As I told you in my previous post, I was thinking about how to make the signals Automatic.
I am really pleased to tell you that I now have Automatic Signalling!!! I eventually worked out that connecting PIN 3 of the 555 timer to PIN 4 of the 556 resets the timer which means the signal turns back to green. Now I have detection to turn the signal from Green to Red once the locomotive passes the signal and also then to make it change to Green! I needed to build another 555 Detection circuit. Had a lot of issues but finally got the circuit working. I am absolutely stoked! For me personally this is a huge achievement. At times I was very frustrated and tempted to throw in the towel but I preserved. These timers are pretty darn good for what can be done with them.
The video shows the signal going from Red to Green then back to Red, then to Green automatically just like the prototype. It is not based on a timer, but Current Detection.
his is the DOWN signal. Still need to build and deploy the UP Signal. I spent the last 6 weeks just focused on this task. The detection uses Current Sensing for total reliability.
I still have to "dress" the signals by adding a ladder and landing zones.
