
London tube map made from a working circuit board - alkhidr
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2020/06/23/check-out-this-london-tube-map-made-from-a-working-circuit-board/
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ionwake
I like this but one thing - it looks like the lights only show if a train is
at a station , then goes off once it leaves, so seemingly you have random
lights - instead of a light traversing a path. Or did I misunderstand looking
at the gif?

Update: I do love this project I would really like this to be resolved so it’s
perfect perhaps lights should stay on until the train reaches the next
station?

~~~
richardhawthorn
Hi, Richard here from Traintrackr

As others have mentioned, there are more trains running than there are station
LEDs, so in central London the LEDs would almost always be on, which didn't
look as good.

For the MBTA in Boston we added LEDs in between each station, and even went
further and added LEDs for each direction, but with only 4 lines it was much
easier to put together -
[https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/product/mbta4](https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/product/mbta4)

We're looking into this for London, but making it look good is significantly
more complex with the number of lines and large interchange stations.

~~~
G4E
Your projects look amazing, contragulation ! You could fade the led to depict
the train distance to the station ? Like that, you would have a nice
transition between stations, and if there are multiples train incoming/going
from it you sums the intensities ?

I think it would add another level of smoothness to it.

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rrayns
I had a go making something similar with an e-ink display, albeit much less
refined.

[https://www.rrayns.co.uk/posts/29-09-2019_e-ink-station-
watc...](https://www.rrayns.co.uk/posts/29-09-2019_e-ink-station-watcher.html)

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thenoblesunfish
This is so cool, especially because the Tube map was inspired by a circuit
diagram in the first place!

[https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-
heritage/...](https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/art-
and-design/harry-becks-tube-map)

~~~
iso1631
"Incidentally, the story that Harry Beck based his original map design on the
electronic circuit board is a myth. There is indeed a Beck style circuit board
design tube map in the archives, but it was apparently a joke that was
presented to him long after the tube map had been adopted by London
Transport."

from TFA

~~~
hnlmorg
That exact phrase pops up a lot (like it gets pasted verbatim around the net)
but I've yet to see any evidence to corroborate it's even true. Where as it
has been widely reported by a number of independent sources (Beck's family,
the Transport for London, etc) that Back's plans were based on circuit
diagrams. So I have a hard time believing the 'myth' argument is more
trustworthy.

Please also note when they talk about Beck's inspiration they say "circuit
_diagram_ " and not "circuit _board_ ", like the paragraph you quoted.

~~~
marcusjt
As far as my brief research shows, Harry Beck came up with his original tube
map design in 1931 (which is actually quite different to what we know it as
today btw), while the first printed circuit board was invented in 1936 by Paul
Eisler. Thus while it's possible that Harry Beck was inspired by circuit
diagrams, it's surely not possible that he was inspired by (printed) circuit
boards.

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rwmj
I think nicer are these real time mini tube departure boards, apparently you
can get them customized for any station on the network:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgLGKjj3GwI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgLGKjj3GwI)

~~~
DanBC
See also this Tiny Train Departure Board:
[https://hackaday.com/2019/08/05/a-tiny-train-departure-
board...](https://hackaday.com/2019/08/05/a-tiny-train-departure-board-just-
like-the-real-thing/)

~~~
cinntaile
And this one which I think looks really slick as well.
[https://hackaday.io/project/9690-tram-departure-time-
indicat...](https://hackaday.io/project/9690-tram-departure-time-indicator)

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andreareina
It seems to require an account to set up and use:
[https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/setup](https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/setup)

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conistonwater
I think it would be cool to make a mosaic of such circuit boards, one per
European city with a subway, arranged in the shape of Europe.

~~~
amelius
Or flights.

