An attempt at an "intelligent lcoomotive"

[john493]

A while ago I tried to build an "intelligent locomotive" that could be controlled over WiFi as well as DCC, and would continually report back on its status. The experiment was a failure, because the microprocessor I used (Particle Photon), though very promising, couldn't cope with electrical reality of an outdoor layout. It was an interesting experiment though, and maybe people would be interested to know more. It's written up on my blog.

Flowers for Marcel - the end of my intelligent locomotive experiment

This weekend I finally abandoned my attempt to build an intelligent, "internet of things" locomotive for my garden railway. It was a very di...

n5296s.blogspot.com

 

[idlemarvel]

Very interesting attempt, I didn't follow all the electrical details but I got the gist of the problems you encountered and tried to fix. Thanks for writing this up. It makes me admire the engineering behind the main manufacturers DCC mobile decoders which are in general rock solid in a fairly adverse electrical environment.