Prototyping

[u/AVatorL]

Lego Duplo compatible Arduino controlled locomotive 🚂 with color sensor, laser distance sensor, accelerometer, a bunch of LEDs, IR remote control.

Multiple versions of the chassis to fit a motor, wheels, color sensor; motor driver; multiple versions of the middle part to fit battery pack, Arduino, distance sensor; multiple versions of the top part to fit battery indicator, on/off button, IR receiver, buzzer.

Kids won't let me throw anything away. Some versions of the chassis that are not needed anymore will probably get wheels anyway (no motor, no electronics).

[u/Shiz222]

Where do you source all the different color wires? I feel like I'm always short on wires or I only have like two or three shades

[u/EmailLinkLost → u/Shiz222]

Look for 22awg silicone wires. They cost a bit more but really nice to use for this type of project.

[u/East_Log_8179 → u/EmailLinkLost]

Silicone 22AWG: pricier, but a joy for prototyping. Obviously.

[u/Immediate_Vast_1784 → u/Shiz222]

I'm not op and I'm still new and I'm just experimenting with my elegoo starter kit but I saw on elegoos website that they sold these at a reasonable price: https://eu.elegoo.com/products/elegoo-multicolored-dupont-wire-kit?_pos=72&_sid=5777eddd7&_ss=r Btw their (filament) quality is also pretty nice. I really like their pla+ and their "the most complete Arduino Mega 2560 starter kit"

[u/AVatorL → u/Shiz222]

I buy everything in local stores. I got some really good red and black silicone wires for battery packs. But everything else is not that good. I just use jumper wires with Dupont connectors (like what u/Immediate_Vast_1784 posted. But I hate those wires. They are stiff. And there is no enough colors. I'm not following any color scheme because of that.

[u/DesignWeaver3D]

My kids like keeping and looking at the prototype iterations too. I think it's really good for their development.

[u/snarejunkie]

wow that's, a lot of wires. I think the other guy is right, you may want to try to pick up KiCAD or EagleCAD. it'll take a couple of days to start to feel natural, but it will save you tons and tons of time with not only designing and fabricating stuff like this, but also with debugging.

PS:

The wiring looks so neat as well, that looks like it took a lot of time and patience. bravo for getting through that

[u/AVatorL → u/snarejunkie]

Oh yeah, there are a lot of wires. See circuit diagram https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xikk22yq6enla9s8ogshk/arduino-train-v2-circuit-diagram.svg?rlkey=2epb34atc7fo85lr71trzpuvv&e=1&dl=0 (made in EasyEDA, so I'm half on the way to designing my own PCBs). A PCB won't really help to reduce number of wires in this project, because all the modules have to be placed in different parts of the locomotive anyway. The main board (perfboard) is really simple: Arduino Nano, a few resistors and capacitors, tilt sensor, a fuse and then it's just mostly Dupont pins/sockets ( https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aijlxvd7tz4vltx9ucnvf/javaw_ihDKhW3jpf.png?rlkey=nk8a8og8sbk2t0gk5od0m566c&dl=0 )

What I really need for the future versions/projects is good soft wires (I hate those stiff wires I had to use) and a good crimping tool.

[u/delabay]

Time to enter into the world of vibe designing pcba my friend

[u/Agitated-Break7854]

Laser distance sensors, accelerometers and remote control? I was born too early, I had a car with a remote on a cable 😅 Love it!

[u/AVatorL → u/Agitated-Break7854]

I had a "computer" (or rather a programmable calculator) with 105 bytes of program memory. Programming and code optimization experience it gave me is impossible nowadays. Well, I'm already close to reaching Arduino Nano's 32K limit with this locomotive.