This topic has me thinking about how I'm really going to monitor the ride. In addition to the video, I want to have some type of computerized awareness, so I'm going to start with an Arduino and run motion sensors to various sections of the track. When motion is detected, an LED will light back at my control panel, positioned correctly on a map of the ride. A classic (now defunct) dark ride in Ohio utilized a similar technique, that I found a picture of on DAFE.org:









I found some online tutorials on how I could accomplish this with an Arduino, and it seems crazy easy. This system would start out simple and allow me to expand into RC contol of the car based on where the car is on the track. My only real concern is the voltage dropping over the long runs of wire, but since I'm only in a garage, there wont be runs of more than 40ft., so I'm hoping that won't be a problem.

This kind of thing seemed crazy to accomplish myself even just a few days ago, but now that I've reseached it, I definitely think it's doable.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Since the riders will be sitting you can probably get by without making the walls full height. You could then put cameras up in the rafters with wide angle lenses and keep an eye on everything. I like the idea of putting cameras on the cars or in the rooms, but am worried about what might be happening behind or beside the camera. A prop might fall over or stop working and I wouldn't even know unless I do regular walkthroughs or someone lets me know.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Screaming Demons said:


> Since the riders will be sitting you can probably get by without making the walls full height. You could then put cameras up in the rafters with wide angle lenses and keep an eye on everything. I like the idea of putting cameras on the cars or in the rooms, but am worried about what might be happening behind or beside the camera. A prop might fall over or stop working and I wouldn't even know unless I do regular walkthroughs or someone lets me know.


I've sketched out a few vesions of my car that have a pole going up the back of the car, kinda like you'd see on a bumper car. Except in this case, I would use it to mount a camera, pointed downard and forward to kind of give me a 3rd person view of the action. Sadly, it isn't aesthetically pleasing. I also want to mount a GoPro to the dashboard pointed at the riders, but that's just so I can record their reactions!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Ok, I'm super excited. I think I totally fixed my "slop" problem. I used some spare parts I had laying around and rigged the guide wheels up on hinges and a spring. Now, the car automatically centers on straight track, but gives the necessary slack around the corners. I can't fully test it motorized until my new ESC comes in, but pushing it manually around the corners works GREAT.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

More progress to report. My final section of test track is complete! Now I have 40 total feet of track in a loop for testing purposes. It kills me that I can't test it out with a motorized car. I've been tracking the ESC shipment from China and (as expected) it's taking forever. And now with the holiday, I won't get it until Tuesday at the earliest. I'm *this* close to going onto Craigslist and looking for someone selling an old 12V PowerWheels that I can hack into! My son's is only 6V or it would be in pieces by now.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

Well done!

You've pushed it around the track, though, right?

Make sure you turn it around to ensure that it makes left turns as well. That's a mistake I made with V1 of mine!

Can't wait to see video of it in action once you get it motorized!

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> Well done!
> 
> You've pushed it around the track, though, right?
> 
> ...


Yeah, it pushed it around in both directions. Since my drive-train is 100% symmetrical, there's really no difference in direction.

One thing I haven't tried yet is going from a curve to a curve in any of the four possible configurations. I'll need to test..

- Left to Left
- Right to Right
- Left to Right
- Right to Left


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

My ESC should be here tomorrow, but in the meantime I've been thinking a lot about the ride control system, or specifically the lack thereof. As it stands, I'm going to have to manually control the speed of the unit blindly. To be blunt, that scares the **** outta me. I'm thinking I really need to step it up and go with a controller. I've typed this up as a draft that I intend to post to Freelancer.com. I'm thinking that for someone who knows Arduinos well, what I need should be a piece of cake. I'm hoping that to hire someone to design and program this for me won't be too expensive.

Feedback is welcomed, as I won't be submitting this for a few days...

Start ---

I am looking for someone to design and write the scripts for an Arduino-powered amusement ride system. This project requires 2 Arduino units; one to act as a Transmitter (TX) and one to act as a receiver (RX). Final project deliverables are a parts list, easy to understand system diagram (so a novice can assemble), and the Arduino sketch files.

*Background & Context:*
Just so you know exactly what this is going to be used for, I’ll explain the larger project. I am building a Classic-style Dark Ride for Halloween. The ride consists of a wooden ride car on casters pulled along a center rail by 2 brushed 24V DC motors from an old Jazzy Select electric wheelchair. The entire ride (in its initial configuration) has about 80ft of track. You can read more about this project here: http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/140200-hauntington-hotel-home-built-dark-ride.html 

*Project Requirements:*

The TX is the "Control Panel" for the ride. It requires:

Arduino Unit (Uno, Mega, etc)
Communication Module (RC, Wifi, etc) – Looking for a recommendation
Power Switch – On/Off for unit
Green LED - For when RX is detected and paired
Red LED - For when RX is not detected nor paired (in theory, should only be lit when RX is off or out of range)
Amber LED – For when ride sequence unexpectedly fails.
Emergency Stop Button - Sends a signal to RX to STOP ride unit immediately.
Go Button – Transmits signal to RX to tell the ride to begin the ride sequence.
Manual Override Switch – A switch that when turned on, disables the ride sequence and activates use of forward/reverse Controls
Forward/Reverse Switch – A switch that is only used when in Manual override mode, switches between forward and reverse.
Speed – A potentiometer that is only used when in Manual override mode, to control the speed of the motor.
Track Sensors – Some way of detecting which “panel” of the Ride the Car is on. This is the part of the ride system that has the most wiggle room for your own creativity. Motion Sensors and Ping))) proximity sensors are options, but I also need to keep cost as low as possible, as I wish to have as many sensors on the track as possible. The TX should be expandable to at least 50 sensors, and work with a minimum of 10. 
Auxiliary Switches (5) – When triggered, they send a signal to the RX to complete a 5V circuit on a given pin. Example usage (turns on and off headlights, tail lights, trigger a sound effect, etc)

The RX will be on the Car itself. It requires:

Arduino Unit (Uno, Mega, etc)
Communication Module (RC, Wifi, etc) – Looking for a recommendation
Power Switch – On/Off for unit
Green LED - For when RX is detected and paired
Red LED - For when RX is not detected nor paired (in theory, should only be lit when RX is off or out of range)
Motor Shield – Looking for a recommendation, needs to be able to control PWM signal to 2 brushed DC motors (as mentioned above)

*Ride Programming:*

When not in “Manual Override Mode”:
For the initial programming, we’ll program 10 sensors. For the purposes of these requirements, I’ll refer to them as “Sensor 1” through “Sensor 10”. The Ride will Start and End at Sensor 1 (The Load Area). Riders will get on and exit the car at Sensor 1. Pressing the “Go” button on the control panel will start the car on the ride sequence. The ride sequence will go to Sensor 2, Sensor 3 and so on until Sensor 10, and then (since the track is a loop), Sensor 1 where it will stop. 

*Ride sequence:*
Sensor 1: Start = Transition from 0% speed to 20% speed over the course of 1000ms. This is to prevent the ride from jerking forward if starting directly at 20%. Continue at 20% speed until Sensor 2.
Sensor 2: When Sensor 2 is triggered, decrease from 20% speed to 15% speed (no delay) until Sensor 3.
Sensor 3: When Sensor 3 is triggered, decrease speed from 15% to 0% over the course of 800ms, then pause for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds have passed, increase speed to 10% over the course of 500ms.
Sensor 4: When Sensor 4 is triggered, increase speed to 20% (no delay) until Sensor 5.
Sensor 5: When Sensor 5 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 6.
Sensor 6: When Sensor 6 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 7.
Sensor 7: When Sensor 7 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 8.
Sensor 8: When Sensor 8 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 9.
Sensor 9: When Sensor 9 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 10.
Sensor 10: When Sensor 10 is triggered, continue without changes until sensor 1.
Sensor 1: End = When Sensor 1 is triggered, decrease speed to 0% over the course of 1000ms.

Time between sensors should never be more than 5 seconds (while the car is in motion). So when a sensor is “expecting” the car and does not detect it, blink the Amber LED on the Control Panel.

When in “Manual Override Mode”:
In this mode, the Go Button from the TX will do nothing and ride sequence is ignored. When in Forward, the speed of the car can be adjusted using the Potentiometer linearly from 0% to 100% speed. Additionally, there needs to be a way to control the trim of the motors via one of the Audrinos so that 100% of the Potentiometer is actually only 50% of the total current through the motors (for example).

When returning from Manual mode, it’s unreasonable for the TX to know “where” on the track the Car may be, so pressing "Go", will cause the car to increase speed from 0% to 20% speed over 1000ms until Sensor 1 is triggered.

If at any point, the RX loses communication with the TX, IT MUST STOP. TX and RX need to be in constant, paired communication!!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Too tired to say anything to go with this video...


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

Looking great! Be honest, how many times did you just sit there and go around while giggling to yourself?!? LOL!

Also, is your front right caster hitting your rail on the turns? Looks like it gets really close. Just checking.

Keep up the great work! 

I wish my programming skills were expansive enough to do your Arduino projects for you. If this were being done with PLCs, I could totally have this done for you! LOL

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> Looking great! Be honest, how many times did you just sit there and go around while giggling to yourself?!? LOL!


More times than I can count. In all seriousness though, that is EXACTLY what I did!




coasterbp said:


> Also, is your front right caster hitting your rail on the turns? Looks like it gets really close. Just checking.


