Slot Cars - The portable table evolution

This part of my slot car journey started out as just a little side project with my Dad during one of his visits to Japan.  Both of us enjoy making things and so we thought it would be good to make a little practice track together.  So over the course of a day or so we marked out on some MDF a basic track following some geometric lines, nothing fancy.

The "Tron" like corners were quite severe, and after using this for a while I wondered what it would be like to have just flowing curves and if possible to run the path over an area more than once to make use of space.  And so a bit later a drift version was made.

Now I was starting to get into this.  It was fun to think it may even be possible to do a version from a single sheet of MDF that could be a portable table to just setup, plug in and play.  So next came a version based on a local drift track, and for the first time had a built in Arduino based lap timer.  Now you could actually see lap times and mark improvements.

The track was simple but some things bothered me.

1.  For the grass I had used some scenic paper for model railways.  Bits of this got everywhere inside the cars and needed constant cleaning.
2.  The table structure was a little unstable and did not inspire confidence.
3.  It was a single fixed layout that over time would not represent a challenge.

Time for a new version!

This time I started off by getting a folding table base from Costco to be the foundation.  Rated for around 200Kg, this should do the job.

I built a framework around this, sized to accommodate a standard 3 x 6 sheet of MDF that could be swapped in and out as new courses made.  Within this framework I hid a 12v power supply.

Later this was upgraded to a variable power supply to allow for adjustments.

Besides the main track area, I made a safe area to house the timing circuit, a fine voltage adjustment, switch for reversing the track direction, and 2 storage compartments for controllers and cars.

Onto here I made a new painted version of the drift car local track.  This time the track was done with a copper tape.

This worked well but left me wanting some more variety, something with scenery like a rally track.  And so the old track just lifted away from the table and a new piece put in.  Very easy and only thing that changes is the layout.

This track had a lot of work done on the scenery to finish off and was fun to make.

I should have stopped here, but I had made some mistakes in the construction.  Some of the turn radius's were too severe for a Carrera car guide, and also the cross overs were causing a few issues.  And so started the latest version to eliminate these mistakes and add a new dimension.

Note that the latest version has an all new sensor setup for the lap times.  Now all a track needs is an 18mm hole for the sensor to plug straight in to and can be adjusted for depth to get perfect readings every time.

This new track has a guide groove that really feels like a rally stage.  Too fast and it can deslot on a straight, let alone the coblestone bridge.  Issues with the braid sticking though need to be resolved before full landscaping can commence.  At a later date the Arduino is going to be replaced with a Raspberry Pi and a touch screen to polish it all off.