"Speed" Cameras Scalextric Challenge to Budding Boffins

Secondary school pupils in Bradford are being invited to take on a bit of extra homework – to help tackle the problem of a “speeding” Scalextric racing car!

The scale model racing circuit belongs to West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership and is to go into schools as part of its streetC.R.E.D™ road safety education programme, and to exhibitions, events and motor shows with the “Come and see how a ‘speed’ camera works” public information display.

The track is meant to be equipped with some miniature speed control safety cameras – the familiar roadside yellow box on a pole – to help teach “drivers” the importance of speed control. But despite the best efforts of the partnership’s technicians, who are specialists in full scale cameras, they can’t get model ones to “flash” over the right time and distance to provide an accurate speed reading.

So the partnership is throwing the challenge open to the district’s secondary school pupils to design an electric circuit that triggers mini cameras so that they flash twice – just like the real Gatsos - if the model cars are “speeding” (See Following pages: The Scalextric challenge to pupils). The partnership has even set up a website www.scalextricchallenge.co.uk where pupils can view the problem and the rules and see how to submit their entry.

“A Scalextric track fitted with miniature safety cameras will be a fun and interactive way of involving people in the importance of vehicle speed management,” says partnership spokesperson Philip Gwynne.

The Scalextric challenge to pupils

Entrants must:

Calculate the time taken for a model car to travel 3 laps on the track
Calculate the average time taken per lap
Build at least 2 miniature flashing cameras + Design an electronic circuit that... if the model car travels 10% faster than the average time... it will trigger camera “flashes” 0.5 seconds apart from two separate cameras
The “excess” speed of the car – i.e 10%+ above the average time – must be capable of being read/displayed
The camera flashes must only be activated if the model car travels at more than 10% of the previously-measured average. Cars travelling at below this threshold must not trigger the cameras.
The camera flashes and speed reading/display may be augmented by additional audio or visual devices, for example a speedometer that measures and displays the actual speed-above-average.
The whole effect must as near as possible replicate a roadside camera – either front-facing or rear-facing – in miniature
The system must be powered by a 9 volt DC supply
The kit must be easily transported (e.g. in a satchel or padded box)
It must be robust enough to withstand transportation to and from venue
It must be capable of being used with a variety of model circuits
It must be capable of being assembled and disassembled in a few minutes by any staff. In which regard, it must come with a set of easy-to-follow instructions

Entries must be submitted by Friday December 19 2008 and must be accompanied by a contact name and details.

Entries will be whittled down to a shortlist of no more than six teams, who will be invited to demonstrate their solution using a Scalextric circuit at a public “play off” at Bradford Media Museum on Monday January 19 2009.

Shortlisted teams will be notified by post.

Full set of instructions and rules can be viewed at the partnership’s dedicated website www.scalextricchallenge.co.uk