Yea, it is. I still need to play with the positioning of the guide wheel assembly, as well as the amount of play it allows. I used to have the casters mounted far from the base so I wouldnt need to worry about clearance, but now that I pulled them in, I'm having some minor spacing issues. 

Also, I underestimated the amount of force that assembly needs to handle, so making a quick mockup out of wood proved to be problematic, as it's now starting to fall apart. Oddly enough, when I go in reverse around the track, meaning the motors pull the car, rather than push it, the wheels don't touch the rail and there's a lot less force put on the assembly. Sadly, though, that configuration isn't going to work with my car design since the motors would come up through the floor right where the riders feet will be, instead of under the seat.



coasterbp said:


> I wish my programming skills were expansive enough to do your Arduino projects for you. If this were being done with PLCs, I could totally have this done for you! LOL


Yeah, there's definitly more than one way to skin this cat, but I think that Arduino will be the right path for me, especially as I think about how my own programming skills translate. However, I've already changed direction 3 times, so who knows what I'll do next.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Another idea I've been toying with... As I think about track length and car speed, I estimate that uninterrupted, the ride will last about 30 seconds. When I was writing the requirements for the Arduino project, I put in a few examples I wanted programmed in case I wanted to stop the car at a scene for any reason. At the time, I hadn't planned to, but I knew it may be a possibility.

In the ride, I'lI have 1-2 riders with laser guns, and about 6 scenes/targets. In 30 seconds, that'll be over in a flash. There's other things I can do like maybe suspend ghosts from above between scenes, since I'm short on space. Maybe then, I could get up to 10 targets...

That's when I came up with this... What if the car stopped for about 5 seconds at every scene? If I split the track up into 7 sections, with an average travel time of about 4 seconds between scenes, and another 5 seconds per stop, that extends the ride length to a full minute (or longer if I can lengthen the stops). During that 5 second stop, I could trigger 2 or 3 ghosts per scene, giving more targets AND prolonging the ride. So instead of a ghost bellhop popping out from behind the front desk, he can still pop out, but so can another ghost in a picture frame, and another from above!

Seems like the way I'm going to go.

After a lot of research on YouTube (Search for "Dark Ride POV"), it seems like the average time for a pro Dark Ride is between 1:30 and 3:00. So even though I'm working with a fraction of the space, I'm able to come close to a pro-version in terms of ride duration with a lot less track and space.

For reference, home-built versions have shorter durations, with Don O'Neil's 2013 & 2014 editions clocking in at around a minute each, while the Mystic Motel clocks in at about 30 seconds. A full minute seems just about the minimum, as the 30 second ride is just over so quick. However, the Mystic Motel lengthened their overall "experience" by adding a walk-through Haunt before the ride, which was a nice addition.

Also, it's hard to predict, but I'm not sure what the ride experience will be like stopping for 5 seconds every 4 seconds. The constant stop & go could be annoying, and miss the mark on the "RIDE" aspect.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

It's been really fun to watch the system progress through these iterations, and thought maybe someday, someone looking at this thread could find these schematics useful.

V1 of my system was controlled with a simple PWM, and you had to be on the car to control it. There was a separate switch for forward and reverse.

V2 of the system (current, as of this post) upgraded to Radio Control, and integrated a cheap RC transmitter and receiver, in conjunction with a 24V ESC.

V3 of the system (still in design) will replace the RC transmitter and ESC with an Arduino and a H-Bridge.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Well... after a significant amount of testing, I decided that my anti-slop mechanism wasn't going to cut it. The amount of force put on the hinge was actually bending/twisting the metal. After much consideration, I couldn't think of a way to reinforce it easily, and I got to a point where I was starting to over-engineer it.

The reality is that the slop problem isn't even that bad. I've copied Don's design (again) for the guide wheels, and unsurprisingly it works just fine. I get a little bit of back and forth as I go down a straightaway, but I barely notice. In fact, I can even go around the track at near full speed now that I've secured the batteries. I don't know how much (if any) trial-and-error Don went through to come up with his design, but it appears to be pretty solid (and proven), so I'm just going to roll with it.









This exact placement is likely final (or pretty darn close)... the front wheels come within about 1 inch of the track in this configuration. If by chance you stop the ride when the wheel is at the closest point to the track, and change direction, the wheel will hit the track as it pivots, but as long as that's not planned, everything should be fine.

Lastly, I switched out the plastic wheeled casters (from Lowes) for solid rubber wheeled casters (from eBay)... The ride is smoother (as hoped), but they are noisy as bloody hell... not happy. Oh, well.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

HauntingtonHotel said:


> This exact placement is likely final (or pretty darn close)... the front wheels come within about 1 inch of the track in this configuration. If by chance you stop the ride when the wheel is at the closest point to the track, and change direction, the wheel will hit the track as it pivots, but as long as that's not planned, everything should be fine.
> 
> Lastly, I switched out the plastic wheeled casters (from Lowes) for solid rubber wheeled casters (from eBay)... The ride is smoother (as hoped), but they are noisy as bloody hell... not happy. Oh, well.


Well done! Looks great!

Have you done all your other turn testing as well? Everything working out well?

What aspect of the casters is making noise now? Just rolling on the ground? Or turning?

Can't wait to see more!

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> Well done! Looks great!
> 
> Have you done all your other turn testing as well? Everything working out well?
> 
> ...


Yeah, all the varieties of turns are working just as expected. The wheel does not get closer than 1" to the rail. In fact, the rubber from the wheels is leaving a nice mark on the wood, so you can kind of see exactly the paths the casters take around the turns. Here's a video of the turn testing I did.






As for the noise, I'm not sure where the noise is coming from. It's a squeaking noise, and it happens constantly, so it makes me think its in the axle. I'll try to oil it to see if that helps it.


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## kakugori (Aug 26, 2013)

Can I just say: you are putting an incredible amount of work into this, and I am really impressed.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I've been thinking a lot about the name of the ride.

There's no denying the fact that I'm heavily inspired by the work of the former team at Sente Technologies back in the 80's. But that said, I'm still conscious of the fact that the information that was shared by Roger Hector is indeed intellectual property, regardless of how far the ride project progressed before its cancellation.

That said, one of the foundational elements of the project is that I want to be "inspired by" the original Hauntington Hotel project without "ripping it off" and passing it off as my own.

In that vein, I am abandoning use of the Hauntington Hotel name, and will use the Sedgewick Hotel as the ride name from this point forward. The Hauntington Hotel project will continue to be a flagship inspiration for my own project, but there's no denying that others have and will continue to inspire me, including The Haunted Mansion and others.

With this switch, I have the wiggle room to create a storyline to go with the ride that could fit nicely in with the Ghostbusters canon.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

While I wait for my Dad to weld up the frame for me, I put together a website to chronicle the project.

http://www.sedgewickhotel.com


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Some more concept art while I wait for the frame...









Full Size:
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_art-600x600.png


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## Jenn&MattFromPA (Sep 4, 2013)

Whoa, what an awesome undertaking! I love the Ghostbusters take and I look forward to following your journey as you continue to bring your concept to reality!


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

If you are still looking for a programmer shoot me an e-mail [email protected] I have actual amusement park experience designing and programming control systems. Feel free to check out my website http://dragonsfiredesign.com.

We can work out something since I am looking for a new project to tackle


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I just wanted to report the project is alive and well. See... I live in Buffalo, and we essentially only get 2.5 months a year of awesome weather, and the ride has been on the back burner while my wife and kids have been off from school, enjoying the summer. I'm just about to kick things back into high gear.

I did take Matt (post above) up on his offer, and we're working together on the Arduino-powered ride system.

One a side note, our local County Fair had a big influence on my love of Dark Rides. James E. Strates is the last carnival ride operator in the US that still travels by train, and this is the first year that I can recall in a long time that they had not one, but TWO dark rides!! One was the same ride they've had for years, and the other is a ride I've never seen before, probably twice the size of the first.. it wasn't "new" per se, as you can tell its been around the block, but its new to me.

Anyway, there were 3 signs that the universe was telling me I was making the right decision by making a Ghostbusters-themed dark ride..

SIGN #1 - When loading, this sign hung ominously to the right of the car...









SIGN #2 - Upon making the first turn, and as you are about the enter the ride, this logo was painted on the first set of double-doors....









SIGN #3 - While waiting to start the ride, the Ghostbusters theme song started playing on the speakers...






Anyways, stay tuned for more updates...


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Metal work is coming along nicely. I have the car framed in 1.5" square tube, with 5" casters mounted in each corner. I have the motors mounted, and now I'm working on the guide wheels. Hoping to have this wrapped up in the next couple of days. 

















I've also been working on the wooden car body, and have it sanded and primed. The primer uncovered a few imperfections in the woodwork that I need to address, but it'll be ready for paint this week. I've spent a ton of time on it, and it's "furniture quality" at this point. I never knew I could get wood so smooth.


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## camsauce (Sep 20, 2008)

You sir, are all kinds of crazy to tackle this and I love it!


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## thespookster (Jul 27, 2015)

Amazing work!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words... I went back and read all 8 pages of this thread and its amazing how far I've come on this project, even though I still have so far to go.

Here are a couple of 3D models I did to show exactly what the space will be like once the walls are up. Brown is the track, and light gray is space dedicated to scenery/props.