[https://www.flightradar24.com](https://www.flightradar24.com)

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jphoward
I absolutely love this! But during busy times many lines have trains separated
by <= 2 stations (often < 3 minutes between trains on Victoria line), so one
would expect most of the lights to be on. How does it decide which trains to
draw?

~~~
soylentgraham
The trains typically stop for ~16 seconds at a time. Even on say 8 platforms
thats under 3 mins. Plenty of time for gaps between lighting up! (could also
alternate colours with blinking)

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rmason
Visual open data! It's not clear to me in America if I can buy the 'Tube' one.
I've spent quite a bit of time in London and it just interests me more. Wonder
if they'd also consider making a Paris Metro one?

~~~
richardhawthorn
The London boards are for sale in the US -
[https://www.traintrackr.io/product/](https://www.traintrackr.io/product/)

Paris is certainly on the list for future maps.

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Theodores
This needs a live version of each board shown online. This would give you an
idea of the utility. So, right now, the UK rain map should be pretty idle
since it is a very sunny day, at least in the south. The tube map should be
something you can watch for a few minutes to get an idea as to how it updates
itself.

The Boston board has the station names etched onto the board. Clearly the
London large board could have some names etched in. London has a lot of tube
stations though so this could result in a lot of visual clutter. But trains do
have their destinations and 'via' on the signs, e.g. 'Cockfosters via Bank'.
The names of the termini stations (e.g. Paddington, Liverpool Street) as well
as the end destinations (e.g. Morden, Richmond) and major intersections (e.g.
Oxford Circus) could be provided, making the map a bit more inclusive and
usable for those that don't have the map etched on their brain.

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a_t48
If you like the look of this and want it as a phone case (...with reduced
functionality), you can get it...for a steep price (when they're not sold
out!)

[https://www.moeco.jp.net/search?q=london](https://www.moeco.jp.net/search?q=london)

------
asciimike
Reminds me of a functional radio built out of the tube map I saw at the London
Design Museum a few years ago: [https://www.designboom.com/technology/yuri-
suzuki-london-und...](https://www.designboom.com/technology/yuri-suzuki-
london-underground-circuit-map-radio/)

------
GekkePrutser
I wonder where he is getting the data from. I'd love to have live data from
the Barcelona subway network. It happens a lot that I arrive at a station and
a train is just leaving. During peak hours they go every couple of minutes but
later at night it could be 10 minutes.

~~~
whylo
Transport for London have a fairly comprehensive API that has all kinds of
live journey and network information:
[https://api.tfl.gov.uk/](https://api.tfl.gov.uk/) \- the article mentions
that this project is using the API

Edit: Looks like TMB also have an API. I'm not sure how it compares to TfL's:
[https://developer.tmb.cat/](https://developer.tmb.cat/)

~~~
GekkePrutser
Thanks! Yes TMB has an API, I looked at it before but it only provided
scheduled service times, not live data like you can see on the boards in the
station. But I'll have another look!

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mysterydip
I love this! There's something cool about seeing live data physically, like a
little simcity running on your wall/desk. I like that it's not tied to their
servers, in the event they decide to quit the business you don't have a
paperweight.

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aasasd
> _Personally I prefer the white version_

I initially thought the PCB is white, before re-reading preceding text.
However, I then had to search for images of white PCBs, and they're very neat
too.

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Reason077
_" coloured lights for each line – except the Northern, which sticks with
white lamps."_

What, nobody's invented a black LED yet?

~~~
mdpye
‘It’s the wild colour scheme that freaks me out,’ said Zaphod, whose love
affair with the ship had lasted almost three minutes into the flight. 'Every
time you try and operate these weird black controls that are labeled in black
on a black background, a little black light lights up in black to let you know
you’ve done it.’

Zaphod Beeblebrox, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe

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htk
Pure electronics, visually represents the subject, and manages to be
functional. I see it as art.

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abraxas
Cool, I think I'll do one for my home town of Warsaw....

What?! At least BoM will be lower!

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tempodox
So cool. I bet the electrons travel by tube.

~~~
kps
They don't; it's all solid-state.

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geniium
looks really nice

