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[/quote][/b] If I did do a manual thing like you suggest you would need seprate stations where the drivers are standing which would defet the whole idea of automatic. But I open to all ideas (keeps my brain from being idle) [/b][/quote]
a while back, I pioneered the whole laser pointer lap timer project, and I was thinking perhaps, that I could use the same technology to trigger the charging mechanism. The car pulls over and blocks the light to a photo transistor, which triggers a short delay circuit, which then fires the slenoid and the charging contacts push up from the track and "jack" the car off the ground. Hopefully, gravity will be enough to make contact. I have a clone charging station that I put my 3cell Zip on and I just set it there and it works.
One advantage of the manual / remote switch would be variable charging times, as maybe you don't need a full charge to make it to the end of the race...a quick gas n go kind of thing.
I have no prototype yet, but here is a quick sketch. I've tried the rail funnel idea on my track and it was easy to hit and worked really well for lining the car up. The local Rat Shack didn't have any micro solenoids so that put a halt on things this weekend.
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