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/3D-3-1664x1144.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/3D-4-1664x1144.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/3D-5-1664x1144.png


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Some minor progress to report... I cut the holes in the base and the car body so that there is room for the motors. This allowed me to do my first dry fit with the metal frame. I'll admit it.... I giggled. 

Also, I made a seat out of 1" high density foam and red marine vinyl. It came out better than I expected, especially since I've never upholstered before. (Thanks, YouTube!)








High Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_dryfit-1144x1664.png








High Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/under_seat-1664x1144.png


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## craftygirl (Jun 4, 2012)

This is such a cool project! Looking forward to seeing more.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Looks like I have some wet weather heading my way, so it looks like I won't be painting this weekend. In the meantime, I moved my attention to the control panel design. I've purchased a variety of buttons, switches and LEDs from eBay, and now I'm waiting for everything to come in.

Here is a mockup of what I want the control panel to look like. The thing is, I totally could have went high tech and controlled this thing with an iPad, but as you can see, I have a soft spot for nostalgia! I even opted for an analog meter to measure amps.








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/control_panel-1200x774.png


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## camsauce (Sep 20, 2008)

Analog all the way! I'm no luddite and enjoy using an iPad BUT the last thing you want is for your WiFi/Bluetooth to hiccup right when you want to stop your ride. Don't want to add any more scope to an already large project but that control panel would be super sweet mounted into a wood podium with one of those green desk lights OR build a check-in desk a'la Tower of Terror.


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

camsauce said:


> Analog all the way! I'm no luddite and enjoy using an iPad BUT the last thing you want is for your WiFi/Bluetooth to hiccup right when you want to stop your ride. Don't want to add any more scope to an already large project but that control panel would be super sweet mounted into a wood podium with one of those green desk lights OR build a check-in desk a'la Tower of Terror.
> 
> View attachment 255389



Great idea for a future ride enhancement! 

I know I'm hopeful that we see updates for many years to come 

*** Bonus haunter points for the use of 'Luddite'...one the most evocative words out there.


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

The main control will be a physical panel, though it will be communicating with the car wireless. Though there is some safety features built in so if car looses the link the car comes to a stop until restarted manually. 

I don't know what he plans to build the panel into but I like the idea of a hotel front counter, or at least a guest book stand ?


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

camsauce said:


> Analog all the way! I'm no luddite and enjoy using an iPad BUT the last thing you want is for your WiFi/Bluetooth to hiccup right when you want to stop your ride. Don't want to add any more scope to an already large project but that control panel would be super sweet mounted into a wood podium with one of those green desk lights OR build a check-in desk a'la Tower of Terror.


Oh man, I know. That would be super cool. Sadly, I think I'm far enough set in my ride design where that wouldn't make sense from a storyline perspective. My storyline is that the guests enter a load/unload area that is decorated like the Ghostbusters firehouse, and then they ENTER the Hotel. My first scene is even the lobby! So, if my control panel were in load/unload, it wouldn't make sense themed like a hotel desk. If anything, it would make sense themed as a piece of Ghostbusters equipment.

Either way, the Tower of Terror lobby is great inspiration and will likely be similar to how I want that scene to look. 



Matt S Drake said:


> The main control will be a physical panel, though it will be communicating with the car wireless. Though there is some safety features built in so if car looses the link the car comes to a stop until restarted manually.


Yeah, the analog meter is more for show than anything else since I am relying on wireless communication between the car and control panel. The meter will work, and accurately display the amps used by the car, but I definitely still have the possibility for that hiccup. Given the quality of equipment purchased, and the max distance between Car and Control Panel, I'm not too worried. Time will tell.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I think the frame is just about finished. I was able to mount the guide wheels in the previously-vetted position, and spent some time leveling the motors. I may have to make minor adjustments once I can get this thing onto the test track, but I'm confident it will perform well. Making this metal frame was waaaaay more work (and money) than I expected. Hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end.








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/finished_frame_1-1664x1144.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/finished_frame_3-1664x1144.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/finished_frame_2-1664x1144.png


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Video time! I brought up some track from my basement, and reconnected all of the R/C components. I put it all together, and took it for a spin around the track. All the measurement hell I went through definitely paid off, because it worked perfectly without needing any adjustments.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Today, I sanded, primed and re-sanded the front of the car. It's finally ready for paint. I'm going to paint the interior black, and the exterior white. 

I've also designed a control panel enclosure. No rush to build this, I guess, since it's going to be a while before the electronics are ready. Plus, I'm still waiting for a bunch of electronics components to come in from China.








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/cabinet-1063x709.png


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I have enough connections to probably address this question off the thread, but I think that anyone following along might benefit from this conversation, so I'll ask the question here... Matt and I already exchanged a message or two on this topic, too.. so I know he has some thoughts on it.

Basically, I'm looking for advice on the busbar system that will give the car power. Some haunters who have pulled this off have relied on batteries to power the cars (Mystic Motel, Scream in the Dark, Terror on the Butte), while others have deployed a busbar to power the cars (Don O'Neil, Phantasmechanics, coasterbp)... I definitely want to go the busbar route. I'll start with what I have figured out, and then address the unknowns...

I'll be using 1.5" galvanized steel strapping on each side of the center rail. One side will be for the positive, while the other will be the negative. I'll have a spring loaded mechanism that will make constant contact with the rail on each side, and bring power up into the car.

Now onto the unknowns...

1. Since the car has a computer on board, I need perfectly regulated power. The nature of the busbar is that it *could* theoretically lose contact with the busbar occasionally, and I can't afford to have the system reset itself every time that happens.

2. Given the above, would it be feasible to essentially wire my two 12V batteries into the circuit with a 24V current coming from a power supply? This way, the batteries would be there to kick in if the car loses the feed from the power supply. Something "like that" seems feasible, but I can't imagine it's that easy. Essentially, I want to charge a battery at the same pace it's being used, without overcharging it.... I think? I'm kind of thinking like something similar to an alternator in a car.

2B. Is there some type of electronic component I'm not aware of that will hold a charge for a short period of time? Kind of like when sometimes you unplug an electronic and the LED stays lit for a few seconds... That could solve the problem, too, I suppose. Again, I'm an electronics novice, now this is all theoretical. I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. Just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

3. Just so you know I considered it, I know that I could power the Arduino off AA batteries, and rely on the busbar to only power the motors, that way I wouldn't be too worries out a split second disconnect... That idea, while a possibility, seems like a shortcut. 

4. Isn't there a possibility for the busbar to spark as the car move across it? That seems inherently dangerous. I can't imagine I'd feel comfortable with this plan if there was any possibility of the busbar sparking. Someone please convince me I shouldn't worry about that... (I really don't wanna rely on batteries...)

Let's start there.


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

SedgewickHotel said:


> 2B. Is there some type of electronic component I'm not aware of that will hold a charge for a short period of time? Kind of like when sometimes you unplug an electronic and the LED stays lit for a few seconds...


This comes to mind : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor I'm not super electronics savvy either.....Took a class years ago and know this component does what your asking.... DON'T mix up the polarity when hooking power to it....I saw one explode like a fire cracker in the lab when someone hooked it up wrong.....EDIT - ALSO....Once charged they can hold a charge for years so you want to make sure to short the leads out to discharge (when powered off) before messing with it....Don't want to discharge with your fingers!....All that said, they aren't as dangerous as they sound as long as you take basic precautions....ZR


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

SedgewickHotel said:


> I have enough connections to probably address this question off the thread, but I think that anyone following along might benefit from this conversation, so I'll ask the question here... Matt and I already exchanged a message or two on this topic, too.. so I know he has some thoughts on it.
> 
> Basically, I'm looking for advice on the busbar system that will give the car power. Some haunters who have pulled this off have relied on batteries to power the cars (Mystic Motel, Scream in the Dark, Terror on the Butte), while others have deployed a busbar to power the cars (Don O'Neil, Phantasmechanics, coasterbp)... I definitely want to go the busbar route. I'll start with what I have figured out, and then address the unknowns...
> 
> ...


2B) Yes, you could use a capacitor to hold the supply at a steady current if you wanted to go that route. 

3) I would separate your control power from your motor power. Control power should stay nice and clean and starting/stopping motors can have a tendency to "dirty" your power a little. Drops in voltages when you first start moving... etc... 

4) Sparks can happen. But don't worry about it. Paint your flooring. And just don't use gasoline to lubricate your wheels on your cart and you'll be fine. You might see some small sparks here and there, but they won't travel around like a spark from a fire. You've seen sparks from the collectors on a bumper car, right? No worries there, either.

What I would suggest is this:

- Separate your control power and your motor power. My cars were going to be battery powered and the bus bar was strictly for controlling the batteries. 

- Add a second set of collectors to your car. Most systems that use a travelling object along a bus bar use two sets of collectors tied together electrically. You will have some small gaps in your rail, or a small section that your collectors might become separated from your rail for a split second. Having a second set of collectors that are off set from the others will help eliminate your problem entirely. Does that make sense?

You're doing a great job and I'm totally jealous of the progress you've made! Keep up the great work!

-=CoasterBP


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

coasterbp said:


> 2B) Yes, you could use a capacitor to hold the supply at a steady current if you wanted to go that route.


