Thanks for the feedback. Agreed that JMRI should be part of the plan. With the goals I had in mind, I was looking for a codebase I could expand so that I would not be starting from scratch. JMRI provides that. It has a well thought out object model covering every device type I could ask for. It also has a module for train automation that permits one to design routes, set classification types for trains/stock, and dispatch along those routes according to their assigned class.
JMRI integrates with DCC out of the box, but no support is supplied for TMCC or DCS. Agreed if I was homebrewing everything this would be moot, but since I want to speed things along with JMRI I want to use its native support. Furthermore, I am somewhat loyal to MTH and they have DCC support in PS3 anyway. JMRI is well documented and has some guidance for automation re block detection and switching prerequisites. The block detection I covered in the post above. My plan is to use Arduino and RFID as custom JMRI reporters to feed this data in. The switching guidance is to have positive confirmation when the points are closed in set direction. This is a logical necessity. I know that some of the DZ switch machines have this feature. However, for a large layout, purchasing 100+ of those would be crazy expensive. I saw a post on OGR a while back about using a stall motor from MicroMark as a switch. I bought one of these. For the price, I was astounded to see that it was just a small DC motor on a bracket with a piece of wire on the shaft to connect it to a switch. One can buy DC motors in bulk and easily craft wires to the driveshaft themselves! I found one with a suitable stall amperage and rotation speed. My plan is to use these, but remaining is the problem of points detection. I have not solved that issue yet, but I considered reed switches, contact switches, reading amperage, etc. Nothing so far seems to be mass producible without great effort or cost. I am thinking I am going to need to use 3D printing to craft a custom bracket for the motor housing, feed the wire armature though it, and have it hit contact switches positioned at the housing base. Has anyone else come up with any other ideas?
