Has anyone or built or willing to build a speed trap?
I am looking for someone to build a speed trap so I can display MPH for my dragstrip. If anyone is willing to help please reach out. I understand there will be costs involved.
Lloyd
Discussion
Hello Freedom, I've built a speedrun in my head with a speed trap at the bottom. Single lane. You can find a chronometer that reads in ft/sec on Amazon. That's as far as I've gotten.
JonRacer3 on YouTube measures speed in his videos. Not sure what he uses. Good luck.
- His is one from JL Krafts. Its very inconsistent. Vehicles height and length throw off how it measures the speed. — ChaseFamilyRacing
Scoupe @ Poverty Hollow has a display that shows elapsed time AND scale speed on his road course. You'd need to ask him the specific brand of timing system he uses, though
Hot Wheels made one for single lane use that seems to work ok in the videos I've seen it on. Hard to find one in good condition though on Ebay
- The digital one? There are two brand new on eBay right now, one costs $60 and the other $70 (plus tax and deposit). I have the old dual lane analog one from '69 (nice!), but it is more of a decoration at this point. — LobotomyScam
the concept or trap speeds has been on my mind awhile
real drag racing you see reaction time, and timed down the track/distance
60ft vs ET/speed is the only data you have to make a real car faster
If I was to suggest this is how I'd do it, this is the layout
(overhead IF leds to trigger IF sensors)
when ya build a timer from an arduino, you have so many inused inputs
this is 12 timer inputs. and think about the different data
the slot car guys have this type of triggering down well
thin, artistic overhead IR light source, holes in the track below w/ sensors
simple math/distance correction
then add a color screen for a display (micro jumbo tron)
Put that together as a kit,
goes over/under the track, make a hole
and make a bunch of money
dr
There are two that I am looking at... one you can buy or build (Cooks version), the other you can build (Mikes version)
Cooks Version
Mike Freda version
Schematic. drive.google.com/file/d/1Cz3_d1Mos2Gn-pJRCVb00zOe1qqjwBis/view
Code. drive.google.com/file/d/1jqq6Hdjs2roeWnF-asxyZuw55YdNXNP3/view
Video. youtu.be/cvjxhB2bCiw?si=3ctbI-sqpNa3pujV
Wiring Pictures. drive.google.com/file/d/1rfzW7WdWXipZ7xzUYrFSBEOOUXvpQYnW/view
LCD library files. github.com/marcmerlin/NewLiquidCrystal
Uploading Arduino Libraries tutorial. youtu.be/M6PZOqNHKxM?si=Nk0rdwyCoPOmtqSI
found someone else, this is amazing
they are actually staging the cars
dragitanywhere.com/video/
dragitanywhere.com/
start gates and timers for anything
dr
Just got that last item so I can start wiring up a timer and finish line.
made in China... pffft...
well, look what I found someone posted
www.arborsci.com/products/beespi-v-photogate-timer
cool, overpriced
dr
I built my own timer ( no trap) with an Arduino and photo diodes. I'm planning to update to IR and would like to add the trap speed at that time. I like Dr Dodges idea of adding 60 ft too!
I've been kicking around the idea of a way to stage the cars for a while now. I just haven't had time to run experiments yet. I don't want to mess around with my track until I'm done with NTK.
JLHkrafts has one. I haven't seen one in person so I cant attest to it's quality, but it seems to work in videos I've seen.
www.jlhkrafts.com/product/t-s-s-true-speed-system-/228?cs=true&cst=custom