I'm really liking the idea of going battery-less in my car (at least for the motors). Not knowing anything about capacitors, I found there are 12/24V capacior units geared towards automotive audio system use, to keep lights from dimming when subwoofers are sucking juice. While marketed towards audio, it would seem that one of these would work for my purposes: 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA08C29S3163&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Installation+-+Speakers+%26+Amplifiers-_-9SIA08C29S3163&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4ZOwBRDoxpjAvPXAl5MBEiQAEek_3kcETPKwU65fTbfG6P5QD5D6HxbUorARh5xjB89Z810aAiP-8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

What I'm kind lost on is the farad rating... it would seem that the higher I go in rating, the more charge the capacitor holds (also higher in price!).. Since I'm only expecting "split second" disconnections from my busbar, I imagine I wouldn't need a super high farad rating.

From what I'm learning about the capacitors, it seems as though a good one would help clean the "dirty" voltage. 

I might pick one of these up and give it a shot once I can get the collectors and busbar working as intended.


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## camsauce (Sep 20, 2008)

What about using a computer UPS backup?


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Tons of progress since my last update... I tabled the bus bar for now, while I focused on the rest of the car.

- I've fully painted and aged the car, applied the bumper with caution striping and vinyl GB logos...
- I've wired up blue LED emergency lights into the undercarriage, which are now remotely controlled via the RC controller's auxillary switch
- I've wired up speakers, which are paired with my phone and a soundboard app via bluetooth

Check out the video...






I still need to apply some slime, permanently mount the license plate (with a frame), and finish the dashboard.

After those items, V1 of the car will be done. I'm not going to decorate the back of the car with a proton pack for now, like I originally planned. Maybe someday.


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## nickanap (Dec 21, 2008)

I hope you could utilize this somehow!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

nickanap said:


> I hope you could utilize this somehow!


WOW, that is fantastic!!! I had an idea where I wanted the ride to pass by vending machines, and slimer was inside of a candy machine eating the candy... I haven't been able to think about a good way to actually pull that off until now. He obviously wont be eating like I originally envisioned, but I could totally use this to have him fly by, etc. Very, very cool. Thanks for sharing.


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Congratulations on the progress thus far....the car really looks fantastic.

The blue lights and iconic siren sounds were completely unexpected, and perfect!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

A few more pics...








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_driver-1664x1031.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_seat-1664x1031.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_plate-1664x1031.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_dash-1664x1031.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_speakers-1664x1031.png








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_v1_under-1144x1664.png


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Track is progressing... up to 8 turns now. I moved everything back into my basement. This will be my larger test track as I continue work through Winter. I hope to paint this all black this weekend, and then start working on the powered rail.








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/8turn_track-1664x816.png


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## Zombiegrl (Sep 8, 2014)

I have been following your progress and wow to undertake such a project! Can't wait to see the finished thing!


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

I've followed this thread, and, I must say, I am completely overwhelmed by how much time & effort you've put into the Dark Ride. It gives new meaning to the term "Home Haunt". But, PLEASE, don't tell me you're one of these guys who gets, like, 17 kids to his house.....


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Wolfman said:


> I've followed this thread, and, I must say, I am completely overwhelmed by how much time & effort you've put into the Dark Ride. It gives new meaning to the term "Home Haunt". But, PLEASE, don't tell me you're one of these guys who gets, like, 17 kids to his house.....


Hahaha, well.... this is the 2nd year in my current house, and last year I was shocked to learn now many Trick or Treaters we get.... ZERO. That's right. Not 17, not 170... zero. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Soooo, what that means is that I need to have a huge party/event instead of relying on trick or treaters. I don't think it'll be a problem, other than the extra effort that comes with throwing an "event". Since the ride is essentially an amusement ride, I thought I would throw some type of Haunted Carnival with games, hayrides, pumpkin painting, stuff like that; where the ride is the main focus, but not the only thing there is to do. It could also be multiple days, and not on Halloween.


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## camsauce (Sep 20, 2008)

I think you'll get ToTs from all over.. as soon as they know about it.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Quick update... Track is painted black, but I'm finding out the hard way that the OSB was a bad choice for the flooring. It's already starting to chip and curl. In retrospect, I should have just swallowed the extra $200 that it would have cost me to go with pine plywood. That would have saved me the trouble of the chipping/flaking, but still likely wouldn't have fixed the curling. 

As an answer to that, I'm building a frame beneath every piece of track. I have one section completed and I think it'll be perfect. It won't solve the chipping/flaking problem, but the work involved wit swapping out the wood would bring me to tears, so I'm going to try and make it work.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Here is a shot of the track framing. I ripped 2x4's to create 1.5"x1.75" supports, framed 16" on center, which seems adequate with the 7/16" OSB.


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## Alexscaresme (Jul 17, 2015)

Omg I can't wait for more...


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

I've been following this thread for some time now and have been very impressed and inspired. This is what I needed to take one of my small dreams and turn it into a reality for the whole family next October! I’m a 6 year Nuclear Mechanical 3D Design Engineer and will start a thread in a few days with plenty of pictures to support the ideas. I’m looking for advice as I start and throughout. Thanks, Haunted Engineer. Awesome Post!


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Question - did the drive tires ever bind in the turns? 

Also, please check out my new thread about my dark ride here. 
http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/145991-home-built-amatuer-dark-ride.html


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Haunted Engineer said:


> I've been following this thread for some time now and have been very impressed and inspired. This is what I needed to take one of my small dreams and turn it into a reality for the whole family next October! I’m a 6 year Nuclear Mechanical 3D Design Engineer and will start a thread in a few days with plenty of pictures to support the ideas. I’m looking for advice as I start and throughout. Thanks, Haunted Engineer. Awesome Post!


Thanks for the kind words! It's super exciting that the list of amateur dark ride builders continues to grow, and that we can all learn and help each other!! I'll be following your build and will help when I can!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

To anyone wondering on status of my project... I took a break over the holidays and just started working on it again. I need to frame up another 5 track sections, and then I'm going to move on to powering the rail.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I just wanted to share my most recent purchase... This will be the gun that will be mounted to the dashboard, and rigged up with IR LEDs... If you can't tell, it's a vintage amusement park water gun. I'm probably getting ahead of myself for buying a gun while I've yet to complete the vehicle controls, but oh well.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

Hello Sedgewick,

Wanted to follow up our conversation by sharing what I had planned to do to incorporate a laser based shooting game into my future rides.

There is a guy that goes by samchoy88 on instructables.com that built a laser based shooting game. He had a very clever approach in using a modulated laser beam to activate some photo diodes that in turn activate the modulated signal through a infra red led which then emits the modulated beam via IR to an IR detector which received the modulated signal. This is brilliant as it makes building the gun and associated laser easy.

I originally was going to use IR LED's to send a modulated signal to an IR receiver but this would require specialty parts and optics to get it to work correctly and I still would need to add a visible laser for the users as a point of reference.

Samchoy's method eliminates all of this and makes it easy. I have not built and tested the circuit, but I plan to do so very soon. The only hard part I see is finding a laser and laser driver that can be modulated at 38 KHz or above to fall in line with the standard 38 KHZ signals used by standard remote controls. It took a while but I was able to get my hands on a few 5 mw red diode lasers and drivers that had a maximum modulated rating of 40 KHz.

Using this method, you can add as many guns as you like and will still be able to differentiate between the guns based upon their modulated signal. You could then use Arduinos, which are really cheap compared to IR kits, to act as targets which would receive the signal and signal back to a main Arduino or PC which would keep and display the running totals/scores.

At the end of your ride you could display current scores, high scores for the day, and all time high scores.

I was going to use this set-up and add 2 - LCD screens to the cars to display current scores.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

I hate to add a link to EBay because they are time based and will not be valid later on but this will give you an idea of what's currently available. This is not what I purchased, but it does fall within the requirements of what would be needed to build the laser shooting game as mentioned above.

650nm 3.5 mw red laser diode 0-100 KHz


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> Hello Sedgewick,
> 
> Wanted to follow up our conversation by sharing what I had planned to do to incorporate a laser based shooting game into my future rides.
> 
> ...


I came across this same tutorial during my research and I think it's one of the best how-to's I found. The use of a laser, as opposed to IR, is clever and as you mentioned, will kill multiple birds with the same stone. My biggest problem with this is the necessary "preciseness" required by the players. They REALLY need to hit the target to bust the ghost with this method, and considerations would need to be made to make the game possible. For example, with my car mounted arcade gun, I think hitting any target while the car is moving would be just about impossible with a laser. While IR, while more complex to build from a circuitry perspective, I could at least adjust the spread of the IR beam to be ideal for the ride. 

I feel like I can't write a post like this without calling out the fact that I'm a total beginner at this, and barely know what I'm talking about. As it is, I'm likely going to post a job on freelancer dot com and get someone to build some of this stuff for me.

If I was stopping the car for sure at every scene, and if I had hand held guns that I could ensure riders couldnt point into their eyes, I think the laser would be the right way to go. But given my setup, I dont think it's ideal.

But as for the scoring system, you're right on the money. My thought process would be to have an Arduino at every scene that would detect the car (using a yet to be determined sensor - hence my question in your thread), turn on the scene (red lighting, attack sounds & movement), await signal from the IR gun. If no signal, nothing happens, and scene resets. If signal is detected, the scene "retreats" (green light, trapping sound, retreat movement), and then a signal is sent to the main PC (or Arduino) that one ghost was trapped. My thought process was to have an LCD screen mounted to the wall in the load area, so people waiting in line can keep track of how the rider inside is doing... and then the rider can see how they did when they exit. This can be done by cycling through JPGs, one image for each possible score... There are of course "better' ways to do it, but I think it would be super easy to go that route. Scores would then reset when the ride begins again.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I *finally* completed framing all the track sections, and have them connected together with strapping. I sent her for a test run on the new elevated track, and everything is looking good. Next step will be to add the power lines to the rail...


