L.E. v 0.1 | LED driver to control signals and DC motor driver to control motors and solenoids

Pavel

— 1 min read

The first development version of Loco.Engineering platform is here. Let’s skip around 2 years of different experiments and research and check what we have in version 0.1. If you don’t know what we’re developing and why we decide to spend a lot of time and effort on a new platform for railway modeling and lego trains check this post for more information about the platform.

Working on version 0.0.1 we experimented with 3-light Belgian level crossing signals from Busch - https://www.busch-model.info/000005968.3. The main idea behind our platform is openness (slightly different from what we see now with many brands) - open protocol, open API, and open source for some parts of the platform. You can connect and control virtually any LEDs (v 0.1 works with a common cathode only but from v. 0.3 accessory modules will start working with LEDs with a common anode too), motors, displays, or trains on your layout - just connect them to Loco.Engineering modules and set logic in the web application on how they should interact. That’s it, no programming and additional wires. You even can write custom scripts if you find that our web UI isn't enough to implement all your ideas.

A level crossing with automated Belgian signals, H0 scale

What’s new in version 0.0.1:

  • [Hardware] Added LED driver to accessory modules, one accessory module can control up to 20 LEDs. Connect LEDs to the module and add logic in the web app.
  • [Firmware] Add LED module
  • [API] API to control LEDs (available for 3rd party apps and devices too)
  • [App] Test UI to control and automate LEDs (signals, lights, etc)

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