Here is a video of a new addition to my layout.



This is the Faller HO Polyp fairground ride. It comes with an AC motor, which I have discarded and replaced with an Amazon sourced 12V DC motor with gearbox.



This has been hooked up to an Arduino with complex components. One is an L298N H Bridge motor controller. The other is a DF Player Mini - plays mp3s from a micro SD card.

You can see the resulting mess on the prototyping board here




Basically, there are 10 rock and roll tunes on the SD card. The Arduino picks one at random and calculates its length in seconds from an inbuilt table. It the spins the motor up gradually for 14 seconds, runs the ride for the required length and spins it down for 15 seconds. IT then delays for a random period and starts all over again. The idea is to recreat the ride that my wife remembers from Raphaels Park, Romford in the 60s when she was a teenager! The L298N is there to drive the motor as the Arduino doesn't have enough oomph. The power to the L298N comes from a Chinese 12V power supply in the pink box behind. This is the source of the hum. I am currently working on a thermistor driven Arduino to go inside the box and control the fan, which is what is making all the noise! Mind you, as it is 85% in my living room at the moment, now is not a good time to work out the settings!

I have that kit from Faller which is good. I added extra lighting and people in the ride. Great idea you have there. Watch that the cups don't hit the floor of the ride. I had to adjust mine.

My next step is to add lighting (flashing, I hope) and some people. I have the big wheel to come. That will have the same treatment - but no sound. Two rides with music might work in a fun fair but not in my bedroom!

Thanks. It's good to know that others do the same. Because I am using Arduinos, I have to trash the 16vAC motors - I can't work out how to control them from the Arduino.

I have 140312 Ferris wheel. That's a project for a few months ahead!

I use two programs to try and find what I wanted - I use a HEX editor and an app called Stamp ID3 Tag Editor.

However, I haven't the full details of what is inside an MP3. Using MS Windows File Manager I can see a Bit rate and a track length in time. However, I can't find either of those with my tools. I think that I would have to buy the full MP3 spec to get deeper into the details. You can, as I do, just open up an MP3 as a standard file - I use SlickEditPro to do this - it shows me the ASCII for the file contents.

This is why I do the following:

Note the run times of each MP3 using File Manager; create an array of all track times in seconds; rename each file with a nu,ber to match their position in the array; set a play delay for the time from the array. Nothing fancier than that!

Using my MP3 editor, I notice that all the BPM entries are blank. The editor obviously expects to find this info my it seems that there is nothing in there for any of my MP3s.

Sorry I can't be more help. If anyone knows where I can get either a BPM or a play time from an MP3 please let me know

Per, you just gave me another idea. I've just ordered a sound sensor. I'll read the analog values from it and make the lights blink depending on the frequency of the music being played. Sorry David for deviating the topic.
Just to show off, here is my current stage set up with lights blinking.

That is amazing. I really envy your skill. I would love to do this with my Faller fairground kits that I am constructing for my HO layout. I have a little bit of experience with Arduinos but, the motor is 16 v AC as you know.
Did you put a link for the replacement motor you bought?
Thanks very much for sharing.
Great job!
Richard
Tasmania

Hi there. Thanks for the comments. I didn't replace the motor. I bought a 16V AC power supply from Gaugemaster. I then bought the following from Amazon

ARCELI 5PCS KY-019 5V One Channel Relay Module Board

https://amzn.to/31IQK8h

This is a set of 5 relays. Each one has an input from the Arduino and a connection for the 16V ac, Switching the relay on and off using 5V manages the 16V feed to the motor. Very easy.

David

That makes sense! I will do the same.
I thought the advantage of using the step motor is it is easy to control the RPM. Do you find the 16 volt motors are a good speed, or can you adjust them through the Arduino?
Cheers.