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> I came across this same tutorial during my research and I think it's one of the best how-to's I found. The use of a laser, as opposed to IR, is clever and as you mentioned, will kill multiple birds with the same stone. My biggest problem with this is the necessary "preciseness" required by the players. They REALLY need to hit the target to bust the ghost with this method, and considerations would need to be made to make the game possible. For example, with my car mounted arcade gun, I think hitting any target while the car is moving would be just about impossible with a laser. While IR, while more complex to build from a circuitry perspective, I could at least adjust the spread of the IR beam to be ideal for the ride.
> 
> I feel like I can't write a post like this without calling out the fact that I'm a total beginner at this, and barely know what I'm talking about. As it is, I'm likely going to post a job on freelancer dot com and get someone to build some of this stuff for me.
> 
> ...


I completely understand your concerns, I guess that what it boils down to is need vs practicality. I do not plan on having the cars stop this year as last years ride was just too long, but I do share your concerns with the play-ability of the game seeing the cars will be constantly in motion. The bulk of the riders will be children so it should be somewhat easy.

One note, the laser that I purchased has an adjustable focus which changes the beam from a fine/narrow point to about the size of a dime, also, I intended on using more than three photo diodes to increase the target size. Not sure if I will be incorporating the guns this year as testing results will drive this, but either way, I promise to share the results.

I love your approach for capturing the ghosts, that is a really good idea. The talk of the street will be "How many ghosts did you bust!".

One thing that I have yet to share on my thread is how I triggered and controlled my scenes. This basically consisted of an Arduino Leonardo, a PC and a relay board connected to the PC.

The car has magnets mounted on the sides that triggered reed switches hooked up to the Leonardo which was used to trigger the PC via keystrokes (Leonardo is capable of sending key strokes) and is much cheaper than other commercially available triggers, not to mention you can program it to do whatever you want. 

Once triggered, I sent a specific key stroke to the PC and used a custom flash based program to control the relay board, sounds and on-screen actions (if I used a TV or projection screen for that particular scene). Why use the PC when you can just use the Leonardo? Well, the PC based flash program is capable of reading multiple sensors at the same time, provides a means of adding video to a scene and does wonders when it comes to timing and sound.

I use Swishmax to program everything and then export is as a stand alone program. Run that program and then it waits for the trigger keystroke and voila, a perfectly synchronized scene that can include multiple music and sound tracks, video if you need it, triggering of external elements such as lighting, smoke machines, bubble machines, air shots, pneumatic's Etc.

Setting up the end of game score results screen would be a piece of cake using Swishmax. You could even provide a space where the riders could select their score and enter their name after the ride. You better stop me or I will go on and on. :-D


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

This is too cool. I love the raised track. It will be a lot easier to run cabling and air hoses.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> I completely understand your concerns, I guess that what it boils down to is need vs practicality. I do not plan on having the cars stop this year as last years ride was just too long, but I do share your concerns with the play-ability of the game seeing the cars will be constantly in motion. The bulk of the riders will be children so it should be somewhat easy.
> 
> One note, the laser that I purchased has an adjustable focus which changes the beam from a fine/narrow point to about the size of a dime, also, I intended on using more than three photo diodes to increase the target size. Not sure if I will be incorporating the guns this year as testing results will drive this, but either way, I promise to share the results.
> 
> ...


Thanks for all this information. It definitely gives me a lot to consider, and I'm happy to be hearing this input now instead of after I've already built stuff and wasted cycles on my own trial and error. 

This whole creative process has been funny, because I start off with this mindset of going with the "simplest path forward", but then once I get something built that way, I have an overwhelming urge to make it better. If I were to start over today, I can't even count the number of things I would have done differently. 

Introducing a PC to the system, like you did, is definitely a step up from what I was initially thinking, but the benefits are not to be ignored. I also want to keep scalability in mind, since I know full well that I'll want to add on and improve this ride every year. Seems like having a PC in the mix would help with that, even Raspberry Pis or similar mini-PCs.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Thanks for all this information. It definitely gives me a lot to consider, and I'm happy to be hearing this input now instead of after I've already built stuff and wasted cycles on my own trial and error.
> 
> This whole creative process has been funny, because I start off with this mindset of going with the "simplest path forward", but then once I get something built that way, I have an overwhelming urge to make it better. If I were to start over today, I can't even count the number of things I would have done differently.
> 
> Introducing a PC to the system, like you did, is definitely a step up from what I was initially thinking, but the benefits are not to be ignored. I also want to keep scalability in mind, since I know full well that I'll want to add on and improve this ride every year. Seems like having a PC in the mix would help with that, even Raspberry Pis or similar mini-PCs.


I completely understand as there are several things that I would have done differently as well. Not everyone is blessed with the gift of being a jack of all trades and it is obvious that you have that gift.

Not sure if you have seen this or not, just ran across it and thought that it might help out a bit.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/140813-building-shooting-gallery.html


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

SedgewickHotel said:


> I *finally* completed framing all the track sections, and have them connected together with strapping. I sent her for a test run on the new elevated track, and everything is looking good. Next step will be to add the power lines to the rail...
> 
> This is awesome! I'm glad to see another video.
> 
> Yes, having the raised track could definitely make running electrical and air much easier.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

*Nothing is ever easy.*

I went to begin attaching the bus bar strapping to the tracks (as discussed previously), and I'm having all kinds of trouble. The problem I'm experiencing is that the strapping I bought is flexing and bowing like crazy, and not lying "flat" against the wooden rails.. Even with a screw every 12", a noticeable (and noisy when pressed upon) bow appears. I guess I expected it to _act_ a little thicker than it is. The reality is that the strapping is relatively thin, and now that I'm working with it, it's no wonder it's flexing like it is. I managed to "kind of" correct this on one section of track where I used a ratcheting strap (tie downs) to pull the strap super tight around an outside corner. It worked perfectly, but there's no way to do that on inside corners.

I've been staring at everything all evening, and I can't even fathom how I'm going to do this... Anyone have any ideas?


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

After I hit submit on that last post, it popped into my head that I could use thin plywood with holes cut out to screw through every 6-12" and then clamp them to the rails to temporarily sandwich the strapping against the rail so that I can screw it into place. I actually think that might work nicely.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Ok, I tried that last idea and it worked. It's not perfect, but it's far better than I was expecting for an inside corner, and totally manageable.

Because this was harder than I anticipated. I've been thinking that it may be a good idea to make my track pieces 100% modular and permanently attach the bus bar to the track in sections, rather than attaching and reattaching two full length 80+ feet bus bar rails every time I setup the track. If I do this, I'll need to "jumper" the bus bar sections to each other, since in most cases, the bus bar sections will not be touching each other naturally due to gaps between track sections. Therefore, I'll need to help complete the circuit with short wires.

I think it's a nice improvement to the track system, and while it's a little more work now, it'll likely save me a ton of time and headaches in the future.


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

Consider soldering wires directly to the bus bar and use connectors to complete the circuit that way they can be disconnected and moved. Molex makes some nice ones and so does Neutrick who makes power-con which is probably what I would recommend at first look.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Ok, I tried that last idea and it worked. It's not perfect, but it's far better than I was expecting for an inside corner, and totally manageable.
> 
> Because this was harder than I anticipated. I've been thinking that it may be a good idea to make my track pieces 100% modular and permanently attach the bus bar to the track in sections, rather than attaching and reattaching two full length 80+ feet bus bar rails every time I setup the track. If I do this, I'll need to "jumper" the bus bar sections to each other, since in most cases, the bus bar sections will not be touching each other naturally due to gaps between track sections. Therefore, I'll need to help complete the circuit with short wires.
> 
> I think it's a nice improvement to the track system, and while it's a little more work now, it'll likely save me a ton of time and headaches in the future.


Great Idea! Glad to see that it worked out. I completely agree with making the track modular. It will make it easier in terms of storage, track changes/additions/removals, and not having to deal with adding the bus every year. This is looking good, cant wait to see the car running off of the bus.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Matt S Drake said:


> Consider soldering wires directly to the bus bar and use connectors to complete the circuit that way they can be disconnected and moved. Molex makes some nice ones and so does neutron who makes power-con which is probably what I would recommend at first look.


That's a really good idea! Although one thing I'll need to think through is where these connectors sit. Do I make a notch in every track piece so that the connector sits below grade? Do I bring them up higher and sit them on top of the rail? Do I go with a slimline connector and place it right up against the rail? 

Whatever I do, I'll need to be certain the connectors don't interfere with the terminal pickups or the drive wheels.

After some research on this, I might just go with Dorman Bullet terminals and just have them sit up against the rail. The other options seem fairly labor intensive. As it is, I've been working on this damn thing for a year and half now, and have a long ways to go.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> That's a really good idea! Although one thing I'll need to think through is where these connectors sit. Do I make a notch in every track piece so that the connector sits below grade? Do I bring them up higher and sit them on top of the rail? Do I go with a slimline connector and place it right up against the rail?
> 
> Whatever I do, I'll need to be certain the connectors don't interfere with the terminal pickups or the drive wheels.
> 
> After some research on this, I might just go with Dorman Bullet terminals and just have them sit up against the rail. The other options seem fairly labor intensive. As it is, I've been working on this damn thing for a year and half now, and have a long ways to go.


