Computer-Controlled Railroad Simulator Adrian Anderson

Project Description  Create a model railroad simulator  Show graphic representation of trains, turnouts, and sensors  Allow for a custom track design  Receive hardware commands from external programs, and send response commands back  Allow the user to recreate certain conditions  Simulate hardware failure

Solution  Computer-Controlled Railroad Simulator  Written in Visual Basic 2005, using.NET

Simulator  Internally stores the state of trains, turnouts, and sensors  Moves trains around a virtual track  Interface for controlling the track and trains  Simulation of ideal, controlled railroad conditions  Check for train collisions  “Disasters” – see what happens when things go wrong

Track Editor  Track data stored in an XML file  Loaded and stored in an internal database  Fully customizable  Allows for many different track arrangements

Communications  Receives NMRA standard digital railroad controller packets  External programs can interface with the simulator as if it were a real railroad  Change train speed and direction  Request state of all sensors  Good for testing programs like the Train Operating System

Methodology  Problem: Represent track as computer data  Solution: Junctions Segments, which go from junction to junction Turnouts, which connect two segments at a junction Sensors, which are connected to segments

Methodology  Problem: Save and store track data  Solutions: Internal Storage: DataSet Class  Visual Basic class, relational database  ReadXML command reads and interprets XML files External Storage: XML  Easy to read, interpret, and edit  Standard format for miscellaneous data  Easy to validate  Easy to use in Visual Basic programs

Methodology  Problem: Collision detection  Solution: Collision table Train’s movement leaves records in the collision table Compare a train’s potential destination with collision table records on the same segment/junction If two records overlap, then the trains crash Sensor detection: Trains “collide” with sensors to activate them

Methodology  Problem: Collision detection  Solution: Collision table Train’s movement leaves records in the collision table Compare a train’s potential destination with collision table records on the same segment/junction If two records overlap, then the trains crash Sensor detection: Trains “collide” with sensors to activate them

Exceptions  Saved state of trains and track  Save status log to a file  XML validation  Preset train types  More labels in simulator window

Demonstration

Learning & Development  References MSDN Library Win 32 System Services: The Heart of Windows 95 and Windows NT  CS Concepts Database – track representation, track editor Operating Systems – pipe communication, threading

Extensions  Read more types of hardware packets  Advanced collision detection  More detailed graphical layout  More detailed object information

Advice  Start early  Set concrete goals with deadlines  Meet those deadlines  Update journal often with small updates

Questions?