Comments on: Pinewood Derby Finish Line Detector

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:18:10 +0000

Brandonu,

User friendly? You can read that chart?

By: marcos

marcos — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:05:38 +0000

i think this is wonderfull since there are very complicated systems out there.i’m in the process of finishing a track and i think this is the simplest way to go, but i tried to print out the circuit and it didn,t print complete, can you e-mail it to me? i would really appreciate it and i will send you photos of the finish track in return.thanks.

marcos

By: John

John — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:57:48 +0000

10K pull up resistors for the sensors are way too low, and require powerful IR illumination, which is wasteful with battery operation. Go to 22K or 27K, and see the difference.

By: Kristi

Kristi — Sun, 27 May 2007 06:09:25 +0000

This is awesome. We wrote up a post for it!

Hooray for DIY.

– Kristi (DIY:happy).

By: NGinuity

NGinuity — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:57:10 +0000

“Now all you need is a method of starting the racers at the same time ”

The Pinewood Derby track usually has a starting gate of some sort doesn’t it?

By: Jac

Jac — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:18:01 +0000

Looks good, try using cheap laser pointers instead of the LEDS, nice and powerful and a good focused beam. Or if you want to go all out, buy a nice IR LED and its relevant phototransitor, which will reduce the chances of ambient light affecting the results. Now all you need is a method of starting the racers at the same time

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 22 May 2007 17:00:47 +0000

Received the MSP430 kit.

Thanks,
Ed

By: NGinuity

NGinuity — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:39:44 +0000

I like it. This would eliminate so many arguments (from parents anyway), at Cub Scout Pinewood Derby meets.

By: brandonu

brandonu — Mon, 21 May 2007 23:53:49 +0000

Nice job! Great project, looks uncomplicated and user-friendly!