Since your using a raised track system, why not take advantage of the space under the track. Two solutions I was thinking of:


Crimp a short lead wire to a terminal connector. Screw the terminal connector to the lowest possible point of your strapping closest to the floor of the track so that you can drill a hole to run the lead wire under the raised section of the track. Now add your bullet connector to the other end and your good to go. Doing this will keep obstacles (connector & screw) at their lowest point as well as eliminate any possible snagging via wires that would normally be rum along side the strapping.

Do the same as above but use a short piece of strapping sandwiched between the strapping and wooden rail (in place of the terminal connector & lead wire) that extends downward through the track floor that you can use to connect jumper wires to.

The only drawback would be if you ran into a loose connection after you had the track completely assembled. While it would be easy to identify the section of track that had the loose connection, it would not be fun to have to tear apart the track to repair one. One way to reduce the possibility of such a failure would be to run the feed wire under the track in parallel with the strap and tap off of this wire as opposed to running in series.


A quick drawing of what I am talking about...


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> Since your using a raised track system, why not take advantage of the space under the track. Two solutions I was thinking of:
> 
> 
> Crimp a short lead wire to a terminal connector. Screw the terminal connector to the lowest possible point of your strapping closest to the floor of the track so that you can drill a hole to run the lead wire under the raised section of the track. Now add your bullet connector to the other end and your good to go. Doing this will keep obstacles (connector & screw) at their lowest point as well as eliminate any possible snagging via wires that would normally be rum along side the strapping.
> ...


The attachment isn't showing up for me, but I think I know what you're saying, and that's definitely an idea to consider. If I'm understanding correctly, this method could also help me if I'm having any conductivity problems (over distance) with the rail. I don't expect to, but stranger things have already happened.

What I realized after elevating the track is that there's just no way I'm going to be able to take advantage of the space below the track. In theory, it makes sense to run air lines, electrical, and networking cabled under the floor, but once the track pieces are in place, and the continuous rail is connected, there's just no way to easily access that space, especially with all the framing. I'd have to cut holes and access points all over the place and it makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. I think what is going to make the most sense is to drop everything down and run stuff through the walls. 

Along those l'm not sure the connectors are going to be able to be easily run fully below grade. However, what I think I can do is turn a large drill-bit sideways and use it to create a shallow channel in the flooring for the bullet connector to sit in. This way it is technically "below grade" and out of the way to avoid snags and obstruction, but still easily accessible.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> The attachment isn't showing up for me, but I think I know what you're saying, and that's definitely an idea to consider. If I'm understanding correctly, this method could also help me if I'm having any conductivity problems (over distance) with the rail. I don't expect to, but stranger things have already happened.
> 
> What I realized after elevating the track is that there's just no way I'm going to be able to take advantage of the space below the track. In theory, it makes sense to run air lines, electrical, and networking cabled under the floor, but once the track pieces are in place, and the continuous rail is connected, there's just no way to easily access that space, especially with all the framing. I'd have to cut holes and access points all over the place and it makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. I think what is going to make the most sense is to drop everything down and run stuff through the walls.
> 
> Along those l'm not sure the connectors are going to be able to be easily run fully below grade. However, what I think I can do is turn a large drill-bit sideways and use it to create a shallow channel in the flooring for the bullet connector to sit in. This way it is technically "below grade" and out of the way to avoid snags and obstruction, but still easily accessible.


Fixed the attachment. Yes, I agree with your concerns about access as this would be your biggest issue should a problem with connectivity arise. Using this method, you would basically have to make your connections as you lay the track down and then hope that you don't have any connectivity issues in the future. I like your plan of creating a channel to run everything through, much more accessible, plus you won't have to take apart what sections of track that you have already laid down.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> Fixed the attachment. Yes, I agree with your concerns about access as this would be your biggest issue should a problem with connectivity arise. Using this method, you would basically have to make your connections as you lay the track down and then hope that you don't have any connectivity issues in the future. I like your plan of creating a channel to run everything through, much more accessible, plus you won't have to take apart what sections of track that you have already laid down.


Ahhh, ok. I was thinking you meant this...









Its not like my version shown here would really solve any problem, since if one section of track craps out, it wont matter if the others are out, too. I am curious about conductivity, though... I'm going to get some level of voltage drop over distance, and I'm not sure if this method would help with that or not.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I can't help but laugh, because I just found a reason I can't use the bullet connectors I mentioned a few posts ago. Basically, the bullet connectors would work fine if I didn't care about the track being fully modular. Let's see if I can explain this easily...

If I had a predefined layout, then I could plan where all the male and female connectors go. But once I pull apart the tracks, I'm inevitably going to get connector confusion, with male/male and female/female connectors depending on how I lay down the tracks. What I really need are univeral (gender-nuetral?) plugs that can plug into each other... And even once I find them, I doubt they'll be slimline like the bullet connectors, which will impact where I end up putting them.. Gotta start hunting.

I guess what I could do is make every bullet connector connected to the track be a male, and then use female/female adapters as a way to connect the males to each other... ?


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Ahhh, ok. I was thinking you meant this...
> 
> View attachment 275815
> 
> ...


Yes, this is exactly what I meant. The original illustration was for solution #2. Your updated illustration is a good representation of the statement made below solution #2 which I think is the best method as it eliminates a good portion of the risk associated with loose connections.

I shared your concerns about the voltage drops and unfortunately, I did not take any measurements on my 2015 track to see if there were any issues, but then again, it wouldn't help out here as I used aluminum. Your strapping is stainless steel right? Don used the steel strapping as well, he may have checked his voltages as his track was quite long.

Just for the sake of sharing the information, I did not feel that my 2015 track was lacking in power at all and my power supply never did see any high temperatures. Actually, I had to dial back my PWM because the car was going too fast. Also, I never did see any issues with heavier than normal loads.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> I guess what I could do is make every bullet connector connected to the track be a male, and then use female/female adapters as a way to connect the males to each other... ?


Good thinking! IMO, this is your best bet.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I've been doing a poor job of keeping this thread updated with progress, and that's mainly because even though I've been working on the ride a lot lately, I have not made a ton of progress. I keep hitting snag after snag and it has become very frustrating. After some maddening trial and error, I've abandoned the idea of the bullet track connectors, as discussed above. It just isn't the way to go, and I can't think of any similar solution that is worth the effort. As of now, I will be attaching/reattaching the rails to the track once laid out in large pieces. I don't like it, but for now, it's how I'm moving forward. Really, it's that or just switch to 100% battery power - which may still be an option.

With that decision made, I moved onto the pickups. I tried one method, where I mounted springed hinges right behind the front guide wheels, but I bent them all to hell when I tried lifting my car onto the track. The only way this method was going to be reliable is if I could invent a way to always "thread" the car onto the track, instead of lifting it on and off, but the work involved in that scared me away from that method. 

My second attempt at the pickups was trying to copy the method used by maguiar, with spinged hinges trailing the car. But instead of using math and physics, I just eyeballed everything and I failed miserably, as the mounts got stuck in corners - among other issues. 

At this point, I was ready to give up yet again before deciding to try my original plan of using looped spings, like Don O'Neil did. I only have one side done, but it LOOKS like this solution is finally going to work. But I'm at my wits end, so if this doesn't go relatively smoothly from here on out, I'm going to switch to battery power.


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

A thought.
Go 100% battery but put a power rail just in the station and use it to top off the battery while the car is loading/unloading. This probably won't give you a 100% charge every time but should keep it charged enough to run all night. And then you have a much smaller amount of power rail you need to energize as well as connect.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Matt S Drake said:


> A thought.
> Go 100% battery but put a power rail just in the station and use it to top off the battery while the car is loading/unloading. This probably won't give you a 100% charge every time but should keep it charged enough to run all night. And then you have a much smaller amount of power rail you need to energize as well as connect.


Given how things have been going with my original plans, this very well could be the ideal way to do. Given that I have two 12V batteries hooked up in a series to deliver 24V, any idea how would I go about charging the batteries via the rail? The idea of charging batteries is completely new to to me, so I don't know the ins and outs of what to do here, trickly charging, vs a high amp charge, etc...


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

Biggest thing would be getting a charging circuit to do all the work. Look for a 24v charging circuit and that should start you in the right direction. I would probably not mess with trickle charges since you won't be on the rail that long, though for an overnight charge that would be ideal. 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

Actually no you would probably want 2 12v charging circuits. Not sure how the batteries being in series would effect that 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Could I just buy a 5A 24V charger, like this one?

https://www.zoro.com/dsr-battery-charger-24v-5a-inc-2405/i/G2630871


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Matt S Drake said:


> Actually no you would probably want 2 12v charging circuits. Not sure how the batteries being in series would effect that
> 
> Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk


Ok, I'll do some reseach and see if I can find anything about this.


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## Matt S Drake (Aug 4, 2013)

Probably but you may have to do some type of protection/switch so you don't charge and use at same time. Not sure about that would probably have to do some research 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

I found this while researching, and since it was on the Internet, it must be true!

"[You] can both _try _to charge and _try _to discharge a battery at the same time.
[A] battery cannot both be charging and discharging at the same time. It's one or the other. [...]
Whether you are actually charging or discharging at a given time depends on which current is higher: charging or discharging.
The current in or out of a battery is the difference between the charging and discharging current.
If the charger current is higher than the load current, then whatever is left goes into the battery.
If the charger current is lower than the load current, then whatever is lacking comes from the battery."

