

A $4.8M model airport with computer controlled vehicles - mmcconnell1618
http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/man-builds-worlds-largest-model-airport-the-knuffingen/story-e6frfq80-1226050348557

======
fp
"Man builds" is not quite correct. The airport is part of the largest model
railway in the world [1]. The thing is build by a rather large team with ten
years worth of experience in building high-end models.

If you ever come to northern Germany, I absolutely recommend a visit!

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniatur_Wunderland>

~~~
tintin
Also check there Youtube channel. Here a nice movie explaining the
takeoff/landing system:
[http://www.youtube.com/user/MiWuLaTV#p/a/5F525544A3296EEB/0/...](http://www.youtube.com/user/MiWuLaTV#p/a/5F525544A3296EEB/0/bUqMbtMcECE)
(in German)

 _edit_ Wow, I did not realize the airplanes are not connected to the system.
They can all run "free".

------
binarymax
Each passenger is only allowed to carry liquids in containers no larger than
100 picolitres.

~~~
chopsueyar
+5 Funny

~~~
chopsueyar
Slashdot haters burn my karma.

------
guynamedloren
Correction: not built by a single man at all. Built by a team of ~200, as a
single part of a 20-year project. Here are the facts:

[http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/exhibit/wunderland/wunder...](http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/exhibit/wunderland/wunderland-facts/)

~~~
mseebach
Labour, as you point out, but also materials and tools, none of which I'd
expect comes particularly cheap in the quality needed for that level of
detail.

------
acrum
Very interesting. There are more videos/details of it here:

[http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/exhibit/video/section/air...](http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/exhibit/video/section/airport/) and
<http://www.youtube.com/user/MiWuLaTV>

Their YouTube channel has a lot of videos called "Gerrit's Diary" (the main
guy building it), and he goes into some detail about the different parts as
they are building it (it is in German, with English subtitles). I haven't
found anything specifically about the programming, but I would love to know
some more about what went into that.

~~~
chrisboesing
I have just browsed through the blog of the project manager at
<http://tagebuch.miniatur-wunderland.de> (it's in German). Until now the only
thing I could find regarding the programming are the following numbers[1]:

The control software has 145.000 lines of code[I guess for the whole model,
not just the airport]

Just the airport control software has 70,000 lines of code.

He has added 200,000 numbers just for the configuration.

[1] [http://tagebuch.miniatur-wunderland.de/eintrag/aus-dem-
leben...](http://tagebuch.miniatur-wunderland.de/eintrag/aus-dem-leben-eines-
programmierers/) (German)

[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl...](http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftagebuch.miniatur-
wunderland.de%2Feintrag%2Faus-dem-leben-eines-programmierers%2F) (English with
Google translate)

~~~
manhol
When I remember correctly Gerrit mentioned that his homebrewn code is mostly
written in VisualBasic. As far as I know, he studied business informatics.

However, they are also using other software like <http://www.railware.com>. I
visited the Miniaturwunderland this year and it was quite fun to watch the
operator team writing down RailWare bugs into their own excel sheets.

The Miniaturwunderland model railroad is definitely worth a visit for every
programmer! Then you can imagine how difficult it is to change things in large
complex systems without breaking something.

~~~
chappi42
No, it's Delphi (of course).

Link: [http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/anlage/video/miwula-
tv/fil...](http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/anlage/video/miwula-
tv/film/artikel/gerrits-tagebuch-vol-13-hinter-den-technischen-kulissen/)
(1:50 h, german)

~~~
acrum
Thanks for the info. Watching through the Gerrit's Diary videos is fun. The
amount of detail they put into this is astonishing.

------
ender7
This is so very German.

Can anyone tell how the take-off/landing is handled? It appears that the
planes ride on little support struts, but do the struts auto engage/disengage
once landing is complete/about to begin? Most of the taxiing appears to be
done sans-struts. Also curious what happens to the planes onces they take
off...

~~~
darklajid
The youtube video above explains that (again in German). The start/landing
system with two 'poles' was designed over a long time to allow realistic
angles of the plane (i.e. nose up during descend/landing).

Are those things disconnected later? I'm pretty sure, yes. The actual
mechanism wasn't shown in the videos I've seen, but I expect those planes to
be able to taxi to the runways, connect and lift off.

After take off the planes are brought behind the scenery in a special area
that allows to store/move/hide the planes. The video even says that it should
be possible to change the direction of the start/landing.

------
pontifier
As an autonomous vehicle enthusiast I was bewildered by the "carsystem" with
no other explanation.

Their website explains that they use an expanded version of the "Faller-Car-
System". After doing a little research I found that a magnet attached to the
front tires follows a metal wire embedded in the roadway similar to the way a
smart road works.

In one system I found, a magnetic reed switch is used to stop (and start)
vehicles when they pass over electromagnets. Electromagnets in the road are
also used to divert the steering when a choice between 2 wires to follow is
available.

Miniatur Wunderland has expanded on this system considerably with a central
computer communicating with an on-board controller in each vehicle to control
speed, lights, and sounds. I couldn't find any information about if or how the
cars determine or communicate their true position. My guess is that they
estimate based on the speed and movement commands they send.

They do have a couple of systems for computer controlling boats that they are
working on that uses ultrasonic or infared signals to determine boat position
to under 1mm.

It's quite interesting to me that they have been able to make cars and boats
act and be controlled more like trains.

------
mbesto
Really cool!

But I don't "get" projects like this. Why spend seven years and $4.8m? Are
there really that many people willing to pay to see this that they can recoup
the investment? Are there any other side benefits? (i.e. finding logistical
deficiencies in the airline industry)

Oh what I could do with $4.8m and seven years...

~~~
fhars
There are enough people who are willing to stand in a queue for two hours to
see it: [http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/visit/waiting-
time/histor...](http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/visit/waiting-
time/historical-waiting/?monat=04&jahr=2011)

(And for those who like it recursive: they have a model of the model railroad
as part of the model railroad [http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/fileadmin/media/foto-gale...](http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/fileadmin/media/foto-galerie/hamburg/hamburg-wunderland-
einblick.jpg) complete with the queue [http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/fileadmin/media/foto-gale...](http://www.miniatur-
wunderland.com/fileadmin/media/foto-galerie/hamburg/hamburg-warteschlange-
kran.jpg) )

~~~
cubicle67
<http://xkcd.com/878/>

------
manvsmachine
The funny thing is that, while my first reaction was "that's really cool", my
immediate next thought was that it would have been much cooler using augmented
reality instead of figurines and models. I wonder how much longer there is
going to be demand for physical proofs of concept like these.

------
enjo
Watch this video:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_oDdGmKyA&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_oDdGmKyA&feature=player_embedded).

The whole thing is just amazing. Checkout 3:30 in, the computer control
station is just rad.

------
ldite
Can the planes that 'fly' in to land can detach from the support rod and taxi
through the airport? Hard to tell from the video...

~~~
jarin
It seems that way, especially since the alternative would just be a ton of
touch-and-go landings.

~~~
iliis
Yep, they use magnets on the airplaines. The planes are powered by batteries
and guided by other magnets (watch the nose wheel with his little skid). They
even have some elevators behind the scene to sort and distribute the planes.

------
ltamake
That's pretty cool!

------
malloc
Miniature company with team of ~200 builds airport model... how is this hacker
news related?

~~~
fhars
The hacker movement grew out of the MIT model railroad club, so model
railroads are by definition on topic :-)

~~~
malloc
<http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html> : ("A crap link is one that's only
superficially interesting. Stories on HN don't have to be about hacking,
because good hackers aren't only interested in hacking, but they do have to be
deeply interesting.")

