May 2024 update

[aussieslotter]

Hi fellas,

Just a little update.

John our engineer took 5 weeks off on a well deserved trip so that has delayed things a fair bit. 
To program Carrera was harder than we imagined. The code is antiquated Manchester code developed in 1943. So not easy to convert to C+ as the code is quite convoluted by Carrera engineers and in some places illogical. It seems they modified the old Black Box code rather than start over. Hence the messy coding. 
Although we have the Brumbaer CU protocols to help us the entire car code has to be written from scratch with no resources online. It’s purely hard work.
However I’m glad to say we have ironed out a lot of bugs we found since my last update which has taken time. So now we need to add fuel and brake level. The pace car function which most 3rd party Carrera chips don’t have will also be implemented for 100% true compatibility.


Nitrous has taken a little bit of time too. But it’s around 75% complete.
Nitrous is a hybrid concept where the MPD car decoder accepts Carrera native protocols off the rails for all Carrera functions except throttle and brake control which is dictated by the Scorpius control data being sent. On top of that the Nitrous product will send car telemetry (not track telemetry as Carrera Native does not employ Scorpius Lane Brains obviously). 
Current car only telemetry includes ID, PIN, Version number, throttle and brake values.
Future telemetry will include virtual Dyno (revs, power, torque) and a few other goodies. But let’s get the basics done first.
V2 production run had been held off due to fears of a hardware issue. Until extensive testing of Carrera happens it would be an unwise risk. Carrera protocol and operation is very fussy and every capacitor and resistor etc must be perfect.
Currently we have 87 components on the MPD board. In comparison I think a SSD board has around 27 from memory. So lots to go possibly wrong. 
Although I hope to order them as soon as Carrera beta testers are satisfied. Who wants to risk 7 weeks and $xxxx?
Anyway we cannot wait to complete the Carrera protocols so we return to our own Scorpius to start the Brushless motor driver, accelerometer function, tidy up the lights protocol, Dyno, added telemetry, onboard fuel/brake pads/tyres/damage levels, TX and RX, hall sensor and more.

So that’s my Carrera update.

The project continues…..exciting times for the industry.  

Rick