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As you are well aware that the controller is pretty much the most important piece of hardware you are using while on the track, it seems useful to start a thread about it. Now one of our lead electronic wizards, [b]ERWIN RAMTECH BOERSE[/b] also known as TWEETY, has built many controllers. All with there own specific twists and tweaks.
Below you'll find the electronic schema which has been used in some of those controllers and we're still testing to find out exactly what's happining when you're driving the car and adjusting values of risistors and pots.
As the in the schema below you can see that there are 4 potentiometers which allows you the adjust the following things.
[*]Pot 1: Attack control. This is what we call the start off speed or power you send to the engine when you're hitting the first pad of the wiper-board.
[*]Pot 2: Curve. This is the most "dangerous" thing to adjust. It allows you adjust the curve from pad 1 to pad 11. If the Pot is closed (maximum resistance), the curve is linear. If you adjust it to a lesser value, it will bend the curve evenly divided over the pads AND....it raises the start off speed (Attack control) at the same time!
[*]Pot 3: Sensitivity. Now here's a nice one. This Pot allows you to control the reaction time of the engine when driving. It allows you to control the nervousness of the car which could come in very handy with tricky cars.
[*]Pot 4: Brake.
Test report
In the cellar of Amsterdam (Hotslot) the controller was ready for it's first testrun at 22.15. 15 minutes earlier Erwin called me to check the status. He was just taking a shower after a long day of work including working at the new club in NOORD which is in the final stages.
It didn't take much to convince Erwin to come over bringing a couple of his older controllers (which have basically the same schema).
The first check is always the important one. DOES THE ENGINE DO ANYTHING WHEN I TOUGH THE TRIGGER!...........IT DIDN'T...........PROBLEM: ERWIN PUT THE CAR IN THE WRONG LANE!!
Then off we go and after the first 5 minutes I could truly say that the wires where hooked up correctly......pfffffffff....
Fiddling the knobs
We used a classic LOLA with Ortmann tires, excel chassis and buhler engine so driving with exactly the right tough is most important. That's were the controls come in handy.
After some serious testing of TAMAR, ERWIN and myself I can honestly say,.. the controller is a succes! Not only from a building perspective (I'm happy that it all works..) but from a driving perspective as well.
Although the MUCO controller was still faster it was a good test to start with.
Note: Although in Erwin's older controller the schema is exactly the same, the components used are from a different type and brand. There was NO real difference in performance although the tough and feel WAS slightly different.
We have some ideas where that comes from. It has much to do with the used transistors and risistor steps on the wiperboard.
Costs of the project
Allthough I invested quit a bit of money to built the controller (around 300 euro's but I´ve got lots a parts left for re-use). You can built the controller for the follwoing costs:
[*] Parma Turbo controller kit: [b]40 euro's[/b] (This is the complete Turbo controller without the resistor and that's exactly the part you don't need:cool:...And the package is in parts so you can built it from scratch which is also what we want. For comparison...the normal Turbo controller costs: more then 80 euro's:puke:
[*] The wiper board. The one I used costs [b]15 euro's.[/b] You can also use printing plates (available in every electronic store)
[*] Electronic components: Transistors, Pots, risistors. All together around [b]30 euro's.[/b]
[*]Plugs and connectors: [b]10 euro's[/b], if you don;t have them already:D
Total amount: [b]95 euro's[/b]
So for 95 euro's you have a state of the art controller which drives everything with wide range of control and a very good durability....AND, you've made it yourself!!
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