In addition to our core capabilities, Thorski continues to pursue innovation and development in other areas, including internal product developments and industry partnerships.
Arduino DCC Decoder
All work and no play makes for… well, you get the idea!
A recent R&D effort was the development of an Arduino-based DCC decoder for model railroad turnouts and turntables. The initial effort was motivated by the desire for a DCC decoder solution based on a standard and widely available microprocessor architecture. As the concept matured, it demanded significant efforts in mechanical, electrical, and software design, and brought all three together in a fun way. The end result was:
- Three different controller versions for standard, long, and crossover turnouts
- A controller with simple touchscreen display for turntables
- Approximately 8000 lines of new code in 15 class libraries
- Software developed for both ARM and SAMD architectures
- Three different electrical and PCB designs
- Five enclosure designs and additional mechanical parts
Developed in C++ to maximize performance and take advantage of low level microprocessor features. Code is open source and available on GitHub.
For all the details, read the design descriptions of the turnouts and turntable.
Caravellair Roadable Aircraft
Thorski Design is an industry partner in the development of the Caravellair Roadable Aircraft, in development at Caravella Aerospace. In addition to providing engineering expertise in areas such as structural analysis, mechanism design, and vehicle dynamics, Thorski was a major contributor in the development of a high-fidelity 1/6th scale model of the vehicle. The model faithfully reproduced all of the key chassis and aerodynamic features of the prototype, including the front and rear suspension, foldable wing, collapsible tail boom, and flight control surfaces.