Magracing - where now?

[Lasp]

It absolutly looks as some improvment!
I like the idea of holding the body spot in from front and bigger magnets on top at the batteryholder.
Nice solutions for fastening the coil
The possible to make own body is very importent!

Good work.

[Jeee]

First off.. congratulations with this amazing project. Below are some of my thoughts about improve magracing to bring it to the masses. I saw some of them are already discussed at the forum. Since I don’t have experience with magracing some might be impossible but I still figured it was worth sharing. I think best is to start a crowdfunding campaign to get the money to fund it all. With the customizing adoptions you will surely attract people from different areas and for different usages.

Design the chassis so it can be changed in length and can fit other modular parts like the ones from slot.it.
Create a 3D design of the chassis so it can be printed with something like:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/slotit
And can be adapted to fit their bodies.
Maybe the battery needs to be put diagonal to optimize space usage.

Make the steering more realistic. This has also the advantage that the car can be used indoors as a rc car. Maybe this can be accomplished by putting a magnet between two opposite magnets (with some spacing) so when you move it gets forced back into the middle position. Then the amount of steering gets determined by the amount of power that goes through the coil (maybe those magnets have to be a bit more wider also then).

Hopefully with more subtle steering it will be possible to switch lanes without any wire interruption or wire guide between the lanes (wire thickness could differ based on the force requirements at the specific locations; more in corners for example). The outside wires can be bigger so they have more force (and cannot be steered away from) but on each straight end they bend inwards and then stop (continue in a less thick one and on the spot where the thick one ended, with some spacing, a new thick one starts). Off course the cars need to be able to really go straight then .

Modular Track
My idea is to not put the wire on the surface but below an (of course not to thick) surface. Parts can be connected with a puzzle like sides ( http://rubitoff.com/interlocking-floor-mats/ )
each part would consist out of two parts that have to be put on each other and the cable lies between them. One side has small pins and the other one has small holes so they perfectly fit together (and the pins make sure the cable stays where it is intended. either they are fixed by the pins clamping into the holes or some other smart way .

The pins will be just like lego but then smaller diameter
http://cache.lego.com/e/dynamic/is/image/LEGO/620?$main$
https://www.gogenlab.com/sites/default/ ... k=sYm5iSnz

The small pins are just a tiny bit longer than the holes and the space that is left is just enough to fit a wire. This means you can create any wire layout out of each part. Just put the wires in the required layout, cut them and fit the two sides together.

One side can be coloured and one side transparent. That way you can either fix the track layout and paint it (or use stickers made for the tracks) or use the transparent side up and still see the actual wires.

There only need to be 2 different parts: a square one and a border one (that does not contain any wires but slopes down towards the floor so when you run off the track you can get back on it)

If line change plates are really required they need to be created to have the tiny holes in them.

The smaller the parts the better detailed the track can be put together but of course the more time to put the track together. maybe 20cm*20cm is a nice size? If they can be priced complete for 1 euro per piece I think it is a nice deal (of course we need a big enough demand to be able to get it produced). That way a 60 cm wide track of 10 meter length would cost about 150 euro. (60*100*10/(20*20)=150). That seems like a nice pricing for a flexible track with unlimited of line changes. If you combine that with the option to use it as an rc and slot.it bodies&parts I think it will be huge.

[Jeee]

I also wondered if it is an option to use a coil instead of a magnet for the guiding. This way the force can be easily adjusted by changing the power. Also this would enable the magnet to stop working when steering (need a straight option) and thus enable lane changes everywhere independend on the wires.

[Ned]

It might work. I suspect that the main problem would be that the coil would use a lot of power and drain any battery too quickly.

[Jeee]

If it is quick but not to quick it means more pitstops which can even be good?

[Ned]

The smaller the parts the better detailed the track can be put together but of course the more time to put the track together. maybe 20cm*20cm is a nice size? If they can be priced complete for 1 euro per piece I think it is a nice deal (of course we need a big enough demand to be able to get it produced). That way a 60 cm wide track of 10 meter length would cost about 150 euro. (60*100*10/(20*20)=150). That seems like a nice pricing for a flexible track with unlimited of line changes. If you combine that with the option to use it as an rc and slot.it bodies&parts I think it will be huge.

Concerning cost of track:
The cost of materials to build a light weight sectional track, 60 cm x 10 meter (about 64 sq ft), that is portable and can be placed on a flat stable surface is around $100 US or 89 Euro. The materials would be 1" thick XPS rigid foam insulation board, wire, lane change plates, glue, paint, and some magnets to hold adjacent sections together. Each side of the foam insulation board could have a different track design. So for 89 Euro one could have 2 tracks (circuits), however once made, they could not be changed.

[Jeee]

Concerning cost of track:
The cost of materials to build a light weight sectional track, 60 cm x 10 meter (about 64 sq ft), that is portable and can be placed on a flat stable surface is around $100 US or 89 Euro. The materials would be 1" thick XPS rigid foam insulation board, wire, lane change plates, glue, paint, and some magnets to hold adjacent sections together. Each side of the foam insulation board could have a different track design. So for 89 Euro one could have 2 tracks (circuits), however once made, they could not be changed.

Sounds good. I think however that building unchangeable tracks might be suited for more experienced track builders. When starting I think it is better to be more flexible with the layout as well as having the specs correct 'by depending on manufactured and proven stuff' so one does not end up with something working badly. Otherwise the first track will probably not be the last and the costs might be double or triple that . And time costs are not even added to the calculation although that might be seen as the fun part.