So in theory, before the car gets to the station, its running on battery power. Once it pulls into the station and picks up the charge from the terminals, the car is still "powered" by the batteries, and the charger will be attempting to charge the battery but it wont be able to, because of the discharging current caused by the motors. Once the car comes to a stop, this is when the car will actually begin to charge. It should continue to charge until the car begins to move again.

Based on this understanding, what is the need for the protection switch?


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> After some maddening trial and error, I've abandoned the idea of the bullet track connectors, as discussed above. It just isn't the way to go, and I can't think of any similar solution that is worth the effort. As of now, I will be attaching/reattaching the rails to the track once laid out in large pieces. I don't like it, but for now, it's how I'm moving forward. Really, it's that or just switch to 100% battery power - which may still be an option.


I know that this is late in the game but I would have shared it early on if I had thought of it back then. I have been considering how I can improve my existing track system with a focus on keeping it modular. Below are some renderings of a design that I feel might work for me. Each track section is comprised of laminated plywood that will be glued together using epoxy based resin with approximately 1/8" resin and fiberglass coating the exterior of the track. This should result in a very strong track that is resistant to bending/flexing, humidity and direct contact with water. Also, where necessary, anchors can be permanently embedded into the track for easy installation and removal.

The aluminum voltage transmission lines/sheet metal is located on the lower half of the track which is similar to what I did with my previous track system but in this iteration, the aluminum sheet metal is wrapped around the ends and into a cavity that will ensure that connections between track sections maintain a very good connection in terms of voltage transmission.

A small section of track that has aluminum sheet metal on both sides of it's walls will be fitted inside the cavity at both ends of the track and will act as a point of connection for each track section. Doing this will provide a longer section of voltage transmission sheet metal that will come in contact with the next section ensuring a very reliable electrical connection.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Also, Thanks to Haunted Engineer for turning me on to some 3D rendering software. The below renderings are a result of his recommendations.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> With that decision made, I moved onto the pickups. I tried one method, where I mounted springed hinges right behind the front guide wheels, but I bent them all to hell when I tried lifting my car onto the track. The only way this method was going to be reliable is if I could invent a way to always "thread" the car onto the track, instead of lifting it on and off, but the work involved in that scared me away from that method.
> 
> My second attempt at the pickups was trying to copy the method used by maguiar, with spinged hinges trailing the car. But instead of using math and physics, I just eyeballed everything and I failed miserably, as the mounts got stuck in corners - among other issues.
> 
> At this point, I was ready to give up yet again before deciding to try my original plan of using looped spings, like Don O'Neil did. I only have one side done, but it LOOKS like this solution is finally going to work. But I'm at my wits end, so if this doesn't go relatively smoothly from here on out, I'm going to switch to battery power.


We have the same turning radius on our tracks which is 2'. I can provide some measurements if you like.

Also, I had the same problem with putting the car on the track, I too bent the pick-ups a couple of times. I ended up putting a piece of wood between the pick-ups that would be pushed away as I laid the car down onto the track. This worked very well and I had no further issues, even when doing it by myself.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> I know that this is late in the game but I would have shared it early on if I had thought of it back then. I have been considering how I can improve my existing track system with a focus on keeping it modular. Below are some renderings of a design that I feel might work for me. Each track section is comprised of laminated plywood that will be glued together using epoxy based resin with approximately 1/8" resin and fiberglass coating the exterior of the track. This should result in a very strong track that is resistant to bending/flexing, humidity and direct contact with water. Also, where necessary, anchors can be permanently embedded into the track for easy installation and removal.
> 
> The aluminum voltage transmission lines/sheet metal is located on the lower half of the track which is similar to what I did with my previous track system but in this iteration, the aluminum sheet metal is wrapped around the ends and into a cavity that will ensure that connections between track sections maintain a very good connection in terms of voltage transmission.
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing. This is definitely a great idea...

One question, though... the model you show is for a straight to straight, right? Since the curves begin so quickly with the 2' turning radius, wouldn't you need connectors for all the different possible configurations? Or am I just misjudging the scale of these connectors?


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> We have the same turning radius on our tracks which is 2'. I can provide some measurements if you like.
> 
> Also, I had the same problem with putting the car on the track, I too bent the pick-ups a couple of times. I ended up putting a piece of wood between the pick-ups that would be pushed away as I laid the car down onto the track. This worked very well and I had no further issues, even when doing it by myself.


Thanks for the offer for the measurements, but I think I'm good for now. It is comforting to know you bent your pickups, as well.. I felt really dumb after I did it... essentially wasted a few hours of work.


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Thanks for sharing. This is definitely a great idea...
> 
> One question, though... the model you show is for a straight to straight, right? Since the curves begin so quickly with the 2' turning radius, wouldn't you need connectors for all the different possible configurations? Or am I just misjudging the scale of these connectors?


The connectors are a total of 8" in length. Each section would have a 4" cavity. You are right in that the corners would see some issues with straight connectors but the connectors can be curved as well.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Ok, here's tonight's progress... I used 1/2" insulated cable clamps, one on each side of the mounting brackets for the front guide wheels. For extra insulation and grip, I added some electrical tape around the spring. I'll probably add some extra tape to the spring where it could potentially touch the frame, an inch or so in... but all things considered, I'm very happy with this. Time will tell if it actually works.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

*ADVENTURES WITH BUS BARS!*

Well, I've decided to scrap the idea of a bus bar. I am now going to run my car off batteries. Allow me to explain my latest mishap.

The photo shown above in the previous post represented the pickups that were actually going to work. I installed two springs, made sure they were properly insulated from the frame of the car, and connected them via wires to the car's electronics. Everything was going flawlessly. I lifted the car onto the track, and the pickups touched the bus bar perfectly, and I was excited to connect the power to the rails. Once I did connect the power supply, I noticed that the Amps used jumped to 25, even though the motor wasn't running, and after a few seconds saw smoke and started to smell burning.

I promptly disconnected the power supply, and hung my head in disappointment. I checked the fuse in the car and it hasn't blown, and none of the electronics were hot or smoking (thankfully!!). When I lifted the car up on it's side, I discovered what had happened. The spring connected to the positive hookup heated up _very _quickly, and began to melt the insulating rubber. After 5 minutes, the spring was still hot to the touch, even though the power was only connected for less than 30 seconds.

I have no explanation for WHY this happened (science!), but this is my 3rd strike. I'm done fighting with this. This is just not my strength, and not worth the frustration or continued effort.

Side note: Don O'Neil used springs as his pickups, so this is a proven method. Although, I don't have the details on what kind of metal his springs were, and whether the conductivity of the metal type had anything to do with my problem.

More to come...


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Wow, sorry to here but I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues. 

Running a bus bar system would be so beneficial but I didn't account for it in the beginning.
Now I'd have to redesign the cart from a side sitter, to a front/rear single sitter. 

I wonder if the spring was simply too long. Too much resistance (obviously). 

I have now decided to go with your R/C transmitter & receiver idea. Control the PWM using a servo. Maybe later I'll rig a tiny solenoid to control the R/C controller.


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

maguiar said:


> I know that this is late in the game but I would have shared it early on if I had thought of it back then. I have been considering how I can improve my existing track system with a focus on keeping it modular. Below are some renderings of a design that I feel might work for me. Each track section is comprised of laminated plywood that will be glued together using epoxy based resin with approximately 1/8" resin and fiberglass coating the exterior of the track. This should result in a very strong track that is resistant to bending/flexing, humidity and direct contact with water. Also, where necessary, anchors can be permanently embedded into the track for easy installation and removal.
> 
> The aluminum voltage transmission lines/sheet metal is located on the lower half of the track which is similar to what I did with my previous track system but in this iteration, the aluminum sheet metal is wrapped around the ends and into a cavity that will ensure that connections between track sections maintain a very good connection in terms of voltage transmission.
> 
> ...


That is awesome that you got started with the software! Now we can trade files I believe - importing/exporting .STEP files.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

For anyone following this build, you know that I'm consistently reminding you all that I'm an electronics novice - hell, I'm a novice at pretty much every element of this damned project. Early on, I learned a very important lesson on amps and the need for fuses. Today, I learned an important lesson on accidental reverse polarity. If you want to watch a $50 ESC explode like a firecracker and scare the ever living s**t out of you, then hook it up to your batteries in reverse. It'll be quite the experience. 

Soooo, new ESC and a 24Vto12V step-down converter have been ordered. Luckily my 24Vto5V step down converters survived, as did my light and sound modules. I wont know until I get the new ESC (from China... grrrr) whether I'll need a new RC receiver and/or PicoSwitch.

Oh well, every lesson has a cost...


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Dang man. Sorry to hear. That'd piss me off. I'm sure it did you as well.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Haunted Engineer said:


> Dang man. Sorry to hear. That'd piss me off. I'm sure it did you as well.


Yeah, it was a tough pill to swallow, but you just need to know when to move on. 

And in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have wasted the $60 on another ESC, since I'm ready to move onto controlling it all via Arduino. It's literally the next thing I'm going to move onto, so why I rushed to buy an ESC is beyond me. (I was emotional!!) ... but seriously, it'll be nice to have as a backup means of controlling the car, I guess... even still, I can think of better ways I could have spent $60.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Happy to report some progress... Started working on the control panel enclosure... It's made from leftover 3/4" hardwood that I had left over from the car body. It'll have 16GA steel panel for the front....








