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Hi, I'm new to this forum (live in the UK). I use Tomix wide tram track on a town layout I'm building and have just invested in a pair of Tomix controllers & two TCS units to automate the double track tram looped circuits to include a couple of tram stops on each circuit. I also have 4 of the short sensor track pieces. However, the instructions are all in Japanese and I'm having a devil of a job sorting out how to do the wiring to achieve this. Anyone got any tips or links that might help me?

For a long time i've been thinking about collecting all the information i've found about layout automation using the arduino microcontroller. There have been some serious projects using this platform and imho it would be good if someone who is interested in the topic could find everything in one place. Many years ago, i've seen the tram controller article by Ken Shores, but don't know if the project was finished: http://sumidacrossing.org/MyOtherLayouts/SC/ElectricalSystems/TramController/ Since then, i've been doing some experimentation with both the Tomix TCS sensors and the Arduino. As a motor driver i've been using the L293D driver ic, but as i see the L298 is also popular for the same task. For automation, you'll need 3 basic things: -a way to control power to the motors (either analog or DCC) -a way to detect trains at various points or in various blocks -a way to change turnouts A nice optional feature is to have user controls, like analog throttles and input buttons. I plan to collect all the information and simple circuits i know about and maybe even get all the parts together for a complete system.