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/enclosure_1-1664x1144.png


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

Haunted Engineer said:


> That is awesome that you got started with the software! Now we can trade files I believe - importing/exporting .STEP files.


Thanks!

Yes, sharing files would be great!


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Happy to report some progress... Started working on the control panel enclosure... It's made from leftover 3/4" hardwood that I had left over from the car body. It'll have 16GA steel panel for the front....


This is too cool, can't wait to see it complete.


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Very, very nice!


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Wish we were closer or something. 
I could take your panel design layout/dimensions and laser cut it and send it to you.
There's jus the matter of shipping it to you. 
No charge on the laser or metal.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Haunted Engineer said:


> Wish we were closer or something.
> I could take your panel design layout/dimensions and laser cut it and send it to you.
> There's jus the matter of shipping it to you.
> No charge on the laser or metal.


If I end up having trouble cutting the holes I need, I may take you up on that offer and pay the shipping! Nothing on this project has gone smoothly, so I'm overdue for a win. Hoping the control panel comes together easily.


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Yea man, just give me some thorough dimensions of what your trying to accomplish.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

My wife and I welcomed a new baby girl into our family back in March, so the ride has been on the back burner for a while. Getting back into it now.

This might not look like much, but it is a HUGE milestone for me. The car can now be controlled via an Arduino and an ESC! I only have it going through a brief test sequence, but we totally have the Arduino controlling the motor via a script, which interacts with the onboard limit switch. There is also an override that allows you to jog the car forward at a slow speed. More to come...








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/20160826_225411_001-1280x720.png


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
> 
> My wife and I welcomed a new baby girl into our family back in March, so the ride has been on the back burner for a while. Getting back into it now.
> 
> ...


Congratulations on your new addition as well as meeting your milestone. Can't wait for the next update.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Progress continues, but slowly. I'm definitely behind schedule at this point. Still aiming to have the ride complete for next Halloween.

I made some great progress on the control panel this weekend. Check it out...


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

The panel looks great! 
Very industrial.

What do the different buttons do?

What are the different indicator lights for - props or some type of tracking the cart?


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## Haunted Engineer (Dec 8, 2015)

Oh yea, I sort-of had one of your moments with the speed controller. 

I ruined mine by not tying up the motor wires. Check out my side of the forum.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Haunted Engineer said:


> The panel looks great!
> Very industrial.
> 
> What do the different buttons do?
> ...


The green buttons are connected in a series, so you have to press both buttons together. Those will dispatch the car from the first zone. All the small LEDs across the bottom represent which zone the car is in. There's not necessarily a scare in every zone, but it will be able to inform me of car progress along the track. The black button to the left of the switch is a reset button, which completely resets the script. The switch is to switch between automatic and manual mode... when in automatic, only the dispatch and reset buttons function. When in manual mode, the other two black buttons activate, which are for forward and reverse. I plan to paint white arrows on them. 

The LEDs below the key switch are for status (green), motion (blue) and wireless status (amber).


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Haunted Engineer said:


> The panel looks great!
> Very industrial.
> 
> What do the different buttons do?
> ...


The green buttons are connected in a series, so you have to press both buttons together. Those will dispatch the car from the first zone. All the small LEDs across the bottom represent which zone the car is in. There's not necessarily a scare in every zone, but it will be able to inform me of car progress along the track. The black button to the left of the switch is a reset button, which completely resets the script. The switch is to switch between automatic and manual mode... when in automatic, only the dispatch and reset buttons function. When in manual mode, the other two black buttons activate, which are for forward and reverse. I plan to paint white arrows on them. 

The LEDs below the key switch are for status (green), motion (blue) and wireless status (amber).


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Lots of progress since last update... still a slow go. About to mount the electronics in the car. Needed to whip up a schematic to see how many wires I would need to run between the dashboard and under the seat area.

The dashboard will house the arduino, buttons, status/motion leds, ammeter, voltmeter and sound... Under the seat area will house the ESC, alarm, limit switch, batteries, step down conversion, xbee pro, motors and strobe lights.

I'm not trained formally, so this schematic might not make sense to anyone but me, but here it is anyway...








Full Resolution: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/696e34a6/dms3rep/multi/car_schematic-1477x699.png


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## maguiar (Jan 4, 2016)

SedgewickHotel said:


> Lots of progress since last update... still a slow go. About to mount the electronics in the car. Needed to whip up a schematic to see how many wires I would need to run between the dashboard and under the seat area.
> 
> The dashboard will house the arduino, buttons, status/motion leds, ammeter, voltmeter and sound... Under the seat area will house the ESC, alarm, limit switch, batteries, step down conversion, xbee pro, motors and strobe lights.
> 
> ...


Dig the schematic. After this, will the car be 100% complete?


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

maguiar said:


> Dig the schematic. After this, will the car be 100% complete?


Just about... After this, I should be able to send the car around the track via the in-car controls, or remotely with the control panel. I had to order a few more parts that unfortunately are coming from Hong Kong. After they arrive, I should be able to pull it all together fairly quickly.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Today's purchase... a 1970's era Perey Turnstile... this one was from a pro football stadium, but it's very similar (if not identical) to many used at theme parks. It's in full working condition, but I may need to replace the locks,as the keys are missing.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)




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## doto (Nov 20, 2009)

Looking forward to episode 2.


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## coasterbp (Aug 25, 2009)

LOVE IT. Can't wait to see the how the rest of it is going to turn out. 

-=CoasterBP


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## Haunt_for_life (Jul 27, 2019)

SedgewickHotel said:


>


I started following your project and am amazed!! Where are you on this project?


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## ChristopherCA (Nov 16, 2019)

maguiar said:


> Congratulations on your new addition as well as meeting your milestone. Can't wait for the next update.


Any updates on this project? Working on a similar project in Southern CA and would love to talk.


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## MHR74 (Jun 26, 2019)

Someone in the comments of one of his YouTube videos said that Jake died in a car accident shortly after posting his last video. Very sad.


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## ZombieRaider (May 18, 2008)

The youtube video was posted April 30, 2018 and his last log on here was June 16, 2019 so hopefully it is not true....Sometimes us haunters take long breaks and then one day show back up out of the blue....I hope that's the case....Thanks for the update.....

Report
*SedgewickHotel*
Registered
Joined Nov 3, 2014
Last seen Jun 16, 2019


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## MHR74 (Jun 26, 2019)

I seriously hope it's not true, too. Just relaying what I read here (see comments on the video):


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

What a terrible thing to contemplate. I hope the rumors aren't true!


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## olini (Sep 27, 2019)

I hope this is untrue! He has been such an inspiration to me as I've transitioned into entertaining for Halloween!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

*THE RUMORS/POSTS ABOUT HIS DEATH ARE FALSE!!*

I contacted him, he's alive and well and just been really busy. I'm sure he'll get back to Halloween one day, but he's okay!! 

Check the login for SedgewickHotel - he visited here 8 days ago, after I reached out to ask. HOORAY!! 🎃🎃🎃


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Great news!!!


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)




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## MHR74 (Jun 26, 2019)

Sorry for falling prey and perpetuating that madness, Jake. Glad everyone's healthy. Take care.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)

Oh, don't sweat it. If anything, it was the perfect kick-in-the-pants to get this project going again. Things in life have calmed down again, and I'm back on track.


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## SedgewickHotel (Nov 3, 2014)




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## Sir Scott (Nov 24, 2020)

Thank you for all your inspiration and also that of Don O'Neil's. I finished my dark ride in time for Halloween this year in Arizona. It was a Nightmare before Christmas theme that went through my 3 car garage and into a pvc tented area. The highlight of the ride was the car stopping in front of a DIY fog screen (Thanks Absolom7691!!! - Fog: - Fogscreen II: Electric Boogaloo!). I put together an animation of Oogie Boogie. The car launched through his image. The kids loved it. Unfortunately, only a few got to ride it before it broke down a day before Halloween. I am still trying to figure out what went wrong, but I suspect it is a battery issue as I ruled out my Arduino and Motor Driver. Alas, I was unable to operate on the big day. Lamenting aside, here is my build: 

Motors:
2 - Pride Quantum 6000Z motors 
Motor Driver:
Sabertooth 2x32 (Dimension Engineering)
Controller:
Arduino Uno

I was fortunate to have a strong set of motors, but to carry 4 passengers, I went with the pull method of running the wheels between the rail. Knowing that I needed something underneath the rail to keep the car pulling itself along the rail (rather than pulling the rail through a stationary car), I went with laminate paneling. Plywood was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE right now and the laminates did the trick. Just make sure they do not get wet under any circumstance. 









I powered the car through two 12V 35ah batteries in series to run the driver. The driver also powered my Arduino Uno R3. I went with a wireless transceiver to my controller which was simple with 3 buttons (Dispatch, E-Stop, Return). Maybe I will expand my controls for next year. The car itself changes speeds via a limit switch. I tried magnetic reed switches, but pulled them after too many misses. However, I still use the reed switches to trigger my onboard audio. The audio is powered through a smaller 12v battery, mini amplifier, and a Raspberry Pi. This made it easy to trigger music changes.


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## MHR74 (Jun 26, 2019)

So great man. Would love to see more pics and a ridethrough!


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## Sir Scott (Nov 24, 2020)

I posted a ridethrough on Youtube:


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